I was a young teenager when the Maximum Carnage crossover came out in the early 90s–which means I thought it was pretty much the coolest thing in the world. Whether or not it would stand up as a literary masterpiece today (and I have a suspicion it might not), I loved it back then, and had the video game, Toybiz figures… the works. And so, Diamond Select Toys hit all the right nostalgic notes with me at New York Toy Fair 2018 last month, where they revealed a whole Marvel Minimates Maximum Carnage Series…

As successful as the Marvel Legends brand has been, even it has to take a back seat to the astounding number of series of Marvel Minimates that have been put out to-date. Not counting box sets, convention exclusives, or the various retailer exclusive waves (of which there have now been dozens), the main line is now up to Series 76–with no end in sight!

And the theme for the 76th series, which debuted last month at the 2018 Toy Fair, is one that’s sure to generate a lot of attention and sales: Maximum Carnage!

Marvel Minimates Series 76 contains the following four two-packs:

• Spider-Man & Black Cat
• Demogoblin & Carnage
• Venom & Doppelganger Spider
• Cloak & Dagger
• Build-A-Figure: Shriek

As maligned as 90s comic books are these days, there are some wicked cool character designs from that era—and two of my very favorites are in this series: Doppelgänger Spider and Demogoblin.

We’ve seen DST release great six-armed figures before (such as in the awesome Spiral and Mojo two-pack), so I always hoped they’d get around to producing the Doppelganger Spider-Man. They have—and as expected, he looks suitably sick and twisted. His two-pack with Classic Venom is sure to be one of the two hottest sets from this wave.

Meanwhile, the equally cool Demogoblin is paired up with the headliner himself: Carnage. We’ve had several Carnage Minimates before, but this is a freshly-released Cletus Kassidy in his most iconic look. Like the Venom pack, this is going to be snapped up instantly in stores that sell individual two-packs.

Rounding out the Maximum Carnage Minimates Series 76 is a pair of hero two-packs. First up is a classic red-and-blue Spider-Man with Black Cat. Both of these are popular characters that we’ve had before in Minimates form, but there’s always a demand for Spidey, so I don’t think this will sit around comic shops too long. Spider-Man comes with a new sonic gun to blast Carnage with.

The final pack contains a duo that’s difficult to separate: Cloak and Dagger. It’s been 53 series since the last time this pair got Minimates, believe it or not, and there’s a huge aesthetic improvement since that time–particularly the shape of Cloak’s extra-dimensional cloak. I like the light knives effects piece hand that Dagger comes with too.

This looks like a pretty solid series all-around–and a good thing, too, because it’s the second series to feature a designated Build-A-Figure! If you buy the whole set of four Minimates Maximum Carnage two-packs, you’ll get all the parts to build Carnage’s main squeeze, Shriek! Shriek never has–and likely never will have–a Marvel Legends figure released, so I’m totally jonesin’ for this Minimates Shriek Build-A-Figure. Love it!

The latest round of Diamond Select Toys solicitations came out this week and did not include the Maximum Carnage Minimates series of figures, but since the placard at Toy Fair said they have a target release date of Summer 2018, I suspect we’ll be seeing the Marvel Minimates Series 76 Maximum Carnage figures go up for order next month. I’ll post an update and sent out alerts via our social media pages once pre-orders open up for this wave.

Make some noise, Marvel Minimates collectors! Are you digging this latest set of Maximum Carnage-themed characters, or do you prefer the waves that have a more eclectic grouping from across the Marvel Universe? And how do you feel about the Minimates Build-A-Figure gimmick that’s continuing in this wave with Shriek? Is this a good carrot to convince you to buy a whole wave at once?