REVIEW: WizKids Games 2014 Convention Exclusive HeroClix Figures

[JeffSaylor]

Quartet Of Limited Edition Figures Available This Week At SDCC...

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WizKids Games has a long history of convention exclusive HeroClix that dates back to the early days of the game before the hiatus. The modern game continues this trend with a variety of cool items, some of which are available for purchase at conventions and others you can only win as prizes. The “for-sale” convention exclusives are always highly sought after at events like Gen Con, Origins, and of course San Diego Comic-Con. Two years ago it was the colossal Giant-Man, and last year brought Shuma Gorath and the Trinity of Sin team base. For 2014 WizKids has expanded even further to FOUR convention exclusive for-sale figures, two each from Marvel and DC Comics. Today we’ll be taking a look at these exclusives available at SDCC (and later conventions this summer): Impossible Man, Resurrection Man, Zombie Galactus, and Black Lantern Anti-Monitor!

For the exclusive and prize figures, WizKids whips up some really cool packaging that follows its own themes and doesn’t look quite like their regular products. Each one comes in its own box decorated with HeroClix and its respective comic book universe branding as well as comic images and figure renders. Most DC prizes are in blue boxes while Marvel is red, but that’s not always the case. Notably, the Anti-Monitor comes in a black box as befitting his death lantern connection. The front cover of his box has a great shot of him emerging from the Black Lantern Power Battery, while the sides feature photos of the figure; on the back is an ad for the current War of Light tournament series. Zombie Galactus has a red and green accented black box prominently announcing the current run of Marvel Villain Zombies (back to back chase series in expansion sets and an upcoming Team Base!) with a gloomy image of the world devourer on the front panel. Like the other colossal there’s a photo of the figure on the side, and on the back is another comic book shot. Impossible Man and Resurrection Man each come in a new wide body box that has two images from the comics and renders of the figure. Of course the big news is the addition of the new “PAC d20,” which I’ll take a look at below.

Impossible Man

One of the wackiest characters in all of comics and usually used for comic relief, Impossible Man is a Poppupian shapeshifter with over the top mimicry powers. A green imp-like creature with unorthodox fashion sense, Impossible Man returns to HeroClix with a cute new fourth wall-breaking figure. Sitting suspended on a swirling air effect, the prankster wears his iconic purple outfit and has huge black eyebrows reaching up onto his cone-shaped head. Impossible Man brings his own reading material... a miniature version of the HeroClix Powers and Abilities Card! It’s a really neat presentation and totally appropriate for the silly character.

In the game, Impossible Man is 130 points of ways to spoil your opponent’s day, starting with a trait making him a wild card, letting him copy enemy team abilities, and preventing your opponent from using theme team Probability Control! With a deep eight click dial, he has a six range and does not fly despite his floating pose. His stats are not terribly impressive except for solid movement, and he has especially low damage numbers. But let’s talk about his powers. Other than attack they all show up as mirrored front to back; movement is Phasing/Teleport, Sidestep, Plasticity, and Sidestep then the reverse, defense is front and back-loaded Super Senses with Regeneration in the middle, and damage is Shape Change and Probability Control. Impossible Man’s entire dial is covered by the special attack power “Everything Goes Haywire.” For this power you give him a free action and choose an opponent in range. Roll the figure’s accompanying d20; if it results in a color or combat ability currently used by that figure then for one turn ALL of that character’s powers and abilities are countered and it has Earthbound/Neutralized! Clearly that’s where the bulk of Impossible Man’s 130 points are, and at any point game this figure can be tremendously fun and frustrating for your opponent. Impossible Man goes equally well with any teammates since he has no keywords.

Resurrection Man

The other regular sized convention exclusive figure is another unique case, this time coming from DC Comics. Mitchell Shelley gained a unique set of powers when implanted with microscopic “tektites” that give him a sort of immortality. Whenever he is “killed” he comes back to life with a different super power based in some way on whatever it was that killed him! In the comics this has resulted in a wide variety of interesting powers, some useful and some silly. The Resurrection Man figure captures the character just as he appeared on the cover of the first issue of his self-titled book in 2011’s New 52 with Shelley dragging himself out of a grave! Mounted on the HeroClix base is a square of earth decorated with a gravestone and cross marker, and in front of them the character drags himself out of the ground hand over hand. There are really nice textures on the mud, grass, and stone, and while the expression on his face is slightly less horrified he really does look like the comic book cover!

Resurrection Man is 92 points, and he’s a huge wild card when you play him because you never know what you’re going to get. He has one of the longest worded traits in the game, the “Tektite Infusion” that covers his immortality and randomness of his powers. His dial is all plain vanilla with two sets of two “countdown” clicks in the middle and at the end, wildly varying numbers, a five range, and the Calculator team ability. His trait says that at the beginning of the game you roll the included d20 four times. For each combat symbol result you can choose any variation of that type (movement, attack, etc.) to use and for each power color result you can choose a combat type and use that color power. Special power results use the ones indicated on his card, each one a very powerful combination of powers and abilities with Sidestep and the Flier symbol, Penetrating/Psychic Blast and Sharpshooter, Impervious and Indomitable, or Close Combat Expert and Giant! When Resurrection Man hits a countdown click he is placed on his card with a Body token put in his place, and so long as you have other figures in play he “heals” off screen per turn clockwise until he’s back to normal clicks; then put him back in play and roll the die again for new powers and abilities! Resurrection Man has an interesting collection of keywords with Forgotten Heroes, Future, and Justice Legion A.

Zombie Galactus

Moving on to the big guys is colossal Zombie Galactus! Coming out of the original Marvel Zombies series with a bit of a reinterpretation by WizKids, this figure represents the world devourer infected with the zombie virus. “Big G” has appeared in HeroClix before, always as a 3x6 colossal; this new one is the smallest yet at 2x2 but standing a respectable 7 ½ inches tall. He has an awesome classic zombie pose, standing with awkward stiffness, one foot shuffling in front of the other, and both arms reaching forward toward his victim. Galactus wears a fairly dark version of his usual costume with all of the familiar elements like the padding, “G” at the chest, multiple layers, skirt, attached heavy boots and gloves, and of course the iconic helmet with its huge central piece and side fins. However, that outfit here is pitted, scarred, torn, and otherwise mangled by the attack of the zombies. Galactus shows wear all over his body, with particular damage on his more exposed upper limbs. The devourer’s face is a horror show of pure white eyes and a rictus grin with the lips pulled away from the teeth and the cheeks ruined. Lastly, the zombie attack has breached the very body of Galactus resulting in an outpouring of cosmic energy that takes the form of a convoluted plume of translucent blue plastic erupting from his right shoulder. Overall it’s a very creepy look and one that’s nicely distinct from the other figures of Galactus we have.

You can play the zombified Galactus at three different point costs: 200, 400, and the epic 1000. All of them share the Power Cosmic TA, colossal size, and a massive ten range with three targets. The 1000 point level has a vampire-like start, beginning the game on click #4. Thanks to the “I Hunger!” trait the Food mechanic gives him a token when he hits an opponent (up to five max), and once per game he can be given a free action to heal a number of clicks equal to his tokens; through this trait he can heal up to click #1 with epic stats! But that’s not all. The “Infected with My Power” trait applies Virus tokens to damaged opponents (five max), and when they’re KO’d you get to take them over as zombies, healing them from KO up to the number of tokens on them! There’s a third trait that’s a double-edged sword but totally accurate to the source material. “A Taste of the Power Cosmic” gives Galactus Multiattack but provides opponents who damage him three or more with a close combat attack the chance to gain temporary Power Cosmic. If you haven’t read the book, Earth’s zombies consume Galactus to take his powers.

Zombie Galactus’ dial is plenty colorful, with no fewer than fourteen standard powers in rotation. Stats are stellar as you’d expect, topping out at that hard to reach first click with 20/16/21/8! Powers generally progress in blocks, starting with Force Blast/Pulse Wave/Impervious then Running Shot/Penetrating Psychic Blast/Invincible/Close Combat Expert then Force Blast/Energy Explosion Charge/Steal Energy/Invulnerable/Close Combat Expert then Force Blast/Energy Explosion/Toughness/Exploit Weakness and the final combo of Phasing/Teleport with Pulse Wave, Close Combat Expert, and Galactus’ one special power. The defensive “Devouring the Planet” gives him Energy Shield/Deflection and Toughness with the ability to heal if he’s occupying an opponent’s starting area. Zombie Galactus brings the usual Cosmic keyword along with Deity (which the previous version had), and of course the zombie-appropriate Monster.

Black Lantern Anti-Monitor

The final convention exclusive is another DC Comics figure, and one that’s tied thematically to the current War of Light OP storyline event, the Black Lantern Anti-Monitor! Originally a multiversal threat dealt with during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the anti-matter universe Anti-Monitor would return several times to threaten our reality. His very body was used as a weapon by Alexander Luthor during the Infinite Crisis, and a reborn Anti-Monitor served as one of the heavyweights during the Sinestro Corps War. At the end of that event he was hurled into deep space and absorbed by the nascent Black Lantern Power Battery, which he would subsequently power until he escaped it during Blackest Night. Empowered by the Black Lantern power, this new 7 ½ inch Anti-Monitor takes after his HeroClix predecessors with a similar pose and comportment but a decidedly scarier look. Like those that came before him, this villain stands on a rocky base (this time a pitted, rough chunk) and reaches toward his enemies with his right hand. His unique armor has been Black Lantern-ed with a black, gray, gold, and silver paint scheme and that Corps’ symbol on his chest. Speaking of his armor, the sculpt on this figure is very good and captures all the different plates, panels, rivets, hoses, and more. Of course, the most striking thing is the Anti-Monitor’s horrible face with its dead-looking and sunken in white eyes and gross open mouth!

With Black Lantern powers this Anti-Monitor fits exactly between the previous HeroClix versions with a top starting point cost of 900 (he can also be played at 600 and 300). All three starting lines give you access to the Quintessence team ability, colossal size, ten range with two targets, Improved Targeting: Ignores Hindering Terrain and Characters, and the “Death Powers the Battery” trait that gives him Battery tokens when opponents are KO’d. The 600 and 900 point versions also get Multiattack through another trait. Unlike some other colossals like Zombie Galactus, Black Lantern Anti-Monitor follows in his immediate predecessor’s (Guardian of Fear) footsteps by being a team player best used with others. That’s not to say he isn’t brutal on his own, because he is with great numbers, twelve different standard powers, and three special powers. He has all the favorites like Phasing/Teleport, Pulse Wave, Penetrating/Psychic Blast, Energy Explosion, Invincible, damage reducers, Outwit, and Probability Control plus some Empower and Enhancement. Coming in on the third click after each starting line is the special movement power “Empower with Death” that lets you remove a Battery token to boost the combat values of all allies in range and line of fire for the turn for a free action. Also affected by the tokens is the special attack power “Anti-Matter Wave” giving him Pulse Wave with an area of effect of 5 plus Battery tokens. And even when down to his very last click (#24!) the Black Lantern Anti-Monitor is not without fight left in him! His stats spike with 10/12/19/5 with Hypersonic Speed and the last special power with the awesome name “I’m Free! Now DIE!” It’s a stop click halting damage taken from an opponent’s attack and providing Regeneration. When he uses that power you can remove Battery tokens; the amount removed is applied as penetrating damage to ALL opposing figures within that number of squares! Ditching his previous Ruler status, this Anti-Monitor has the Black Lantern Corps and Cosmic keywords.

Whether you’re looking for some random power action with Resurrection Man, the chance to frustrate your opponents with Impossible Man, or the mind-boggling power of Black Lantern Anti-Monitor or Zombie Galactus, this series of convention exclusives have got you covered. You can get all four of these, plus the just announced Black and White Lantern Power Batteries Pack, this week at the NECA booth during San Diego Comic-Con. They will also be available later this summer at Gen Con and other conventions with WizKids participation. They’re all great figures and the convention pricing for these exclusives is really reasonable; the colossals are $50 each while Impossible Man and Resurrection Man are only $15 each!

Visit HeroClix.com for even more info as well as downloads of rules and maps, and check Figures.com regularly as we continue our reviews of new HeroClix!

CLICK HERE FOR OVER 80 NEW PHOTOS!

Review and Photos by Scott Rubin

Review Samples Courtesy of Wizkids Games

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