The Tease of Things I Don't Need

Clix Fix

(But beware the bricks!)

Release week for Armor Wars. Tedious details below!

The work week was too much for me, though I did find myself slipping into making posts on HC Realms -- seldom a good idea, but like going out on a bender it sometimes happens.

Well, going out on a bender hasn't really ever happened to me. I haven't shot myself either, and I don't believe I need to do that before deciding how much I'd like it. If I have to choose between the two I'd rather look back on a couple lost evenings wondering why I wasted the time arguing than nursing a hangover and vaguely recalling saying and doing things I'd really rather forget.

Come to think of it, I was right the first time. They're shades of the same thing.

Besides that, though I was caught up in a too long week with too little sleep. Work demands kept me hopping, often attempting to go in two or more directions at once. I know, I know: "get in line." Still, mine's the only reality I know. The rest of you are shadows on the cave wall. Talk to the shadow puppet.

A teacher's strike had been looming, with a 7 am strike call for Tuesday that was shifted to Thursday. Nearby Pennsbury school district has just concluded its 4th week of a strike, and both sides in the local negotiations - along with the parents - have been watching that. The strike was averted following a marathon negotiation session at some point past 4:30 am Thursday. I know it hit their webside at 5:17 am, because I'd been up for 12 minutes by that point, having gotten the two hours of sleep I could afford for the day. Oh, I could have slept a little longer, but I know myself well enough that if I had to be moving anywhere near then I'd have to go with when I woke up. Had I gone back to bed I'd have gone back down hard, and getting up again when I'd need to would have been like the dead attempting to revive themselves. I don't have George Romero on speed dial, so I realized I was up for the day.

The kids took the news better than I'd expected, but there was still a cloud hanging over them. With the Thanksgiving weekend coming up, kicking off the general holiday season, the threat of a strike felt to them like the holidays stretching out to embrace them. It was like having the hype of a Major Snowstorm evaporate past the 11th hour. Later on, especially as they see what the Pennsbury kids have to give up in order to make up lost class time, they'll feel better about it. For now, though, it was like having a vacation yanked away from them at the last moment.

The brick (shrink-wrapped unit of 12 boosters) of Armor Wars I paid for in advance at a retailer was in my hands by Thursday. By that time I'd already read too many posts outlining the inequities between contents as one went from brick to brick in the same case. No uniques in one brick. 11 in another. The odds are 1 unique per 3 boosters, but we knew that at the case level they'd achieved some wonderful points of control this time out. Unfortunately, once they allocated a set, fairly balanced combination of boosters for a case they left the rest to chance.

What makes this darkly amusing is that the brick program was intended to be a boon to retailers, because one needs a retail receipt for the 12 boosters to accompany the coupon in the brick and get the gray Iron Man limited edition piece. (Technically it's "Anthony Stark." It was the 1960s, and corporate types were more formal back then.) The idea was to lure some of the business away from the much more heavily-discounted online market. The funny part? They managed to make buying a case - which most of us will do online - more attractive, while making the debut of the clix brick program into a wild wheel of fortune where some felt as if they struck gold and a great many of the rest dropped the stick with disgust and started carefully sniffing their hands. Bricks from the same case with 0 uniques and 8 or 9. Here one with 2, there one with 6.

A friend in Chicago pulled 6.

Mine? I pulled 1.

Here's how mine panned out:

Mixed feelings on this one. I was not one of those who lucked out on the uniques.

My unique? Sentry.

Here's the rest:

Firebrand Rx2, E
Lorelei E, V
Diamond Lil Rx2, E, V
Echo R, E
Thunderbird E, V
Banshee E, V
Spymaster R, E
Ghost R
Magma Ex4!!
Thunderball E
Cannonball E
Wendigo R, V (R was snapped off base)
Shaman Rx3!, V
Quicksilver R, E
Psylocke R, V
Dazzler E
War Machine R, V
Titanium Man Rx2, Ex2
Iron Man Rx2
Captain America E

Bystanders:
Wyatt Wingfoot x2
Pepper Potts
HERBIE

BFC:
Assembled

Feats:
Armor Piercing
Saboteur
Life Model Decoy
Shellhead
Protected x2
Homing Device

Now, I knew I had a case coming this Saturday, which was all but guaranteed to provide me with a full set of uniques plus 4 extras, and an even distribution of cards and bystanders. I also knew by then that the net effect of doubling the frequency of uniques in a case was to cut down the number of rarity level 5 uniques. In Armor Wars, that that means is that the higher frequency of uniques have potentially (and to all general evidence) made the following pieces rarer than uniques: veterans of Dazzler,Executioner, War Machine, Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, Iron Man, Captain America and Ultron. There's also some evidence that it also had an impact on the experienced levels of each of these.

So, I decided to view getting any of those in my brick as more of a victory than pulling a unique.
Was I happy? Well, no. Of course not. Even at the 20% discount I'd been able to swing (which was vitiated by PA state tax) it came down to $6.78 per booster. At the case level online it would be about $4.62 per booster.

So, I decided to view getting any of those in my brick as more of a victory than pulling a unique.

By Wednesday night I had tracking numbers and delivery dates for both my case, moving up from Orlando, and my semi-monthly shipment of comics from Madison. Saturday was targeted by superheroes and the like. The arrived just before 12:30 today.

My case did contain a full 16 uniques, a complete set of 12 plus 4 different extras. This case was definitely one of those where there would have been one person bitterly disappointed, one happy, one somewhat disappointed and one exultant.

Brick 1: 0 uniques
Brick 2: 4 uniques Crystal, Mystique, Wolverine, Magneto
Brick 3: 2 uniques Black King, Mystique
Brick 4:10 uniques Shathra, Spider-woman, Spider-man (x2), Iron Monger, Wolverine, Magneto, Sentry, Iron Man, and Jocasta.

Between the brick and the case I am only missing three clix from this set: vet Ghost, exp. Aurora and vet Crimson Dynamo. If I must be missing one upper tier vet, I’m happy it’s this remote controlled robot version of Crimson Dynamo Seth inexplicably decided to make into an REV, as if it's meant to represent the character through all of his incarnations. Getting the missing Ghost and Auroras, though, are something I'm aiming to wrap before the end of Monday.

Here’s the contents of the case for those looking for details:

Firebrand R5 E3 V4
Paladin R4 E3 V2
Lorelei R5 E2 V2
Diamond Lil R2 E2 V2
Echo R2 E4 V
Killer Shrike R3 E2 V
Thunderbird R3 E V3
Banshee R7 E4 V
Spymaster R5 E2 V2
Ghost R2 E4
Marrina R2 E2
Magma R4 E2 VC
Aurora R4 V2
Thunderball R E3 V
Cannonball R3 E V2
Wendigo R E3 V2
Shaman R E2 V2
Quicksilver R2 E2 V2
Psylocke R3 E2 V
Sunfire R2 E V3
Dazzler R2 E V
Executioner R2 E V
War Machine R2 E V
Crimson Dynamo R2 E2
Titanium Man R2 V2
Iron Man R2 E V
Captain America R V2
Ultron R2 E V (I was surprised to see that the exp. level is on a flight base!)

Crystal, Shathra, Jocasta, Iron Man, Black King, Iron Monger, Sentry, Spider-Woman, Spider-man(x2), Mystique(x2), Wolverine(x2) & Magneto(x2)

Bystanders:
Wyatt Wingfoot 2
Pepper Potts 2
Doug Ramsey 2
Happy Hogan 2
HERBIE 2
Justin Hammer 2

BFC:
Armor Wars 2
Assembled 2
Inertial Interference Field 2
Isolation 2

Feats:
Alpha Flight 2
Armor Piercing 3
Extended Range 3
Homing Device 3
Life Model Decoy 2
Nanobots 3
Protected 3
Repulsor Shield 3
Saboteur 3
Shellhead 3

So, yeah, they did a generally good job at the case level. On cards and uniques it's excellent -- they've achieved practical perfection. Even if I hadn't gotten the retail level brick I'd only have been looking for 6 clix to complete the set.

Anyone strongly considering buying a brick at this stage should try to find someone local to split a case with and agree to roll off for priorities in a draft pick for the uniques. As things stand that's the best way to assure you'll get 4 uniques per brick. It's not a perfect solution, as if one of you pulls far more uniques the odds favor the other guy pulling more E & V rares, but it's still going to be a better deal than what the brick odds will hand you half the time, and you'll have someone right there to trade with.

Later this weekend I'll dump the extras out again and see which REV sets I can make out of those, especially at the lower levels. Where I can I'll be inclined to try selling those that way.

The set looks beautiful, though. They've done an excellent job on the detail work in the sculpts and the paint process.

It's an interesting set, and it should play wonderfully on the themed map with its serpentine layout and close quarters. (Click on the image for a more detailed view.)