10th Doctor Costume

[galacticprobe]

I daresay you guys must have deeper pockets than I to afford the Magnoli ties.

Well, when you consider that walking into a store like Macy's, Kohl's, et al and start looking over their ties and comparing those prices with Magnoli's (and other 'Ties' web sites, you'll find that prices are about equal across the board. Now if you're ordering from their web sites, then you also have to add in shipping. Magnoli's price already includes shipping, so that's a bonus. If you see a 10th Doctor tie on the Magnoli site, don't fret; they don't sell out. Just stash some money into a "Doctor Who Clothing" jar until you get enough to buy the tie you like. (I just picked up a "Thyme Lord" bow tie from Mrs. Bow Ties like that... took me a bit of doing, but again, the price was about what you'll find on the aforementioned web sites when looking at bow ties - less actually - which came out just about even with shipping.)

Also remember that most of us that have collected clothing items (especially 'Doctor Who' "cosplay" items) didn't order all ties in one go. (If someone did then his pockets are definitely bigger in the inside!) Since I've retired from the military and unable to work, living on a pension alone, my 'tie buys' have been few and far between, and so far I've only gotten the then-Timelord Tie and the Swirly Tie, and that's was in a time span between 2011 and late 2012. In between those, and since 2013, I've been looking at bow ties, mainly because I like bow ties better, and they're less expensive; a plain silk-like burgundy or cotton navy blue pre-tied can go for as little as $5.00 US if you search for them.

I have found my Tennant(ish) ties at Goodwill mostly, like most of my Tenth doctor costume.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! It was in a second-hand shop where I found my Hartnell wingtip collar shirt and the hounds/dogstooth check trousers (which double for my Troughton trousers). Each was about $2 US. The trousers are a still a bit baggy (they were baggier when I first bought them) which fits in perfectly for both Doctors. It's also where I found my green "experimental" V-neck jumper/sweater for my 9th Doctor: very lightweight cotton and the wife is going over it to see how to put that seam down the front, and give it that odd neckline it has. (Target is also a great place to find 9th Doctor lightweight cotton Merino V-neck jumpers. You have to go to the store, though; I've only seen them in wool on the web site. The cotton ones range from $19.99 to $24.99, depending on when in the "jumper season" you go looking.)

Researching items can be your best way to find things on line. And give you great exercise since you have to personally visit second-hand shops. (You can even find some 10th Doctor Converse high-top "sand shoes" in second-hand shops for just a few dollars; you just have to search and see if they've got ones in your size. For my size, it's the black ones that are most common, but in Tennant's first series, he did wear black ones with his brown suit a few times; it wasn't until Series 3 when they gave him the blue suit that they standardized it to Brown Suit=cream "trainers" (Converse calls them "white", as opposed to their "optical white" which is what one thinks of as white); Blue Suit=red trainers (actually, they were burgundy, but on-screen looked red); Tuxedo=black trainers (and you know bad things will always happen whenever you wear that thing ).

I do like that one on the left a lot! The colour scheme could make it part of either a brown or a blue suit

I have to agree with superrichi1a on that one!

...the MFX is the result of me waiting 4 years to get a budget I could justify spending in one go like that.

And I'm still using the CO sonic I got when I was working. To be fair; MFX didn't come out with theirs until after I had to retire!

This costume project started as a result of me thinking Magnoli was stupidly priced! I think people put too much store in what money buys, when really it's also to do with how patient you are and how lucky you can make yourself in terms of keeping an eye out for opportunities

Well said. (I think I said that above, but it took me a lot longer to say it! )

Dino.

[superrichi1a]

Just a quick point that sprung to mind: we're talking about doing things as cheaply and efficiently as possible, here is the sonic screwdriver I was going to use originally with the blue suit, before I changed tack with the brown and wanted to try and get as close to the 50th costume as I could:



Apologies, I can only post one picture at a time from Apple devices without everything going strange. But this is what I came up with. It's the Wand Company Universal Remote sonic screwdriver, with the head glued down so wobble is stopped, two grub screws put in the back for effect, the end bulb repainted in metallic black left over from Dalek May, blue strip repainted, and body repainted in Aleene's Crackle which is very similar to the stuff used on the props.
Total cost for this was about £70, which compared to higher end models I think is pretty good! It really looks hugely improved in real life, enough that I was happy to use it as part of a costume that I was trying to get as accurate as possible. I based the look off a moment at the end of series 3, when The Doctor holds it up to try and stop The Master going for a joy ride in his TARDIS, trying to get the crackle as close colour wise and evenness wise as possible.
Not really a point of any real importance, just thought it might be interesting and an idea for others

[galacticprobe]

Apologies, I can only post one picture at a time from Apple devices without everything going strange.

Superrichi, I use my Mac (an Apple device) for pretty much all of my internet stuff, and I've posted multiple pics here with it. I think the trick to getting around things going strange is using the "Save Draft and Continue >>" button after selecting each pic (sometimes having to add a little blurb of text under the photo before using that button - not sure of why I have to do that, but sometimes it just seems to want it: something simple like "Pic 1", "Pic 2", etc.).

Give that a try and see it if lets you post more than one photo at a time.

Hopefully this was helpful... for everyone else as well.

Dino.
P. S. By the way... just how "wobbly" was the head on that sonic universal remote that you had to glue it down? You're the only person I  know that's got one, so from a 10th Doctor costume standpoint, could you give a bit of a review on that remote "out of the box": accuracy, quality, sturdiness of construction (since you mentioned the wobbly head)?

[superrichi1a]

OK thanks Dino, as it happens I have a few more pictures to share both out of the box and with the mod so when I get home I'll try your method of posting them up, it'd be a relief to find a way around it at last!

As far as a review goes, it's excellent! Accuracy-wise, as you'll see when I post some comparison pictures up, it's pretty much dead on at a glance apart from the end bulb coupling, which is slightly less notched to allow for the charging port. That's the one detracting feature really, but it's only minor and totally understandable.
Compared to the CO toy at least, it's a huge step up, it feels more sturdy, has a bit more weight to it, the change in size is nice and the sliding mechanism is very smooth. The metal sections are anodized which makes them more durable, but not as shiny as I'd like, but again that's only minor and I was comparing it to a polished steel replica at the time which probably was more shiny than it had any right to be.
Functionality and construction wise I've had few problems. It works brilliantly, it's great fun and the "FX Mode" is a nice way to enjoy it as a toy too! The head wobble on mine was something that did annoy me, though. It wasn't too bad to start with, but then I tried to fix it by taking apart the head and gluing the fastening down. Safe to say I made a hash of that and it got worse. But then I realised that actually all I needed to do was put a dab of super-glue underneath the head coupling and at the top of the acrylic shaft join. Took 2 minutes, required no disassembly and fixed the issue right up. It's also worth mentioning that I reckon the wobbly head may have been unique to the first batch. Mine was pre-ordered months in advance and I was one of the first to receive it, days and weeks before most first-batch customers got theirs. Given how early mine must have been off the production line I think it was a mistake that was fixed later on, as having seen a few later batches since then none have the same issue, and actually they all have a few other subtle improvements, too.
The one downside and upside is the body. The cracks were sculpted in excellently, they looked great, but as is really visible in the pictures I'll post up, it looks like glossy plastic. The final stage of development of these things, I gather, was on a strict time budget so the Wand Company didn't have time to darken down the finish and bring the cracks out like they hoped. Some people really don't seem to mind this, and really it's not that eye-catching, but I wanted to change it - before doing this mod I rubbed (very sparingly and gently) a little black shoe polish into the cracks to bring them out more. This darkened down the whole body slightly, a bit too much, but then using a very fine grit sandpaper I rubbed down the surface ever so slightly. This took away that plastic gloss finish I didn't like, made it look slightly more patchy like the prop and still allowed the xcracksto stand out.
All in all, a fantastic purchase that with a few very small alterations can be pushed over the line to become a respectable replica

[galacticprobe]

Wow! That was one heck of a review! Thanks! <he says as he sits here mumbling to himself 'One day... one day... before they stop making them!'> But as popular as this model seems to be (more popular than the 11th Doctor's version according to how quickly places like ThinkGeek and Amazon are selling out of them), I have a feeling they'll keep making them for a while yet. I get the ThinkGeek e-newsletter ever since I bought that kitchen timer that looks like a safe's combination dial from them, and when I go there to poke around, the 10th Doctor Sonic Remote is always sold out; and like with Amazon, they've got a blurb saying "More are on the way!" Yeah, I've been getting the 'You might also like these...' e-newsletters from Amazon ever since I bought The TARDIS Handbook way back when. And this sonic remote is one of their suggestions. Just for giggles, I click the link, and get to the page with the red lettering telling be the item is unavailable, but more are on the way "so check back often".

Oh, and forget e(xtortion)Bay; there are sellers on there asking twice the ThinkGeek price for this!

You might want to put some of your review on Amazon, and maybe ThinkGeek, it's that well written. (It will probably help keep them sold out, but then I do need time to put some pennies together.

Dino.

[superrichi1a]

Thanks for the compliments on the review truth be told I was just sort of going over-enthusiastic on these things, having trouble keeping it concise Agreed I'm sure these'll be around for a while yet. eBay sellers who try to make a quick buck really get me. It's the same story as the Duffer Ties. As an infrequent seller, I'll admit that sometimes I put my prices higher up than is necessary for the piece, but all my sales are financially motivated, I'll only sell something because I'm having difficultly and need a little boost, but I'd never buy an off-the-shelf product and put the prices up nearly double to catch uninformed or desperate buyers out. It's a shameful practise.

Anyway, here are a few pics:



TWC vs high end replica. This really highlights the almost waxy body feel for me, it feels like waxy plastic too, but like I said not difficult to change.



And another pic of my upgraded model showing the screws in the back.

And a final last picture I just took very quickly of it displayed next to my MFX (me no longer owning that high-end replica). I think there's a lot of misinformation out there on sonics, like I said earlier, and I've made up my own mind which of these three is most accurate in which ways, this isn't the forum for me to go in-depth on my screwdriver philosophy, but it's certainly easy to see how the WC Remote is similar to both in different ways, so has certain captured much of the essence of the prop those high-end replicas did.



EDIT: Well after some jiggery-pokery I THINK the pictures are up! Thanks Dino, that's a huge help. One image is still crashing, but when I click "save" now fingers crossed all 3 will be up and running.

[galacticprobe]

Yep - all three pics are here! And I'm glad I was able to help with that issue. (If that last pic was "crashing", it probably needed just a quick bit of text under it to get it though. Not sure why that makes a difference, but just does, which is why I add a little caption under each pic: stops things from crashing, hanging, etc.)

I definitely like the grey look over the off-white and the "tan" color, so you've done a bang-up job on that mod! And you're right about the metal bits on some of them looking too polished. It looks more accurate with that "brushed" or "burnished" look to it: more satin than chrome, that's the way to go.

Great comparisons! Thanks!

Dino.

[superrichi1a]

Thank you for the help and the comment If you do get a remote and want to do any work on it I'm more than happy to offer and experience or tips etc, I've reworked this thing enough times! Though that's not to say I'm actually any good, just that I try to appear helpful
My hope for the future is to widen out the slider of one and construct an Eccleston wide-slider sonic. Aside from one thread on here, and a possible attempt over at the RPF, I've never seen anyone make one, which is a shame really. Before that though I've got to think about rebuilding that 'ol box of mine, getting this costume finished, finishing my scrap hardboard K9 (shout out to Darth Baldrick, the Dark Side is strong with us K9 builders), fix Iron Man, finish Spiderman and Man of Steel projects. Ugh that's a lot of work...
You know, next time I post something on this forum I'll say something constructive and interesting rather than just moan about life

[galacticprobe]

Thank you for the help and the comment If you do get a remote and want to do any work on it I'm more than happy to offer and experience or tips etc, I've reworked this thing enough times! Though that's not to say I'm actually any good, just that I try to appear helpful

Thanks! I'll certainly take you up on that. The question for me is just "When?". Only a matter of time.

My hope for the future is to widen out the slider of one and construct an Eccleston wide-slider sonic. Aside from one thread on here, and a possible attempt over at the RPF, I've never seen anyone make one, which is a shame really.

Now that I would love to see! I've asked CO about making that version a few times, usually when they've come out with another "Special Edition" of the 9th/10th Doctor sonic (though their packaging for the "Special" always just says '10th Doctor' and has Tennant's image in it). I've even mentioned all of the fans that I've spoken to that would love to see them come out with the wide slot slider "Eccleston" version. And those are the times I never got a reply from them. (When I asked about the Master's Classic Series Tissue Compression Eliminator they replied; they said they had no plans to make one of those, but at least they replied.)

When you do get the time to make an Eccleston version out of one of these remotes, I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing how you do it, and the end result. (No rush. Take care of the other things first; that's the important stuff.)

Dino.