So, this is a weird one. On Saturday, my friend Billy Cooper (of the Indiana Toy and Comic Expo and Indiana Toy Collectors Unite) posted a message on that Facebook group that he’d seen figures from the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings/Mr. Hyde BAF wave at a nearby Target. And while we’ve seen some leaked pix of that wave online, there has as yet been no a) official announcement, b) solicitations that we’ve seen, or c) pre-order listing.

I rolled over the check it out later, and there were indeed five of Shangi-Chi and six of Iron Man (AI) on the pegs. The other four figures (Civil Warrior, Death Dealer, Wenwu, and Xialing) weren’t out. I asked an employee for help, and she scanned the backs. Normally, the scan will show if they have the rest of the assortment. This time was odd, as the scan of Shang-Chi only correlated to the five figures preset; same with the Iron Man, leading us to believe that the individual figures were solid cases. She even graciously checked the back to see if the other four were present, but they weren’t. I had no issues at check-out; they rang up for $19.99.

Again, this is unusual precisely for the reasons that I mentioned. Also unusual is the fact that their assigned system numbers (087167874 and 087163271) don’t show anything when you search them on the website. This is the opposite of what normally happens; in the case of the recent ML Storm and Thunderbird two-pack, for example, the number pulled up a listing even weeks before the on-sale date and arrival in stores. These two numbers, which obviously have to be active for the employee’s scan and completed sale, just don’t pull up anything.

Granted, this isn’t a mystery on the order of the Mary Celeste, but it’s just very peculiar. In our hyper-regulated retail world, it’s unusual for a previously unannounced product to just show up. It’s weirder still for coming the day after HasbroPulse Fan Fest, which teased a new Domino/Cannonball two-pack and set up the Iron Man/Ursa Major BAF wave for pre-order and didn’t release any information on this wave at all. Everything we’ve seen so far has been leaks to the likes of Rektangular and various Instagrams. Those figures showing up in a Target in the middle of Indiana is just . . . odd.

Fortunately, I have photos. This isn’t Bigfoot hunting, people. I’d also like to thank Jay at www.toynewsi.com who posted some of my photos as well. But here you can take a look at the figures, which include out-of-package shots. Each one comes with a Mr. Hyde BAF leg in addition to appropriate accessories.

Iron Man (A.I.): A comic-specific figure, the only real new part of this one is the holographic head. If you’ve followed the comics in the past few years, you know this iteration comes from a point where Tony spent some time dead, and an A.I. version of himself occupied an armor. The figure sculpt itself is a redecoed version of the 80th Anniversary figure; this one has a bright and shiny red-and-yellow scheme that kind of echoes that Secret Wars Iron Man figure from the ‘80s. It would almost be a perfect classic Iron Man as is were it not for the more modern blue on the chest. It’s a decent figure, and the A.I. is fun in you know the story.

Shang-Chi: Our first MCU Shang-Chi comes with a staff and four extra hands for various fighting stances. The overall poseability works out great for a figure like this, especially the double-elbows. I didn’t go super-deep into all of the possible fight poses, but you get a feel for the scenic versatility that the figure can carry. The Simu Liu likeness is pretty good, too. I feel like this is a good entry for the MCU section of the line, and I look forward to seeing the others.

Well, there you go, campers. If you’re interested in this line, happy hunting. I can’t guarantee their release pattern, as we just don’t know. I’ve reached out to my regular contact for comment, and we’ll pass it along if we have anything to share. Until then, if you have comments or questions, drop ‘em below.