When speculation hit the net that the major licensed 2014 LEGO sets would be delayed past January 2014 until after the theatrical release of The LEGO Movie (so as not to damage LEGO Movie sets’ early sales), I thought that notion was silly. But, well–I guess maybe there was something to that rumor after all… the LEGO Movie hit theaters just days ago, and like magic, all of the LEGO Marvel 2014 sets have suddenly appeared in LEGO stores!

After hearing that the LEGO Star Wars 2014 sets had finally made their debut in LEGO Stores, I hauled over to the LEGO Store first thing in the morning to see what was new. To my delight, there were dozens of all-new LEGO 2014 sets freshly stocked–including the long-awaited LEGO Marvel 2014 sets!

While these sets aren’t expected to hit mass retail until March 2014, they’re available now at the LEGO Store and should be hitting Toys R Us stores soon as well.

The LEGO Marvel Superheroes Winter 2014 wave consists of five sets, and plenty of all five were in stock at the store:

76018 LEGO Hulk Lab Smash ($49.99)
76017 LEGO Captain America vs. Hydra ($19.99)
76015 LEGO Spider-Man Doc Ock Truck Heist ($19.99)
76014 LEGO Spider-Trike vs. Electro ($12.99)
76016 LEGO Spider-Helicopter Rescue ($44.99)

I was surprised to see the LEGO Captain America vs. Hydra 76017 set was only $19.99, as that set looked like a $25-$30 item to me from the prototype photos. At “only” 20 bucks, army-building LEGO Hydra Soldier Minifigures seems a little less absurd.

I was likewise surprised to see the low $20 price-tag on the LEGO Spider-Man Doc Ock Truck Heist, although that set is a tad boring with no new LEGO heroes or villains figures in it. I was actually going to pass on the new LEGO Doc Ock set, since there have been quite a few LEGO Doc Ock minifigures released previously, but for 20 bucks… yeah, I’ll take another LEGO Doctor Octopus.

The LEGO 76016 Spider-Helicopter set is a mite more expensive than I hoped at $44.99 (as I only want the Minifigures from that set and have less than zero interest in the Spider-Man Helicopter), but I want LEGO Luke Cage and Mary Jane Minifigures enough that I’ll certainly drop 45 bucks on this set in the near future.

I only picked up the LEGO Hulk Lab Smash 76018 set today, but all five sets look fantastic and will be residing in my home very soon. I’ve already begun posting tons of photos of the Hulk Lab Set on Facebook, and you can ‘Like’ Marvel Toy News on Facebook to have LEGO news, photos and updates sent right to your Facebook Newsfeed.

What about you, Marvel fans? Are you psyched for these LEGO 2014 Marvel Super Heroes to finally hit stores, or is the appeal of this batch of sets lost on you?