They said it couldn’t be done. And by “they” I mean “Diamond Select Toys”, and by “it” I mean more Marvel Zombies Minimates. It was just a few weeks ago in the latest Art Asylum Blog Q&A that Diamond Select reaffirmed that they were no longer allowed to make Marvel Zombies figures or merchandise. Clearly either they lied or (more likely) something changed, as today an all-new and totally-unexpected item went up for pre-order: the Minimates Marvel Zombies Villains Box Set!

I don’t think it’ll surprise anyone that zombies in general are not my thing. I let myself be coaxed into  reading the first 100 issues of “The Walking Dead” comic book, with the imagery from Walking Dead #100 leaving me pretty disturbed for weeks afterwards. Somehow I was coerced into reading the first Marvel Zombies TPB after that, and I am now emotionally scarred for life by the all-consuming creepiness of the Marvel Heroes devouring Magneto, the Silver Surfer and Galactus. So no, Marvel Zombies fall outside of the realm of Marvel properties that I am comfortable with.

That said, I think that the Marvel Zombies Minimates figures are pretty gosh-darn adorable. The inherent super-deformed style of the Minimates figures tones down the grotesqueness of the Marvel Zombies, making them much more palatable as figures to collect (at least for me). So I’ve been disappointed to hear the PR people from Diamond Select Toys assert over and over again the past few years that Marvel would no longer allow them to release Marvel Zombies figures.

Luckily, that embargo seems to be at an end! This morning the first new Marvel Zombie Minimates figures box set went up for pre-order for $17.99, with a scheduled release date of October 2013! The set is composed entirely of villains and includes Zombie Galactus, Zombie Red Skull, Zombie Green Goblin and Zombie Magneto. None of these characters were “alive” (if you can consider being a zombie “alive”) in the story I read, so I can’t vouch for the accuracy of their designs, but man these figures are cute!

I don’t know if I’d consider these particular Marvel Zombies figures a must-own, but they’re definitely something fun and unique for Marvel collectors, and I’m glad to see that Diamond Select Toys is at it again with new Marvel Zombies merch! Can Zombie Thing and Zombie She-Hulk figures be far behind? I can only hope…