Although everyone on Earth figured there would be a Toy Fairs Exclusive Hot Toys Iron Man figure this summer—and the Concept Art Captain America figure actually was rumored as well—Hot Toys did manage to keep one of their newest batch of limited exclusives a legit surprise! If you’ve only seen the Black Panther movie once (or didn’t pay close attention), you might have missed this one, but Hot Toys sure didn’t—the Toy Fair EXCLUSIVE Hot Toys T’Chaka Black Panther figure is now up for order!

“Wh-Wha!?” was pretty much my reaction when I woke up and saw that Hot Toys had announced another 2018 Toy Fairs exclusive overnight—this time, one I absolutely had no idea might even be in the cards: Flashback King T’Chaka!

When T’Chaka shows up in New York to check on his brother during the opening of the Black Panther movie, he’s dressed in his own Black Panther costume with super-cool Wakandan tribal sash attached. With this being a relatively minor scene, no toy company has thought to merchandise that costume—at least, not until now!

It’s impossible to say exactly what the composition of this figure is without actually having it in-hand, but at a glance it looks like this is the sought-after Civil War Black Panther MMS body with an all-new head and claws, plus a revised paint scheme and (obviously) the new sash and necklace. The gold paint is a nice contrast to Civil War Panther’s silver, and that sash is beautifully eye-popping.

I’m a little bit torn regarding this particular pre-order, as I typically collect every single character Hot Toys does in the MCU–and I also usually buy every limited Toy Fair Exclusive Marvel MMS–but I’ve never said to myself, “Boy, I wish I had a $220 figure of King T’Chaka!”

This looks so different from any other Hot Toys MMS that I own that I think I’m in for it even without a deep attachment to the character, but I definitely hesitated a few more minutes on this figure than I typically do for a limited exclusive. I think it’ll be really interesting to see how fast this sells out compared to the Concept Art Captain America figure, because my heart says that a unique character should sell out first, but my head says “Don’t be stupid! Cap FTW!”

Here’s the official product specs and details for Hot Toys T’Chaka:

“Specifications:
– Product Code: MMS487
– Product Name: T’Chaka
– Height: Approximately 31 cm tall
– Points of Articulations: 30
– Special Features: Newly developed helmeted head with highly detailed textures and gold trims, A Wakandan tribe sash with waistlet, A Kimoyo Beads bracelet

The 1/6th scale T’Chaka Collectible Figure specially features:

– Authentic and detailed likeness of T’Chaka in Black Panther
– Newly developed helmeted head with highly detailed textures and gold trims
– Approximately 31 cm tall
– Muscular body with over 30 points of articulations
– Six (6) pieces of interchangeable gloved hands including:
– One (1) pair of fists
– One (1) pair of clenching hands
– One (1) pair of clenching hands with claws

Costume:

– One (1) meticulously tailored black and gold colored battle suit with extreme fine details and textures
– One (1) purple-colored Wakandan tribe sash with waistlet
– One (1) pair of black-colored capri pants

Accessories:
– One (1) Kimoyo Beads bracelet
– Specially designed Black Panther themed hexagonal figure stand with character nameplate, movie logo and character backdrop”

The Black Panther T’Chaka Hot Toys Exclusive 1/6 figure is now up for order. This a limited exclusive of a unique character unlikely to ever be done in this scale again, so I don’t think I need to tell anyone that this figure is very likely going to be a mega-hit and a fast sell-out. If you think at all that T’Chaka will be a must-have character for you, I’d recommend doing whatever you can to get this figure reserved now. Pre-orders for this are not gonna last long.

What do you think of Hot Toys picking unique, relatively minor characters for low-run exclusives, Marvel collectors? Would you like to see more secondary characters given a limited release, or do you prefer main characters in costume variants instead be reserved for convention exclusives?