I haven’t even finished up my coverage of the 2020 New York Toy Fair mega-show that occurred just over a week ago, but Hasbro is already at it again with an all-new figure up for pre-order that wasn’t even announced at Toy Fair! If you missed out on last year’s blue Beast or were disappointed he came without a friendlier alternate head (or other accessories), then this may be for you: the Retro X-Men Marvel Legends Grey Beast figure is now up for order!

When Hasbro released the newly-tooled X-Men Legends Beast figure last year, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that we’d have to see much of that tooling repurposed in the near future in order for Hasbro to get their money’s worth out of the expense.

And hey, what could possibly be a more natural and easier way to reuse those molds than by turning the blue Beast grey… right? Thus, to the surprise of no one (other than the unexpected  timing right after NY Toy Fair), Hasbro revealed a retro gray Beast Legends figure today!

But wait…! This isn’t just a repaint! No, in this case, we’re also getting three new accessories that I think will really make a difference in motivating collectors to pick up an unusual color variant that they otherwise might not.

The most obvious new inclusion with this release is an all-new interchangeable head. Many collectors (including me!) weren’t thrilled with just the “feral” head that came with the 2019 blue Beast figure, and this time out we get an extra “friendlier” Hank McCoy head as a pack-in as well. This more rational-looking Beast is my preferred look for the character, so I’m thrilled to get this new head here.

In addition, we get eyeglasses to make Hank look more refined and book smart… and a book for Beast to hold, demonstrating his scholarly inclinations! I think these three new add-ins greatly enhance ML Retro Grey Beast, and my only disappointment here is that we aren’t getting the new head in blue as well for our old figure. Hasbro takes care of us, though, so I’d like to think they have a plan in mind to get us this great portrait for the existing blue figure!

The Marvel Legends Retro Beast figure is now up for order, and is scheduled to ship out in June 2020. This is an obscure look for the character, but given that the demand wasn’t met for last year’s Hank McCoy, I think this could be another surprise hot seller for Hasbro.

How do you feel about the third Marvel Legends X-Men Beast in the past year, collectors? Do the new accessories earn your dollars once again, or is the gray-hued variation of Beast a release you feel like you can live without?