(Photo by Steve Chatterley via Pexels)
By Nathan Pynn
A life-size Dalek signed by Doctor Who stars is expected to "exterminate" a $4,025 price tag at auction.
The 170 cm-tall (5.6 ft) sci-fi monster comes complete with motors and joystick controls and formed part of a collection which filled its late owner's home from "floor to ceiling."
It bears the signatures of Nicholas Briggs, the voice of the Daleks, Terry Molloy, who played Davros, plus Barnaby Edwards, Jon Davey and Dan Starkey.
The Dalek belonged to collector Tim Pollard, who died from cancer aged 61 last year.
It has an estimate of between $2,685 and $4,025 but could fetch far more when it goes under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers next week.
All the proceeds will go towards the care of Tim's 12-year-old daughter.
The youngster also lost her mother, Sally Pollard, to breast cancer in 2017 when she was just 39.
(Photo by Steve Chatterley via Pexels)
Tim Pollard's father-in-law Stephen Plummer said: "The house was full floor to ceiling with his collections which have now all been moved to secure storage awaiting an auction timetable."
Auctioneer Charles Hanson said: "It is exactly the sort of object that makes auctions fascinating because there is far more to it than its appearance.
"It has personality, provenance and a connection to a television institution that has entertained generations.
"A working Dalek is certainly not something you come across every day."
The rest of Tim Pollard's collection includes Gerry Anderson, Star Wars and Star Trek memorabilia, fantasy role-playing and board war games and African artifacts.
Among the treasures is a rare limited-edition 44-inch studio-scale Eagle Transporter from Space: 1999, which will be auctioned next February, while his collection of Zulu artifacts is due to be sold on Nov. 25.
Tim began collecting while working in the gaming industry in the 1980s, including Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures in Nottingham.
He was also well known locally for portraying Robin Hood from 1996, later appearing alongside his wife Sally as Maid Marian. The couple married in 2016.
After Sally Pollard's death, he raised thousands of dollars for breast cancer charities in her memory.
Tim's Dalek will go under the hammer at Hansons' auction house in Etwall, Derbyshire, next Thursday, Oct. 22.