It’s the Doctor Who/Star Wars crossover you’ve been waiting for! Possibly…
Back to the All-Stars, with a burgundy pair hi-tops similar to the ones the Tenth Doctor used wear when he had his blue suit on.
I say, “similar” because mine don’t have the stars on the ankles removed by the BBC. Quite why the Corporation felt it needed to do this when it doesn’t bother sticking Gaffa tape over the logos of every car it features in a drama is unclear. Especially when all the Corporation’s younger, male news reporters wear anoraks emblazoned with “NORTH FACE” in huge DayGlo letters during any Winter/Autumn outside report.
I’ve got to admit, though, that until “The Day Of The Doctor” 50th anniversary special, I had never heard of plimsolls being referred to as “sand shoes”. It was still a great gag, but “sand shoes” was a new one on me. So I did a bit of Googling… erm, research, and discovered that it’s a term used mainly in Australia for what we British call pumps or daps. Maybe the War Doctor liked a good barbie?
Specifically, there was one brand of “sand shoe” that was hugely popular in Australia – the Dunlop Volley. They were apparently legendary for their supergrippy soles which made them the choice footwear for roof tilers. Dunlop Volleys were standard issue by the Australian Army and RAAF until the late 1980s and are still issued to date by the Royal Australian Navy. Presumably they don’t go into battle wearing them. Although maybe they do, to prove how hard they are: “Only Pommy soldiers wear boots. We can kick ass in rubber and canvas.”
As for the dinky Sandcrawler, that was another item I picked up in the Lanes in Brighton. Little did I know it was hiding a surprise…
When I got it home I discovered that you can actually open a hatch in its side. And hidden in the interior was…
…The tiniest R2D2 I have ever seen! It looks suspiciously like something you might find in a Kinda egg. Or maybe a Christmas cracker. I’m not even sure the two originally came together or whether somebody just stored their R2D2 in their Sandcrawler and forgot when they came to sell it. Can anybody shine any light on this mystery?
More intense deadline wrangling today. Thinking about taking next week off to recover.
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The Sole Of Sci-Fi 
Ooh, I had one of those Sandcrawlers! Came with a Happy Meal I think, and I’m pretty sure R2-D2 came with it. (Though it was literally half my lifetime ago, so I wouldn’t swear on it or anything)
That makes sense. Amazing that R2 is still in his bag!