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REVIEW: WizKids Games 2014 HeroClix Convention Exclusive Prize Figures
Six Amazing DC & Marvel Figures Everybody Wants...
This week we’ve been looking at the figures in WizKids Games’ 2014 HeroClix Monthly OP Kits, which offer cool prizes for players at local venues and stores. Today we’re going a bit beyond that as we go over the truly limited edition figures of this year’s 2014 HeroClix Convention Exclusive Prize Figures! Available to winners of battle royales and other events at big conventions like Origins Game Fair and Gen Con Indy in addition to the multitude of international championships, these are some of the most highly sought after figures each year and bring to the players new takes on characters or those that have never before been in HeroClix. The 2014 batch is particularly interesting for its range of characters and inclusion of duos. On the Marvel side we’ve got Whiplash, Doop, and the duo of Hulk and Red She-Hulk, while DC brings us Amazo, Jonah Hex, and the Earth 2 version of World’s Finest! Read on for an in-depth look at these awesome prize figures.
While new figures appear each year in the convention exclusive lineup, one thing that has stayed consistent over the last few years is the packaging for them. Each figure (or duo) comes in its own unique small box emblazoned with the tag “Promotional Figure.” The different properties have different dominant colors, with blue for DC and red for Marvel, and each box shows off a digital render of the figure and a couple different examples of artwork from the comics in addition to the character’s name and the appropriate company logos.
There’s usually a “fun” character among the Con LEs (past examples have included Obnoxio and Bat-Mite), and this time around that distinction clearly goes to Doop! A unique, protoplasmic creature that’s still mainly a mystery, Doop has appeared in the pages of “X” books since 2001. The green character appears here for the first time in HeroClix with a pretty hilarious sculpt capturing him floating in the air, holding a big ice cream cone, and looking through a magnifying glass. He looks exactly as he does in the comics with a squishy body and bumpy head, X-Men logo on his belly and big yellow and red eyes. Doop appears to be enjoying some kind of bubblegum flavored pink ice cream, and his magnifying glass humorously enlarges his peeping left eye.
Much has been said about Doop’s dial, and it’s pretty interesting. The comic book character is clearly very powerful, but only uses his amazing abilities from time to time and they’re still very mysterious. Doop inclusion in HeroClix is 95 points, and that brings with it both X-Men and Power Cosmic team abilities, Flight, a 6 range with two targets, Tiny size, and two traits that let him switch a relic or resource on an opponent to a different enemy once per day, prevent his stats from being modified, and make it so that any successful attack on him deals one damage. His four click dial has good stats except for low damage, and only a smattering of powers. Doop starts with Running Shot and Precision Strike and ends with Perplex. The green thing has the X-Force, X-Men, and X-Statix keywords, and notably all of the entries on his card are written in Doopspeak!
DC didn’t get any funny Con LE characters in 2014, but there is one that has a really unique trait: Amazo. This isn’t the android’s first rodeo in HeroClix as he’s appeared in the game twice before. Professor Ivo’s mighty android has never been quite so large and imposing in plastic, standing head and shoulders above many figures and looking “awesome.” Stealing the powers of the Justice League, the robot threatens his enemies with Wonder Woman’s lasso in his left hand with Green Lantern’s Power Ring energy enveloping his upraised right. Amazo is thickly muscled and wears his traditional green costume featuring bands at his waist and lower limbs while his hair, eyebrows, and eyes are bright orange. There’s a nice use of translucent plastic for the energy and lasso, and the detail is spot on down to the robot’s scowl and iconic pointed ears.
While he’s the newest and biggest, this new convention version is actually the cheapest of the three Amazos in HeroClix. The others were high powered monsters with tons of powers and long range, but nothing that really captured the android’s power stealing abilities in action. This one changes all that with a very affordable 130 point figure that has Flight, Indomitable, and a 7 range (the first of several “7”s for Amazo). His dial is the epitome of consistency with a full 7 clicks of the same 9/10/17/3 stats! Seven standard powers appear on his dial in seven different combinations: Charge, Hypersonic Speed, Precision Strike, Energy Explosion, Energy Shield/Deflection, Invulnerability, and Outwit. Then there are two traits which really make things interesting. One gives the robot permanent Super Senses, which is especially helpful on the clicks with no defensive powers. The big one, “Programmed to Defeat Any Enemy,” requires a free action to choose a standard power, combat ability, or team ability on an opponent in range/LoF and use it. Plus, he can do this to use THREE powers/abilities at a time!
The next Marvel figure is another character making its debut in HeroClix, Whiplash! The current version in comics now is Anton Vanko, based on the character from 2010’s Iron Man 2 film. Fixated on Tony Stark after a rogue Iron Man suit is used to kill his father, Vanko uses stolen technology and his own to create a new suit with energy whips that gives him his codename. Whiplash cuts a menacing figure as he brings those weapons to bear! Wearing his homemade suit of armor, Vanko stands with his feet spread wide for balance as he slashes the air with his energy whips, one lowered in front of him with the other arcing by his side. The armor is bright silver with comic accurate black sections, and features quite a lot of intricate sculpted detail in the form of panels, overlapping plates, and more. Whiplash’s helmet looks great, and behind it flows his green ponytail/topknot. Of course, the coolest thing about this figure is his armament, and the whips are translucent blue plastic with a spiky, segmented texture.
Whiplash is another team build-friendly LE at 99 points, just slightly more expensive than Doop. His dial top shows that for that investment you get the Masters of Evil team ability and a short 3 range, along with a trait that makes all squares in his range and line of fire “adjacent” for close combat attacks. Vanko is a murder machine for anything that happens to get within that three square area, with a combination of ranged and close combat options to get through different defensive powers. His dial starts with two clicks of Running Shot to get into position with an attack and Exploit Weakness to punish anyone in his area of effect plus a special defensive power giving him Energy Shield/Deflection AND dealing feedback damage to anyone who misses Whiplash with a ranged attack by 3 or more! Mid-dial Vanko switches to a combo of Flurry and Sidestep with Incapacitate, Toughness, and Outwit, and on his last clicks gets Willpower and a return to Exploit Weakness to make him deadly until the end. A great team player who can really affect the enemy’s mobility and movement, Whiplash plays best with allies who shares his keywords: Armor, Masters of Evil, and Scientist.
The next DC figure is a blast from the past and another return to a character we haven’t seen in HeroClix for a while, Jonah Hex! The scarred 1800s gunfighter was a unique way back in Collateral Damage, and we got a very playable version based on the questionable film of his name in 2010. A bounty hunter whose adventures have taken him across time and into contact with superheroes like Superman and Batman, Hex had a tragic history of abuse, slavery, and war but was molded into a grim and determined hero. The new figure sees Jonah patiently stalking his prey striding forward with his rifle in both hands. His Confederate uniform covers nearly his entire body and features a wide-brimmed hat, belt with holstered pistol, and of course the distinctive shawl-like wrap. You may have to look closely, but staring out from under that hat is Hex’s half-ruined face complete with sculpted scars.
Jonah Hex started out in HeroClix at 46 points, and has gotten more expensive with each subsequent version. After the film’s 65 point star this LE is a full 100 points with Indomitable, a 6 range with two targets, one trait giving him permanent Precision Strike, and another trait that lets him summon an ally (we’ll get back to that one). His stats are about what you’d expect, starting out solid and dipping naturally except for his consistently good attack numbers. Hex begins play highly mobile with both Running Shot and Sidestep, and a second special power gives him Perplex to use on opponents and Shape Change on top of his Toughness. On his middle clicks the old timer gets regular Sidestep, Energy Shield/Deflection, and a touch of Ranged Combat Expert, while the end of his dial gets Hex ready for melee Combat Reflexes and Close Combat Expert. And let’s not forget that other trait! “Move It, Doc!” is a once per game free action to summon Jonah’s friend Amadeus Arkham who’s represented by a bystander token depicted on the back of Hex’s card. Dr. Arkham is notable for his 10 attack, 16 defense with Energy Shield/Deflection, and 0 damage Support to heal his friend. Finally, Jonah Hex has the Gotham City, Past, Soldier, and Warrior keywords.
This year was unique in that both the DC and Marvel Con LEs included duos, and they both packed quite the punch. On the Marvel side was the epic pairing of the Hulk and Red She-Hulk! Capturing the cover of The Incredible Hulks #626 by Jock, this huge single-based duo is the perfect representation of the “Mr. & Mrs. Hulk” storyline. The ultimate power couple, Bruce Banner’s Hulk wears a tuxedo while brandishing a pistol while Betty Ross as Red She-Hulk stands in front of him with a no nonsense pose. Putting both figures on one base always makes HeroClix players happy, and the sheer mass and seriousness of the Hulk juxtaposed with the movement in Betty’s stance and hair make it quite visually dynamic. Of course, the splashes of green and red breaking up the wall of black are also neat, as well as the little details like Red She-Hulk’s yellow eyes and the stern expressions on both of their faces.
So what does the dial for these two Hulks look like? Well, there’s a lot going on. Their full dial is a massive 300 points which brings with it the Transporter symbol for Move and Attack, Duo, Indomitable, Improved Movement ignoring Elevated, Hindering, and Characters, and two traits that let them use Close Combat Expert or Quake instead of one of their Duo Attacks and makes lower point enemies Outwit them with a Power Action instead of a Free one. Whew, get all of that? Their 10 click dial has huge attack and damage numbers (never less than double digits and lots of 5s respectively), with good defense and average speed. In addition to the Move and Attack the Hulks have six clicks of Charge and four of Force Blast, and there are seven interspersed clicks of a special power giving them Sidestep and Super Strength. Defensively there are the anticipated Impervious and Invincible with some Toughness and two clicks of a second special power pairing Regeneration with Toughness (the first of which could potentially get them back up to click #2). On top of their already huge damage there are three clicks of Outwit and two with yet another special power, this one adding a ranged element that might surprise your opponent with Energy Explosion, Penetrating/Psychic Blast, and a 6 range! The Hulks might not be the strongest 300 point figure in the game, but they’re sure fun to play. You can also run them at 200 points starting on their fourth click, and they have the keywords Avengers, Brute, Defenders, Intelligencia, Scientist, and Spy.
Finally, DC gets a duo that shares its name with a previous figure but not the same personalities, World’s Finest! The original Crisis Buy It by the Brick figure featured Superman and Batman, while this is the New 52 Earth 2 version with Power Girl and Huntress. As with the Hulks, this piece gives players two distinct figures merely sharing the same base. Helena Wayne takes a balanced stance, turning slightly to sight her hand crossbow at Gotham’s criminals as her cape spreads out behind her. Meanwhile, Kara Zor-El floats down to land beside Huntress supported on a clear flying effect. She has one knee up in a classic flying pose, her arms extended to her sides, and her cape dramatically descends after her (proving that she’s landing, not taking off). Both figures have highly detailed costumes with both sculpted and painted elements.
Unlike the previous World’s Finest and most other duo figures, this new pairing got the same kind of treatment as the Colleen Wing and Misty Knight duo from the Amazing Spider-Man set. That is, their dial includes two sections that are distinctly one character and then the next, and it can be played all together as the pair or in part as one or the other! Together World’s Finest is 200 points for 11 clicks of life with Flight, Duo, Indomitable, both Batman and Superman Ally team abilities, and keywords Gotham City, Kryptonian, Martial Artist, and Scientist. Separately Power Girl is 150 points with Flight, Indom, Superman TA, and Kryptonian/Scientist keywords, while Huntress is 75 points with Indom, Batman TA, and the other two keywords; all three versions have a 7 range with two targets. The dial begins with Power Girl’s section featuring high stats and opening Hypersonic Speed, Energy Explosion, and Impervious. She has a solid suite of heavy hitter powers including Charge, Super Strength, Invincible, and Close Combat Expert. Click #7 switches to Huntress who brings a special power (granting Running Shot and Improved Movement ignoring characters and both elevated and hindering terrain) along with Penetrating/Psychic Blast, Combat Reflexes, and Perplex. Later she switches those out for Leap/Climb, Blades/Claws/Fangs, and Super Senses. This World’s Finest is highly playable and extremely versatile with three distinct “figures” in one package.
Convention exclusives can be fairly controversial, as they represent figures that most players will have difficulty acquiring. [Of course, this year especially that’s becoming less true as WizKids rolls out tons of new international events, the WizKids Open program, and more!] The best ones, then, bring us unique versions of familiar characters or obscure faces that are fun to play but not overwhelmingly powerful. In my opinion, the 2014 LEs did a pretty darn good job of meeting those requirements without “robbing” the general player group of someone(s) they’ll all need. The Hulk, Red She-Hulk, Amazo, Jonah Hex, Power Girl, and Huntress have all appeared in the game before (if not in these specific incarnations), so only Doop and Whiplash are available exclusively in this form. And while they’re all fun and interesting to play, these figures probably won’t be dominating the casual or competitive HeroClix scene. As noted, all of these Limited Edition figures (plus the “for sale” exclusives Black Lantern Anti-Monitor, Resurrection Man, Zombie Galactus, and Impossible Man - see a review of those HERE) were available at multiple conventions and events this summer, and they’ll be at upcoming WizKids Opens in Colorado, North Carolina, and New York, the Australian HeroClix Championships, and more.
Review and photos by Scott Rubin
Review samples courtesy of WizKids Games
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Re: REVIEW: WizKids Games 2014 HeroClix Convention Exclusive Prize Figures
Dials as shown by WizKids!
