I have a love-hate relationship with Funko POP Vinyls that leans more toward “love” as time goes on, but I have nothing but the purest love for the Funko Mystery Minis Blind Box figures. They’re cheaper, smaller, tend to have better quality control, and come with the thrill that you only get pulling random blind box figures! While we got a spectrum of Funko Mystery Minis licensed figure in 2013 ranging from My Little Pony to Walking Dead to DC, the line will expand again in 2014, when Funko Marvel Mystery Minis Series 1 is released!

One of Funko’s traditions is teasing collectors with news and reveals leading up to the holidays. Usually these aren’t relevant to Marvel collectors, but as part of the ongoing “12 Days of Christmas Sneak Peeks”, Brian at Funko revealed some exciting news for Marvel collectors this week–in 2014, Funko’s range of Marvel vinyl figures will expand to the popular 2.5″ Funko Mystery Minis blind boxes!

At a retail price of about $5 per blind box, the Mystery Minis are a lot cheaper and less space-consumptive than the regular-sized Marvel Funko POP! Vinyls. Brian from Funko went on reveal seven of the figures that will ship in the 24-box Marvel Mystery Minis Series 1 cases:

• Ultron
• Thanos
• Galactus
• Silver Surfer
• Loki
• Thor
• Hulk

This assortment is pretty riveting stuff, as it’s the first time Funko will ever release vinyl figures of Ultron, Thanos, Galactus, and comic-styled Loki! In addition, Brian teased that there will be an additional series of Funko Guardians of the Galaxy Mystery Minis figures in 2014. Funko Rocket Raccoon and Groot…? Yes, please!!

No photos are available of any of the figures in Marvel Funko Mystery Minis Series 1 yet, and I honestly don’t expect that we’ll see this particular series revealed until the 2014 New York Toy Fair in February. I’ll post an update with the specifics on this inaugural wave of Marvel Mystery Minis blind boxes once Funko makes that information available.

I know not all Marvel collectors are as wild about vinyl collectibles as I am, but I think a lot of Marvel collectors may be won over by the sure-to-be super-cute style of the Funko Mystery Minis Marvel figures series when it’s revealed next year.

Are you intrigued by the announcement of Funko Marvel Mystery Minis Series 1 and Funko Guardians of the Galaxy Mystery Minis, Marvel fans?