- Review and photos by Scott Rubin
Hey HeroClix players and collectors, welcome back to our continuing coverage of the best miniatures game on the market. As you well know from our previews and a brick unboxing last week was the release of the Marvel HeroClix The Mighty Thor expansion set. It’s got Asgardians galore, Thor’s pals and foes plus Avengers, Eternals, Masters of Evil, Hulks, and much more. There are also tons of new iconic and generic weapons in the form of HeroClix equipment. Finally, Mighty Thor is a super booster set so it has a number of all new colossal figures that are fun to play and great to display.
Today we’ve got a very special treat for you with an in-depth look at the entire expansions so you can see every figure and item that you can pull from its boosters (along with the accompanying products like the Starter and Dice & Token pack). Whether you’re an expert on Norse mythology or just know Thor from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a HeroClix expert or someone just looking for unique collectibles to display, read on to check out the full set!
Let’s break down the set starting with the figures you’ll see most often in the boosters, the commons. As you’d expect the set kicks off with Thor, and the 001 version is a great nod to the classic roots of the character with the thunder god holding Mjolnir aloft. The son of Odin does not fight alone but brings along several friends at this rarity slot: a classic red-gloved Hercules, the mighty warrior woman Sif, a beefy Hulk, and an Asgardian-flavored Captain America wielding sword and shield. Not all is sunshine and flowers with villains like a classic horned Loki, Hulk’s nemesis the Leader (and a Red Leader Prime), and King Cobra joining the recently released Serpent Society crowd. Good and evil get fun common generics with the scarlet Warrior of Asgard, spear-wielding Valkyrie, hulking Rock Troll, the massive Stone Men of Saturn, and Wakanda’s elite Hatut Zeraze. Both the Eternals and Wrecking Crew get one member with the golden Thena and a red, white, and blue Piledriver respectively, and lastly there’s a holdover from the What If? set with a Bruce Banner Spider-Man from the Bullet Points alternate timeline.
The uncommons next start with Thor (are you seeing a pattern yet?) and in this case there are two, the modern female and 90s bearded version. Both appear a second time at this rarity level in their mortal forms of Jane Foster and Eric Masterson. Neither has to look far for allies and are joined by as Asgardian Iron Man with sword and hand cannon, classic Samantha Parrington Valkyrie, and the grim Hogun, first of the Warriors Three in this set. Pitted against the heroes are the king of the trolls Ulik, the beautiful and beguiling Lorelei, and the villain-turned-hero Executioner along with his Skurge Prime variant. There are no uncommon Eternals but bright yellow Bulldozer represents the Wrecking Crew here. Otherwise you can find the translucent generic Warrior Soul, leader of the Wakandan Hatut Zeraze White Wolf, and three Hulk-related figures: Jennifer Walters “Hulk,” Red Hulk, and Korg of the Warbound.
If you guessed that a Thor kicked off this set’s rares you’d be right, but it’s so much more than that. This rarity level brings to HeroClix two characters that were chases in the Hammer of Thor set way back in 2009! First up is Throg, the “frog Thor” and successor to the original Thor, Frog of Thunder figure. Throg is delightfully tiny, a frog in costume and wielding a tiny mystical hammer. The other old chase returns with a modern take on Thorbuster while other Asgardians here include the always loyal Balder, Troll of the Thunderbolts, Warriors Three jolly fellow Volstagg, and the massive Destroyer along with the Prime Odin the Destroyer variant!
There’s a small space theme with Iron Rocket Man (Rocket Raccoon in an Iron Man armor!) and a cool blasting Captain Marvel while the addition of Ms. Marvel brings things down to earth. With his Enchanted Crowbar Wrecker joins the Wrecking Crew while other baddies in these slots include the god Pluto and vintage 60s villains Tyrannus and Zarrko, the Tomorrow Man. Lastly, the Eternals are represented by the most characters among the rares with the helmed Ajak, high-flying Ikaris, and Makkari the Speedster.
For the super rares The Mighty Thor continues the recent trend of “Title Characters” but this time offers not one but TWO of these unique figures! The first is the striking Thor Odinson charging and bringing the lightning with Mjolnir while the second is his half-brother in his recent, dashing comic appearances as Loki, Agent of Asgard captured here enchanting a blade. Thor’s not the only one wielding a magical hammer at this rarity slot, not with fellow warriors like Groot Thor with his foliage cape and grown-in costume and an armored, flying Hulk!
Then there are the Asgardians Hela and her Prime variant Angela with an incredible presentation standing atop a pile of skulls, while Fandral completes the Warriors Three. Eternals add the sometime-Avenger Sersi and the translucent (and massively powerful) Uni-Mind to their ranks in the super rares and the swinging Thunderball completes the Wrecking Crew lineup side by side with fellow Masters of Evil member Enchantress stepping out of her mystical mirror. Among all of these Norse characters is the Greek god Zeus ready to throw some lightning bolts of his own, and the Hulk sub-theme gives us a fearsome new Maestro figure.
For the chases, the rarest figures in the set, WizKids went with a somewhat looser theme than we’ve seen in recent expansions. Instead of different versions of the same character, or multiple characters from the same storyline, etc., The Mighty Thor features eight characters who are part of the Asgardian tales but who aren’t related by anything more than they each utilize a very specific weapon or magical item. In turn, every single chase figure comes with his or her own equippable object (see below for lots more on these)! As with every other rarity level we start with Thor, and this time it’s the late 80s version in his life-saving armor throwing Mjolnir at his enemies!
There’s also Unworthy Thor (“Odinson”) clutching his magical axe Jarnbjorn with his uru arm and previous wielders of Mjolnir Thunderstrike (Eric Masterson) with his maul and the awesome world champ-designed Beta Ray Bill with Stormbreaker. A regal and powerful Odin with the spear Gungnir takes a stand for order with Dragonfang-wielding Valkyrie, while Malekith and the female version of Loki scheme and conquer utilizing the Casket of Ancient Winters and Loki’s Staff respectively.
It’s been a little while since we’ve gotten a Marvel HeroClix set with super boosters, and they’re back in a big way! Just as before, a brick of this expansion includes eight standard five-figure boosters and one of the big boys. There are eight colossal figures you can pull in the super boosters starting with a face familiar to Thor readers: the demon Surtur with flaming head and the massive sword Twilight. Ymir and the Frost Giant share the same icy body but differ in their frosted or translucent finish and the weapons they wield; the generic warrior has a massive ice sword while Ymir clutches a brutal club.
Also sharing sculpts are Groot and the generic Flora Colossus, both appearing as hunched over tree people with bushy “hair” though they differ in their paint jobs. Then there’s Carnage, an epic version of the symbiote creeping forward with tendrils, blades, and claws extended for murder. Ms. Marvel was a fun surprise in this set, bringing a gigantic option to fans of the shapeshifting character; her colossal features her extending her limbs in odd proportions as she heads into battle. Finally there’s the bizarre looking Mangog, the yellow skinned and red faced amalgam of the hatred of a billion billion beings with near unlimited power! Every single colossal is a figure that can cause all sorts of chaos and fun on the battlefield while also being a fantastic display piece.
A major addition to the Mighty Thor set is a whole bunch of equipment! We’ve seen figures come with special objects before, but never in this frequency or in such a cool theme. As the booster boxes describe, many of the characters in this set are what you might call “Legendary Wielders” who are known for a very distinctive weapon or piece of gear. WizKids has translated these into separate special objects that can be used on your force for a cost, or free if equipped to their specific wielders at the start of the game.
There are a whopping 16 objects in the booster set: Executioner’s Bloodaxe, Hogun’s Knobbed Mace, Throg’s Frogjolnir, Balder’s Frey, Wrecker’s Enchanted Crowbar, Enchantress’ Mirror of Mysolijh, Fandral’s Dueling Sword, Thunderball’s Enchanted Ball and Chain, chase Thor’s Mjolnir, Thunderstrike’s Thunderstrike, Beta Ray Bill’s Stormbreaker, Malekith’s Casket of Ancient Winters, Unworthy Thor’s Jarnbjorn, chase Loki’s Loki’s Staff, Odin’s Gungnir, and Valkyrie’s Dragonfang. Then there are eight generic objects that come with the colossals in the super boosters, less powerful but still cool versions of some of the unique items: Hammer, Mace, Bladed Hammer, Healing Casket, Axe, Staff, Spear, and Sword.
In our advance review of a brick of The Mighty Thor boosters (see it HERE) I discussed at length my favorite sculpts and paint jobs, and there were quite a few. Today I’ll talk about some of the highlights among the figures I’m seeing for the first time in person in the full set, so it’ll lean heavily toward the rarer slots but make sure you check out the brick review to hear about the great looking more common figures. As a longtime Thor fan I’m extremely pleased with the figures in this expansion, and nearly all of them look great… so much so that it’s hard to pick favorites. But, I do what I must so here are some of my picks for standouts (your opinions will vary, of course).
First off, the Asgardians and their enemies provide all sorts of opportunities for intricately sculpted textures like armor plating, fur clothing, and more. In this set you can see some really good work on the Thorbuster armor, Balder’s magnificent cloak, the Eternal Ajak’s chainmail, Groot Thor’s wooden body and foliage cape, and the beautiful chase Loki in her scaled outfit and fur cloak.
Then there are the figures whose poses are perfect for their characters, really showing their personalities like uncommon Thor (Jane Foster) charging with Mjolnir, Ms. Marvel shifting her body to unleash a double-handed blow, the fearsome Hela/Angela holding out a skull, Enchantress stepping out of her magical mirror, Maestro smashing anything in his way, and Thunderstrike screaming as he swings his enchanted mace. The sculpts that really blew me away were the tiny but super detailed Throg, the hulking armored form of Destroyer, Thor Odinson with a great pose, cool armor, and a fun lightning effect, and of course my man Beta Ray Bill with his best presentation yet. Top marks goes to chase Thor replicating one of my favorite of the thunder god’s comic looks with a fantastically detailed sculpt that looks great from every angle, and the flying Mjolnir is a bonus! Lastly, all of the colossals look great and are supremely display worthy.
Likewise with paint, this set is full of gloriously colorful warriors raging in battle. In this larger view of the set we see even more metallic paints used on weapons, armor, and the like from ubiquitous swords and axes to shiny outfits like Thena’s, armor suits like Iron Man, Thorbuster, and the Destroyers, and the unique suit worn by the super rare Hulk. Translucent plastic too makes more appearances (though less on average than other sets since there are fewer flyers) with energy and lightning effects on figures like Zeus and Sersi, swooshing effects like that seen on Thunderball spinning his ball and chain, chase Thor hurling Mjolnir, and Thunderstrike leaping into the air, and completely see-through figures like the clear Warrior Spirit and green tinted Uni-Mind. So many figures have great paint jobs; Red Leader’s green and black outfit contrasts excellently with his red skin, Lorelei looks dashing in purple and gold, Thorbuster and Iron Rocket Man are super clean, Volstagg is boldly colorful, and chase Thor and Malekith are incredibly well done.
It’s always interesting to look at HeroClix expansion sets and see where things are going with new or returning mechanics, trends in abilities, etc. In The Mighty Thor we see a lot of what we’ve come to expect in the recent state of the game, with some changes. First off, this set premieres the new rules! This doesn’t have a huge impact on the figures themselves vs. what we’ve seen before though you’ll see only the new, streamlined wordings for traits and special abilities. Of bigger import is that this set brings back Prime figures, one at each standard rarity representing a different version of a figure often with a variant sculpt or paint job (these are the Leader/Red Leader, Executioner/Skurge, Destroyer/Odin the Destroyer, and Hela/Angela). You’ll of course recognize these by their “a/b” set number designations and the green circles on their bases.
There are some holdovers from the What If? set in regard to figures who have the “From an Alternate Earth” trait letting them switch out for different characters; this is featured on Spider-Man (Spider-Man/Hulk), Iron Rocket Man (Rocket Raccoon/Iron Man), and Groot Thor (Groot/Thor). Meanwhile, both Jane Foster and Eric Masterson have mechanics that can potentially transform them into other figures, a Thor for each and Thunderstrike for the latter. There’s a very cool shared feature in that several figures (Valkyrie, Pluto, Hela) can create “Warrior Soul” bystanders, but if you have the actual Warrior Soul figure you could use that instead (just on its top click). Meanwhile, other figures like Tyrannus, Malekith, and Odin can create other bystanders. Also returning is the recently-added “Title Character” trait, and this set has not one but two with Thor Odinson and Loki, Agent of Asgard! Otherwise, we see several figures with Improved Movement and Targeting and notably every size category is represented in this set from the tiny Throg all the way up to the super booster colossals.
Next up let’s check out some of the fun, crazy, and downright game-breaking traits utilized by figures in the Mighty Thor expansion! As with other recent sets there are a couple of shared traits that pop up on multiple figures. All of the Eternals share “Channel Cosmic Energy” which lets them sacrifice their Power Cosmic team ability in exchange for Willpower and Perplex that does +2 when they use it on themselves. Likewise many of the Hulk figures in this set (common Hulk, uncommon Hulk, Red Hulk, super rare Hulk) have “Powered by Rage” that gives them tokens when damaged that they can spend for combat value buffs! Meanwhile, King Cobra is the only Serpent Society figure in the set but he shares the “Sssneak Attack” trait seen on his predecessors in the Superior Foes of Spider-Man expansion.
Other cool traits include common Loki’s optional “God of Trickery” that brings secondary illusory copies, “Challenge Cosmic Entities to a Game” that lets Hercules and an opposing figure roll off to take an action token, common (Jane) Thor’s “Goddess of Thunder” granting a bonus attack after she hits someone, Red Hulk’s heat abilities boosting his Poison, “Strongest of the Rock Trolls” upping Ulik’s stats to equal any Rock Troll’s anywhere on the board, Prime Skurge creating a Last Laugh marker for the ultimate attack position, Prime Odin the Destroyer getting TWO actions for one power action if he has an action token thanks to his “Incalculable Might,” Angela getting bonus powers and damage when she becomes “The New Queen of Hel,” Zeus flat out stopping his enemies from using Willpower, Uni-Mind’s “Forged in Blue Flame” giving him ungodly powers and abilities with other Eternals on your sideline, and chase Thor proving he’s the “Mighty Son of Asgard” by being able to hold two objects via Super Strength AND to use both in an attack!
Just as fun and interesting are the special powers scattered among the figures, really differentiating them and replicating the abilities of characters and equipment in the comics. Again, here’s just a sampling of the cool powers in this set: common Hulk gets to use the new and improved Quake for free after Leap/Climb, the Hatut Zeraze’s “Cloaking Tech and Energy Dampening Boots” give them Sidestep, Stealth, and the ability to move freely down elevation changes, uncommon (Eric) Thor gets his “Cape in Your Eyes” trading high damage for stopping a hit opponent in its tracks, uncommon (Jennifer) Hulk breaks HeroClix rules by dealing damage to figures knocked back into other enemies, Hogun can give FREE Charges to his Warriors Three buddies after he makes his move, Destroyer can heal via giving damage to his Asgardian or Deity allies via “Life Force Possession,” Hela in her “Asgardian Goddess of Death” form gives her bonus powers and can instantly slay a figure 200 points or under that she hits with a critical hit, Beta Ray Bill’s spaceship comes to the rescue in the “Aided by Skuttlebutt” STOP click giving him free Regeneration after he moves (and he has Phasing /Teleport on that click!), and Odin is nearly unkillable on his “Odinsleep” STOP click thanks to Impervious, Super Senses, and Probability Control while he rests and prepares to heal and re-enter the fight!
Of course that’s not all, as WizKids always has additional products alongside their main expansion sets. This time around the big one is the Starter Set that includes the new rules and PAC! For new players or current ones looking to get right into the new stuff this is a great way to do it, plus you get new dials for Thor, Loki, Hercules, Captain America, Iron Man, and Hulk, the Asgardian Shield object, tokens and standard objects, and the double-sided Gjallerbru and Grand Arena map. The Mighty Thor Dice & Token Pack gives you six blue and red poker chip-style action tokens featuring iconic comic book artwork of characters from the booster set: classic Thor, Eric Masterson Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Thor (Jane Foster), Groot with Mjolnir, and Odinson along with two dice in the same blue and red color scheme with a super cool Mjolnir symbol on the six side. Lastly, at participating HeroClix venues you can play to get your hands on the contents of the Release Day Organized Play kit: the Adamantium Ball and Chain special object and double-sided Bifrost and Jotunheim Lake map.
Front to back, top to bottom, that’s your look at the Mighty Thor Marvel HeroClix expansion from WizKids. All of the above is out and available now, the boosters/super boosters, Starter Set, and Dice & Token Pack for sale at your local comic book or game store and the Release Day OP Kit at participating venues for prize support. Fans of Thor and Asgardian stories are loving this set, as are longtime players appreciating the updates to figures we haven’t seen in a while (or ever). The sub-themes give a broader appeal too, capturing the imagination of the adventures of the Eternals, the ferociousness of the Hulks, and more. And, of course there are the super boosters with knockout colossal figures that are fun to play and to display. Check out all of the photos for group shots and comparisons with previous versions, and get your Mighty Thor HeroClix now!
Visit the new and improved WizKids.com/HeroClix for even more info as well as downloads of the NEW rules and maps, and check Figures.com regularly as we continue our reviews of new HeroClix!
Review and photos by Scott Rubin
Review samples courtesy of WizKids Games
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