While Marvel collectors got treated like royalty with the hundreds of new Marvel toys revealed at New York Toy Fair 2018, the weekend started out on a sour note with some really bad news: the end of the Funko Marvel Collector Corps Box in its current form. It was bittersweet when the final box included in the subscription arrived this week, but on the bright side, I think Funko did a reasonably marvelous (ugh, I can’t believe I said that) job with the Marvel Collector Corps Animal Instincts Box…

We got some truly terrible news the day before the 2018 Toy Fair began: the demise of the Funko Marvel Collector Corps subscription service. The Infinity War Box is available for order now and will be the final mail-order MCC box in April, whereas the Animal Instincts Collector Corps Box is the last box included with the long-running subscription model.

Marvel Collector Corps will supposedly continue as a retailer exclusive program later in the year, but it’s obviously going to be a very different experience from having a fresh box of mystery Marvel Funko goodness arriving at your doorstep every other month. Alas.

But while I’m lamenting the passing of the MCC we’ve known and loved for the past three years, I don’t want to neglect the treat we’ve just received. And so, let’s get to the unboxing, spoilers, and review photos of the Funko Animal Instincts Box!

Upon opening the box, I pretty much instantaneously knew this was a box I was gonna love. How? Because the first thing my eyes laid upon was a wacky “Howard the Duck” T-Shirt.

My hair is half pink right now (don’t ask), so I’m really pleased with how well the pink text lettering on the shirt complements my hair. The shirt fits perfectly, and the noir design is a lot of fun. This a solid example of a niche design that would never happen at retail, but that Collector Corps made a possibility. If this is the last MCC shirt we ever get, at least the shirts will be ending on a high note.

Underneath the shirt, we find the remainder of this box’s eclectic bounty. The most underwhelming thing in the box is going to be the Rocket Raccoon POP Pen and notepad for most folks, but as Rocket Raccoon is a Top 10 Marvel character for me, I’m delighted by it.

We also get to see the ever-popular MCC patch return for what may be the final time. This time, we get a Squirrel Girl patch. I like this, as it fits the “animal” theme nicely and gives us another unique item for a character that already had an exclusive POP in a previous box.

The final two items in the box are the ones that will undoubtedly be the most popular items: the vinyl figures.

Many fans were outraged we weren’t getting a whole Black Panther Collector Corps Box, but hey—at least we’re getting a unique movie Black Panther Wacky Wobbler in the Box, right?

This is the first Marvel Wacky Wobbler ever to be put into a Collector Corps Box, which is sort of weird given that this is the end of the road for the subscription-based service. I appreciate Funko giving us something different and new, though.

I also happened to luck out, as my box contained the Funko CHASE Glow Black Panther with blue energy highlights that Glow-in-the-Dark. I’m a big fan of the glowing “aura” on this Black Panther movie costume, so I’m pretty psyched that I got the Chase variant (although now I need to track down a regular version too!).

Lastly, we’ve got this month’s exclusive POP: a Funko Rhino POP Vinyl! With Rhino being a secondary Spider-Man villain that might flop at retail, I’m glad to see Funko found a way to get Rhino out to fans.

Rhino has a unique mold and numbering designation #309. The back of his box shows the Spider-Gwen POP wave from two years ago, for reasons I cannot guess. Even so, he’s a great-looking figure and I know many, many Spidey fans who are ecstatic to add him to their collections.

Overall, I think this was easily one of the most unpredictable and—more importantly—fun boxes to ship out from MCC in quite some time. My favorite item is actually the Howard the Duck shirt, but I like everything in the box. The Rhino POP and Wacky Wobbler Black Panther are great, and the Squirrel Girl Patch and Rocket Raccoon POP pen/notepad are fun. For 25 bucks, I much more than got my money’s worth here.

While not everything in this box will be to everyone’s tastes, I commend Funko for giving us an outside-the-box mixture this time out. I’ll definitely miss seeing these boxes arriving on my doorstep after the Infinity War box arrives in April.

GRADE: B+