Monster Invasion Test Set

Much like the Test Set in Battles in Time, the Monster Invasion Test Set was released only in the South West of England. There were subtle differences to this set before the main set was released. This initial test run set featured a total of 90 common, rare and super rare cards based on the past era and series five of Doctor Who, and included an incredibly rare regeneration Infinite Card to lucky buyers. Unlike the Battles in Time Test Set however, packs of these cards were available from newsagents.

These cards were divided into coloured categories; Doctors (6 blue cards); Villains (11 purple cards); Adventures (24 yellow cards); Monsters (26 red cards); Doctor's Allies (13 turquoise cards); Gadgets (9 green cards); 16 of these cards were special cards with an interactive element on the official website.

There are subtle differences between main release Monster Invasion cards and their respective designs. The main one, is the back of the cards and the packs feature the 2006 revival bronze daleks rather than the 2011 colour paradigm daleks. The packs also show the Doctor holding the sonic screwdriver with one hand rather than two.. Much like the Battles in Time Test magazines, the covers were also in a different order. The respective magazines can be viewed on the Monster Invasion - Magazine scans page, which highlight the internal differences of these magazines also.

As the Test Set only contained 90 cards, the numbering for each card, such as 'Super Rare' is different to the main set as there were less of each type of card. As mentioned previously, the Test Set also had a different 090 Infinite card, being 'Regenerate' rather than 'Assimilate'. These Regenerate cards are incredibly rare, being far more scarce than the sought after 'Test Set Super Rose' with an estimation of between 5 and 20 being in circulation making it the rarest Doctor Who trading card bar from 1/1 prints from other sets.

Due to the incredibly limited distribution of the Test Set of Monster Invasion, sealed items remain to be incredibly illusive.

All scans are taken from my personal collection so some scratches or variations may be present.