After my Cyberman experience had introduced me to the world of Doctor Who collecting, I light-heartedly compiled my own "prop wishlist". Right at the top of that list was a monster featured in 1977's The Talons of Weng-Chiang, the murderous ventriloquist's doll Mr Sin.

Early in 2008, a post on the Dr Who Collector Messageboard detailed a few items which would soon be consigned to Bonhams for auction. Among them was Mr Sin! Only the head survived; unfortunate, but understandable after over thirty years. Contacting the owner revealed that this Mr Sin was neither the character's "living" mask nor the "sleeping" mask (both pictured above), but a reserve stand-by mask not used in the TV episodes - a less collectible piece, but nevertheless a "real" Mr Sin. Hoping to bypass the impending auction I made an offer for the head. This was accepted, and in March 2008 I delightedly took possession of the "Peking Homunculus".

Researching my Cyberman costume had been very rewarding, and there was no question that I would perform the same process on this new acquisition. By comparison it would surely be a simple task - after all, I already knew exactly what it was! However, I soon made a very startling discovery....

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