As we counted down the days to New York Toy Fair 2015, Funko started posting mysterious teaser images for Marvel vinyls labeled as “Vinyl Sugar Dorbz”. I had a hunch regarding exactly what this new imprint was, and at the 2015 Toy Fair Funko confirmed my suspicions. A new line of 3″ vinyl Marvel figures is coming this year–and it’s kicking off with twenty-three 3″ Vinyl Sugar Dorbz Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy figures and two XL Dorbz!

I imagine everyone was more than a bit suspicious when Funko started seemingly advertising for an unknown company called “Vinyl Sugar” in the buildup to NY Toy Fair 2015, and Cameron Deuel of Funko Marketing verified for me what we all expected at the show: Vinyl Sugar is in fact an offshoot brand of Funko itself.

However, whereas Funko has exploded and become mainstream, Vinyl Sugar is meant to be more limited and won’t be available in large chains, drug stores and grocery stores in the manner that Funko POP Vinyls have become. Making pieces limited is a time-honored tradition in the collectible designer vinyl figure business, and I’m happy to see Funko going back to basics with the Vinyl Sugar toys.

That said, Funko has big things planned for this year Marvel-wise, as far as Vinyl Sugar goes, with 23 of their new 3″ Dorbz vinyls already revealed, as well as two XL Dorbz 6″ figures!

All of the announced 2015 Marvel Dorbz were present at the 2015 New York Toy Fair, and are as follows:

Guardians of the Galaxy Dorbz Figures–

• Star-Lord (Masked)
• Star-Lord (Unmasked Peter Quill)
• Rocket Raccoon
• Groot
• Gamora
• Drax
• Ronan the Accuser
• Nebula
• Korath
• The Collector
• Yondu

Dorbz Marvel Series 1 Figures–

• Iron Man
• Captain America
• Ghost Rider
• Scarlet Witch
• Beast
• Wolverine
• Deadpool
• Mystique
• Magneto
• Thor
• Spider-Man
• Hulk

All-in-all, these are some terrific lineups, filled with iconic characters and even some obscure favorites like Korath and Yondu! I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed the omission of Thanos, however. Future exclusive, anyone…?

The Vinyl Sugar Marvel Dorbz boxes have a unique feature that we don’t see very often–the box has a window on the front and the back, so collectors can appreciate the whole Marvel Dorbz figure without even removing it from the package!

The Guardians of the Galaxy Dorbz boxes are a little bit dull with their primarily grey color scheme, but the bright yellow of the Dorbz Marvel Series is really striking!

Originally the Marvel Dorbz Vinyl Sugar figures were planned to be blind boxes, but Funko (correctly) decided that the $9.99 MSRP on these figures was a bit too much for a random ‘blox’-ed figure.

In addition to the regular-sized three-inch Dorbz, there will also be a small number of six-inch XL Dorbz released, retailing for $29.99. The two XL Dorbz shown at the New York Toy Fair 2015 were Rocket Raccoon and Groot.

The Vinyl Sugar Marvel Dorbz figures should be up for pre-order later this winter, with the Dorbz Guardians of the Galaxy series arriving in May 2015 and Dorbz Marvel Series 1 in October 2015. These won’t be available in the mass of stores that Funko POP Vinyls are, so I’m going to order my Dorbz online when they come available rather than taking the chance of not finding them at retail.

Now that we’ve seen the two-dozen plus Dorbz that Funko/Vinyl Sugar has lined up for us, how do you feel about the new Dorbz Marvel Series, Marvel collectors? Are you interested in adding these adorable, stylized Marvel vinyls to your collection, or do you think Funko has missed the mark with their latest imprint?