TOY HAUL: Marvel Universe Wave 18? 19? 21 | Ultimate Iron Man

Assortment photo provided by Sir Eric

3 days ago, Sir Eric of cyb.ph announced that there will be a Marvel Universe distribution on the 23rd in Robinsons Galleria.

For those who are not familiar with the distribution, it is a system implemented by Playkit for some time now, so as to lessen hoarders and give fair chance for everyone to acquire a figure (mostly by set) at SRP price. It is where you register your name and get a number, then comeback for the actual distribution after lunch and wait for your number to be called. It's strictly 1 set per customer, therefore lessening the chance of hoarding.

This was good news for MUllectors, since the last distribution was held December of last year leaving us on a 6 month drought. However, what's odd about it is the assortment of figures that were included in the set. While everyone was expecting to see Wave 18 and maybe Wave 19, what we got was a mishmash of 18, 19 & 21.

Here's the assortment list.

• Hulk - Wave 18

• Ultimate Spider-man (Miles Morales) - Wave 18

• Beta Ray Bill - Wave 18

• Bag Head Spider-man - Wave 19

• Jubilee - Wave 21

• Professor X - Wave 21

• Blastaar (regular & variant) - Wave 21

Here are the missing figures if we were to follow the "per wave" order.

• Kraven - Wave 18

• Beast -Wave 18

• She-Hulk - Wave 19

• Punisher - Wave 19

• FF Spider-man - Wave 19

• Kang the Conqueror - Wave 19

• Scarlet Witch - Wave 19

• The whole Wave 20

Obviously we are missing both Kraven and Beast for wave 18, and seems to have been replaced by a complete Wave 21 lineup which everyone was eyeing on to get. The addition of a single Wave 19 was quite odd as well. Though what's good about the set is that we get to have the 3 variants instantly, with Baghead, Miles Morales & powered up Blastaar, and the SRP was still at Php 500.00 each! However, since I am not a completist, and as much as possible I only get 1 figure per character, the inclusion of both regular & variant Blastaar and also the two Spideys in the set was a gripe for me. So I had to immediately find someone to whom I can dispose the extra Blastaar, and the Spideys.

Going to the event, I arrived at Galleria at around 9:00 AM, and waited for an hour for it to open. Also spotted fellow collectors also waiting at a nearby fastfood chain where I was at. Once the guard allowed entry to the mall, we immediately rushed to the mall's activity center and lined up to register. I got #17, which is by far my best number. Got the item at around 1:45 PM. The distribution went surprisingly smooth in terms of the line and payment. The table wasn't crowded like it used to be. Also worth mentioning, spotted lots of Marvel's Hawkeye and a handful of Black Widow figures at the pegs of the event, meaning they have reached the shelves of local retail stores which is truly good news.

So here are my hauls.

I immediately sold my variant Blastaar during the event, and took home the rest. I was also initially planning to sell the 2 Spideys, but looking at the figures on hand, I might as well keep them instead since I have an Ultimate collection going on and Bagman Spidey was just simply too awesome to look at! And  its design was truly and oddly one of a kind.

Overall I was satisfied with all the new MU figs, except for the paint apps on Jubilee's eyes which are mostly "derp-eyed." Again the assortment of the figures was odd, which leaves the future wave to be uncertain on which characters will be included, especially that there's a news that a complete Wave 18 (including Beast & Kraven) will be out in Hong Kong next week. I just hope that no same figure from this distribution would be set up with Kraven and Beast once it becomes available locally.

On the side note, hours before the announcement of Sir Eric last Thursday, I commited on buying an MOC Ultimate Iron Man from an online seller that I know. This is kind of a bittersweet item for me, since its one of those very hard to find figures, since it wasn't released here in the Philippines, that would complete my Ultimates collection but at the same time its hefty price together with Sir Eric's surprise announcement left a deep hole in my pocket. I guess I really have to stay away from ForSale threads, ebay, and local toy hunting for weeks especially that there are rumors that the next MU wave would show up this July which is just weeks away from now. Now I really have to get a job.

Reviews for these figs are to be posted soon! Happy hunting!