[Boy Blunder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UpDog

So, barring a surprise reveal, based on everything we've heard from retailers it's pretty safe to say we know what's coming out for the rest of 2017. 7 waves (Sandman, Titus, Warlock, Netflix, Mantis, Vulture, Ragnarok) plus a handful of 2 packs and exclusives.

What do you think we'll see in 2018?

My guesses
-X-men Wave. Some combo of Psylocke, Nightcrawler, Gambit, Storm, Jubilee. BAF Apocalypse or Sauron.
-3 avengers wave. Given the huge cast of infinity War, I wouldn't put it past one of these waves being all movie characters (Iron Man, Cap, Spidey, Star Lord, Hulk, Thor, Vision, MCU Thanos). Also guessing that we'll finally get MCU vision.
-Antman Wave. I feel like there's a possibility they'd skip this due to how long the first wave lingered at retail (still finding wasps), but it was definitely a useful wave to give us figures that didn't quite fit in other waves. If it's made, Movie Antman and Wasp, and then rest of slots will be misc characters we've been missing (crossbones etc)
-Black Panther wave. Only 1 wave as has been standard with Non-Sequels and not as mainstream characters. BAF Man Ape.
-Spiderman Wave. These have been pretty constant , but I can't for the life of me think of a recognizable Spider-Man they could use to anchor it, and given the high volume of Spidey figures we're getting in 2017 (Movie+2 packs), I doubt they'd try to do an improved basic spider-man. Hopefully we finally get a doc ock
-Guardians Wave. Given the popularity of the movie and the cartoon, and the far larger depth of characters, I could see this becoming a spider-man style "No film tie-in needed" line.

In regards to your thoughts...

-We'll definitely see an X-Men wave with at least 1-2 of the figures you mentioned. Probably not everyone you mentioned, but Storm and Nightcrawler seem like the most likely candidates.
-I hope to god we don't get that many Avengers waves, but I wouldn't be surprised if we did. As long as we start digging deeper for the comics characters (Swordsman, any Young Avengers, the original Thunderbolts), I'd be happy.
-An Ant-Man wave would be cool, but like you said, the linger factor of the previous Ant-Man wave might make Hasbro a little gun-shy. Though I could see them releasing a 12" Giant-Man figure to tie into the new movie.
-A Black Panther wave could be another one like Ant-Man and Doctor Strange, where characters who are a little 'out of place' in other waves could get a fair shake. Maybe, if he doesn't come sooner, we could FINALLY get a Blue Marvel there, along with an America Chavez (thank god for Ultimates). I'm totally on-board with a Man-Ape BAF, and I hope Hasbro is too.
-I agree on the lack of an 'anchor' figure for a Spidey wave. Maybe the silver Spider-Armor? I could see Spidey Noir finally getting a 6" release, and maybe Prowler. Doc Ock is a must, but I hope that, if they make him the BAF, they do it as a proper BAF, and not parsing his tentacles out like they're doing with Vulture's wings.
-The possibility is there, and it's not like they don't have plenty of characters to pad out another wave. The major problem would be, again, an anchor character, since we're kinda getting a glut of Star-Lord figures this year, and he's the recognizable 'face' of the Guardians for the general buying public. That said, if they'd FINALLY release a 6" armored comics Gamora, it'd be golden.

My own thoughts on a wave we might see next year:

-Deadpool. Hasbro has claimed, time and again, that they're not restricted by Disney/Marvel as far as what franchises they can make figures on, and given the mass popularity of Deadpool, I wouldn't be surprised to see a tie-in wave with the release of the sequel. There's a lot of characters to mine from the comics if they can't/don't want to use any movie-based designs, and it's not like people wouldn't want another (preferably easier-to-find) DP figure. For padding out the wave, we could see the likes of Agent X, Outlaw, Copycat, Garrison Kaine; Comics!Ajax or T-Ray as the BAF; and maybe, finally, a new Domino (given the buzz about her casting in DP2).