Guardians of the Galaxy toys are set to be a little easier to find this time around.
It may seem hard to recall now, but there was a time when people weren’t so certain the first Guardians would be awesome. The film was a big leap for Marvel Studios, taking the journey away from the MCU’s Earth-based stories with characters the public weren’t familiar with, and all by way of director James Gunn, who at the time was more known for slightly twisted comedies like Slither and Tromeo and Juliet. As a result, retailers ordered conservatively, rendering it none too easy for fans to collect toys of the team.
Now that we all know and love the Guardians, stores feel a little better about loading up on the merch. For toy collectors, the first big wave of it kicks off in Spring with a release of Hasbro Marvel Legends that combines movie and comic-based characters. From Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we get updated versions of Star-Lord (in a shorter coat and with an alternate helmeted head) and Drax the Destroyer (in rage mode). Don’t sweat that they haven’t revealed the whole team just yet. While Hasbro isn’t announcing anything else at this time, I think we all understand the marketing potential of Baby Groot.
Perhaps most excitingly, this batch includes movie Yondu, and they went whole hog by giving him two different, distinctly Michael Rooker facial expressions. Rooker has been rendered in plastic before as The Walking Dead‘s Merle Dixon, but it’s about time he was a Legend.
If you’re a fan of Guardians of the Galaxy comics, the rest of the wave is pretty cool. The Marvel superhero Angela, who first appeared in toy form way back in series two of McFarlane Toys’ Spawn line, gets her first toy since moving to the Marvel universe. Major Victory (billed on the package by his real name, Vance Astro) is ready to psychically toss around Captain America’s shield, android armor-wearing Darkhawk can hash things out with the nearest Venom figure, comic-style Nova gets a re-do, and when you collect the whole wave you can build the former Supernova and weapon-armed space tiger-guy Titus.
Check out the galaxy below for our exclusive first-looks at all eight figures. Who do you want to see made next? Let Hasbro and the world know your choices in comments below.
Images: Hasbro
Everything you may have missed in the latest Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 trailer