Monster Invasion Ultimate Set

The Ultimate Collection

In 2012, Doctor Who: Monster Invasion introduced its third and final major trading-card collection: the Ultimate Collection. Unlike the previous two collections, Ultimate was produced exclusively for readers of the Monster Invasion magazine and was never released as a separately purchasable booster-card product. The collection consisted of 126 foil cards and was introduced with Issue 32. Its distribution was carefully structured so that collectors who continued purchasing the magazine could obtain the complete collection without receiving duplicate cards. This made Ultimate fundamentally different from the conventional randomised booster-pack model used for the original Monster Invasion and Extreme collections. Rather than asking collectors to repeatedly purchase packs in the hope of completing the checklist, each issue supplied a predetermined group of cards.

The 126-Card Collection

The Ultimate Collection consisted of 126 cards. Each standard Ultimate packet contained six foil cards: five Rare cards and one Ultra Rare card. The cards retained the established Monster Invasion categories used throughout the earlier collections, but the entire set was presented with a foil finish, giving the collection a distinctive appearance compared with the standard cards. The collection was distributed exclusively through Doctor Who Monster Invasion magazine and was explicitly not available to purchase separately in shops.

A Guaranteed Complete Collection

One of the most unusual aspects of Ultimate was the way in which the packs were distributed. Rather than randomising the cards, a specific packet was allocated to each issue. The publisher explicitly stated that collectors would not receive duplicates and would be guaranteed to complete the entire 126-card collection provided that they continued with the magazine. This effectively transformed the Ultimate Collection from a traditional blind trading-card release into a sequential magazine premium. Every packet formed part of a predetermined distribution programme. For collectors at the time, this was an unusually friendly approach to completing a trading-card set. For collectors today, however, it has an interesting consequence: there was considerably less incentive for subscribers to retain duplicate cards because the publisher's system was specifically designed to eliminate them.

The Four Special Edition Flip Cards

Alongside the main 126-card collection were four particularly unusual Ultra Rare cards. These were not conventional cards but special double-sided “flip” cards featuring two characters or creatures together.

The four special cards were:

• Rory Williams & a Silent

• Amy Pond & a Weeping Angel

• The Doctor & Supreme Dalek

• The Doctor & the Doctor's Ganger

These cards were distributed with specific issues of Doctor Who Monster Invasion rather than being included within the normal six-card Ultimate packets. The special cards were supplied with Issues 32, 38, 45 and 52 respectively, making them particularly important pieces of the Ultimate Collection's distribution history.

The Fifth Special Edition Card

The Ultimate Collection contained one further special card which was even more restricted in its distribution. The publisher announced that subscribers would receive a fifth special-edition card entitled Silence Will Fall. This card was supplied with Issue 33 and was therefore separate from the four special flip cards distributed later in the series.

Consequently, completing the Ultimate Collection requires more than simply obtaining the 126-card checklist. A collector seeking the complete range of Ultimate-related cards must also locate all five magazine-exclusive special cards.

The Publisher's Guarantee

The contemporary magazine announcement provides unusually clear evidence of how the Ultimate Collection was intended to work. The publisher described the collection as a “third exclusive set” and explicitly stated that the cards would not be sold separately in shops. The announcement also confirmed that the first Ultimate packet, including the first special-edition card, was supplied with Issue 32. Subsequent packets were then distributed with later issues according to the predetermined release schedule. This surviving contemporary wording is particularly valuable to collectors because it confirms that the Ultimate Collection was deliberately designed as a magazine-exclusive product rather than simply being a conventional card set that happened to be distributed through the magazine.

A Different Kind of Rarity

The distribution method gives Ultimate an unusual position within the Monster Invasion collecting landscape. The original 165-card collection and the 180-card Extreme expansion were supported by separately purchasable randomised booster packs. This naturally resulted in collectors accumulating duplicate Commons, Rares and other cards as they attempted to complete their checklists. Ultimate worked in the opposite way. The publisher deliberately supplied predetermined packets containing cards that the collector needed next, meaning that duplicate production was largely unnecessary from the consumer's perspective.

As a result, spare Ultimate cards can be noticeably harder to encounter today. This should not necessarily be interpreted as proof that the Ultimate cards had a lower original print run than the earlier collections; rather, their unusual distribution meant that fewer surplus cards were likely to enter the secondary market in the first place.

The five special cards are particularly interesting in this respect, as each was tied to a specific magazine issue rather than being obtainable through an ordinary booster pack.

The End of the Monster Invasion Card Collection

The Ultimate Collection also represents the final major card programme associated with Doctor Who: Monster Invasion. Its introduction with Issue 32 and continuation through the later issues demonstrates that the magazine was still actively supporting the trading-card concept well into the latter part of its publication run.

The final Ultimate cards were distributed through the magazine's later issues, culminating in Issue 52. This provides a fitting conclusion to the physical card-collecting element of Monster Invasion.

Unlike the randomised collections that came before it, Ultimate effectively allowed the publisher to conclude the card programme with a guaranteed-completion model. Collectors who followed the magazine through the relevant issues could obtain the complete 126-card set without the uncertainty, expense and duplication normally associated with completing a trading-card collection.