Origin Update
(The full 96?)
I was going to simply update my post from this past Saturday, but Blogger started throwing fits via spontaneously generating superfluous code, so I thought I'd leave that post be and display the expanded list here. As before, my earlier comments are in red.
After the list I'll make some general comments.
CONFIRMED CHARACTERS:Well... I must admit that the revelations make me feel even better about my decision to cut back on buys at least for the DC sets -- or at least this one. I even found myself wondering if three bricks is overkill when one adds in a pre-release and a marquee? I'm largely locked on that course, though, and am comfortable with it, as it should provide at least 12 uniques - even though some will almost certainly be duplicates - and a reasonable shot at most of the set with ample trading possibilities.
#01-03 Blackhawks (Stanislaus/Hendrickson/Blackhawk) Well... that's darn close to a generic, I suppose.
#04-06 Phantom Lady Now we can dig out Deathstroke and have him kill her again and again.
#07-09 Robotman (Cliff Steele) Good! I'm a big fan of the original Doom Patrol. The only worry is which design they'll use.
#10-12 Ray I was going to say the modern one doesn't mean much to me, but then I realized the earlier version didn't really either.
#13-15 Wildcat It'll be nice to see him added -- and to come that much closer to a full JSA team. I'm expecting Willpower, Toughness and Close Combat Expert, primarily.
#16-18 Damage This is another of those "has he been around long enough to warrant an REV?" pieces. With the new JSA roster, though, I suppose he had to come in eventually.
#19-21 Halo Could very well turn out to be a beautiful sculpt and a useful set of dials, but in terms of character interest this doesn't register on my meter.
#22-24 Mano Eh. I'm familiar with the basics of the character, though this will be another of those "which version is this?" pieces, in this case pre- or post-Zero Hour? I'm expecting the latter.
#25-27 Shadow Thief I'm expecting a blend of Phasing/Stealth on the dial, mainly.
#28-30 Knockout My first thought is that she might make a nice stand-in for Marvel's Thundra, as they haven't made one of those yet.
#31-33 Copperhead ...and in this case I'm mostly expecting to see a dry run for Marvel's Cobra.
#34-36 Question Will this be a combination of the Vic Sage and Rene Montoya ones in the REV?
#37-39 Animal Man I'm expecting one of those rainbow-ish dials where he'll be Earthbound part of the time and able to fly the rest, with multiple other powers coming and going as he draws on various animal abilities.
#40-42 Cat-Man Reborn as an interesting character, I'm mostly expecting something between Cheetah and a close combat Batman in terms of abilities.
#43-35 Booster Gold I'll be curious to see the new take on a character made in Hypertime.
#46-48 Atom (Ray Palmer? Ryan Choi?) Will we all be looking to see if his eyes are slanted?
#49-51 Mirror Master (Sam Scudder? Evan McColloch?) A classic Flash villain is always welcome. I'll be curious to see how the powers are interpreted in a clix dial. A Transporter with Phasing/Teleport would really make sense here, but I don't know if the designer wants to make him that powerful/useful.
#52-54 Triplicate Girl (Triad LE?) So... did we see something of a dry run for this with Multiple Man's dials?
#55-57 Supergirl (LE Matrix? Linda Danvers? The Girl from Krypton? Kara Zor-El?) It'll all be in the power levels.
#58-60 Hawkman (Katar Hol? Prince Khufu? Carter Hall? LE) I'm curious about any tricks to be used to make him more useful.
#61-63 Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandmark) Could be a nice addition, though she's hardly a favorite character and I'm not sure what to expect beyond another flying brick.
#64-66 Cyborg Superman This is another of those I'm initially surprised pulled an REV, but then again I have no idea what's been done with him since Reign of the Supermen.
#67-69 Steel Another remake from Hypertime -- perhaps.
#70-72 Mr. Miracle (Scott Free? Shilo Norman?) The greatest escape artist rendered into clix form. Hmmm. Leap/Climb, a high Defense and Super Senses would seem to cover most of it.
#73-75 Mon-El/Valor/M'Onel Will we rush to compare his dial with some of the Superman ones we've seen, or with Supernova's Hyperion dials?
#77 Green Lantern/Sentinel (Alan Scott LE) Well overdue.
#79-81 Shazam Could be fun as an REV, I'll be interested in seeing how varied the levels are.
#82-84 Martian Manhunter/J'onn J'onzz Same as for Shazam.
#85 Starman (Ted Knight) A nice addition. Here's hoping for a worthy dial.
#86 Sandman (Wesley Dodds) Looking forward to it.
#87 Blue Beetle III It's conceivable that I could care less, but I'm not sure how that would work.
#88 Mr. Mind (no sculpt?) Mind Control -- perhaps some Outwit and Perplex... but what sort of range?
#89 Jakeem Thunder (and T-Bolt) Presumably with an activation click to make him a little less likely anyone's favorite clix at the start. After that, though, how does one handle a clix dial for a genie capable of almost anything?
#90 Gentleman Ghost More than anything else I'm wondering how fragile/easily bent the sculpt will be. This is a character who went from being a curious Batman villain to someone many of us saw more than enough of during the final arc of the JSA's previous run.
#91 Vandal Savage An overdue character, I'm expecting Super Strength, Outwit and probably some Perplex, much leading Toughness and liberal inclusions of Regeneration -- perhaps not only on his final few clicks.
#92 Johnny Quick (Crime Syndicate) A super-speedster with a probability control TA? If his dial's at all good he'll be one of the more sought-after uniques.
#93 Negative Woman (Doom Patrol) So, we get a Negative Woman before we get Negative Man?
#94 S.T.R.I.P.E. Could be a little fun, though I'm expecting a big target more than anything else.
#95 Batman (Golden Age) I'm not sure what there'll be new here to see aside from minor costume elements. It isn't as if we can still draw on Earth 2 and have him be a JSA member. Maybe, as in the box artwork, he'll be smiling?
Supergirl How Silver Age will this one be?
#96 Superman (Golden Age) Speculation's on just how Golden Age he'll be. Will this be the original one, who could leap great distances but not fly?
I was surprised to see the set apparently leaked, but here's where it was. As of this posting there's still not even an icon for the set in the DC Figure Gallery, though that should be changing soon.
At this stage I'm not expecting this set to sell terrifically well, though the specter of some ultra-rare chase pieces being added into the mix could shift that, along with some revelations about one or more of the dials, especially on the high end of the REVs, where the rarity will be down to one per case.
The lack of any real generics will make booster-opening for this set more quickly a tedious affair, as unwanted extras of commons quickly mount.
All of this is off in March, though, and so is back-burner material.
Tags: Heroclix Origin set - full REV and unique list.
.png)
Comments
Still... other than the JSA figs, I don't really care. Would like to get a Wild Cat and the possible Ted Grant LE. Would like to get Johnny Quick for the CSA. So there's that.
Much more interested in the LAB in the horroclix wing of WK.
-- Grant
Whew! That "negative" bit... you're a brave or foolish man!
I've only given slight looks at The Lab so far, and haven't placed an order. At this stage it could very well be that I'll skip buying any directly, but I made the decision to jump in on the first set right to the end.
In all honesty, if I don't clean up everything I want from Supernova with the zombie trade, I despair of ever getting most of it. I'm thinking a Supernova Vet Thor or a Supernova Vet Surfer are going to become as difficult to get as an Ultimates Thor or a KC Green Lantern... well... maybe not that tough... but still, I suspect they're going to turn into $30 to $40 singles in the secondary market.
I do understand that WK just loves it when all their product sells out, and I can hardly blame them for finding a way to make that happen. But... well... I want the figs I want, and it's exasperating when certain figures become virtually impossible to get simply due to the vagaries of distribution inside cases.
Ah, well. I'll do what I can with what I have, I guess. And hope for the best.
Here we are a couple days after Christmas and they haven't even added the set icon to the figure gallery. The set's roughly two months and a week or two away, and we haven't even been show the New Guy Night piece. Indeed, we weren't even shown a single sculpt, whereas in every other set of the past few years the set announcement - four months or more ahead of time - we've gotten to see several sculpts.
The dynamics of how Marvel sets sell vs. DC ones is also part of what's in question. If (I'm tempted to say "when") Origin doesn't sell as well as Supernova, the DC apologists will blame it on the lack of an effective "buzz" about the set and the absence of zombies or some similarly attractive chase element. While there are many DC pieces I'm interested in seeing I simply find that I cannot get as excited about them as I do second and third-tier Marvel characters.
The ratios of pieces in contemporary sets make anything less than a case buy (and, when the screw up at the factory, even then) a wild crap shoot, I agree. While I might dig up some more to add to the pot, as mentioned before by all means go with the best offer you get for the zombie Colonel. It's unlikely you will ever again have as strong a trade item in clix, so get the most for it. The Cap & Hulk zombies were the two I'd most wanted to randomly pull, but I was content to let the set slide without pulling either one. It will not slay me nor will I in any way take it personally if you simply go with a better offer. Some people are far more extreme completists and/or far more well-connected and so are willing/able to offer more.
I hope that Wizkids won't tumble to the realization that making ultra-rare chase pieces a little more attainable -- say, one in fifty instead of one in one hundred, so that it's almost one per case rather than almost one in two cases -- could improve sales. The current ratio for zombies made it easy for me to stop when I did with the set.
It'll be interesting to see how far the three bricks plus some loose boosters get me in Origin.
Chances are when it comes to the July-ish Marvel set I'll revert to the case + a brick approach (barring financial problems) but I suspect two online bricks and one retail one will be my bulk buy limits for DC sets from now on.