When Diamond Select Toys debuted their humongous Archangel statue at NYCC 2019 last October, I had my doubts they could keep it below the usual $199 Premier Collection price-point regardless of what the placard said at the event. And I was right, as Warren is actually priced at a surprising $399 MSRP! Thankfully, EE has the Marvel Premier Collection marked down a more $319 shipped for pre-orders. But that wasn’t the only surprise in the new solicits—a Marvel Select Taskmaster movie figure is also on the way!

As usual, Diamond Select Toys has unleashed a multitude of new Marvel pre-orders as part of their January solicitations, so I’m going to split up this month’s new offerings into two posts to give each item its due attention-wise.

I’ll talk about the latest Marvel Gallery and Animated statue offerings a bit later on, but for now let’s focus on the most major announcements: the Premier Collection Archangel resin statue and the Marvel Select Taskmaster figure from the Black Widow movie!

The Diamond Select Archangel was a complete surprise when it debuted at the New York Comic Con booth in the fall, and I’ve been looking forward to seeing it actually put up for sale ever since October. I was not, however, looking forward to a big price increase on it!

While Archangel was marked at a prospective $199.99 at NYCC, the actual production costs for this large, wide piece seem to be much higher, and as a result Apocalypse’s Horseman of Death is carrying a $400 MSRP. Ouch!

At 400 bucks, I would definitely recoil at the price-tag on Warren. But thanks to Entertainment Earth discounting pre-orders to $319.99 and free shipping–around 20% off—I feel a bit better about the cost of this. I really liked this Archangel when I saw it displayed, and given the size and complexity of the statue—and how few Archangel statues we see typically—I think I’m going to bite on this one.

A figure I am certain I’ll be biting on, however, is the Black Widow movie Taskmaster Select action figure! I wasn’t entirely sure we’d see any movie Marvel Select Black Widow figures produces at all, so I’m excited to see Tasky getting the DST 7” figure treatment.

All we can see is a silhouette with no details or accessories just yet, but I’m hoping to see Taskmaster fully unveiled at Toy Fair next month. Diamond always does a bang-up job on MCU figures without an actor likeness to worry about, so this ought to be pretty sweet.

The apparent omission of a new figure of Natasha herself from DST definitely feels a bit weird, though, since MCU Black Widow hasn’t gotten any Marvel Select love since back during the Age of Ultron era—could we see her announced at Toy Fair as well?

The Diamond Select Toys Taskmaster Select and Archangel Premier Collection Statue are now up for order, with both slated for release in June 2020. That doesn’t leave a ton of time for production, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if we saw either (or both) pushed back slightly in the release schedule. Regardless, I’m reserving the pair myself.

Anyone else taking the plunge for a rare piece of high-end Archangel merch and hopping on this 14” resin statue? And are you hoping to see a new movie Black Widow Select figure of Natasha herself released as well, or are you good with just Taskmaster?