The Tease of Things I Don't Need

Okay, some more Heroclix info

Tomorrow I'll be taking one or more kids out to see Batman Begins. Really, I'll be taking one big kid out to see it, and if any of the younger ones want to tag along then all the better. Catching the first show of the day on the Saturday of opening weekend worked well for the latest Star Wars movie, and it should work similarly well here. I'm sure I'll have something to say about it by tomorrow night.

Tonight I'll be digging into a little craft project that's been put off all week once plans failed to come together last weekend, and was really delayed from the week before that. But first:

Fantastic Forces is due June 29th, the pre-release events will be held the weekend before, so the last of the sneak peeks will be next Wednesday. Were it not for that last bit I'd think they were just about ready to put all of the shots and stats for the set up on their site this weekend. The main images for the entire set appear to all be in place, and I've plucked several of those out to pepper this entry.

Here you see a proper (even if the shot's dark) Green Goblin, the new, more bellicose in aspect Dr. Strange sculpt, a properly, aged, bald and dangerous Vulture, the feline Tigra and the Thunderbolts' own Jolt -- the last of whose REV has just been added to the set's figure gallery. (The vet in particular, linked to above, looks to be one of the figures who'll be looked for.)

They generally look good to me - though Tigra looks a little... tentative? Hostile? - and the selections made for this set continue to strike me as generally good ones. I've been making my stops to HCRealms less frequent, though, because there are so many moaning, kvetching people over there brimming over with "thoughts" on why this set is no good. It's like the BS we went through two Christmas seasons ago when Critical Mass - still my second favorite clix set so far - debuted.

While I'm thinking of it, I did want to mention that I was happy, if surprised, to find that the official ruling (sure, which they could reverse any moment) is that wildcard figures can copy the new Fantastic Four team ability. I thought that since the FF TA was a prerequisite, and so many players seem to have a breath reserved at all times to shout "Cheese!" and "Wildcard abuse!" they'd written it as they did to prevent too many being able to copy it. Still, the official word is it's open to Wildcards, so - among other characters - the veteran Cage can be used as an FF member, which is fitting since he filled in as the team's muscle for a stretch back in the late '70s. Letting him share the Invisible Woman's defense (even better, the Sue Storm clix or one of her Clobberin Time versions, if set retirement isn't an issue) will make him even more formidable. The new figures and replacement team ability seems poised to turn the Fantastic Four from a team one only saw played in theme games to one with competitive value. Some will whine. Some will sneer. Some will simply roll their eyes. In the end, I suspect that people playing in tournaments will bring a Disbanded! card with them to play if they see an FF-themed team assembled across the table.

Too many of the characters mean nothing to the younger comics fans, and since there doesn't appear to be obvious additions to tournament-level teams with this set (an entirely premature assessment), it means that along with the DC fans getting their digs in the young and the spoiled are all in the chorus. With this set seeing the unfortunate move of reducing the number of clix per booster to 3, many of those who would otherwise be more open to the set have been anxious for people to keep them company in belittling the set so it's easier for them to buy few boosters.

They've already made the Fantastic Forces checklist available (a pdf) - another, unprecedented early move - though it lacks a list of the cards.

Wizkids has taken the official announcement concerning Fantastic Forces being the last set to include Super Rares off the table as a major announcement for their July 7th press conference. They've buried it under news that they'll be giving away 15 Galactus clix per week over a period of 12 weeks, and a little story about how the new factory providing better paint jobs but also inadvertently producing Super Rares that are indistinguishable from the LEs. Ah, well. I suppose that like the Bush administration it's going to be a case of "we're not looking back to the past" combined with "look at this shiny object!" as a means of attempting to sweep things away. Looking at the "shiny object", the Galactus giveaway gives people more reasons to go play at venues between July 22nd and October 13th, since all first place and Fellowship winners during a given week will go into a hat and the 15 winners drawn from that.

This move, along with the return of truly excluse, limited edition prizes, are moves intended to bring more players into venues. The idea behind it is that if players come in for these events, it will likely mean more sales for the store running the venue, which will mean they'll be more likely to feature clix in their stores. Moreover, active venues give the impression that the game is "happening," which theoretically makes it more appealing to new players. Conversely, poor venue attendance likely means boosters gathering dust in comics and game shops, which means those stores will be more likely to look for a new game (as many have with Star Wars minis) to feature and push. Meanwhile, fewer Heroclix events are scheduled, and the signal that comes from this can easily be taken that the game's dying... which feeds back into a downward spiral.

I'm mentioning all this so no one takes me to task for my criticisms of their move to eliminate Super Rares as being based in ignorance. I understand why they're doing it - the intention - but it's still a bad conclusion drawn from a flawed experiment. This is close to the baby being thrown out with the bath water. As mentioned before, I'm going to be looking at the prices commanded by the Sue Storm and Kurt Wagnersuper rares and LEs. I still maintain that the impact of Super Rares on the prices and desireability would be minimal in cases where the dial in question offers a uniquely playable version of the character. Most of the LEs in the past few sets have been of minor interest, so it doesn't surprise me that prices have been low. I'm also going to be keen to look for word of attendance spikes at events where either of those are offered as prizes.

Okay, a few other, quick items to attend to, and then it's into an arts and crafts project.