Walmart Exclusive Marvel Legends Black Panther Up for Order!

UPDATE 6/17/2016: Over six months after the figure first leaked onto the internet and over five months since he started popping up for sale on the aftermarket, the promised day has finally come. Believe it or not, the time to order a new comics-based version of Wakandan King T’Challa is here at last–the Walmart Exclusive Marvel Legends Black Panther figure is finally up for order online!

UPDATE 1/7/2016: I talked about the new Marvel Legends Black Panther last month when the first photo leaked (and a bunch of you tried to insist I was being fooled and he was a custom–ha), but an online auction of the in-hand figure yesterday revealed new images of the front and back of the box for Black Panther, plus the all-important detail that this figure is going to be a Walmart Exclusive (fun!).

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ORIGINAL: If there’s one character who can legitimately claim they were in as much demand as Marvel Legends Deadpool in 2016, it’s Black Panther. But well over half a year since his release, the Civil War Black Panther movie figure is finally becoming readily available. And so, what better time than now for Hasbro to launch a new, comics-based Marvel Legends Black Panther figure? Though it has not yet been officially announced, the new (exclusive?) 6″ Black Panther Marvel Legends figure has now been revealed!

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Remember that Black Panther six inch figure that Hasbro released way back in the Marvel Legends Rocket Raccoon series (alongside Marvel NOW Hawkeye, Wrecker, Jim Lee Jean Grey and more) in summer 2013?

That T’Challa figure has stood the test of time and steadily gained value on the aftermarket over the years, making it a sort of grail for many collectors. But those folks won’t have to pine away anymore, because it looks like that Marvel Legends Black Panther figure is coming back–as a likely (Walgreens?) Walmart exclusive figure release!

side-of-marvel-legends-black-panther-six-inch-figure-box-walmart-exclusiveIt would make sense for this figure to be an exclusive one-off release in his own packaging, as Black Panther doesn’t seem to really “fit” into any of the series coming out in 2017 (Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor and X-Men).

2013 Marvel Legends Black Panther Series 2 Figure Packaged Rocket Raccoon WaveThis figure looks to be almost a total repaint of the Rocket Racoon Series Black Panther, but now with five new accessories included: a spear (inherited from Kraven the Hunter), interchangeable grasping hands (to hold the spear), and a removable cape and necklace. In addition, he uses Civil War Black Panther’s hands.

The online listing for the figure reveals the new UPC code as “630509551798” and the figure’s description/bio as the following:

back-of-walmart-black-panther-marvel-legends-exclusive-box“With his claws sharp and his eyes set on his target, Black Panther is ready to pounce.
With the Marvel Legends Series, both kid and adult Marvel fans can start a legendary collection of comic- and movie-based Marvel characters. This 6-inch Black Panther figure is highly articulated and features detailed design, making it another epic addition to the Marvel Legends Series.”

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It’s tough to tell from the two images available, but it looks to me like this time out the figure is going to actually be painted black, as opposed to the very dark blue color of the 2013 Rocket Raccoon wave version.

In bizarre fashion, this figure has been revealed by online retailer ToyWiz, a store that’s not one of my favorites for their propensity to heavily-scalp items. They don’t actually have the Marvel Legends 2017 Black Panther figure available for order right now, as it’s listed as “Out of Stock”, but they are the very first store to show off this figure.

2017-marvel-legends-black-panther-walgreens-exclusive-figureThe packaging for this figure definitely seems in-line with what we usually expect to see from Walgreens Exclusive figures, so it’s certainly possible that this Black Panther will be the next Walgreens Exclusive. Of course, it’s not impossible that the figure could be exclusive to Walmart either–we’ll just have to wait for Hasbro to make the official announcement in order to find out the truth! I’ll update the Marvel Toy News Facebook and Twitter Pages when more details are confirmed.

What do you think about this very sought-after Black Panther action figure returning to stores with some changes, Marvel collectors? Are these improvements or a step down, and will you be picking up this new toy of the Wakandan King this winter?

Comments

Walmart Exclusive Marvel Legends Black Panther Up for Order! — 40 Comments

  1. I actually liked the blue accents on the Rocket wave Panther because it gave the figure a classic, Kirby-esque look to it (and let me tell you, Jack Kirby’s run on Black Panther is absolutely cracktastic) but I’d gladly take the alternate hands and cape any day. I never got that figure, so this is an extremely welcome surprise. This is easily going to be THE definitive Black Panther 6″ scale figure, and a great way to get a new Panther out there to tide us over until the inevitable Black Panther wave in… 2018.

    sighs heavily because I don’t want to wait that long

    One thing I like about this figure is that, aside from the lack of visible eyes, this is 100% John Romita Jr.’s Black Panther. From the classic gloves and boots to the cape to the hang-glider collar, this looks like it jumped right out of JR Jr.’s Black Panther artwork, and I love it.

    • Now that you mention it I wonder what they’ll even do for the actual BP figures in the Black Panther wave. Just re-release this and the MCU figure? The concept art for the movie is the exact same one as the Civil War suit and he’s pretty much had more or less the same design in the comics since his inception (Kirby really knocked it out of the park in one try).

      • He’s had a few variations in the comics, even if they’ve kept the same basic look (the cape is a big one). We might get a figure based on the current Panther run (the costume has a few minor alterations) and an MCU Panther, if the costumes are the same, we’ll probably see another AoU/CW Cap event where they rerelease the same mold with different paint jobs to represent very similar costumes in the films.

        Another one I’d put money on is the costume he wore in Christopher Priest’s Black Panther with the cape and gold accents. Toy Biz did that one, but the proportions were pretty wonky and the texturing was weird (par for the course for Toy Biz). I wouldn’t mind seeing Hasbro take a whack at that one.

        • The ToyBiz one is phenomenal, and easily the best Panther figure that exists so far (including this one).

          I’m hoping the Black Panther movie gives us an MCU version of that costume, with the gold accents and cape.

          • I think we’re gonna have to agree to disagree here, because I’m really not a fan of most of Toy Biz’ Marvel offerings, especially compared to what Hasbro’s been putting out lately. Even the legendary (and expensive) Deadpool, which I’ve owned, is not as good a figure as Hasbro’s most recent Deadpool. (BP in particular has really bizarre shoulders that are set too low on his torso.) Articulated fingers are nice, but they don’t hold accessories well, so I prefer Hasbro’s approach of swappable hands.

          • TB Black Panther is the best as a complete figure.
            His arms are actually kinda fine. It’s more weird because he has a hulking trapezius.
            The cape negates the weird hulking trapezius though.
            With the cape, he’s fantastic.

            I’ll grant you that without the cape the MCU one and this new one are better.

            There’s definitely an ideal Black Panther figure that could be made by combining aspects of all three.

          • Thats what i mean. I just never seen them single package a figure that a whole wave would be based on later.i could be wrong tho.

  2. Anyone know where the cape is from? It reminds me a lot of the Marvel Legends Adam Warlock we got years ago during Hasbro’s crap period. Red Hulk wave, wasn’t it?

  3. I still prefer the Toybiz Marvel Knights-styled Black Panther, but I think this new figure looks better than the Rocket Raccoon wave fig

    • Yep.
      ToyBiz Black Panther is still the best by a narrow margin.

      Rocket Raccoon Wave BP just looks kinda stupid.
      Blue Panther.

      • I actually kind of like the blue airbrushing on the RR Panther because it reminds me of Jack Kirby’s original Black Panther run, but I’m kind of curious- Why do you say that ToyBiz’s Panther is the best?

        I’m not trying to devalue your opinion, I’m genuinely curious why it’s the one you hold. Collecting is, ultimately, a subjective thing since we value different things in our figures. Personally, I like smoother-sculpted figures when it matches the artwork it’s based on, so I’m not fond of a lot of older Venom figures, for example. My two biggest sticking points are typically figure-to-artwork accuracy and proportional accuracy. TB’s BP’s proportions look a little wonky to me and the suit’s got some funky texturing that doesn’t line up with the artwork from Priest’s run on BP, so I’m not crazy about it. I’m curious what makes it so appealing to you.

        • Black Panther always looks best with his gold trim, the costume is the most detailed (aside from the MCU one), and the mask sculpt is easily the best. The cape itself is fantastic too.
          The whole figure really has the feel of a big dangerous predator. Less streamlined, and more animalistic. A more imposing and scarier shadow stalking you in the darkness than any version of Batman.
          Plus, his impressive razor fingers.
          The whole suit in that sculpt has the vibe of being an old relic of the Panther Tribe that has been passed from warrior to warrior – from one Black Panther to the next.

          Plus, the articulation is better, and the slightly off proportions aren’t noticeable unless you remove his cape. I’ll always take the better articulation if the sculpt doesn’t suffer too much to offset it. Unlike many ToyBiz figures, the articulation does very little to mess up the sculpt on Black Panther.

          This new one and the blue one are VERY plain and boring by comparison. They’ve got basically noting going for them aside from slightly better proportions.

          The MCU one is phenomenal, but it is far more sleek and looks designed by a 3D printer, which loses the imposing nature and the ancient feel. Black Panther also just feels incomplete without his gold trim, and ESPECIALLY without his cape (the gold trim and cape are genuinely the point where they perfected the Black Panther character design), so the MCU Panther loses some points for that too.

  4. The only thing wrong with this figure? The fact that it’s an exclusive.

    Don’t get me wrong, this is a smart release. This is pretty obviously in response to the, like, three years of fan demand for the Black Panther figure that was in the very poorly distributed Rocket Raccoon wave, since Black Panther is the new hotness thanks to Civil War, and this is basically that figure minus the blue airbrushing and with some new accessories. Making it an exclusive is smart too, since it doesn’t really fit in any current waves, and it’s just niche enough to warrant it.

    But the only stores that do single-figure exclusives anymore are Wal-Mart and Walgreens.

    And I honestly don’t know which store handles their exclusives more poorly.

    • Honestly, from what I’ve heard recently, Walmart’s been handling the Scariff Stormtrooper REALLY well, many stores are gettinf several cases of ’em.

      • I sincerely hope everyone else had better luck than I did finding the Scarif Stormtroopers, because I saw them at, like, one Wal-Mart in a back aisle where they’d shoved a bunch of extra TBS6 figures because they’d overordered.

        I’ll admit they’re handling the Scarif Stormtrooper better than the Shock Trooper, Bucky, and Falcon, but they’ve got a really bad habit of not giving single figure exclusives their own dedicated shelf space and cross-referencing them with other figures in the line, making them a pain to track down.

        At least in my experience. Which is typically not the best indicator of how things are handled elsewhere, since I live in Maine, where 90% of our population is trees and moose.

        • I hear ya! After months of searching, I finally found CW Bucky this past fall, and just found CW Falcon last week.

    • Walmart. The answer is Wal-Mart. Just by comparison. There are a lot more Walgreens and I’ve found all of their exclusives fully stocked and falling off the shelves.
      😎Shalom

  5. Is anyone else thinking its a custom? I am pretty sure we are being duped here, but who knows. The only thing that is slightly convincing that it might not be is the plastic portion of packaging.

    • If I thought there was even the slightest chance it was a custom, I wouldn’t post about. It’s real.

  6. This figure makes me want to re-watch BET’s Marvel Knights: Black Panther. The Animated Series.

    • I was gonna say it makes me wanna watch Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes again because BP was INCREDIBLE in that, but I never watched the Marvel Knights BP. Wasn’t that the motion comic?

  7. Really dig this. I passed on the previous one. Like but don’t love the toybiz one. The hasbro one seemed so bare bones and cheap. The buck itself is great obviously but there was nothing else to sell it on me. Now you get cape, hands, accessories, fun stuff!!

    And if it’s at Walgreens, easy hunting!

  8. So I just ordered this….I wonder if I made a mistake or not lol:) But I got it for $17.88 so not to bad I’m guessing:)

  9. Very glad to see that this available to order online…regrettably, it’s the easiest way to make sure you can get something nowadays…

  10. Dang, the price dropped from 19.87 to 17.88 since this morning. My orders were already in 🙁

      • I put in a second order at the lower price and cancelled the first one. With their new “pickup discount” they’d be even cheaper once the street date passes, but you take your chances on availability.

  11. Just cancelled my order placed a few days ago and ordered another one at $16.09!

  12. Thank you for the notification that it can be ordered through WM’s website! It’s $16 which is stunning. Picking up in-store on Wednesday!

  13. Wow y’all act quickly. Not only is he out of stock, he went back up in price. Good job catching him when you did!