And now for something totally different, let’s look at more store-exclusive Marvel figures that have been recently released! I knew that the Diamond Select Toys Deadpool Minimates series was due to hit Toys R Us stores any time now, and I came face-to-face with the whole series this weekend! There’s only one exclusive two-pack in the wave, but it’s pretty, uh… “Smashing”! An in, “Hulkpool… SMASH!”

Deadpool is hands-down the most popular Marvel character of 2016, so it’s only natural that he get both his own series of specialty store exclusive wave of DST Minimates figures and a remixed wave for Toys R Us stores, right?

Ordinarily the Marvel Minimates figures take a few weeks to sell out at my local TRU stores, but this series seems to be blowing through unusually fast! Let’s take a look…

The highlight of the Toys R Us Deadpool Minimates series is the one totally exclusive two-pack: the Savage Hulk (which is a rather plain green Hulk figure) and Hulkpool.

Yes, Hulkpool–believe it or not, this is an actual version of Deadpool from the less-than-classic World War Hulks comic book, “Hulked-Out Heroes”. It’s a pretty wacky idea, but oftentimes those make for the best figures, right?

This is actually a “Transforming” Hulkpool figure, so it comes with an interchangeable normal Deadpool head. This was the one “buy on sight” pack for me from this set, and I honestly wouldn’t mind if Hasbro gave us a Marvel Legends Hulkpool someday!

The second two-pack in this series is Debut Deadpool and First Appearance Wolverine in Minimates form. Neither of these characters appeared at all in each others’ first appearances, so this is a bit of an odd set.

Even so, I think a lot of collectors will really dig being able to get the inaugural Deadpool and Wolverine costumes as Minimates figures for under 8 bucks at Toys R Us. One of my local stores was sold out of this set already and the other only had one pack left.

The last set in the wave is also a bit of a weird one, as it contains Marvel NOW Deadpool and… Armory Spider-Man.

The Marvel NOW Deadpool is a modern version of Wade Wilson and should be a hot seller, whereas Armory Spider-Man is a weird mashup of Spidey and Cable. I don’t know what comic Spidey dressed up like Cable in off the top of my head–you’ve stumped me, DST! Congrats!

And on the non-Deadpool front (wait, there are other Marvel characters?!), I spotted the second wave of Toys R Us Civil War Minimates in-store.

There’s one exclusive two-pack in this set: Civil War Ant-Man and Falcon. I developed a new appreciation for Ant-Man during Civil War and you can never have enough Falcon figures, so I snapped up this set instantly as well.

The other two sets in this series are Crossbones & Black Widow and War-Torn Captain America & War-Torn Iron Man (although both of those two-packs are also available via online and specialty retailers).

What do you think of these latest Toys R Us Marvel Minimates Exclusive sets, Marvel collectors? Are you planning to pick up Falcon & Ant-Man to complete your #TeamCap in Minimate form, or any of the exotic character variants such as Armory Spider-Man or Hulkpool?