Well, by early on wednesday morning at least...

A very nice 45c Palitoy Zuckuss.  Apparently no Pal ESB-logos have been found so I had to "settle" for this one 

- ipod Apple HiFi speaker/docking station
- 20-inch 4:3 Samsung LCD TV for watching old Doctor Who episodes
- ipod car radio transmitter
- Gears of War for XBox 360
- The Fratellis - Costello Music CD
- Doctor Who soundtrack CD
- Year of the Pig CD (Dr Who audio drama starring Colin Baker)
- some cash

But the BEST Christmas present was...

...at about 7:50 PM when the 10th Doctor said the word............."Gallifrey"!!!  At last! After a 2-year wait!

Looks like it's going to Spring before my Lucas Stormie is so rare and "exclusive" that I can sell it and give up work 

There was a Cyberwoman in ep4 last Sunday which was pretty cool to see.  I'm still not sure what the style is supposed to be...sort of an adult Buffy.  It's not as dark or realistic as the x-files or as funny as it thinks it is.  The story arc is shaping up very well and it's nice to get some background on Jack who I hoped would join Dr Who full time but won't be back until Series 3.

Here's my Palitoy/General Mills German one.  It's quite rare compared to the ESB issue.

I remember that when the Saga ERS was released in the UK the bearded version was everywhere but we never got cases containing the beardless version.  I found one online, opened it up, promptly put it in my figure cabinet and then forgot about it.

Then a few months later I found an AFA graded one on eBay for UK retail price, so remembering how I cool I used to think this variation was I decided to get it.  But then last week I found a Canadian beardless soldier which to me is even better as we never get those cards here and I didn't actually have an example in my collection.  So I was looking around for info about whether or not this was quite a HTF to figure when I discovered that there was also a bearded Canadian ERS.  Which of these is the least common? Is it like in the UK where the bearded guy was everywhere and the beardless version tough to find?

I know it's hardly the most inspiring figure ever made but I'm starting to get into the variations now that I have most of the basic modern figures that I want.  Perhaps I'll start an ERS run  So far I have loose bearded and beardless, AFA carded beardless (US) and Canadian beardless carded.

Sorry for starting a topic about such a boring figure 

Hi Guys, many thanks for you kind comments 

The German General Mills cards were actually mostly made in the UK by Palitoy and from the front they are identical to UK Palitoy 45B backs (45As were the last cards with Pal logos and 45Cs were the first ROTJ cards).  The black strip under the logo is common to all 45Bs, UK and German, and also certain ROTJ 65 backs.  Some of the German hangers are a slightly different shape (triangular at the top) and nearly all were factory punched.

It's the back of the card which is different.  German text replaces the Bounty Hunter offer that comprised the lower half of the UK ESB 45 backs.



When I started collecting vintage I was aiming for all UK cards but it soon became clear that some figures would be too expensive even if I could find them.  So I now have quite a few Tri Logos (still "proper" Palitoys) and a few German cards which I try to convince myself are Palitoy.  I suppose what i really have now is a European rather than a UK collection.

I like the German figures because more often than not they are in mint condition.  The overstock was bought up in the late-mid 80s from the Palitoy factory in Leicester and so most of them never made it onto the shelf.  As I mentioned, although they are all punched this was done in the factory.

Jason, my Yoda has a brown snake