Earlier today we ran a story about a image for a previously unknown Toys R' Us Exclusive
Guardians Of The Galaxy "Evolution Of Groot" 6" Marvel Legends figure that showed up online which originated from this
eBay auction. The Groot figure appears to be a re-issue of the previous Movie Groot Build-A-Figure featuring a new head sculpt as well as a reissued mini Baby Groot figure and new Kid Groot figure from GOTG Vol. 2.
When we first ran the image we assumed it was legit because it looked legit. Then we examined the auction a little closer and discovered several things that led us to believe it may in fact be a custom. In the fine print of the auction it indicated that the figure contained handmade parts as well as the seller indicating the picture he posted with the auction had been passed on to him from somewhere else. The final odd thing was that the figure only sold for $25.99. Unfortunately it's not unusual for us to learn about new figures from a source such as this as opposed to Hasbro themselves, and it's also not unusual for a seller to get their hands on these figures before they hit the actual US market. What is unusual is that when someone does get Marvel Legends early like this, they generally sell for more than normal retail, and being this is essentially a Build-A-Figure, $25.99 seems somewhat low even for regular retail.
Since the news first broke about Groot, word has come out that the same eBay seller had other auctions for un-released Marvel Legends, including ones for the upcoming
Black Panther and
Invisible Woman figures. With the auctions came new images and with the new images came new information. Now if the images are real, for Invisible Woman which was first announced last summer at SDCC, we are getting our first look at the actual figure along with the H.E.R.B.I.E. robot pack-in she apparently will be coming with. This figure is rumored but not confirmed to be a Walgreens exclusive. For Black Panther, it would appear he will be a Walmart and NOT a Walgreens exclusive as many speculated when word first leaked out about him. Another unconfirmed rumor based on speculation that people insisted was fact, and several sites even reported on as such.
As frustrating as it is, I still can't sit here and tell you 100% these are real. Hasbro won't comment on things like this, the odd things I noted about the eBay auctions above still exist, and in this day and age of fantastic customizers and Photoshop anything can be faked. That being said I reached out to the eBay seller and they insist these are 100% real and sent along a few more images as proof which you can check out below. If I were a betting man, I would say these are likely real, but now you know just how frustrating it can be to do this job. We want to bring you the news as fast as possible, but at the same time we want it to be as accurate as possible. Not always an easy thing when the source of the toys won't comment and rumors and leaks are a common thing in this day and age of the Internet.