Maybe I'll Get Back To Heroclix Soon

Normally in mid-September I do a post looking at what DC-themed sets of Heroclix came out in the last year, and whether any of the unclixed characters I'd like to get were made. Then I repeat it with Marvel a month later. I missed last month's post, but given it's been years since I played the game regularly with anyone, it hardly seemed a big loss. But, as mentioned earlier this week, maybe that could change in the near future. Possibly, but what the hell. Let's do a twofer.

DC

DC hasn't had a set since February, but there was a Superman/Wonder Woman set last fall, with a lot of Fourth World characters as a subtheme, as well as a decent number of Wonder Woman villains. Then in February, in rapid succession there was a Worlds' Finest set, followed a couple of weeks later with Batman vs. Superman. The movie-themed one doesn't interest me, but Worlds' Finest at least had Doom patrol and Metal Men subthemes, among others. Got our first Ragman since 2006, and Negative Man got made for the first time ever (Doom Patrol fans have been screaming for him for years. They made Negative Woman back in 2007, in the Origins set, I think). So, at least some updated versions of characters I like, but what about the ones still awaiting their turn? Let's check my list:

1. Sand
2. Terra (Atlee)
3. Enemy Ace
4. The Unknown Soldier
5. Grace

Swing and a miss. Not really a surprise, although I thought maybe Grace, as a member of the Outsiders, would make it in Worlds' Finest. I feel like Atlee being positioned as a friend to both Power Girl and Starfire ought to get her a shot here eventually, but who knows. Given the Justice Society is largely on the outs at DC these days, not much reason to expect old Sandy the Golden Boy any time soon.

Marvel

Let's start with the list, just to take care of that:

1. Silhouette
2. Stacy X
3. SHIELD Agent Derek Khanata
4. Umm, shoot, I really should have refreshed my list after Rage and Triathlon got crossed off last year.

Marvelwise, there was a Captain America: Civil War set, an Uncanny X-Men set, a Superior Foes of Spider-Man set, and some "storyline organized play" set arranged around the comic book Civil War. That last one produced Silhouette, so I can't complain too much. The X-Men set was more '80s focused, so no Stacy X. Plenty of Marauders and members of Freedom Force, if you were the person dying for Super Sabre and Stonewall. I know, I'm one to talk.

The Superior Foes set really filled out the Serpent Society, which wasn't something I was exactly pining for, but I can appreciate it. The ability to field an army of moderately priced, snake-themed villains is appealing. Plus they did their first new Boomerang since the very first Marvel set, which was like 15 years ago. They even made a Nightwatch heroclix. Nightwatch being the kind-of a Spwan rip-off they put into the Spider-Man books for a hot minute in the '90s. Definitely not something I was asking for, but credit for digging deep.

So, characters to add to the list. They made a Devil Dinosaur in the last year, they could make a Moon Girl to go with him. If Jennifer Walters' assistant Angie (and her partner Hei Hei's) power were better defined, I'd say throw them in. Oh, let's get a Madcap, or a Slapstick. or both. They could go ahead and make a new Stingray. I know I wasn't a fan of the Mercs for Money, but that was because Duggan failed to give me any reason to care, not because I necessarily think they're worthless characters.

Except Solo, but they already gave him a Heroclix, so too late to close that barn door.

Or Negasonic Teenage Warhead. They brought her back to the comics after the Deadpool movie, so I assume it's just a matter of time. Or the Ghost of Ben Franklin.

Pleasant Surprises On the Marvel Heroclix Side of the Board

As usual, there were more Marvel Heroclix sets released in the last year than DC, though the disparity wasn't as great as in past years. there was an Avengers: Age of Ultron set, Avengers Assemble, Age of Ultron Storyline Organized Play, and Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD. The first Ultron set was based on the movie, the second is. . . I'm not sure. Some of it is from that Avengers A.I. series that came out after the Age of Ultron comic storyline. But a lot of the characters in it are '70s versions. Like yellow shirt and tiara Luke Cage, or Carol Danvers in her original Ms. Marvel outfit (with the exposed midriff). I guess these characters were important to the comic event? I don't know, I avoided Age of Ultron like it was a rotting, plague infested corpse. As for the Nick fury set, it's partially the classic SHIELD characters, and partially the ones from the current TV show.

Before we advance further, let's see what I was hoping to get this year, in no particular order:

Rage, Silhouette, Stacy X, Triathlon, and SHIELD Agent Derek Khanata.

And we got. . .  Rage and Triathlon! Whoo, thank you Avengers Assemble set!

Seriously, that set was pretty great. We got a new Hellcat for the first time in over a decade, a new Justice and Night Thrasher for the first time in almost as long. they gave us a bunch of the Avengers Academy/Arena/Undercover kids. Though not Finesse or Striker, but we did get Cammi. I don't know precisely what team I'd put her with, but at least she got made so I have the decision to make. They gave us Firebird, D-Man, Living Lightning, Silverclaw, Sersi, Red Wolf. Gilgamesh, the Forgotten One, from that weird lineup Simonson cobbled together around issue 300, got himself a figure.

Oh, and a bunch of characters from Hickman's Avengers run, if you're into that sort of thing. I'm not, so I'm much more excited about the Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel Heroclix. It's a super-rare, which means it isn't necessarily easy to pull, but at least they made one.

So that set alone pretty much compensated for the rest of the sets basically being duds. The Nick Fury set has a Jimmy Woo figure, but I already have one of those. I really wanted Khanata for my Agents of Atlas team, but at least I have Triathlon/3-D Man. Going forward, I can't see any of the remaining characters getting made, but then again, I wouldn't have expected Rage to pop up this year, either. And someone on HCRealms at least did a thread about how Stacy X hasn't gotten a figure, and what her dial could look like. Maybe someone will get some ideas. Of course, the X-Men aren't currently in favor at Marvel, so I probably ought to expect a lot fewer mutants and a lot more X-Men soon. Sigh.

It's Unlikely Any Of These Characters Will Get Made Soon

I still don't play Heroclix a lot, because, as usual, there haven't been many opportunities, but I try to keep a toe in the water. Keep up on what sets are coming out, rule changes. There are a lot of rule changes. Almost every year they add some new mechanic or item to the game. Though whatever it is usually only get played up for about a year, then it drops off the map. It's also usually very expensive, so I tend to give them a pass. Stick with the basic figures; I'm not planning on or expecting to win the World Championship. Though if I did, I would absolutely make NECA release a Stacy X Heroclix (the champion each year gets to choose a character and help design the dial for them. One year it was Mr. Sinister, another year it was Stargirl, one year it was a Nightcrawler that is apparently way overpowered).

Anyway, there were only two DC sets this year. A Flash set came out early this year, and they did one on Trinity War (remember that, the thing that lead into Forever Evil?) in the spring. The Flash set was good for producing a lot of new versions of the Rogues. Captain Cold hadn't had a new figure in almost a decade. Ditto a lot of the others. Trinity War didn't do much for me, but it's heavily slanted towards New 52 versions of the characters. Which makes sense, but limits my interest. I do think there was a new Vic Sage Question with two point values, and the lower one was closer to the street level guy most of us think of. The higher point value was for whatever the current version is, the guy who can't remember who is or whatever. There's supposed to be a Superman/Wonder Woman set this fall, and I think a Superman/Batman sometime after that. So, let's look at the Top 5 figures I wanted that haven't been made:

1. Sand
2. Atlee
3. Enemy Ace
4. Unknown Soldier
5. Grace

0-for-5. Well, not a big surprise there. The Justice Society isn't really a big thing with DC these days, and neither are most of their war characters. I keep thinking they'll make Atlee, if only because I'm sure there's a subset of people who'd like to play her alongside Power Girl (although PG hasn't had a new figure in a few years). Maybe in one of these Superman sets. There's not much else to say here. I'll look at the Marvel sets next month, that'll be more involved. There'll even be some good news!

Can't Let October End Without Discussing Heroclix

Here I was, worried I'd have enough things to post on until comics showed up (which should be this week), and I almost forget to do my yearly look at the Marvel side of Heroclix.

Hey, where are you all going?

Marvel had a busy year in terms of number of sets. There was Invincible Iron Man last winter, Deadpool in the spring, and Guardians of the Galaxy over the summer. There were also smaller sets for Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Days of Futures' Past (though in terms of character look, it more closely resembles the comics than the movie), and a different Guardians of the Galaxy set, based on the film. Generally speaking, I ignore the movie sets. They generally aren't the characters as I'm thinking of them.

So, the characters I was hoping to see were, in no particular order:

Ikon, Rage, Silhouette, Stacy X, Triathlon, and SHIELD Agent Derek Khanata. Past that, it would have been the other three members of the Slingers (Ricochet, Hornet, and Dusk). And of those we got. . . Ikon! Well, one is better than none, and the others were all longshots.

I can't complain too much. We did get a lot of new characters that hadn't been clixed before, and some new versions of characters whose previous versions were over 5 years old. We got the Grasshopper, so that's another member of the Great Lakes Avengers I hadn't even thought of. They gave us Agent X, the freaking Unicorn got a figure. Iron Man fans must have been in hog heaven. We got a new Silver Sable, a new Mantis, a nice Darkhawk, a lot of the classic Alpha Flight members. They gave us Colleen Wing and Misty Knight as separate characters, which was nice. I'm not sure we needed Iron Man in the Guardians of the Galaxy set after he had an entire set based around him barely 8 months earlier, but he was a member of the team, so it at least made sense.

Going forward, I don't see the odds of any of the characters I wanted showing up improving. I'm not sure what Marvel sets are coming down the pike (the only set I know of for sure is the Flash set coming in about 2 weeks), but I'm also not sure what kind of theme you'd need to get them out there. Maybe something about the Avengers Initiative/Academy/Undercover could get Rage or some of the Slingers out there. Possibly.

A Little Bit About Heroclix

We're three-quarters of the way through September, which means it's the little post I do about the DC characters I'm still waiting to see made into Heroclix. I don't play much these days - there aren't any venues within two hours of the boonies, and not a lot of people interested enough for me to teach them - but I try to keep up. I've been considering running some games and talking about them here. I'd try to spice it up, make it a story of some grand conflict to keep from boring you all. Making up stories and dialogue to go with the matches is half the fun for me, anyway.

Of course, they keep adding new elements to the game, so I'm probably hopelessly out of date. They added 4 new powers to the game last year, which unlike most of the newer mechanics, appear to be sticking around. Those Team Bases I complained about last year seem to have fallen off a lot in frequency lately. Maybe because they covered all the iconic teams already: the JLA, the Titans, various X-Men squads, Gen13. Well, I guess they're iconic, they got a team base.

There weren't too many DC sets in the last year. There was one based on the '60s Batman show this time last year, a set based on the Batman: Arkham Origins game last winter, a Legion of Superheroes set in February, and they did some thing based of the War of Light story over the summer. So none of that did much for me. A quick recap of the Top 5 characters I was looking for:

1. Sand
2. Terra (Atlee, Power Girl's friend)
3. Enemy Ace
4. Unknown Soldier
5. Grace

It will not surprise you to learn none of those characters got made, though you can never tell what they'll randomly fit into a set. They put a new Riddler figure in that Legion set. No, I don't understand it, either. Eh, most of them are longshots, anyway, though I keep hoping they'll do a JSA set at some point. Right now, the only upcoming set I know about is a Flash set, but maybe they'll do a JSA sub-theme. They did a Fourth World one in that Legion set, so it could happen. That's probably the best I can hope for, in all likelihood.

On the upside, we did get a new Mister Miracle, and a Stargirl figure. Haven't had either of those in several years. And the upcoming Flash set will probably bring new versions of some of the Rogues. We haven't had a Captain Cold since I started getting into the game.

It's, Er, Cilxerin' Time?

Sounds like an allergy medicine.

As per usual, the month after I talk about the DC Heroclix I'd like to get, I talk about the Marvel Heroclix I'd like to get. This last year was fairly quiet by Marvel standards, since DC got more sets than they usually do. There was Amazing Spider-Man over the winter, Wolverine and the X-Men in the summer, and they did a smaller set for the new Thor movie earlier this month. There's also some sort of Fear Itself thing, but I can tell whether it's another mini-set, or stuff you get from specific competitive events. Little of both, maybe.

I tend to have more than five characters I'd like to see on the Marvel side of it, so I group them into categories instead. But there are only five categories! So let's check in:

Cosmic: Galactic Guardians in the spring of 2012 took care of most of this, but there's still the matter of Ikon, if I wanted to complete an Annihilators team. I'm not holding out hope, unless she survived Infinity and Hickman makes her a key part of his Avengers run, which is doubtful since he's made so many people Avengers I'm not sure how any of them could be key.

Street-Level: Still no Rage or Silhouette for my New Warriors' themed dreams, but they were longshots, except maybe in the Amazing Spider-Man set. Then again, there's an Iron man-themed set coming in a month or so, and a major part of it is gonna be Alpha Flight so, who knows. On the upside, Amazing Spider-Man did have Colleen Wing and Misty Knight. As a Duo figure (2 character on 1 base), rather than two separate ones (because they needed room for 17 different Spider-Man figures in the set, obviously), but at least it's something.

Mutants: Wolverine and the X-Men came through. Monet and a Layla Miller both showed up, plus the first new Longshot in years, and a Dazzler that isn't the Ultimate version, or the Disco version. No Stacy X, but I wasn't really expecting a miracle.

Avengers: It took 3 sets spread between 2011 and 2013, but they finally finished the Great Lakes Avengers. Flatman and Bertha both showed up in Wolverine and the X-Men. Told you that set came through for me. of course, I think by the way they do set retirement Captain America is about to go out of "Modern Age", and that takes Doorman, Mr. Immortal, and Squirrel Girl with it. But that only matters if you play competitive tournaments, rather than just screwing around like me.

Atlas: Still no sign of Triathlon or SHIELD Agent Derek Khanata. Not expecting the latter, but Delroy might show up eventually. He'll probably be 3-D Man when he does, since he switched to that identity, but I'll take it.

All told, 6 of the characters I was looking for were made in some form or the other, plus some characters got new figures for the first time in a long while. Still leaves six characters out there, none of whom seem likely candidates going forward. Looking ahead, there's the upcoming Invincible Iron Man set, and supposedly a Deadpool set?! Don't ask me.

Deadpool: What are you talking about? I absolutely deserve a set with all the work I've done carrying Marvel the last few years!

Wade, I'm not sure you have enough characters in your orbit to fill an entire set, unless you really think Kane merits a slot. Or maybe, generic dude with pouches you shot in the face.

Deadpool: Generic Pouch Dude is a beloved character for fans of all ages! And how else are the Howard the Duck loonies going to get a Doctor Bong figure?

Point. Now go away, we aren't ready for you yet.

Deadpool: *walks away muttering* Maybe if you'd review that first trade of my new series you bought months ago you'd be ready. . .

If I were going to add characters, it'd be here, in the form of the Slingers. We sort of got them in the Amazing set, but a) it was meant to be Spidey when he used those identities, and b) they were chase figures, so fairly rare and kind of pricey. However, they did include a Prodigy in the Fear Itself stuff, which makes me think maybe Dusk, Ricochet and Hornet could show up later? Though Wolverine and the X-Men would have been a good place for Ricochet (he's a mutant), and Hornet could pop up in the Iron Man set (powered armor and all). I'm less sure where Dusk could appear, but the themes of sets aren't ironclad, so anywhere would be fine.

As Fall Takes It's Sweet Time Arriving, Heroclix

Around this time every year - for the last three or four years - I take a look at DC characters I'd like to see made into Heroclix that haven't had a chance yet. Looking back over the prior posts, the actual date has slipped around a lot, mostly because I forget, or get preoccupied.

Last year was a busier year for DC 'Clix. There was a Batman set, then Streets of Gotham, a big Teen Titans set, and a Man of Steel based release. That last one didn't do much for me, but I figured I'd mention it. One thing that's starting to happen is the inclusion of Wildstorm properties and of characters in their New 52 designs. The Teen Titans set was especially notable for that, but the Batman set had Katana in both her pre and post-relaunch looks, for example. At least the new Harley Quinns we got were her classic look.

One game mechanic they've added this year is Team bases. It's a large base that you fit other, specific characters onto, and then it works like a single massively powerful figure, getting stronger the more of the team you place on there, though you aren't forced to put them on there if you don't want. I don't really care about that, much like Duo figures, it feels like something that limits the mobility of my pieces. I prefer to be able to scatter or regroup at my discretion. But that's a player's choice issue, no biggie. The concern is that in terms of rarity, some figures are listed as Team base figures (which is somehow above even Super Rare), and that makes them expensive as hell to get. Which is really irritating when it's someone like say, Raven, who hasn't had a new figure since the Icons set from about 9 years ago. Gee, tough luck, player who just wanted a new, more playable version of one of the core Wolfman/Perez Titans! You'll have to shell out the big bucks now! Maybe if I wait five years it'll get cheaper, when Team Bases fall by the wayside like 95% of the other mechanics they've tossed out there in the last 4 years.

They do this as well with their Marvel 'clix, but I won't get to that until next month, so I figured deal with it at the first opportunity.

When I did last year's post, none of my Top 5 had been made. To recap, those were:

1. Sand
2. Terra (the one that was friends with Power Girl)
3. The Haunted Tank
4. Enemy Ace
5. the Unknown Soldier

Of those, the only winner is the Haunted Tank, albeit with none of Jeb, Rick, Arch, or Slim coming along. Basically anyone can use it, though you receive certain bonuses if they have "Soldier" as a keyword. Not quite what I envisioned. Hey, at least one its powers was listed as "Clankety-Clankety-Clankety".

Outside of that, the closest we got otherwise was a Terra in the Tenn Titans set, but it's the new 52 version, which I think means it's basically the original Terra, more or less. We did get Thunder, which brings me a little closer to that Chuck Dixon Outsiders team I mentioned last year. They even gave us a new Katana and Metamorpho to add in (also a new Black Lightning and Geo-Force), but they all have earlier versions. Still no Grace, though, which seems silly. The dial designers have really gotten into adding special powers that trigger when two particular characters are working together. You know, Fire and Ice, Booster and Beetle, stuff like that. Grace and Thunder seem like a natural pairing, and isn't like Grace's dial would be hard to come up with. She's a Brick clix. High damage, no range, damage reducers, lots of Charge, Super Strength, Close Combat Expert, stuff like that. There's only about a hundred of them already they can use as a framework.

I feel like the chance was missed, though. The farther we get away from her actually appearing in comics, the less likely I think it is we'll see her. Or any of those other characters up there, none of whom have shown up in the new 52 to my knowledge.

I'm Coming To Accept Conquest Is The Only Way To Get All The 'Clix I Want

Last month was "DC characters I want made into Heroclix", and now, as is the tradition, it's Marvel's turn. I'll go ahead and take the opportunity to mention Death's Head won the fan vote. Doesn't mean much to me, other than being one less figure I need worry about purchasing.

As is typical, Marvel had more sets than DC. I'm not sure why it works that way, but it has pretty much for as long as I've been playing the game. Marvel seems to get 2 sets for every 1 of DC's. Perhaps a licensing cost issue? No matter. Marvel had a 10th Anniversary set at the same time as DC's, and prior to that, there had been a Chaos War set, an Avengers movie set, Galactic Guardians, and early last winter Incredible Hulk.

I ignored the movie, set, because it isn't really the universe I'm interested in, if that makes any sense. Hulk was a bit disappointing, not many new figures I wanted, with the exception of Amadeus Cho. Mostly just new versions of figures previously made. Galactic Guardians and Chaos War did a bit better in that regard. So, looking back over the categories from last year:

Cosmic - Galactic Guardians had Cosmo, so that effectively takes care of the DnA Guardians of the Galaxy. They also, for the Gerber's Guardians fan put in Charlie-27 and Martinex (Vance Astro, Starhawk, and Yondu all came out in sets several years ago), as well as some of the cast of the '90s version. Ikon couldn't prevail in the fan vote, but she might make it into a set somewhere down the line.

Street-Level - Not nearly as successful here. My hopes that Rage might make it into the Avengers-themed Chaos War set were dashed, and no sign of Silhouette, either, not that I really expected her. Misty Knight and Colleen Wing also failed to make an appearance, but there's a Spider-Man set ready to go next spring that's supposed to have the Daughters of the Dragon in it. It's something, at least.

Mutants - No joy here. Stacy X, Monet, and Layla are all still absent. It wasn't a great year for mutants in general. A few Avengers-related ones, a few of the big names in the Anniversary set, but that's about it. Oh, and Mr. Sinister was in Chaos War, as the figure designed by the World Champ. There's a Wolverine and the X-Men set supposedly coming out next summer though, so I'd expect the X-Factor ladies to at least have a chance then.

Avengers - For some reason, we got few GLA members in an Avengers set than in last year's Captain America set. Dinah Soar was the only one to make the cut, and it's strange, because I was sure she had the capacity to make ranged sonic attacks, but they didn't give her any range. I was certain I'd seen her use it against Songbird in Thunderbolts. That still leaves Flatman and Bertha, no telling when they might show up. We did get an Eric O'Grady Ant-Man in Chaos War.

Atlas - You might recall I was rooting pretty hard for Triathlon to win the fan vote, and instead he was bounced after the first round. Alas, alack, to be cut down so. I don't have nearly as much confidence he'll show up eventually as I do Ikon, which is a pity since I'd much rather have Triathlon. As for my Derek Khanata wish, I'll probably have to settle for a generic SHIELD agent (or the Gabe Jones limited edition), and leave it at that.

This Is About Heroclix, But Not The Fan Vote, Relax

It's become a bit of a yearly tradition for me to talk about characters I'd like to see made into Heroclix. And I usually talk about DC in September, then Marvel in October. It's September, so let's get to it.

To clarify, I'm talking about characters that have never been made. There was a DC set a month or two ago, JL52, that had a new Cyborg and a new Enchantress, both of which I'll get around to purchasing eventually. But both those characters have been made before, albeit many years ago. I'm more interested in figures that have never gotten the nod.

Last year, I picked a top 5 of Sand, Terra (the most recent one, Power Girl's friend), the Haunted Tank, Enemy Ace, and the Unknown Soldier. In the last year, exactly none of those characters got made. Sand had a shot, but he lost last year's fan vote to Barda (although as I mentioned over the weekend, Barda's has yet to actually be released, though we have seen the figure and its dial).

That's. . . not great. Admittedly, there haven't been a lot of opportunities. There were a couple of Fast Forces (a box of about six figures so you can put together a team quick and easy) based off earlier sets. There was a set for the Nolan Batfilms, the JL52 set (which had about 20 figures), and the 10th Anniversary set, which had 2 dozen, but many of those were the same character at two different stages of their career. So Barbara Gordon as Batgirl and Oracle. Not always, since one Flash was Jay, the other Barry, and the GLs were Alan and Hal, but there was overlap.

The upcoming Batman set may help a little. Several years after introducing the "Vehicle" keyword with Thor's wagon in Hammer of Thor, they're seriously getting into vehicles with the upcoming Batman set. The Batmobile's a lock, but so is the Invisible Jet, Ted Kord's Bug, and, I believe, the Haunted Tank. I don't know whether it's the M-3 Stuart, or the Sherman they started using later. I hope it's the Stuart, but the way things are going, I better take what I can get.

I haven't heard anything about Enemy Ace, and it may be too much to hope for Rittmeister von Hammer and his Fokker triplane, but with them making vehicles now, there's a chance. The Batman set is also going to include some of the Outsiders, which means we might see Grace and Thunder, who almost made the top 5. I have this desire to put together the short-lived Chuck Dixon Outsiders team, and I need those two for it. There's a Teen Titans set coming out sometime next year, maybe Atlee Terra would show up there. All of that is circumstantial, but hopefully next year's edition will have more good news than this year's did.

Down To The Last Few Candidates Now

So Ikon didn't make it to the final round of the voting. It's down to Sleepwalker, Death's Head, and Ghost Rider. Which, I don't want to say it's a disappointing array of choices, but it's not one that inspires much enthusiasm. If I had to choose, I suppose I'd vote for Sleepwalker

The real question, regardless of who wins, is how long it'll take them to release it. Barda won the DC vote last fall, and she still hasn't shown up for purchase. Not for a couple more months, anyway. She'll be in the Batman set later this fall, which is actually looking halfway intriguing with all the characters who aren't Batman in it. Marvel typically has more set releases, so there might be less turnaround, but I haven't seen anything on any upcoming sets recently.

I Needed To Stuff More Ballot Boxes

The Heroclix vote I mentioned last week didn't go as I hoped. 3-D Man didn't make it past the first round. Neither did Hellcat or Major Victory.

On the plus side, less difficulty for me in deciding who to vote for in Round 2. It's Ikon or nothing. On the minus side, the odds are that much worse I'll get a character I want. More likely it'll be Death's Head, Mangog, or the Lady Ghost Rider.

'Tis The Season To Vote. . . On Heroclix

Last year, Wizkids did this fan vote to decide on a DC character that would get made in some future set. Despite my hopes (and votes) that Sand would triumph, ultimately Big Barda won out. She actually hasn't been made yet, but there's a set coming out sometime soon she should be in.

Having, done it once, they've decided to do it again, this time with Marvel characters. The first round voting started yesterday, so all 12 are still in play. And the nominees are:

3-D Man/Triathlon
Annihilus
Death's Head
Executioner
Ghost Rider (Alejandra Blaze)
Hellcat
Ikon
Major Victory
Mangog
Silver Sable
Sleepwalker
Xemnu

It's kind of interesting they didn't offer anyone with the level of appeal of say, Kyle Rayner (who was one of the options last year), or even Starfire, really (also one of last year's choices). And over half the choices have never been made before, which is nice. Though it's sure to produce a lot of acrimony on HCRealms, with the fans of those characters fighting amongst themselves since each will figure this is their favorites' one chance. I've looked at the threads that already popped up. Every character on that list has ardent supporters.

I don't have anything against any of the characters, but there are some I'm able to easily discount. I've never read anything with Death's Head in it, and Xemnu is limited to a couple of Defenders appearances.

Executioner and Mangog would be nice if I had a Thor villains team (the way I have a Sinister Six or Evil Mutants team), but I don't, so no thanks.

I already have both a Johnny Blaze and Dan Ketch Ghost Riders, and I don't know what team I'd use Alejandra on, so I'll pass. I don't have a Sleepwalker (since he's never been made), but I don't know exactly what I'd use him for, so not really interested.

Annihilus was made as recently as the Secret Invasion set, which was about 4 years ago, but wasn't that many sets ago. Certainly not compared to the other characters that have already been made. The figure's still a beast. All it needs is the "Annihilation Wave" keyword to work with all the Wave-related figures they added in Galactic Guardians this spring, and it would be fine. Wizkids can errata that in if they want.

Which still leaves 5 choices. Silver Sable could go on an Outlaws team. I have all the others thanks to the Web of Spider-Man set, but there's already a Silver Sable from an earlier set to use if I really want. The same basic deal with Hellcat and Major Victory. I could use them for Defenders of Guardians of the Galaxy, respectively, but they've both been made in the past, and I'm willing to go forward relying on those figures. So it's down to Ikon or 3-D Man. I have both an Annihilators team and an Agents of Atlas squad, so I could use either one. All the other members of Atlas are "retired" figures, but that's more relevant to someone who plays a lot of competitive events at venues. I mostly just goof around with them at home., which is why I went with Delroy. I like Agents of Atlas more than the Annihilators, and I think he'd bring something interesting to the team.

We'll see if he can even survive the first cut.

Still Wishin' For Clix

Last month, I looked back at a post from the previous year about which DC characters I'd been hoping to see show up in Heroclix. The results weren't exactly great. I thought we had a shot at Sand with this Fan Vote thing, but Barda ended up winning. Which is fine, I guess, her previous 'clix is probably pretty out of date, but at least she's been made once before, you know? Oh well, it's a year since I did the same thing for Marvel, so I wanted to check back on that front as well.

Marvel released two large sets in the last year, Giant-Size X-Men and Captain America. GSX included Siryn, so that's one for my X-Factor team. Captain America had Jack Flag, Doorman, Mr. Immortal, and Squirrel Girl (with Monkey Joe!). I'm not at all sure why they only made half the GLA, but what the heck, half is better than none. Besides, there are three Marvel sets due to be released between now and the end of next summer. A Hulk set, then Galactic Guardians (oh, I'm hopeful about that one), and a Mighty Avengers set in the summer. Maybe we'll get the rest of the GLA then. Anyway, let's see what's left from last year's list, with a couple of additions.

Cosmic: At this point, Cosmo's the only Abnett/Lanning Guardians of the Galaxy figure left, so yes, I'm hopeful Galactic Guardians will provide me with a telepathic cosmonaut dog. I know we're getting some of the old-school GotG, as Charlie-27 and Martinex are already confirmed, so that's good for fans of those teams. Also, Ikon would be nice. They made a new Quasar (Wendel Vaughn version) in the Cap set, and he had "Annihilators" as a keyword, so they could build on that.

Street-level: Eh, that's not the best description, but I'm trying to limit this to five categories, since I'm not holding myself to five characters. I'm still hoping for Rage and Silhouette for an original recipe New Warriors team. I figure Rage might have a shot with Mighty Avengers, since he was one for a little while. It also occurred to me that I'd like to see Misty Knight and Colleen Wing. I think they may have been pogs once, but so were Jimmy Woo and Gorilla Man and that didn't stop those two from getting actual 'clix (a development I was perfectly fine with). I figure KnightWing have a chance with the Hulk set, since it's also including Shadowland-related figures (such as demon-possessed Daredevil, and the current White Tiger). Misty and Colleen were mixed up in that, so why not?

Mutants: We got Siryn (and some new Madroxes), but I'm still hoping for a Monet and a Layla Miller for X-Factor, and there's always Stacy X. I don't know when we're likely to see any of those characters, especially Stacy. Unless she becomes an Avenger in the next 2 months, which hey, it could happen. every other sucker on the planet gets to be one these days.

Avengers: Bertha, Flatman, Dinah Soar. C'mon GLA, you're halfway there! The other figure I'd add is the Eric O'Grady Ant-Man. Not that I actually like the character (Scott Lang Ant-Man 4evah!), but I could use O'Grady for my Secret Avengers team. I'm still hoping for a Dr. Hank Pym (with red jumpsuit) one of these days. Not a new figure, but rather a different version of a character they've made before.

Atlas: Triathlon would have fit under the "Avengers" category, but I'd be using him as a member of Atlas, so that's where I'm listing him. Thought I guess he'd be "3-D Man" in that circumstance. Ugh, I do not like that name. I'll add former SHIELD agent Derek Khanata to that, since he's part of Atlas now, too. Plus, they gave us Scorpion (not the Spider-Man enemy, the teenage one whose mother is AIM's Scientist Supreme) in the Cap set, and Khanata was her handler when he was in SHIELD. It'd be a natural team-up.

OK, I got that out of my system. Brisco tomorrow.

It's Strange How They Sometimes Know What I'm Thinking

Two and a half weeks ago, I looked back at the DC figures I'd hoped would show up in Heroclix a week ago. With Ragdoll having been made, Sand had moved to the top of the list. Last week, thee folks at Wizkids/NECA started a fan poll to choose a character that will get made in the next DC set, which comes out sometime next summer. They listed 12 characters, and Sand was on the list.

Thus far, he's made it through the first round of voting, where the field was culled to six. The next round has begun, to cut the field to three. I'm thinking he has a good chance, but there are some fairly popular characters he's up against, including Kyle Rayner (as a Blue Lantern *rolls eyes*), Starfire, and Big Barda. Also, Captain Atom and Gentleman Ghost. I get Ghost; he's a spirit who wears a top hat and monocle on an invisible head, but Captain Atom? Ugh.

I'm a bit disappointed, though, as he's the only one of the six who hasn't been been made at least once so far. There were several options along those lines in the original 12 (Kanjor Ro, Thorn, Red Star), but most of those who made it past the first round have been made at least once, if not several times. Hey I wouldn't mind a newer version of Starfire for my Teen Titans team, but I at least have one to use. People who like Sand, or Red Star are out of luck thus far.

Frankly, I'm most concerned that Kyle will end up winning. It isn't that I don't like Kyle Rayner, I do. He was #9 on my Top 10 DC characters list. He's already been made 3 times, you see, including in the DC 75th Anniversary set, which came out last year. Not as Blue Lantern, mind you, but cripes, haven't they made enough freaking Lanterns the last few sets? There weren't any in this recent Superman set, but over the two large sets and four minisets DC's had in the 18 months or so prior, there have been almost 60 figures from the various Lantern corps, counting White and Black Lanterns (that's out of I'd estimate 170 total figures).

I know the Green Lantern franchise is a big deal for DC these last few years, a real mover and shaker, but it starts to get ridiculous after awhile. Give someone else a turn, eh? Hoesntly, while I want Sand to get made, I'd be OK with any of the others. Like I said, I could use Starfire for a Titans team, or a L.E.G.I.O.N. team, though there isn't much point without a Vril Dox. I could put Barda or Captain Atom on a JLI/JLE team. I put my Mister Miracle figure on a JLE team, which I know isn't accurate, but I didn't want the JLI roster to swell out of control and I'd figure commuting to Europe isn't much trouble for a guy with a Boom Tube. And who wouldn't want to use a Gentleman Ghost? He's the classiest ghost of a highwayman around. Hopefully one of them can triumph over the Lanternocracy, if Sanderson Hawkins can't.

Revisiting A List From Last Year

Originally, I was going to do an update on the 5 DC characters I'd like to see made into Heroclix exactly one year after the original post. The two problems with that were: 1) It would have fallen on Sunday, and Sunday is Brisco day for the time being, and 2) There's only been one large DC set released in that time span. Since the All-Star Superman set was due to come out next week, I thought I'd wait. Then the poster showing all the pieces in the set was released, and there doesn't seem to be any point in waiting.

So, last year's list:

1) Ragdoll
2) Sand
3) Haunted Tank
4) Enemy Ace
5) Unknown Soldier

Ragdoll appeared in last winter's DC 75th Anniversary set, but other than that, it's been a dud. That set did give us a new Sgt. Rock, but I'm more concerned with figures that haven't ever been made. There's no reason to suppose a Superman-themed set was going to come through for me, but there also wasn't any reason to waste two spots each on Max Lord and Magog. 1 for both was more than sufficient, especially since Magog was already 'clixed once before. We have 3 Magogs, but no Sanderson Hawkins. Bloody hell.

Oh well, one out of five is better than none. It does leave an empty spot to fill. I considered listing Jeanette, since Secret Six seemed to have some success get representation. But, I decided I'd like to throw a vote out there for the current Terra. Well, the pre-restart current Terra. Power Girl's friend. They've only ever made one Terra, and that was the blonde one, many, many moons ago. They had a new Power Girl in the Brave and the Bold set that came out spring of last year. I see a lot of complaints online that she isn't awesome enough for her point cost, but honestly, I think some of the people online want every figure to be a one-person wrecking crew regardless of whether it's appropriate or not. Anyway, that Peej is 199 points, so I think they could make a decent Terra for 101 points.

There are rumors there'll be a Justice League set at some point in the future, but I haven't a clue when it'll be out, if ever. If it does appear, it's likely to reflect the New DC status, so Casual Friday Superman will show up, probably alongside Baseball Enthusiast Roy Harper, and um, I'm out of bad jokes. At any rate, none of the characters above seem likely to get much love in a set based on the reboot DC. Then again, I have no idea how far in the future that set is, so by the time they get started on, the Earth-2 JSA book may be a hit (and it isn't as though there aren't plenty of JSA members who could use an updated 'Clix version), or maybe war comics set in the past will be the big thing.

Update on that Heroclix Thing From Last Week

I mentioned last week that the store was shorted on their Heroclix orders. Turns out the part of their order was sent to a different warehouse, and so by this week it had arrived. Hooray! It does sound like that's all there 'clix there are though. Guess demand was higher than anticipated. Which might be good for the next set, though on a nationwide scale I don't know if demand carries over from one set to the next. I'm sure there are people who will always buy a case, or half a case, but I imagine there are lots of people whose buying habits are determined by what's in each set.

I don't know if it's still this way, but the patrons of Marvels and Legends used to be heavily tilted towards Marvel, so Ken always had to order a lot more of say, Mutations and Monsters than Crisis. I'm like that, to be certain. The last two Marvel sets (Web of Spider-Man and Giant-Size X-Men), there have been about 45 pieces I was interested in, all told. The last two DC sets (Brave and the Bold, DC 75th Anniversary), about 17 all together. I think the next DC set may be Superman-themed, so we'll see if the level of interest holds, increases, or decreases.

Dodging Idiots In The Fog For 'Clix

There was fog this morning. Which, as far as adverse weather conditions go, is not too terrible. I'd rather deal with fog than heavy rain, and I certainly prefer fog to frozen precipitation. Still, I'd hope people would have enough sense to turn on their headlights when driving in fog, especially considering it wasn't that long after sun up. I can guess at the reasoning of those who don't. The lights don't really help them see anything. Which ignores how the lights help everyone else see them, and thus, avoid hitting them. I suppose they aren't concerned about my vehicle impacting theirs, but I'd think they'd want to be certain large trucks could see them to avoid smashing them flat.

In other news, the Giant-Size X-Men Heroclix set was out today, which brought several guys to the store to pick up their pre-orders. The unfortunate thing was the store was shortchanged on its orders. They received enough for the majority of the pre-orders, and set aside some for the upcoming sealed event, but I think about 40% of the shipment didn't arrive, and won't arrive based on what I was hearing. Any extras that are left over will go to the big distributors, to ensure they get 100% of their orders, and everyone else gets screwed. I don't see how Wizkids/NECA screwed it up that badly. They had the pre-order figures, that should have been a baseline minimum to produce, then certainly make extra on the hopes/certainty there will be others coming in to buy who don't pre-order. It happens. A friend has just introduced them to the game. Or they wanted to see what figures were in the set before deciding whether to plunk down the cash.

It doesn't hurt me any, since I get mine by purchasing extras from the other guys, but it stinks for the store, and for all the folks who did want to buy some boosters. I bought a dozen figures off Preston, which covered about 75% of what I really wanted from the set, a pretty successful result for looking through his leftovers. Of course, most of the ones left are the Super-Rares and they'll surely be pricey, but I'll get to them eventually.

A Little Heroclix Chatting

Two months back, I typed up a list of DC figures I'd like to see in Heroclix, that hadn't made an appearance. #1 on the list was Ragdoll, and good news, he's going to be in the next set! They even gave him a trait that makes him a more effective attacker when combined with The Parademon, since they were such pals in Villains United.

Today they released some more info on the new Sgt. Rock figure. There's been a Sgt. Rock figure before, released several years ago in DC's 2nd set, Cosmic Justice*, but figures that old are somewhat limited in their playability with the newer ones. Plus, the version of it I had gave Rock the defensive power Mastermind, which the designers have fortunately left off the new Rock's dial.

The deal with Mastermind was, if a character's hit with an attack, they can pass the damage off to another character on their team, provided that character's directly next to them, and costs fewer points. There are specialized variations on the power sometimes. Luthor can pass damage off to team members not immediately adjacent, and Niles Caulder can pass it to Doom Patrol members with higher point values (useful since I think the rest of Doom Patrol cost more than Niles). You might see a problem there. Mastermind's typically a power assigned to total bastards (depending on which version of Caulder you subscribe to, I suppose), characters with no compunction about sacrificing others. Viewed that way, the power suggests Sgt. Rock used his men as bullet shields for himself.

The other way to look at it is his men were so loyal they willingly took bullets for him, which has actually been depicted on covers of his comic before. Like the one to the left there. Still, once I started thinking of it as him throwing his guys' lives away, it was a downer. Instead of that, they gave the new version Defend, which means he can share his defensive value with friendly characters, making it harder to hit them, which I think suits Rock's protectiveness of Easy Company pretty well.

I wish they'd given him Probability Control or Super Senses, though. Probability Control lets you, once during your turn, redo one of your rolls, and once during your opponent's turn, makes them redo one of theirs. So if you miss an attack you were sure you could make (cause you only needed a 4), and your Probability Control-user can see it, you can try again. Longshot, Scarlet Witch, they've had that power at some point. Super Senses means anytime an attack would hit your figure, you'd roll a die, and if it comes up 5 or 6, you dodge the attack. Flashes, Spider-Man, Daredevil, they tend to have that power.

You might wonder, "What the Hell you doing giving it to Sgt. Rock then?" I would respond, "Combat Antenna**" It wasn't uncommon for Rock to get a bad feeling there was a trap nearby, or to have a hunch about the approach an enemy would take. As Chris Sims put it, 'Sgt. Rock's been fighting the war so long he developed telepathy.' Call it precognition if you prefer, but it has a certain amount of comic book justification, and it would have been really cool. Either power would work, though PC would enable him to protect his soldiers, so it'd be more appropriate.

Oh well, maybe in the future.

* I know it doesn't make much sense to release Sgt. Rock in Cosmic Justice, but I think the designers like to diversify sets a bit, rather than keep everything in a specific theme. It's how you get Groot in the Web of Spider-Man set.

** Or "Sergeant's Radar".

I'm Still Considering The Gaming Possibilities

A month ago, I looked at what DC characters I'd like to see Heroclix of who hadn't received a figure thus far. This month it's Marvel's turn. There's more than 5 characters, but I may be able to group them into five categories. I don't have any idea if any of these characters are likely to receive the honor anytime soon. The next Marvel set is supposed to be X-Men themed. or mutant-themed, I forget which.

Guardians of the Galaxy: I'm mostly interested in the Abnett/Lanning version, and there's only two that haven't been hooked up: Jack Flag and Cosmo. Jack ought to be pretty easy to represent. Charge and Leap/Climb for movement, Super-Strength for attack, Toughness and Combat Reflexes on defense. Nothing spectacular, but a solid secondary attacker. Cosmo, would be more of a ranged attack piece. Mind Control, Telekinesis, Incapacitate, Psychic Blast, maybe Barrier and Super Senses for defense, probably some Outwit. Since he's a dog, you could throw Blades/Claws/Fangs, though I can't remember Cosmo actually biting anyone seriously so far.

If you're more into the original GotG, Charlie-27 and Martinex still need to be represented. If the '90s version is your preference, Nikki and some of the later additions to the team could be selected (though Rita DeMara, the female Yellowjacket who came back to the future with them from the 20th Century, does have her own figure. It's from an old set, though.) And there's Deathcry, who was on Star-Lord's team in the early stages of Annihilation: Conquest. They weren't the Guardians of the Galaxy then, but one could throw her in, if they wanted

Great Lakes Avengers: Well, here are some mutants. There are three members of the team that have figures, but it's Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Deadpool, and "Great Lakes Avenger" is probably not the description most people think of when it comes to those three. Why not Bertha, Flatman, Doorman, and the rest? They produced the entire U-Foes roster in Web of Spider-Man. I'm not sure how they'll capture Squirrel Girl's ability to defeat anyone, while still representing her powers relatively accurately, though. I'm not sure of the best way to represent Mr. Immortal, either. They did give the most recent Wolverine figure a power to regain health every turn, so maybe give Mr. Immortal that, since he's hard to keep down, even if he's not hard to hit?

New Warriors: There's two members from the Nicieza/Bagley run still waiting for their turn: Rage and Silhouette. Rage shouldn't be hard, the standard "brick clix", maybe ramp up his attack and damage values as he gets beaten up, since I think he got stronger as he grew angrier. Sil would be another close combat attacker, but more of the kind you keep on the periphery, picking off opponents at the edges, while Rage is in the middle of things. I think one of the older Batman figures has a power (Out of the Shadows) that could represent her ability to merge with shadows for traveling from place to place, and there used to be a feat (Camouflage) that characters with Shape Change could use so you couldn't shoot at them if they were adjacent to blocking terrain, which would represent her melting into shadows to avoid attacks.

X-Factor: The original bunch are well-represented. No surprise there, since they're the original five X-Men too. I think all of the crew from Peter David's first run have figures as well, though it's been awhile since Havok or Polaris had new ones. The current detective agency crew is short a few pieces, namely no Siryn or Monet. Rictor's never had a figure, either, powered or depowered. I thought Layla had a bystander token (basically a pog that people used to fill out teams, or to suit their desire to make things comic accurate), but I can't find any sign of it. These are some mutants they might actually make for the next set, assuming they don't load up the set with five versions each of Wolverine and Cyclops.

Triathlon, Stacy X: I can't imagine there are many other folk clamoring for either of these two (especially Stacy), but they'd both fill out some teams I want to run. Triathlon's a member of Atlas now, and I'd run a "Joe Casey's Uncanny X-Men" team. All the other members - Wolverine, Iceman, Archangel w/bird wings, Nightcrawler, Chamber - are available.

The thing I like is that even though none of these are big name characters, I can entertain the notion they might get made. I wouldn't have expected Lionheart to get selected either, but it happened in the Avengers set. I was probably one of a handful of people actually happy about that, but they released a Thunderstrike in that set as well, and I know that made at least one of the guys I played against happy as well. I don't know how many of the creators are fans, but they seem to embrace that idea that all characters are somebody's favorite. And even if you don't care for a particular character, they might still be part of a team you want to field, or have an interesting dial you'd find useful in matches.

Some Characters I'd Like To Add To My Gaming

I have to get back in the habit of writing potential post ideas down, because I forgot one I thought of last night before I fell asleep. Oh well. Instead, I'm going to amuse myself by discussing figures I'd like to see in DC's next Heroclix set that haven't been made before. There are a bunch of DC characters that have had figures, that are a bit dated*, that could use a new version, but that's a whole other thing. I don't imagine we'll see any of these in the next set, unless I'm very lucky. DC's next set is a "75th Anniversary", so I'm betting on iconic characters, so the 27th-29th versions of Superman most likely. *shrugs* It's good if you're a fan of those characters.

1) Ragdoll - He's not the only member of the Secret Six not to have a figure yet, but he's the only one of the core group. He'd likely be a low-point piece players could set next to the other person's big brusier, and use to keep him tied up, which seems appropriate for Ragdoll. Plus, I'm curious as to what names they'd give his abilities. Something suitably unnerving, I'm sure.

2) Sand - Offhand, I can't think of any other major members of the JSA that don't have a Clix. They made a Wesley Dodds, the Golden Age Sandman, in Origins, and some of his abilities could certainly be incorporated into Sandy's dial. Sand has the gas gun, and the predictive visions, so that would be similar. Toss in a bit of Marvel's Sandman's dial, or maybe Geo-Force's. Hmm, Groot has a power that represents when he grows to an enormous size, they could toss that in somewhere for when Sand merges with the earth and becomes a giant rock creature (as I remember him doing against Mordru). I don't know if he still carries the wirepoon gun, but that could be worked in, too, I'm sure. He'd probably be a fairly heavy hitter, not on the scale of a Kryptonian, but a figure that could alternate between being hard to damage (if he becomes rock), and just being hard to hit (with the predictive power, or he could turn into a mass of swirling sand, how do you hit that?)

3) Enemy Ace
4) Haunted Tank - I figured I'd discuss these two together. Several sets ago, the designers introduced the idea of Keywords for each figure. Things that summed up character's team affiliations, or said something about who they are. Spider-man might have "Avengers" depending on when in his career it's supposed to represent, but it might also have "Reporter" or "Scientist". The idea was if you put together a team with everyone shared a Keyword, you received certain bonuses. it's not perfect (I don't know why red-and-silver armor Iron Man doesn't have "West Coast Avengers, for example) but they try to cover all the appropriate bases.

In Hammer of Thor, they made a figure called Thor's Mighty Chariot, which was Thor with his chariot and his two goats. They even created a new Keyword, "Vehicle". So with that in mind, why not Enemy Ace and the Haunted Tank? They haven't done any World War 2 characters in a while (Sgt. Rock and a couple of the combat happy Joes of Easy received figures in the second DC set, many years ago), but that's no reason not to add a couple new ones.

I would probably annoy my opponents by going "clankety-clankety-clank" as I moved the Tank across the map. But that's the sound it makes!

5) Unknown Soldier - My father's comics gave me quite an appreciation for DC's war characters, and they're a group that hasn't had a lot of representation. There was a Mademoiselle Marie in The Brave and the Bold set, but it was the one introduced by Rucka and Trautwein in Checkmate, as opposed to the skirt-and-beret wearing, Sten gun using WWII version. Which is still nifty, just not quite what I'm looking for.

Unknown Soldier wouldn't be a powerhouse, but he'd probably be hard to hit (being a master of disguise), and could probably do enough damage that he could clean up the opponent's supporting figures and secondary attackers, who aren't quite as tough. Probably some skill at inflicting damage up close or at range, but maybe not the best team player. He might have some special power where he can choose a particular Keyword, and he can, for example, Perplex (improve, or decrease if targeting an opponent) the values of only characters he shares that Keyword with. It would represent him playing a role for the mission, so he can't demonstrate skills unusual for who he's pretending to be, or he'd blow his cover.

* What tends to happen is the designers come up with new powers, the attack and defense values shift over time, or they introduce a new game mechanic (Sharpshooter). The end result is figures that were great back when the game first started aren't all that useful now, because by the end of their dial they have an attack of 4 and defense of 11, while most characters don't go below a 7 or 13/14 these days.