Hot Toys has basically conquered the world of sixth scale Marvel figures and collectibles, so it’s only natural that they’d now want to expand their Marvel license into other ranges as well. And if there’s one company that has been able to challenge the hype and buzz surrounding Hot Toys for the past year or two, it’s Funko. And thus, Hot Toys is now entering into a fierce competition with Funko, as their latest line of Marvel collectibles is in the form of the bobble-head Hot Toys Avengers Age of Ultron Artist Mix figures that are now up for order!

After the Hot Toys Iron Man 3 Cosbaby figures failed to light the collecting world aflame, I really thought that we might not see Hot Toys take another stab at the chibi figure market for a good, long time. But now it has been a few years now since the Cosbaby Iron Man figures quasi-flopped, and Hot Toys is at it again–and this time, they’re almost doubling the size of their latest super-deformed Marvel figures… and adding a bobble!

And just in case you missed it, it’ll reiterate: these are Marvel bobble-head figures. I had to re-read the specs for these three times before I caught the word “bobble”, but it’s there. That’s how Hot Toys is going to be able to have figures in this scale distributed in the United States despite not having the license for Marvel action figures in this scale in the US. So if you hate bobble-figures: beware! While the Hot Toys Iron Man Cosbaby figures stood about 3″ tall each, all but one of this first series of Hot Toys Avengers Age of Ultron Artist Mix figures will stand 14 cm–about 5.5″–tall. That’s pretty big for a stylized Marvel bobble-head figure, as all but the super-sized Funko POP! Vinyls are a mere 3 3/4″ tall.

The one sizing exception in the Avengers Age of Ultron Hot Toys Artist Mix Series 1 set is, of course, the mighty Hot Toys Hulkbuster Artist Mix figure. At 20 cm tall, the Hulkbuster will stand about 7.9″ tall–far larger than any Funko Marvel Bobble-head!

Hot Toys will also be offering a Deluxe Set including both the Hulkbuster and an exclusive Battle-Damaged Iron Man Mark XLIII Artist Mix figure, which will almost certainly be the most popular and best-selling item/set in the entire Avengers Age of Ultron Artist Mix lineup.

The “Battle Damaged” Iron Man Mark 43 prototype looks far too clean for my tastes, but I’m a sucker for an Iron Man figure that can fit inside of the Hulkbuster armor nonetheless. If I order any of these figures from Hot Toys, it’ll be this set. For those who don’t want the Hulkbuster armor but do want a standard Iron Man (does such a person truly exist?), Hot Toys is releasing a non-Battle Damaged Iron Man Mark XLIII Artist Mix figure. This is the exact same figure and mold, but without the nearly-unnoticeable scuffs and dirt present on the battle-damaged version.

I’m not excited for another in a long, long line of standard super-deformed Iron Man figures, but your mileage may vary.

The only other Avengers in the Series 1 Artist Mix lineup is Captain America. Because Cap is the only Hot Toys Artist Mix figure thus far that isn’t a robot and/or an armor, his appearance is definitely a bit jarring to me. His solid blue-colored eyes and rigid pose make him look almost as stiff as the robot/armor figures, unfortunately.

The Avengers Age of Ultron Captain America costume is really growing on me–but that awful head just kills this figure, in my opinion.

And of course, we can’t have an Avengers Age of Ultron lineup without an Ultron figure, right? Much like the Funko Ultron, this Hot Toys Ultron Prime Artist Mix figure looks more melancholy than anything else. I really hope in the actual movie that Ultron looks a lot more menacing and not nearly as, well… mopey.

Finally, we’ve got not one, but two variants of the Artist Mix Ultron Sentry figure to round out the series. Other than the Hulkbuster, these are easily my favorite figures in this whole series.

Seeing as these versions of Ultron look far more “classic” and comic-accurate than Ultron Prime–not to mention a lot more threatening–I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Hot Toys Ultron Sentry figures (particularly Version B) are the first figures in this collection to sell out (following the Iron Man Hulkbuster Artist Mix figure). The Hot Toys Avengers Age of Ultron Artist Mix figures are now up for order, and are expected to be released in August-October 2015. Considering the surprising price-point on figures of this nature, I’m very curious to see how well these Artist Mix Marvel figures sell and what the final quality of them is.

What do you think of the first series of Marvel Hot Toys Artist Mix figures, Marvel fans? Would you like to see this line continue into a second series for Avengers: Age of Ultron, move on to other movies, or not expand at all?