First Look at the Justice League Heroclix ExpansionI was just made aware of the first ad for August's Justice League expansion, the first of the DC sets to come out under the new set and booster designs.
Apologies for the size of the images, but that's what was available. The characters shown on the boosters from left to right are: Superman & Flash (can't tell which Flash it is meant to be because we can't see the costume around the waist), Aquaman & the Connor Hawke version of Green Arrow, Deadman & Lobo, and Batman & Robin in their current costumes.
Also noted is that the clix brick mail-away figure for that set will be the Phantom Stranger. As with Deadman, I presume we'll be seeing new powers at play thanks to the character cards.
With both Legacy and Icons officially retired a month or so before this set launches, and given the coming of Starro theme to the set-promoting tournament - not to mention that several necks are likely on the line if this set isn't a big success - it's not at all surprising that we're seeing so many familiar characters on most of the boosters.
Some will immediately revile Wizkids for what they'll see as a high concentration of remakes, but it's important to keep in mind that under the new structure we have the potential for 60 different characters in the set. Even if 20 of them end up being remakes we could still have more first-time characters appearing in the set than we've seen in any prior set.
The text of the retailer-focused ad reads as follows:
DC HeroClix: Justice League heralds a new era for HeroClix! Each five-figure Justice League Booster Pack contains even more action-packed 3-D superhero combat than ever before, with 60 individual characters representing one million years' worth of Justice League characters!
All-new HeroClix character cards add powers and abilities to make your favorite superheroes stand out like never before. Keywords link heroes to other heroes and their allies from previous HeroClix releases. And exciting and informative background information like real names and first appearances enhances the storyline in all-new ways! DC HeroClix: Justice League is fully compatible with all HeroClix products.
Each new larger and reconfigured booster includes five exclusive figures with character cards and one feat card, bystander token, or battlefield condition card. Customers who buy Justice League "by the Brick" qualify to get the exclusive DC HeroClix Phantom Stranger for free!
MSRP: $9.99 USD
Booster UPC: 807652 04226 2
Booster ISBN: 978-1-59041-442-2
Expected Release: August 2007
Unit Dimension: 2.75″ x 9″ x 2.25″
Brick SKU: WZK4227
Brick UPC: 807652 04227 9
Brick ISBN: 978-1-59041-443-9
Brick Pack: 10 Boosters
Case SKU: WZK4228
Case Pack: 20 Boosters
Case UPC: 807652 04228 6
Weight Per Case: TBD
Case Size: TBD
Hang Tab: No
Contents
* 5 exclusive randomly packed figures with character cards
* 1 feat card, bystander token, or battlefield condition card
* 1 marketing insert
Wizkids, later in the day, posted most of the same info along with a larger image of the boosters:
Comments
I have to assume, with Lobo being in the set, that the name of the set is more a guideline than a strict policy. But I guess that was already obvious from the presence of Toro in a set named AVENGERS.
As always the set's names are going to be themes that'll stand out when one looks over the set, but there'll always be other things in there to try to keep others interested. Lobo (as with Guy Gardner) were long-promised ones, so it's no huge surprise they'd put one of them on one of the boxes.
With roughly 60 characters in each of the new sets, though, I'm expecting that someone stepping into the game for the first time with Avengers will be able to assemble a fair team of actual Avengers (well, especially if one stretches things to include Ultimates versions of characters) out of a six or so boosters -- especially since they'll be 5 clix per booster.
The theme's still going to feel a little odd considering that they'll be getting their first big workouts during a Coming of Galactus theme. At least Justice League getting the workout on the way to Starro is an obvious match.