Big Chief Studios - 1/6 Doctor Who - #10 David Tennant

[The Mike]

I have 2 Smiths so I'll happily have 2 Tennants. This one is an order without question. Makes me want the Ninth Doctor more now though.

 

[pixletwin]

I have 2 Smiths so I'll happily have 2 Tennants. This one is an order without question. Makes me want the Ninth Doctor more now though.

 

[Matner77]

I'm glad of another Tennant. I didn't want to pay ebay prices to catch up on my Doctors. Hoping for a classic preview some time soon

 

[Ex-Parrot]

With Hartnell about to hit, and Smith and Capaldi already on the cards, and another Tennant soon as well, I'm hoping for another classic release next as well, rather than jumping straight to Eccleston.

Not that it matters much, because I'm in for all the Doctors anyhow, but it'd be nice to see another classic confirmed.

 

[thedarkknight]

Considering Tom Baker still hasn't sold out, it will probably be Eccleston next.

 

[JonWes]

If they want to still make Classic Doctors, it makes sense to add them in amongst new Doctors. But if even the 1st Doctor doesn't sell out at 500 pieces... well, that's troubling. I hope it does well once it's in stock.

 

[The Mike]

Call it a hunch but I have a feeling our next Classic Doctor will be the Fifth. I think we'll get Tennant and then Davison.

 

[JohnnyStarquest]

I want to order this. Curious as to how big chief operates. Will it be available for a few weeks or is it order within a few hours or miss out?

 

[Ex-Parrot]

If they want to still make Classic Doctors, it makes sense to add them in amongst new Doctors. But if even the 1st Doctor doesn't sell out at 500 pieces... well, that's troubling.

Not necessarily, as we don't know how many sales it takes before they cross over into profit. We also don't know how many pieces they have already sold up until now. So without those two key pieces of information it's impossible for any of us to tell how well this release is doing in accordance to their overall plans and expectations. They don't sell as well as the current series stuff, sure, but that's not exactly a surprise to anyone, and that also doesn't mean they still don't make a nice profit at the end of the day, it just might not be as nice a profit as they can get out of the new series stuff. Plus it makes sense to spread out the load a little as far as releases go, so as not to overwhelm the 'new series only' buyers with too much in too short a space of time.

Now I'm sure they'd love to sell out of their releases really quickly, any business would, but I think we tend to forget that 500 is still a rather sizeable run for a niche 'limited edition' high end collectible, and that most things, even amongst the big licenses from the big name suppliers, take their time to completely sell through. So right now I'm not worried, unless Big Chief makes an announcement to the contrary about classic Doctors being no longer viable. But I hope we're still a good way off from the danger of that happening.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if prices of classic Doctors continued to price creep, nor if the edition size dropped a little lower on the next one (just as I imagine they could get away with making significantly smaller runs and still have them be profitable, if they needed to). In fact I'd say that the edition size of the next classic Doctor will probably be our best indication on how they are going, as far as classic Doctor sales go. Plus, if they believe they can sell Sherlock second stringers like Mycroft and Moriarty and make enough of a profit doing so, then I've got to think that they can do likewise for the classic Doctors, even if the runs do shrink until they find their optimum sweet spot for successfully doing so. And things like the planned Sherlock releases, the TARDIS and Weeping Angels, the prints, extra heads, and so on seem to indicate that they must be doing pretty well so far, in order to afford to have this many irons in the fire. Or so one hopes.

So yeah, even though I'd love to see Hartnell sell out sooner rather than later (just as I'm sure Big Chief themselves would) I'm not panicking personally. Not yet, anyhow.

 

[Ex-Parrot]

I want to order this. Curious as to how big chief operates. Will it be available for a few weeks or is it order within a few hours or miss out?

Unless there's another signature edition, it is doubtful that it will sell out all that quickly, so you'll likely have a fair bit of time to jump on board. They Haven't been that hard to get, and don't sell out very fast, so probably no need to worry about missing out (again unless it's a signed edition, and you want that version).

Though that said, the previous Tenth Doctor was the quickest seller of any release thus far, and a lot of people have come on board the line since then, with the original release often going for crazy money, so sooner is always better than later if you really want to make sure. I doubt you'll have to be in any huge rush, based on past experience, but without knowing the edition size, how well the full reveal is received, and so on, you pretty much rolls your dice and takes your chances.

 

[JohnnyStarquest]

Unless there's another signature edition, it is doubtful that it will sell out all that quickly, so you'll likely have a fair bit of time to jump on board. They Haven't been that hard to get, and don't sell out very fast, so probably no need to worry about missing out (again unless it's a signed edition, and you want that version).

Though that said, the previous Tenth Doctor was the quickest seller of any release thus far, and a lot of people have come on board the line since then, with the original release often going for crazy money, so sooner is always better than later if you really want to make sure. I doubt you'll have to be in any huge rush, based on past experience, but without knowing the edition size, how well the full reveal is received, and so on, you pretty much rolls your dice and takes your chances.

Thanks. Thats good to know. I'll keep an eye out for release time.

 

[momaw]

I want to order this. Curious as to how big chief operates. Will it be available for a few weeks or is it order within a few hours or miss out?

I was "late" late to the Big Chief game and ordered my Tennant about 3 months after they initially went on sale. They still had the PO up for a few more months after that.

Signiture edition did sell out super quick, and I would expect the same again if they do one (which I don't expect), but you should be right on the reg for a while.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Not necessarily, as we don't know how many sales it takes before they cross over into profit. We also don't know how many pieces they have already sold up until now. So without those two key pieces of information it's impossible for any of us to tell how well this release is doing in accordance to their overall plans and expectations. They don't sell as well as the current series stuff, sure, but that's not exactly a surprise to anyone, and that also doesn't mean they still don't make a nice profit at the end of the day, it just might not be as nice a profit as they can get out of the new series stuff. Plus it makes sense to spread out the load a little as far as releases go, so as not to overwhelm the 'new series only' buyers with too much in too short a space of time.

Now I'm sure they'd love to sell out of their releases really quickly, any business would, but I think we tend to forget that 500 is still a rather sizeable run for a niche 'limited edition' high end collectible, and that most things, even amongst the big licenses from the big name suppliers, take their time to completely sell through. So right now I'm not worried, unless Big Chief makes an announcement to the contrary about classic Doctors being no longer viable. But I hope we're still a good way off from the danger of that happening.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if prices of classic Doctors continued to price creep, nor if the edition size dropped a little lower on the next one (just as I imagine they could get away with making significantly smaller runs and still have them be profitable, if they needed to). In fact I'd say that the edition size of the next classic Doctor will probably be our best indication on how they are going, as far as classic Doctor sales go. Plus, if they believe they can sell Sherlock second stringers like Mycroft and Moriarty and make enough of a profit doing so, then I've got to think that they can do likewise for the classic Doctors, even if the runs do shrink until they find their optimum sweet spot for successfully doing so. And things like the planned Sherlock releases, the TARDIS and Weeping Angels, the prints, extra heads, and so on seem to indicate that they must be doing pretty well so far, in order to afford to have this many irons in the fire. Or so one hopes.

So yeah, even though I'd love to see Hartnell sell out sooner rather than later (just as I'm sure Big Chief themselves would) I'm not panicking personally. Not yet, anyhow.

I've been doing a bit of research and numbers crunching on exactly this subject and a run of 500 is extremely difficult to make any profit on. Your tooling costs don't change whether you do 500 or 5000 and that's your highest expense. This is definitely a labor of love from Big Chief. But I think some of the later Doctors, Davison in particular, will do better.

 

[Ex-Parrot]

Then one wonders how smaller companies that commonly do runs of 200-250 pieces manage to survive...

 

[marlindesign]

looking for Big Chief Studios - 10th Doctor if anyone wants to sell????

 

[shdl83]

Don't like the mirror base that the doctor came with so printed this off and stuck it over the top. Think it looks much better now.

 

[pixletwin]

I like it. Well done.

 

[BagginsOfBagEnd]

That looks great shdl83! Nice work!

 

[Manannin]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but I have a (probably stupid) question.

Does the Non-signature version of this figure come with the 2 Sonic Screwdrivers? It seems crazy that it wouldn't, but the BCS version seems to suggest it doesn't...

Thanks!

 

[Captain Britain]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but I have a (probably stupid) question.

Does the Non-signature version of this figure come with the 2 Sonic Screwdrivers? It seems crazy that it wouldn't, but the BCS version seems to suggest it doesn't...

Thanks!

View attachment 218836

View attachment 218837

It does come with both.