Just when I had resigned myself to the fact that there probably wasn’t going to be a whole lot more Marvel toy news to talk about before the holidays, word goes and breaks that Gentle Giant Ltd. is launching their first-ever line of Marvel action figures! Yeah, I know–who doesn’t have a license to make Marvel figures these days, right? But these aren’t just any action figures–they’re throwback jumbo 12″ figures based off of the vintage Marvel Secret Wars figures from 1984! And the first two figures coming our way in summer 2015 will be Jumbo Black Costume Spider-Man and Hobgoblin!

While Kenner found success with the legendary DC Super Powers Collection in 1984, Mattel countered with the first truly successful Marvel action figure line (Mego doesn’t count–those are dolls, sorry).

Tied in to the first mega Marvel crossover event–“Secret Wars”–the Mattel Marvel Secret Wars line ran for two years and created action figures of certain characters like Kang, Hobgoblin, Iceman, Constrictor and Doctor Doom for the very first time.

To celebrate the huge “Secret Wars” event coming back to the Marvel comic books line in 2015, Gentle Giant Ltd. is bringing back the other wing of Secret Wars (the one all of us really care about): the toys! Rather than straight-up reissues of the classic 4″ Secret Wars figures, Gentle Giant is expanding their popular series of Jumbo Vintage figures (which currently encompasses Star Wars and G.I. Joe) to Secret Wars!

The first figure in the line is wisely going to be a Jumbo Secret Wars Black Costume Spider-Man figure. The Spider-Man symbiote black costume debuted during the Secret Wars storyline and then got its own action figure within one year–an amazing turnaround time, even by today’s standards! Considering how iconic the black costume (and Venom) have become, I think it was a great choice on Gentle Giant’s part to begin with the Secret Wars Series 2 Black Costume Spider-Man figure.

And yes, though we can’t see it in the images that Gentle Giant has released, Black Costume Spider-Man (and the rest of the 12″ Secret Wars figures) will include his crazy, gimmicky lenticular shield, just like in the 80’s. (I threw all of my shields out immediately when I was a kid, but I understand that they’re necessary for this line to be an authentic recreation of the vintage toys in jumbo form.)

Based off of the promotional images, it appears that after Jumbo Black Costume Spider-Man and Hobgoblin, the next two figures to be released will be Jumbo Wolverine and Kang. Wolverine is always a solid choice, but I worry about Kang–Secret Wars Kang was the first true Marvel action figure shelfwarmer, and could still be found in stores over a decade after his release (seriously). I definitely have some trepidations about producing a Jumbo Kang 12″ figure so early in this line.

Whereas the Gentle Giant Star Wars Jumbo Vintage Figures line has gotten a little bit out of control (who really has space for dozens upon dozens of enormous sixth scale blister-packed action figures?), the Gentle Giant Secret Wars Jumbo Figures line should end up being a little easier to handle. In total, there are are only sixteen possible Secret Wars figures that could be released (including the European released trio), so this is at least a finite collection that collectors can allocate space for all at once.

The Marvel Secret Wars Black Costume Spider-Man figure is now available for order on the Gentle Giant Ltd. website, and is scheduled to ship out in Q3 2015. That should give collectors plenty of time to ponder whether or not they want to get in on this retro throwback line (and to figure out whether or not they have space for it!).

Thoughts on Gentle Giant revitalizing the classic Secret Wars figures line, Marvel collectors? Are you interested in 12″ Secret Wars figures based off the classic toys, or is this line a (literally) big pass for you?