ADVANCE LOOK: WizKids 15th Anniversary DC HeroClix Elseworlds Booster Brick, JLA Starter, Dice & Token Pack, & Skyscraper Wonder Woman

Review and photos by Scott Rubin

Last month we took a look at one of this summer’s premiere 15^th Anniversary HeroClix releases from WizKids (Marvel’s What If? set), and now it’s DC’s turn.  Coming to comic book and game stores everywhere on July 19^th is DC HeroClix Elseworlds, a full expansion set bringing to life all sorts of interesting alternate-universe takes on familiar characters.  It also includes some core Justice League superheroes in their standard universe incarnations.  The set’s sub-themes include the debut of Planetary characters in HeroClix, the Justice Riders (DC’s take on superheroes in the Wild West), a focus on the Justice League of America: the Nail storylines, and more.  Today we’re going to dig into a brick of 10 Elseworlds boosters and share with you what we discover, so keep reading!

As with the previous What If? set, Elseworlds celebrates the HeroClix 15^th anniversary with a prominent logo front and center on the booster boxes.  Beyond that it’s heavily on theme with a front panel featuring Justice Riders Diana Prince and Kid Flash along with a matching burnt orange background.  For comic book readers especially it’s really cool what WizKids did with the set’s logo; instead of a big graphic they went understated and used the original Elseworlds imprint logo at the top left corner!  Spinning around the booster you’ll see some 3D renders of figures in the set on its sides with original Justice Leaguers (Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern), Planetary characters (Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner, the Drummer), Justice Riders (Diana Prince, Kid Flash, John Jones), and a smattering of unique individuals (Green Lantern of Krypton, Dale Suderman, Leatherwing).  And as usual the back panel directs players to check out the WizKids Info Network to find local venues and play for sweet prizes like this summer’s Colossal Organized Play program featuring Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet.

Without further ado, the full unboxing video of an Elseworlds brick of boosters.  At the beginning I show off the packaging then skip the tedious stuff (opening boosters, etc.) to give you clear, up close looks at the figures.  Remember to keep scrolling down this page for info on what we pulled and photography of all figures.

Here’s the breakdown of the figures in this brick (your results will vary of course):

COMMONS (including duplicates)

• 001 Batman
• 002 Superman
• 003 Wonder Woman
• 004 Green Lantern
• 005 The Flash
• 006 Templar (Batman: the Doom That Came to Gotham – 2000)
• 007 The Bat (Batman: Two Faces – 1998)
• 008 Super Police (Justice League of America: the Nail – 1998)
• 009 Gunfighter (Justice Riders – 1997)
• 010 Super Men (Son of Superman – 1999)
• 011 Diana Prince (Justice Rider)
• 012 Kid Flash (Justice Rider)
• 013 John Jones (Justice Rider)

UNCOMMONS (including duplicates)

• 014 Batman (Superman & Batman: Generations VI – 1999)
• 015 Superman (Superman & Batman: Generations VI – 1999)
• 016 Wonder Woman (Wonder Woman – 1982)
• 017 Green Lantern (Justice League of America: Another Nail – 2004)
• 018 The Flash (Flashpoint – 1999)
• 019 Oliver Queen, Templar (Batman: the Doom That Came to Gotham – 2000)
• 020 The Joker Creature (Batman: Two Faces – 1998)
• 021 Bizarro Police (Justice League of America: the Nail – 1998)
• 022 Clockwork Man (Justice Riders – 1997)
• 024 Nekhrun, the Bat-God (Batman: Book of the Dead – 1999)
• 025 Jakita Wagner (Planetary – 1999)

RARES

• 026 Batman (Justice League of America: the Nail – 1998)
• 027 Superman (JSA: the Unholy Three – 2003)
• 028 Wonder Woman (Justice League of America: the Nail – 1998)
• 029 Green Lantern (Justice League of America: the Nail – 1998)
• 030 The Flash (Justice League of America: the Nail – 1998)
• 034 Green Oracle (JLA: Created Equal – 2000)
• 036 The Drummer (Planetary – 1999)

SUPER RARES

• 037 The Flying Batman (Superman: Speeding Bullets – 1993)
• 041 Sinestro (Batman: In Darkest Knight – 1994)
• 044 Diana Prince (Planetary/JLA: Terra Occulta – 2002)

First up let’s break down the pulls from this brick.  In the common slots we got at least one of all thirteen figures, then eleven out of twelve uncommons, seven rares, and three coveted super rares (sadly, no chase figure in this brick).  Just like the previous set it’s noteworthy that Elseworlds was originally intended to be a Storyline OP expansion and so it has a smaller number of figures; with that in mind one brick goes a long way toward collecting the full Common/Uncommon/Rare, though of course it’s going to be a challenge to track down all of the super rares and chases.  We got all of the “normal” Justice Leaguers (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash), three Justice Riders plus two generics from that world (Diana Prince, Kid Flash, John Jones, Gunfighter, Clockwork Man), and two of the three main Planetary characters (Jakita Wagner and the Drummer).

Storylines featuring multiple figures include the Nail (Super Police, Bizarro Police, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash), the Doom That Came to Gotham (Templar, Oliver Queen, Templar), Batman: Two Faces (The Bat, The Joker Creature), and Generations (Batman, Superman).  Lastly there are one-offs like Green Lantern from Another Nail, Son of Superman’s Super Men, Wonder Woman from various specific issues, 1999’s Flashpoint Flash, Nekhrun, the Bat-God from Batman: the Book of the Dead, JSA: the Unholy Three’s Superman (it’s really Zod in disguise!), Created Equal’s Green Oracle, and in the super rare category The Flying Batman from Superman: Speeding Bullets, Batman: In Darkest Knight’s Sinestro, and Planetary/JLA: Terra Occulta’s Diana Prince!

Like in the previous set WizKids has used some sculpt reuse to bring you different of the same characters dials (and in some cases even different alter egos) across the various Elseworlds universes.  In that vein it’s entirely unsurprising as in most cases Hal Jordan Green Lantern looks the same whether or not Superman was around for the founding of the Justice League or not, etc.  So let’s talk about some of the most impressive sculpts in this set.  First up, there are some fantastic poses that really capture the feel of characters like the repeated punching Batman, the Gunfighter/Clockwork Man and Kid Flash about to draw down, Jakita Wagner charging headlong into danger, and The Flying Batman spreading his cape to take off into the air.  There’s also beautiful texture detail on the Flash’s speed effect, the Templar’s chainmail armor, and of course the various billowing capes.

Among my favorite sculpts are the shared common Superman gesturing to his enemies to stand down, Green Lantern swooping up and bringing his ring to bear, the fearsome and powerful Justice Rider Diana Prince, The Joker Creature combining a solid shared Batman body sculpt with a unique and super crazy Joker head, the Egyptian hieroglyphics-inspired Nekhrun, the Bat-God with his archaic weaponry and scarab symbol, Sinestro dressed to the nines and unleashing his fear energy, and of course Diana Prince with her incredible energy sword manifestations.

On the paint side of things there are a lot of bright, major superhero colors with the repeated headline Justice League characters and they’re all very well done.  Personally I was excited to see so many versions of Batman in the blue and gray costume, and since Green Lantern is my favorite character I’m happy to have several copies that look great and do different things in the game.  Across the board the paint applications in Elseworlds are handled well from the overall palette of these iconic (and sometimes obscure) characters to the fine detail like eyes and logos.

Some of the standouts in this respect are the shared Superman with his fierce expression, spit curl, and “S” shield on his cape, all of the Wonder Woman figures very well done, the Bat with his stylish purple scarf accent that differentiates the figure even beyond his unique costume, the Clockwork Man’s half robot face and red eye, the awesomely ominous darker shades of rare 027 Superman’s costume, and the funky color choices of the offbeat Drummer.  As always interesting effects are achieved with translucent plastic like the Flash’s Speed Force trail, Sinestro’s ring blast, and Diana Prince’s swords, while metallic paint makes figures like Super Men and the Templars really pop.

This time around we were also able to take a look at a few of the other peripheral releases coming alongside the Elseworlds set starting with the Justice League of America Starter Set!  While most expansions bring with them a packaged Fast Forces, this is an honest to goodness starter pairing six figures with a rulebook, Powers and Abilities Card, objects and tokens, maps, and dice.  A starter like this is the absolute perfect way for a new player to get into HeroClix as it has everything he or she needs to start playing right out of the box.

The figure lineup here is the Justice League from the New 52: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Cyborg (slimmed down after his separation from Grid).  The latter features a sculpt previously available in the Justice League: Trinity War set while the others are all from the main Elseworlds booster set; in all cases the starter pack figure comes with an all-new dial capturing a different take on the character.  They also all have rounded point values that make it easy and convenient to build into teams whether you’re just using the Leaguers from this starter or mixing and matching them with your other figures!

The brand new two-sided map features the battlegrounds of Wonder Woman’s Barn (lots of hindering terrain trees, funneling blocking terrain walls and of course the barn, ideal for playing two of these maps side to side) and High Noon Street (a mostly open thoroughfare with hindering terrain tumbleweeds and water terrain troughs, indoor saloons running the length with hindering terrain tables), thematic and fun.

The Elseworlds Dice & Token Pack is a great way to enhance your HeroClix experience with six blue and orange poker chip-style action tokens featuring cool artwork that depicts some of the unique characters in this booster set.  They feature Leatherwing, Green Lantern of Krypton, Green Lantern (Tangent), and Justice Riders Kid Flash, John Jones, and Diana Prince.  Also included are two dice in the same blue and orange color scheme with a special “15” on the six side to celebrate the 15^th anniversary of HeroClix.

Last but certainly not least is the Elseworlds set case incentive, the colossal Skyscraper Wonder Woman!  Available for only $19.99 to anyone who pre-orders a case of Elseworlds at a local game store, this massive figure comes in her own unique box featuring artwork from the comics, glamor shots of the figure, and a full bio on the back.  “Skyscraper” Wonder Woman is not the Diana Prince we all know and love enlarged to a ridiculous scale, but a gigantic robotic facsimile created by the Sinister Seer of Saturn to oppose the hero.

Free her from the box and you’ve got a 6.5 inch high monstrosity resembling Wonder Woman, a colossal figure you can field in your games or display on your shelves.  She wears one of Wonder Woman’s most iconic and traditional outfits (red top with golden eagle, blue shorts with white stars, high red boots with white piping, gold tiara with red star).  The robot stands in a slight crouch turned to her left side as she raises a bracelet-clad arm to deflect blows while she spins an enormous lasso with her right hand.

And as you can see, the latter is achieved visually by a clear and yellow plastic twirl effect that looks really cool.  The Skyscraper Wonder Woman has an angry expression on her face, and the great details on this huge figure extend all the way to her magnificent flowing hair, the rest of the textured lasso coiled at her waist, and even her red earrings.  As with most modern colossals the Skyscraper Wonder Woman can be played at various different starting point costs (including an ultra low point “indifference/retaliation” click) and has great stats and fun special abilities.

Hopefully this overview with photos of an Elseworlds brick and accompanying products has shown you just how cool it is with unique and fun figures that look great.  Dial reveals have been coming hot and heavy through various previews, as well as our #Indomitable show on Hyper RPG’s Twitch channel every Monday night.  You’ll have your chance to get your hands on the set (plus the Skycraper Wonder Woman, Starter Set, and Dice & Token Pack) when it all hits stores on July 19^th, and you should check with your local game shop to make sure they’re going to be running events with the set’s Organized Play kit.  Don’t know where to get (or play) HeroClix near you?  Then go to HeroClix.com and use the info network to find out!  As always, have fun with all of these new figures and good luck with your pulls!

Visit the brand new and improved HeroClix.com for even more info as well as downloads of rules and maps, and stay tuned to Figures.com as we continue our reviews of new HeroClix!

Review and photos by Scott Rubin

Review samples courtesy of WizKids Games

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