Black Panther Day

Happy Black Panther Day! Ok, so it's not really official, no days off work, and really there are going to be quite a few Black Panther Days coming in the near future, but I wanted my first post to focus on one of my all time favorite characters in the Marvel U, good old T'Challa... And since the first issue of his new series just hit the shelves yesterday, and his big screen debut is just a month away, I thought today would be a great Black Panther Day (here at CollecTwins anyways). And to celebrate the occasion I wanted to spotlight some of my favorite BP collectibles...

Fantastic Four #52 and 53 (1966)

Yes, these are key issues, both of them, and the cost of these books is going up and should continue to rise for a while. FF 52 introduces T'Challa with a great cover and was done by the best team of all time in Lee and Kirby. #53 is also important, it is the first appearance of BP's greatest nemesis Klaw (played superbly by Andy Serkis in Avengers Age of Ultron), and continues the story arc started in #52. I would advise picking both of these books up if you can for the right price.

Avengers #87 (1971) 

The origin of T'Challa. A great issue with one of the best Black Panther covers of all time...

Black Panther Statue by Bowen Designs (2005) 

We're going to talk a lot of Randy Bowen on this blog. Even though he hasn't produced much in the way of new statues of late, his statues are simply the best of all time (imo) and his work has been copied over and over... Statues by BD are iconic representations of each character, and we are both huge fans. This is the first of a few BP statues Bowen Designs and company did, and my personal favorite. 

Black Panther Marvel Legends 3.75" figure (2016)

I had to include something new so that if you wanted you could go out and pick something up immediately. This figure line by Hasbro basically has just continued where the original Marvel line started from in 2009. I'm really digging this most recent incarnation though tying the Legends line to the smaller figure. And BP is in the first wave and can be tracked down at Toys R Us, Target, etc. It's basically the same as the one that came out in 2009 but with slicker packaging and won't cost you the forty bucks the 2009 version usually goes for these days. This one is closer to $13.

And even though I could go on and on about the King of Wakanda, I will end it there for today and wait patiently for what is coming... T'Challa is ready to break mainstream. It's about time.