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ADVANCE REVIEW: WizKids SDCC Exclusive Marvel HeroClix GIANT-MAN
Hank Pym Goes Big (and Small) in San Diego Next Month...
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San Diego Comic-Con always offers a ton of exclusives to attendees, and WizKids has a long history of including cool HeroClix on that list. This year is no different, with a special combo that ties in directly to the expansion set that comes out the very same week. Chaos War brings to the game dozens of new figures with a subtheme surrounding one character in particular: Hank Pym of the Avengers. To celebrate that character WizKids is offering one Chaos War super booster figure - a colossal Giant-Man! But that’s not all. In addition to the huge figure, the SDCC exclusive version also packs in a second Ant-Man figure that’s sure to please long-term HeroClix players.
Creator of the “Pym Particles,” Hank Pym has used his size-altering super science to fight evil doers as Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Yellowjacket, Wasp, and other costumed identities. He’s appeared several times in his “giant” persona in HeroClix, but nothing like this. Every previous version has used the giant size, only slightly bigger than a standard figure. But now Pym gets the boost he deserves in full colossal height standing about 6 inches tall (6 ½ inches if you measure to the tip of his antenna)!
Giant-Man comes packaged in a cool new “super booster” box. While we’ve seen this large presentation before (this year’s Galactic Guardians set and 2010’s Giant-Sized X-Men), this time around there’s only one colossal figure and you know who you’re going to get. The box has a cool comic image of Giant-Man surrounded by his Avengers Academy students on the front panel along with the character’s name and the name of its affiliated set. On either side of the box is a photo of the figure itself, while the back panel is an advertisement for the Chaos War set complete with images of some of the new “Tiny” mechanic figures, Future Foundation prize kit figures, super villains, and the first ever “trio” figure of Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man!
Giant-Man is a great looking HeroClix figure that would look perfectly at home in an action figure or small statue collection. Capturing Pym’s current costume, the giant stands in a cool action pose that’s much more expressive than most previous colossals. Giant-Man steps forward while slightly crouching and leaning forward; meanwhile, his arms are fully outstretched and his head turned to the side. It’s a really dynamic stance that looks good from different angles and serves to highlight the nuances of the sculpt. Speaking of, Pym prefers sleek bodysuits in his superhero designs and this one is no different. The sculpt has very good musculature (not too beefy) and deep grooves at the edges of costume paneling and piping. Pym also has an excellent face sculpt that captures the character’s intensity along with a subtle hint of curiosity.
In the paint department Giant-Man is a bright red that borders on orange in certain light interspersed with an interesting pattern of black lines, geometric shapes, and accents. The costume’s hands, feet, belt, and antennae are also black, while two discs at the “belt buckle” are bright white. Finally, Pym’s face is painted naturally with skin tone, white teeth, and blue on white eyes.
Giant-Man dial has two separate sections on it so you can essentially play him as two different characters. The first is a “rookie” version at 75 points. This Giant-Man is played as a giant (not colossal), and through a cool new trait can Morph between the other versions of Hank Pym in the Chaos War set - a total of five revealed thus far. This low level version has most of the powers you’d expect, like Charge, Super Strength, Quake, Invulnerability, and Toughness (there are even two clicks of Exploit Weakness and one of Willpower). He also has the trait “Pym Particles, Grow” that lets him turn another Avengers figure into a giant. Now if you’re really looking for fun you’ll play Giant-Man at his full 300 point version and take full advantage of his colossal size! He trades in the ability to morph but keeps the Pym Particles trait, and that’s just the beginning. With a tough 16-click dial he’s an indomitable colossal with lots of Super Strength, Charge, Plasticity, all damage reducers, Outwit, Perplex, and Exploit Weakness. Three special powers pop up on his dial as well: “Swat” lets Giant-Man target all opposing characters within two squares when given a close combat action and divide the damage between them, end dial “Avengers, Behind Me!” pairs Defend with Toughness, and “Building Shove” enables Pym to damage and knock back all characters occupying an adjacent contiguous chunk of elevated terrain!
This year, WizKids celebrates the 10th anniversary of HeroClix, and part of this SDCC exclusive pays homage to that. Way back in 2002 came the first Marvel expansion, Infinity Challenge. As part of its promotion WizKids offered a limited edition #173 Ant-Man game piece at conventions. One of the few so-called “puck” figures, Ant-Man was just a dial base with no character at all representing Hank Pym so small that you couldn’t actually see him. If you get the new Giant-Man at Comic-Con you’ll also get packed in with him an all new Ant-Man that is the direct successor to the 2002 version! The new “figure” has the same set number (though now belongs in Chaos War) and is another puck. Even its powers are the same (Stealth and Incapacitate), though it has better numbers. Even better, at 75 points he can also Morph with all of the other eligible Hank Pym figures. You could morph from Ant-Man all the way up to rookie Giant-Man during a game (or vice versa)! Ant-Man is also one of the first figures to use the new “Tiny” mechanic, giving diminutive characters a bonus to defense against ranged attacks and making it easier for larger characters to carry them.
Available first at San Diego Comic-Con, the Giant-Man and Ant-Man twosome can be purchased at the NECA booth for $39.99. The big guy looks great and offers cool new options while the puck is a fun update on an old classic and very playable as well! All of the HeroClix players in San Diego will be lining up for this, so don’t wait to get yours. If you absolutely can’t make it to SDCC, Giant-Man will be available in other upcoming 2012 conventions starting with Gen Con Indy. For more information on Giant-Man and Ant-Man, check out the HeroClix.com preview.
Review and Photos by Scott Rubin
Review Sample Courtesy of NECA
