Right before Christmas, Funko dropped the bombshell for Funko Marvel collectors that the first-ever Marvel Mystery Minis series of vinyl figures would be released in 2014! I really didn’t think we’d be seeing any prototype photos until Toy Fair 2014, but Funko has now released early images of all 18 Funko Marvel Mystery Minis Series 1 figures–including what has to be the cutest Thor and Green Goblin figures ever…

I have such a weakness for blind box vinyl figures it’s not even funny. Companies can take characters that I normally wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole and make them into stylized vinyl figures, and all of a sudden I find myself throwing my money at them. It’s for that reason that I have hundreds of Disney Vinylmation figures, alongside a growing number of different branded Funko Mystery Minis (including Disney, DC, and yes–My Little Pony).

So at the end of last year when Funko confirmed new Marvel Mystery Minis figures coming in 2014? My wallet trembled and my credit card cried out in despair. There was a faint hope that the Marvel Funko Mystery Minis Series 1 figures would be ugly, but that hope has been dashed–the figures are awesome. While the Marvel Funko POP Vinyls figures can be pretty hit or miss, I feel like these smaller Marvel Mystery Minis figures are a total hit across the board.

Series 1 of the Marvel Mystery Minis Funko figures will include 18 different figures (and perhaps a few Hot Topic exclusives to be revealed later): Spider-Man, Thanos, Scarlet Witch, Ultron, Silver Surfer, two versions of Loki, two versions of Deadpool, Thor, Dark Phoenix, Green Goblin, Galactus, Hulk, Punisher and Doctor Doom. These are all Marvel comics versions of the characters and not Marvel movie versions.

The Marvel Funko Mystery Minis Series 1 cases are expected to be released in Q2 2014, but no exact release date is available for these just yet. Cases will presumably contain 24 blind boxes priced at around $5 each, although Funko has released a few different sized cases of Mystery Minis before–we’ll have to wait for the details before we know for certain.

We should also find out the case ratios for these figures in the near future (and you definitely shouldn’t bet on getting every figure in a full case until we see the case ratios).

Now that you’ve seen the first promo images, how do you like the first Funko Marvel Mystery Minis figures, Marvel fans? Is there room in your collection for these adorable 2.5″ Marvel vinyl figures?