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The National Exterminator Release (2006)
Following the massive success of the regional trials, GE Fabbri Ltd. officially announced the nationwide launch of the Exterminator series in a press release on the 7th of June 2006. The national set officially hit shop shelves on the 12th of September 2006—exactly two months after the Test Set concluded.
In an unusual move, GE Fabbri included a form in the final issue (Issue 7) of the Test Set allowing parents to request a refund for the trial magazines so they wouldn't feel financially penalized for investing in the cards before the national rollout.
Magazine Distribution & The Psychic Paper
The national launch followed a similar release structure to the trial run, starting with a heavily promoted Issue 1 that came with two free booster packs.
The Psychic Paper: Just like the test run, Issue 1 guaranteed a physical "Psychic Paper" card. This interactive card featured a red transparent window that allowed players to reveal hidden decoded stats on six specific cards in the set.
Fortnightly Issues: Subsequent issues were released every two weeks. Issues 1 through 12 included a single booster pack.
Dual Packs (Issues 12–25): Starting from Issue 12 and running through to Issue 25, the magazines upgraded to "dual packs," which contained six reprinted Exterminator cards alongside the standard packs.
Individual Packs: Crucially, unlike the test phase, individual booster packs were now widely available to buy on their own at newsagents for £1.50.
Taken from The Doctor Who Magazine Issue 374, Battles in Time was mentioned within announcing the Exterminator cards after a successful Test launch!
My Render of what the packs for this set looked like, as it is incredibly hard to scan the packs themselves due to the foil packaging. Please do not re-use without permission as alot of work went into re-mastering these. Thank you.
National Set Composition & Pack Odds.
The national set expanded dramatically from the trial's 85 cards to a massive 275-card master set (numbered 001–275). The set featured characters spanning the modern revival from the episode Rose all the way through to the tragic Series 2 finale, Doomsday.
The 275 cards were broken down by the following official pack odds:
231 Common Cards (C): 8 per pack (Standard non-foil card stock)
28 Rare Cards (R): 1 per pack (Shiny metallic foil)
10 Super-Rare Cards (SR): 1 in every 6 packs (Holographic wave foil, emboss, or glow-in-the-dark)
6 Ultra-Rare Cards (UR): 1 in every 24 packs (Lenticular motion cards)
1 Golden Ticket Card: 1 in every 1,000 packs (The legendary Super Rose)
The hidden message feature, was discontinued part way through the print run of the Exterminator series. And it was never continued in later sets. However, only two were reprinted in the latter runs, with the remainder, such as Unlimited Credit and Satellite 5, keeping their hidden bonus'.
Unlike the Test Set Exterminator cards, the national release saw retail packs being available in Newsagents. These retailed for £1.50 a pack.
National Set Notable Differences and Features
How to Identify a National release card compared to a Test Set Card
If you are sorting through an old collection, there are four key design variations that distinguish a Test Set card from the standard national release:
Rarity Symbols are now included: The National release of the Exterminator set added rarity symbols in the bottom left of the card. Denominated by either a "C", "R", "SR", or "UR".
Set Count is now out of 275: The numbering on the bottom-right reads out of 275 rather than the test set count of 085.
Altered Warning Icons: The symbol in the main set is now a circular design with the power arrow flipped upside, down and no longer has the yellow triangle assosciated with the Test Set.
New Website URL: The official Battles in Time website URL "www.battlesintime.com" has now been added to the back of the cards.
🔍 The Psychic Paper Exception: The only card from the entire test run that featured absolutely no design changes is the Psychic Paper card. Guaranteed face-up on the top pack of every Issue 1 magazine, it is completely indistinguishable from the version released nationwide later that year.
Exterminator Ticklist!
Scanned Cards:
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