Doctor Who's most famous monster finally gets a dedicated set of its own within the relaunched Battles in Time card game.
Dalek Invasion is pre-ordering now for a December 2026 ship date, and Heathside Trading and Master Replicas are billing it as the most complete Dalek card collection ever assembled.
That is not a small claim for a franchise whose signature enemy has appeared in dozens of different forms across more than six decades of television.
Here is what is actually inside the 142-card checklist, how the rarity tiers break down, and why several of the physical print runs are capped so tightly.
Dalek Invasion runs 142 cards deep, and more than 80 of those feature distinct Dalek variants, pulling from Skaro city Daleks that confronted the First Doctor all the way up to the most advanced Dalek scouts seen in recent episodes.
That kind of range means the set functions almost like a visual timeline of the Daleks themselves, rather than a handful of recognizable designs repeated across the checklist.
The set was developed with Dalek expert Gavin Rymill, whose involvement explains why the checklist reaches into deep-cut variants that casual viewers likely wouldn't recognize on sight.
That level of research matters for a monster-focused set like this one, since a shallow Dalek checklist would have felt like a missed opportunity given how much material the show has actually produced.
The 142-card checklist splits into 80 common cards with a UV gloss finish, 45 rare cards carrying a rainbow foil treatment, and 15 super rare cards finished in premium holofoil.
Sitting above all of that are 2 Vortex Metal chase cards, available in both gold and silver metallisation, introducing a new chase mechanic built specifically around this set's Dalek-focused theme.
Every sealed booster box includes one oversized box topper card as a guaranteed pull, with five different box topper designs available across the full print run.
Collectors buying by the case unlock better overall odds at the set's rarer tiers, since a full case naturally multiplies the number of chances at a super rare or Vortex Metal pull.
The Limited Edition booster box is capped at just 1,000 units worldwide, each carrying a gold foil Dalek Invasion logo and a tamper-proof authenticity sticker confirming its place in that exact run.
The Limited Edition case goes even further, capped at only 100 cases worldwide and containing six 36-pack boosters for a total of 216 packs and 1,296 cards in a single sealed unit.
With Vortex Metal cards as the clear chase target, holofoil and rainbow foil pulls deserve rigid toploaders the moment they come out of the pack, not a loose stack waiting for later.
A set this deep in common and rare Daleks also needs real bulk storage, since 142 cards across multiple copies adds up fast for anyone building toward a full checklist.
Where Obliterator spreads its 142 cards across every Doctor and Retroduction leans on classic reprints, Dalek Invasion is the first 2026 set built entirely around a single recurring monster.
That focus makes it a natural pickup for collectors who care more about one specific villain than about completing a broader Doctor-spanning checklist.
A full case meaningfully improves the odds of landing a super rare or Vortex Metal card compared to a single box, which matters given how deliberately this set was built around chase-worthy Dalek variants.
Collectors without case-level budget can still complete the bulk of the 142-card checklist through a handful of boxes, reserving singles purchases for whichever specific Dalek variant proves hardest to pull.
Many trading card games treat a recurring villain as a handful of repeated cards spread across different sets, rather than building an entire dedicated release around that one monster's full history.
Dalek Invasion's 80-plus variants across every television era make it closer to a reference catalog of the Daleks than a typical expansion set, which is part of what justifies the most complete claim.
December 2026.
142 cards, with more than 80 distinct Dalek variants.
Dalek expert Gavin Rymill.
Capped at 1,000 units worldwide.
A set built this deliberately around one monster deserves a dedicated corner of a collection rather than getting folded into a general Doctor Who binder.
Set aside a lockable toploader storage case for the full Dalek Invasion run before December 2026 arrives, especially if you're planning to chase the full 142-card checklist.
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