It has taken many, many years for fans of Howard the Duck to feel both vindicated and appreciated. We always told you he was a cool character, and that the George Lucas-produced movie, for all its bad rep and not-insubstantial charms, was barely scratching the surface. And in the end, Disney buying Marvel worked out probably better for Howard than any other character, as he could no longer legally be accused of infringing upon Donald Duck (which is what prematurely killed the prior Marvel Legends figure that came with Silver Surfer).

Now Howard is part of a 3.75″-scale exclusive action figure box set for Comic-Con and Fan Expo Canada. Fittingly, he comes with the folks who surrounded him in the Guardians of the Galaxy post-credits scene, albeit in their comic-book forms rather than movie style. The Collector is here, along with Cosmo, Lockjaw, Moon Boy, and three cosmic artifacts (the Zodiac Key, wand of Watoomb, and Cask of Ancient Winters). The box set, which mimics the Collector’s museum in appearance (see our larger images below), runs $69.99 and will be available in limited quantities after the show on HasbroToyShop.com.

For now, this is the only way you can get a bona fide Howard the Duck figure, and it’s his first in this scale. But if these sell out, who knows? Could a vintage Howard be next? Would Hasbro dare sell a figure named Doctor Bong? Can we see the Sinister S.O.O.F.I. make everything all smiley in the toy aisles?

I sure hope so. Tell me I’m not alone, in the comments section.

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images: Hasbro