Marvel x Kidrobot – Munny and Labbits in August

Shortly after this year’s Toy Fair trade show in February, word started to leak that Kidrobot had several crossover toys in the works featuring licensed Marvel Comics superheroes and villains.   Recently, several online stores ( including Bigbadtoystore.com) have begun posting pre-orders for several of the upcoming Marvel x Kidrobot toys along with product art and release info.  Kudos to The Blot Says for early reporting on the  pre-orders which include both Marvel-based Labbit and Munny releases. While Kidrobot has been releasing toys based on high-profile entertainment properties including the Simpsons, Street Fighter and more for quite some time, the new Marvel projects are noteworthy because they blur the line between KR’s licensed products and art toys with the use of two of the company’s key platforms.

On the Labbit side, Kidrobot is going to release two 7” Marvel Labbits – Wolverine and Venom.  While the posted art, which  appears to have been created primarily by applying 2D images to design templates, reveals the basic visuals we’re curious to see whether the Venom Labbit has some custom sculpting (esp. for the teeth) or whether all the character details will be done with painted deco.   Based on the pre-order info, both Labbits have a SRP of $49.99 and are expected to drop in August.  In addition to the 7” Labbits, we expect a 2.5” Marvel mini Labbit series in the near fture.

In addition to the upcoming Marvel Labbits, Kidrobot is also bring Marvel’s characters to its extremely popular Munny DIY platform with a comprehensive set of releases featuring stand-alone 7” ($19.99)  and 4”  ($9.99) Marvel themed Munnys as well as a blind-boxed Micro Munny series.  The stand-alone Munnys will be available in four character editions —  Spiderman, Venom, Wolverine, and Iron Man.  The blind-boxed series expands the reach into Marvel’s universe with eight characters:  Iron Man, Spiderman, Venom, Doctor Octopus, Captain America, Thor, Wolverine and the Hulk.  In addition, word has it that  a line of Marvel Munny zipper pulls is in the works.

Now you might be wondering if the Marvel Munnys will break Kidrobot’s strict division between Dunny and Munny where Dunny is their premiere art toy platform featuring painted designs and Munny is their DIY platform free of any painted designs.  The answer is no, at least not technically.  Rather than going against the grain by offering Munnys with printed deco, Kidrobot has come up with an interesting solution – stickers.  That’s right, each of the  Marvel Munny offerings including the 2.5” Micro Munnys  feature solid color Munnys and a sticker pack enabling collectors to ‘create’ a specific iconic characters.  The 7” ($19.99), 4” ($9.99) and 2.5” Munnys ($7.95 / blind-box) are expected to drop in August. 

While there’s plenty to discuss about the Marvel x Kidrobot project, we’d like to get your opinion.  What do you think of the upcoming Labbit and Munnys?  Do you  like the idea of Kidrobot  bringing  licensed characters to their staple art toy platforms?  Also, what’s your take on the inclusion of design specific stickers with these upcoming Munnys ? Finally, are you relieved or disappointed  that Kidrobot has seemingly opted not to bring the Marvel wave to Dunny ?