Marvel Universe Wave 24 (2013 Series 5) Case Ratios & Pre-Order

Posted on by October 30, 2013

Hasbro has now allowed online retailers like BigBadToyStore to begin taking pre-orders for Marvel Universe Wave 24 (AKA Marvel Universe 2013 Series 5). Based on what was said by Hasbro at the Hasbro Marvel panel at San Diego Comic Con 2013, this is the set that’s expected to be the final wave ever of 4″ Marvel Universe figures. With that in mind, you might be hoping that the case assortment containing Marvel Universe Wave 24 would be, well… good. It’s not. At all…

Marvel Universe Black Knight Wave 24 Figure

Marvel Universe Wave 24 is truly the end of an era, as Hasbro is expected to “pass the torch” to a new 4″ Avengers figure line in 2014 that will be replacing the Marvel Universe brand (The Grim Reaper and Hyperion are two figures expected in the new 4″ Avengers 2014 line).

But before the Avengers and their villains assemble, Hasbro has five more new figures to gift us from the much-loved Marvel Universe line (and one of them happens to be an Avenger anyway): X-Force Nightcrawler, Aurora and Northstar of Alpha Flight, Omega Red and the Black Knight.

Marvel Universe Wave 24 Omega Red Figure Hasbro 2013The case assortment for 2013 Marvel Universe Series 5 (Wave 24) is as follows:

1x Omega Red
1x Alpha Flight (Northstar or Aurora)
1x X-Force Nightcrawler
1x Black Knight
1x Iron Fist (repack)
1x Black Costume Spider-Man (repack)
1x Iron Spider-Man (repack)
1x Black and White Iron Man (repack)
1x Incredible Hulk (repack)
1x Baron Zemo (repack)
1x Ultimate Spider-Man (repack)
1x Nova (repack)

Marvel Universe Wave 24 Case Filler FiguresLet me give my thoughts on this case assortment: it’s horrible. The ideal would have been two of each of the new Marvel Universe action figures (with both Aurora and Northstar in the case), with refresher figures from earlier 2013 series. Instead, the case is filled with mostly undesirable pegwarmers like Ultimate Spider-Man and Black and White Iron Man certain to gather dust at retail.

Marvel Universe Nightcrawler X-Force Figure Wave 24 2013 Series 5Hasbro could have put anything in this case pack, seeing as it’s one of the final cases (if not the final case) of Marvel Universe to ever be released. But do we get collector-demanded and/or bestseller figures like Marvel Universe Archangel, Jean Grey, Vision, Thanos, Warpath and so forth? Nope. “Have some more unsellable Ultimate Spider-Mans!” Thanks, Hasbro.

Marvel Universe Alpha Flight Northstar Aurora Figures 2013 Series 5 Wave 24Presumably there will have to be a Marvel Universe 2013 Series 5 revision case that hasn’t been announced yet, because as of now the three running change figures from Marvel Universe Wave 23 and Wave 24 are homeless. Keeping in mind how poorly Hasbro has handled variants and running changes the past year, I’m not feeling overly optimistic, but let’s hope for the best and that the Marvel Universe Abomination, A-Bomb, Cloak, Dagger, Aurora and Northstar all see a release at mass retail (or at all, for that matter). [UPDATE: The A-Bomb and Dagger figures were released in the Marvel Universe 2013 Series 4 Revision case. There is still no word on a release for Northstar.]

Marvel Universe Wave 24 is now available for pre-order at BigBadToyStore, and is scheduled to be released in October 2013.

I can sort of already guess the answer, but I’ll ask anyway: What do you think, Marvel Universe fans? Are you happy with the Marvel Universe Wave 24 case pack?

Comments

Marvel Universe Wave 24 (2013 Series 5) Case Ratios & Pre-Order — 20 Comments

  1. Hasbro seems to be in quite a hurry to just get the final figures out their. You can tell that all the figures that have been released since Vonner left hasbro have been rushed and the lack of love shows in the paint, the packaging, the detail and the type of figures getting released. They seem to be trying to end this line and be done with it as fast as they can. I feel like hasbro just does not care about the collector at all. It is a slap in the face after all the time, energy and money I have put into collecting this line of figures. I mean wow! It is completely obvious that they do not care about the collectors at all.

  2. Thanks for absolutely ruining a great thing hasbro, I have put thousands of dollars into collecting your products and you will never get my business again. I am completely boycotting all hasbro products after I get the last 5 figures.

  3. Never even got a Nate Grey MU made. Dam. Im done with this line too. Might even start selling my collection. My archangel is feeling a little worthless now. Gijoe all the way now. I’m boycotting too. Won’t even buy on markdown when I see them.

  4. When will they bring out the last two box sets of the marvel universe line? They have been coming out all year!

    • Are you talking about the Uncanny X-Men set with Emma Frost and Colossus/Juggernaut and the Asgard set with Enchantress and Executioner?

      Those aren’t scheduled for release at all now. The tooling is likely done for those figures, so we’ll probably see them as exclusives some day, but I don’t think it will be in the “Marvel Universe” line now.

      • Oh man! Thank you for the heads up. I’ve been scanning the web for months looking for them. I was goin to make them my last hit of marvel universe,it was gunner be a great place to sign off.

        • Not scheduled for release? Listings have shown up on Amazon and a few places with in box pictures. They will come by the end of the year.

  5. I’m boycotting the new avengers line, I see zero reason to support the new toy line. With how they handled the end of Marvel universe, the case assortment, adding variants and breaking the cloak & dagger two pack.(Which I took as goodwill from them, they are two very basic cheaply done figures.)

    It would take very unique and well done figure(something they’ve shown they can’t do) to even begin to temp me.

  6. This article is misleading. The Avengers line is NOT a new toyline per se. Not is Marvel Universe actually ending. It’s called rebranding. The comic con panel said it exactly: it is about brand recognition, and stores do not see value in marvel universe toys because there’s no movie or tv show called marvel universe. Stores will recognize Avengers logos because of movies and TV, so the stores will buy the cases and carry product. All you folks throwing the baby out with the bath water, I’ll gladly buy your despised Hasbro toys from you! Your boycott will make it easier for the rest of us to continue to support the quality Marvel toys, regardless of what the card back says. For the record, I don’t touch the assemblers or those horrid 5 POA Spider-Man and Wolverine figures. Also, the rebranded Avengers toys are NOT the same as the Avengers Assemble cartoon based toyline.

    • Next year’s Avengers line is a new toy line, because it will only be encompassing Avengers-related heroes and villains. Marvel Universe Wave 24 is, as stated, the last all-encompassing assortment of characters from throughout the Marvel Universe. We’re not going to be getting Alpha Flight or X-Factor or Darkhawk or Kraven the Hunter or anything like that in next year’s “Avengers Universe” line (or whatever they end up calling it). For obscure favorites like Fin Fang Foom and so forth, the death of Marvel Universe is likely the end of the road for those characters’ chances at being captured as 4″ figures by Hasbro.

    • well put, this is not a screw job on the collector per se, it shows how they will actually make a transition into pushing the universe through other venues. Like: iron man’s “comic series” figures. Not my favorite way, especially since the “big name” products are definitely less articulated, and that’s my favorite aspect of this line. Furthermore; the rate at which character variety expands may slow!! I’m kinda sad about it actually.

  7. Probably, by now, everyone knows the last 3 packs are cancelled. JayC at tni had spoke with marvel reps. Im sure we will see them somewhere in the Avengers line. What gets me isnt the rebrand, but just tossing MU aside like its nothing but MLs red headed step child. I find it lame that once Vonner was let go, all the big wigs at Hasbro said “hey, lets try super hard to not complete any other teams…except the team of Spide-man, wolverine, captain america..they are a team right? 😉

  8. The problem with saying its a new toyline altogether
    Is that it really IS NOT, it’s a rebrand with a FOCUS on Avengers. That does mean we aren’t going to see an Emma Frost or a Cyclops or any X-villains, but there are so damn many Avengers teams and villains that we have a lot wide open. Fin Fang Foom started off fighting Hulk if I’m not mistaken, and had encounters with Thor and Iron Man, amongst others…and those three have been on many Avengers rosters. Foom not coming is due to the colossal FAILURE that was the Masterworks line. No one wanted to pay $65 for them, and Hasbro really didnt want to reuse the old Toy Biz BAF Foom anyway. it was a few factors that made Foom go off the table, but it had almost nothing to do with the brand change. The Avengers line is being handled by the same exact team as the MU line has been for this year. Same style, same size, same scale, same articulation, different piece of cardboard, and tentatively the same SKU/designation codes as per warehouse stocking paperwork, that all adds up to “same stuff, different name”, not “a whole new toyline”.

  9. Oh and Dabid, Darkhawk was recently in the Avengers Academy/Avengers Arena roster, so yes, if they want to redo him, he COULD end up in this line…same as many many others…X-23(if they want to give her a redo), we have Hyperion and Grim Reaper to look forward to…that tells me they are willing to give us some new faces… So why not be happy we might get Skurge, Valkyrie, maybe a Flash Thompson Venom, or on the villain side, maybe we’ll see Whirlwind, Baron Von Strucker, Arnim Zola, Blizzard, the list can go on and on…the bottom line is the Comic Con panel stressed “it’s the same thing with a new name, and there’s a yearly theme to it now instead of just whatever figures we randomly grab”

    • I guess we’ll have to wait and see, Shawn. The initial waves of Avengers Universe (or whatever they end up calling it) will be comprised of figures like Hyperion and Death’s Head left over from David Vonner’s time at Hasbro, the same as the last few waves of Marvel Universe were. Once we get into the post-Vonner era and Hasbro stops releasing figures originally planned for the Marvel Universe line, we’ll see how much diverse stuff we get.

      Regardless, Marvel Universe Wave 24 is the end of that toy line–period. “Avengers Universe” (or what-not) may be a similar toy line with a similar focus and the same scale/articulation, but it’ll still be its own line. You said it yourself: “it’s a rebrand with a FOCUS on Avengers. That does mean we aren’t going to see an Emma Frost or a Cyclops or any X-villains, but there are so damn many Avengers teams and villains that we have a lot wide open. ” Marvel Universe was created specifically to encompass the entire Marvel Universe, and “Avengers Universe” is meant to focus on Avengers characters. Transformers Prime Beast Hunters isn’t Transformers Classics, McFarlane’s Halo 4 isn’t Halo Reach, and [Avengers Universe] won’t be Marvel Universe. That’s not to say the Avengers line won’t be any good, but it will be its own line with its own mandate and focus that is different from Marvel Universe’s. As great as it was, the Marvel Universe era is over.

      • MU was great in many lights…but had its awful points…one of which Hasbro is throwing at us in this last case assortment…Ultimate Spiderman. I’ll go one further…we have 3 Spiderman outfits in one case of 12 figures…whatever comes next, I for one hope we won’t just be getting another 20 different Spideys, 20 different Wolverines, and even 20 different Iron Man variants…MU strangled us with so many repaints and slight redecos of the same character over and over and over…and I’m glad you mention Deaths Head…because I’m praying we get him. I heard rumor he won’t see the light of day though. The fact that we’re getting Hyperion and Grim Reaper is encouraging though, because neither one of them are A-listers really…Hyperion has a solid fan base, sure, but he’s only recently cropped up in a few Avengers comics…Grim Reaper was nowhere to be seen for a while too…so maybe we get lucky, and best case/I know I’m hoping for too much scenario: Avengers toyline has a little red square of a familiar logo on it somewhere, our first case has all new characters (like, a hypothetical lineup Hyperion, Grim Reaper, Bearded Thor, Madame Hydra/Viper, and a Hydra soldier…2 heroes, 2 villains, 1 army builder bad guy, a nice balance, yes?) Maybe we get 3 new figures that come packed 3 to a case and 3 recarded figures from MU packs (like Quicksilver or Wonder Man repaints on a single card)…just have to wait and see…and hope Hasbro doesn’t deal us awful cases like this MU wave 24

    • Nope. I can’t remember a Quasar in any line besides Heroclix, though, to be honest.