Marvel Comics Kicks Off Predatory Blind Bag Scheme With ‘Ultimate Endgame’, Asks Fans To Gamble For Exclusive Variant Covers
In becoming the latest Western comic book publisher to chase the anti-consumer gacha trend, Marvel Comics has announced the launch of their ‘True Believers’ blind bag program, which starting with the highly-anticipated Ultimate Endgame will require players to outright gamble for a handful of exclusive variant covers.
RELATED: DC Goes Gacha, Announces ‘Batman #1’ Foil Variants Exclusively Available Via Blind Bag Gamble
Written by Deniz Camp (Ultimates Vol. 3) with art duties split between Terry Dodson (X-Men/Fantastic Four Vol. 2) and Jonas Scharf (Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion Vol. 1), the aptly titled Ultimate Endgame Vol. 1 is set to cap off Earth-6160’s current overarching storyline with the return of The Maker, the evil Reed Richards variant who has spent the last two-years in a self-imposed exile preparing to make yet another attempt at remaking the Ultimate Universe in his image.
Essentially the ‘big finale’ that Camp, Bryan Hill, Peach Momoko, Chris Condon, and Jonathan Hickman have been building towards, the sheer quality of the current Ultimate line has resulted in Endgame being one of the most genuinely anticipated books, across any publisher, in recent memory – So what better opportunity for Marvel Comics to try and further nickel-and-dime their dwindling readership?
As officially announced by Marvel Comics, when Ultimate Endgame Vol. 1 #1 hits shelves on December 31st, it will do so with a handful of its variant covers earmarked for their “first-ever bling bag program”, the aforementioned ‘True Believers’:
“TRUE BELIEVERS BLIND BAGS give fans a chance to purchase Ultimate Endgame Vol. 1 #1 in special sealed bags, featuring art by Rod Reis, that contain one of the issue’s many covers, including variant covers only available in TRUE BELIEVERS BLIND BAGS.
“The covers exclusive to the TRUE BELIEVERS BLIND BAGS also include secret covers that will remain unrevealed until a lucky fan finds them, creating an exciting opportunity for collectors and a new way for local comic shops to engage with their customer base!”
Per the announcement, these ‘blind bag exclusive covers’ will include virgin variants for Momoko and Mark Brooks’ respective treatments, an ‘Homage Variant’ by current Marvel cover artist J.H. Stonehouse, and “rare, secret variant covers by surprise contributors found only in the Blind Bag that will remain unrevealed until the issue’s release.”
To truly highlight just how audaciously greedy this move is, it should be noted that rather than an at-random selection from the specific pool of exclusives, customers who buy a ‘True Believer Blind Bag’ also runs the risk of pulling one of the book’s 13 regular order covers.
Somewhat conservatively assuming that there are least five “unrevealed” covers, this means that the odds of pulling any exclusive currently comes in at 38%, while one’s hopes of pulling a specific one settling in at barely 5%.
Put another way, should someone want to get their hands on a specific cover, they’ll have to hope for some amazing luck or get ready to pony up an absurd amount of money, either in service of buying it outright for aftermarket prices or purchasing more pulls.
As noted above, Marvel Comics is far from the first among its industry peers to roll the dice on blind bag exclusives.
For example, this year’s San Diego Comic-Con saw IDW team with iconic artist Arthur Adams for a Godzilla-themed release, each bag of which contained three of five exclusive covers, each in one of five potential finishes (which, if a publisher is going to play with blind bags, is arguably the best way to do it, as a customer is still guaranteed to receive three limited-edition variants).
And in barely beating their rival to the punch, next month will see DC hiding the foil versions of Batman Vol. 1 #1‘s numerous variant covers behind a similar polybag system.
All in all, this move by Marvel Comics – and the industry at large – comes off less ‘exciting’ and more ‘desperate for a dollar’, no matter how much marketing speak they attempt to dress it up with.
For those interested, Ultimate End Vol. 1 #1 is currently set to cap off 2025 with The Maker’s return on December 31st.
