Biff Bam Pop! Holiday Gift Guide: Ho Ho Who? Doctor Who

I’m not only old school, I’m old. So when I think of Doctor Who, I’m talking about the guy with the scarf who used to entertain me on PBS every Saturday afternoon. The Doctor has come a long way since then, now he’s a merchandising sensation, and perfect for the Biff Bam Pop! Holiday Gift Guide. More after the jump.

For the uninitiated, of which I’d be surprised at this point they are that many, Doctor Who is a British scifi series, originally for kids, now for everyone, about a time traveler from another world who flies around in an antique phone booth (the TARDIS), frequently accompanied by pretty women and kids, and has the ability to regenerate into a whole new person every time he ‘dies,’ making actor replacement easy so the show can continue without the last actor in the role. He saves the Earth, and the universe, from all variety of villains, robots, and monsters, the most popular being the Daleks, the Cybermen, and his opposite number, The Master. Got it? Good.

Doctor Who has been around for fifty years over in the UK, and here on this side of the pond we’ve been seeing his adventures on PBS and later BBC America since the 1970s. One thing the Brits have always had, that we’ve only begun to catch up with the last few years, is merchandising.

I remember going to a huge London toy store in 2007, just a couple years after The Doctor’s big budget return to the small screen, and seeing an entire wall of the store taken up with Who toys and paraphernalia. I remember wishing, like a little kid, that Doctor Who could be as popular in the States as it was there. I got my wish.

For whatever reason, the current incarnation of Who on BBC America is huge. Doctor Who has arrived. Even my favorite local comic shop, All Things Fun!, has two entire sections of the store dedicated to Who. With much the same giddiness I have as an Avengers fan knowing my heroes have one of the biggest films ever, I celebrate The Doctor.

Now you can have any number or variety of Doctor Who items under your tree, in your stockings, next to your menorah, or stuffed in your whathaveyou. There’s Doctor Who Monopoly, plush Daleks and plush TARDISes, even plush Cybermen, action figures, faux Lego kits, lunchboxes, key chains of every imagining, comic books, encyclopedias, each Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver, and even the Master’s Laser Screwdriver. After all, what good is sonic, really?

The gift that fills this Doctor Who nerd with holiday cheer most however is something so rare, so inside, that it’s proof positive everything imaginable is available. It’s a Peter Davison as the Sixth Doctor action figure, so fresh from his regeneration he’s still wearing the long scarf and outfit of the Tom Baker Doctor. Yeah, baby, I’m hardcore Who nerd.

Take your pick of Who paraphernalia this holiday season, it’s all good, but I know what I want.  And hopefully I’ll have it when I watch the traditional Doctor Who Christmas Special on BBC America this year, another great tradition.