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I see that some Death Guard models are being released as a Space Marines Heroes “blind buy” release. I’m not familiar with these releases, I looked up the previous series and it looks like a bunch of characters and a mini game? Are these legal in a 40K army or are they just collector’s items?

AFAIK, they're just normal models (Easy to Build?) in a more expensive blind buy format.
If they're available where you are at all.

They're designed for the Japanese market, where blind-buy things like that are huge. They're just a squad and a character or two - Series 1 was a Tactical Squad & Captain, Series 2 was Terminators plus a Terminator Captain & Ancient, and Series 3 is Plague Marines (there is a Plague Caster but he seems limited to Japan for now). Apparently the recently released Terminator Chaplain & Librarian are the same style of model.

beast_gts is right. Limited edition collectable items are huge in Japan. I follow the Kantai Collection fan works (art, the occasional story), and see notices that a restaurant or convenience store will be doing a promotion with Kantai Collection, and there will be this kind of limited merchandise available for a short time (often less than a month). For example there were collectable plates from a fast food chain, and to make it even more of a challenge, certain plates were only sold in certain prefectures. So to get a set you'd either have to travel to each prefecture, or call friends and family to go to that chain and buy that meal with that plate for you. I don't understand the mentality, but it really is a big sales draw in Japan.

As for Space Marine Heroes 3, depending on price I may get a box of six. I could actually use them in Kill Team, and I liked the earlier previews. The price is the important part. I bought the 1st Warcry starter at $160 US, and Catacombs is $210 US for less product. They do that with Space Marine Heroes 3, and that's a NO. Don't like Death Guard THAT much.

Shame that the Plaguecaster isn't available. It's a vastly superior sculpt over the Dark Imperial puffy cheeks version.

'Missing' Plague Caster (for reference) -

 Ancestral Hamster wrote:
beast_gts is right. Limited edition collectable items are huge in Japan. I follow the Kantai Collection fan works (art, the occasional story), and see notices that a restaurant or convenience store will be doing a promotion with Kantai Collection, and there will be this kind of limited merchandise available for a short time (often less than a month). For example there were collectable plates from a fast food chain, and to make it even more of a challenge, certain plates were only sold in certain prefectures. So to get a set you'd either have to travel to each prefecture, or call friends and family to go to that chain and buy that meal with that plate for you. I don't understand the mentality, but it really is a big sales draw in Japan.

As for Space Marine Heroes 3, depending on price I may get a box of six. I could actually use them in Kill Team, and I liked the earlier previews. The price is the important part. I bought the 1st Warcry starter at $160 US, and Catacombs is $210 US for less product. They do that with Space Marine Heroes 3, and that's a NO. Don't like Death Guard THAT much.

They could be like the 'Plague Marine Reinforcements' $40 for 3 models.

These (and that plaguecaster, wow) are really nice models, but there is a limit, and that precedent doesn't give me much hope.

Plaguecaster can still show up...he was in the paint set for Japan

Voss wrote:
They could be like the 'Plague Marine Reinforcements' $40 for 3 models.

These (and that plaguecaster, wow) are really nice models, but there is a limit, and that precedent doesn't give me much hope.

My hope is it will be $10 US per figure as it was with Series 1, but I very much doubt that.

As for the Plague Caster, he seems to be part of the Series 3 paint set.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Max-Factory-Warhammer-40-000-Space-Marine-Heroes-Series-3-Painting-Set-010839/353138734896?epid=23035167764&hash=item5238b57730:g:-GcAAOSwbkxfDPNk

Pricey for a single figure, and most of us don't need the paints.

 Kanluwen wrote:
Plaguecaster can still show up...he was in the paint set for Japan

they should just release it speerately with the DG 'dex. now that DI is gone DG need a seperately vavaliable plague caster

Don't forget, some of these models showed up in the Barnes & Noble Space Marine Adventures games. The first Necron game and its expansions had 11 of the Series 1 Heroes, including the Captain. The Second Rise of the Orks game has 5 of the Series 2 Terminators in it. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/space%20marine%20adventures/_/N-1gls

BrianDavion wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:
Plaguecaster can still show up...he was in the paint set for Japan

they should just release it speerately with the DG 'dex. now that DI is gone DG need a seperately vavaliable plague caster

I wonder if they're going to throw him in a new Start Collecting / Combat Patrol box (or a Christmas one).

beast_gts wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:
Plaguecaster can still show up...he was in the paint set for Japan

they should just release it speerately with the DG 'dex. now that DI is gone DG need a seperately vavaliable plague caster

I wonder if they're going to throw him in a new Start Collecting / Combat Patrol box (or a Christmas one).

not a bad idea. at this point DG have a LOT of various character types who could stand to be released in a box. hell they could put out a "Death Guard command" box.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Shame that the Plaguecaster isn't available. It's a vastly superior sculpt over the Dark Imperial puffy cheeks version.

It's like you've never heard of this thing called the internet....

I love the model with the nurgling as one of the maces on the flail.

ccs wrote:
It's like you've never heard of this thing called the internet....

Oh yeah. People selling them for stupid prices on eBay. Why did I not think of that?

And I already have all 7. I got 'em back in January. Using the Internet.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

ccs wrote:
It's like you've never heard of this thing called the internet....

Oh yeah. People selling them for stupid prices on eBay. Why did I not think of that?

And I already have all 7. I got 'em back in January. Using the Internet.

Ah, so they ARE available.
EBAY- only one of us mentioned Ebay.
On using EBay.... Well, it's convenient. If not always the best deal. Fortunately its not the sum total of on-line shopping options.

I didn't get mine on eBay either.

I'm just saying that eBay is the place you are more likely to find them, and also where you are likely to find them at a highly inflated price.

Yeah, semantic pedantry aside, "available if you jump through a lot of hoops, know where to look, and are willing to pay over the odds" isn't really "readily available" in the sense most people would interpret it. But I suppose this is Dakka – someone's always got to play the smart-arse.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Shame that the Plaguecaster isn't available. It's a vastly superior sculpt over the Dark Imperial puffy cheeks version.

Considering the fact that we are missing a Malignant Plaguecaster blister I wouldn't rule it out that this one might find its way into a blister. I guess we'll see in December.

 Eldarsif wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Shame that the Plaguecaster isn't available. It's a vastly superior sculpt over the Dark Imperial puffy cheeks version.

Considering the fact that we are missing a Malignant Plaguecaster blister I wouldn't rule it out that this one might find its way into a blister. I guess we'll see in December.

Yeah I wonder if this might happen – the only thing that makes me think it might not is that the only time we've seen anything on an SMH-style sprue, it's been a limited-edition "event" model, rather than crossing over into the "main" range.

Space Marines Heroes Series 3 Box is $72 for the U.S.A.

Will wait for an OGS to sell them at 15% off.