What Santa won't be bringing me this year.

[tree_and_leaf]

You've probably seen this already but one of the hot new toys for Christmas is going to be the Dalek Sec voice-changing mask. Honestly, whatever happened to just imitating Dalek voices? It's more fun, anyhow.

However... what really bothers me is the product advertised by another manufacturer: Among the predicted top-selling 12 toys for pre-school children is a cuddly new version of Rupert the Bear - "a less sinister-looking Rupert, with Botox" as a spokesman for manufacturer Martin Yaffe put it yesterday.

I mean, Rupert? Sinister? I assume they've made his face rounder and less sharp, as seems to be the new fad in teddies - personally, I like my my bears to look vaguely like bears, but that may be just me - but what's botox got to do with it? And why must they trample on my childhood favourites?

Oh well, at least it's not an interactive battery powered Water Rat. I really couldn't stand that.

Comments

[maeve-rigan.livejournal.com]

Totally agree with you that mechanization takes most of the fun out of pretend-villainy--and pretend heroism, as well.

I had a deprived youth in which I somehow managed to miss almost every series of Dr. Who except several episodes with Tom Baker, so I've never been able to take Daleks seriously. Even now that I'm finding the Russell T. Davies-versions quite entertaining, the Daleks seem least intimidating of the big bads. But I understand that they're iconic for the true Whovian.

[tree_and_leaf]

Daleks have scared me at times, though I don't think that with the exception of 'Dalek' New Who has used them very well.

They don't compare for sheer terror to the Autons, though (though again, they weren't nearly as well done in New Who). But I showed 'Spearhead from Space', which is a Pertwee-era Auton story to a German friend who had never seen Doctor Who before and was disposed to find the special effects funny - and the next day I noticed her looking nervously at shop window dummies!

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

I saw one of those recently- but didn't get it as 1) It is waaaay too expensive and 2) The children probably wouldn't get as much enjoynet out of it as they would out of the animatronic cyberman one of them will be getting for Christmas. Dunno what the other one will get though...