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The Exterminator Test Set contains some of the rarest cards in the Battles in Time Franchise due to the limited locations where they were released and the very limited time of sale. Overall, the Exterminator Test Set saw a twelve week trial run in the South West and Grampian areas of the United Kingdom starting on the 19th of April 2006 and ending on the 12th of July 2006. Though no Test Set packs were available for sale separately, they were available through buying the magazines which were released every two weeks, though many people opted to buy multiples of the first issue, as it retailed or £1.50 and included two packs of cards, there were a total of 7 different Test Set Magazines which were released.
The Test Set itself contained the first 85 cards of the National Exterminator release, and included the illusive Test Set Super Rose to lucky collectors. The Exterminator Test Set included cards from the 1st revival series only featuring characters within Christopher Eccleston's incarnation of 'The Doctor', and characters from the 2006 Christmas Special introducing David Tennant. There were some variances between the Test Set and the Main Release which are detailed on this page and the National Exterminator Set Pages. In summary however, these were a different warning symbol on bonus cards, the lack of a rarity symbol in the bottom left, the cards being out of 85 rather than 275, and the lack of the battles in time website on the rear of the card.
The Test Set consisted of:
60 Common Cards (8 in every pack)
14 Rare Cards (1 in every pack)
7 Super Rare Cards (1 in every 6 packs)
4 Ultra Rare Cards (1 in every 24 Packs)
Extra to the set was the Super Rose, a 'Golden Ticket' card with only 1 in every 1,000 packs. Although it is believed less than 50 were ever produced. So it may have been rarer still. Below are scans of the accompanying leaflet giving information on both the set, and the cards themselves.
The only card which did not feature any design change, and is indistinguishable from the main set cards is the Psychic Paper card which was guaranteed in every first issue, usually on the topmost pack.
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.
The Cards Themselves
The Test Set Exterminator Set introduced the types of cards which would be the baseline for the cards released over the next three years. As shown in this "Issue 1" accompanying leaflet, there were "Character Cards" and "Bonus Cards" shown featuring the Test Set cards. Looking closely you can see that the cards themselves do not have a rarity symbol, and the bonus cards feature the yellow warning triangle.
This leaflet also showed the rarities of the cards, detailing the "Common", "Rare", "Super Rare" and "Ultra Rare" cards. What was great to see within these magazines is the artwork unhindered by either foil or the lenticular plastic. Sadly, these artworks are lost or gatekept and therefore will only be visible through the magazines.
The second page of the leaflet goes into further detail regarding the cards themselves. As seen there are details regarding the Card Numbers, Power Icons, Card Description, Set Name, Set Number, Deck Icons, Double Ratings and Skill categories.
Like the example shown to the left, some cards in the Main Release were edited slightly. Either the information on the bottom was changed, or in the case of Harriet Jones, the title was changed to accommodate a second card. Adding 'MP' on the later set. Captain Jack was the only card from the test set to receive a complete image change. The likelihood was that they didn't want to show a gun. This card offers a shift in the informative text on the base of the card.
Differences between the Test Set and National Set
The only notable difference on the rear of Test Set cards is the lack of the battles in time website, showing only "BBC 2006" and in most cases showcased a deeper blue on the rear of the cards. It is unknown if this was intentional, or a change in the printing process.
As shown in the image above, the main differences between Test Set and Main Release Cards are the absence of a Rarity Symbol on the Test Set Release and the numbers out of 85 rather than 275. Additionally, on bonus cards The Test Set card to the left has a generic yellow warning symbol. This was changed to the circular emblem, as shown on the card to the right. Another thing to note is that on the Test Set, they used two digits, such as 01/85, whereas, in the Main Set, they used single digits, such as 1/275.
As seen in the image to the right, Test Set Super Rare 'wavy' foil cards were horizontally aligned. So the wave peaks pointed left and right. On the main release, however, these were changed to top-to-bottom alignment for some reason.
Announcement of National Release
With every Test Set issue 7, there was an additional insert which, in short, announced the national main release of Battles in Time. The initial paragraph detailed that they would begin their release in Autumn, and would begin again with Issue 1.
This also confirmed that what we now know as the Test Set magazines and cards would feature the same material but in a different order, as well as a larger set of cards with subtle differences. This confirmed that the original 85 cards would be unique and never issued in the same form again. While stocks lasted, you could buy Test Set Packs from the website.
If you did not want to continue, GE Fabbri offered a refund on all bought issues if you sent them back to the company. If you did want to continue they also offered the first issue completely free, which is why this leaflet had not been seen by myself untill now.
This is the Test Set Tick List that was issued with every Issue 1 Special.
Scanned Cards:
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