AFX exclusives have been side items for years now. Their thanos set from back in the day and the magneto/Xavier sets were the only main line type offerings they've had.
Their street fighter offering was variants, alpha flight was a non mainstream team, and I haven't picked up that age of ultron set but I would really just get it for a non bulky movie iron man and the bulky ultron.
I don't think AFX's distribution model is anything we should focus on, unless the conversation is about online retailers distribution.