by Travis Roberts
Welcome back, Apex Insiders. As always I am Ares Edge and I bring to you the next edition of The Players Pulse. This time we talk about the 4 W’s, What We Want, Wizkids. This is going to be very different kind of article as we discuss what we want to see for 2018 Convention Exclusives. Welllllll as I was writing this article good ol’ Wizkids pulled a fast one on me and released some of their 2018 exclusives. There are definitely some differences in the lists of what the people wanted and what we appear to be getting. Lets take a look at what people voted on as their main wants, and what Wizkids will actually be releasing this year. Yes, as pointed out while doing my polls and player research, I’m aware that Wizkids has most likely planned out their Convention Exclusives well in advance, but it doesn’t change what we the players actually want to see made.
Right out of the gate the most wanted figure was none other then AOA Apocalypse, and rightfully so! We have now seen two Heroclix sets that have included Age of Apocalypse chases and have yet to see the big guy as one of those chases. He has to be a con exclusive right? Wrong! The list that was released recently doesn’t have him on it. But we have seen this before where we have had only part of the exclusives released and then others pop up later in the year. I can only hope that this is the case. If not, mutant fan boys and lovers of the comic series itself might revolt.
The second most wanted was a Blackbird/Cerebro style game mechanic for the new X-Men ID cards. With the newest release of 2018 exclusives we see that Wizkids will be releasing a purchasable Blackbird set. Now with the wording of “set” it would imply that there is more to it then just the Blackbird itself. Could there be extra figures in this set like we have seen in other purchasables like the Ali vs. Superman set last year, or will there be extra Limited Edition ID cards like there was with the Justice League Teleporter? The other big question that players have is will it be more like what we have seen with the vehicles having a “terrain dial” or will it play like the Avengers QuinJet.
Those were the biggest and most shouted for game elements that players wanted to see made. After that there was a list that included a lot of figures and game elements that made sense to see. The Banshee ID card was one of them and it did make the list of items that will be available in 2018. Other players wanted to see Modern versions of John Constantine and Swamp Thing made, as we have the Con ID cards for them and after rotation, if these ID cards stay Modern, we won’t have figures to go with these. People had hoped for a Forge ID card as he was introduced in earlier WKO play. The love for Gambit has stayed strong as multiple polls across multiple pages wanted to see a new version of him and an ID card, but until further notice mutant lovers will have to just enjoy the Wolverine and the X-men version. A good amount of votes also came in for more Arrowverse figures, a Technodrome, Symbiote Groot, and more Earth X figures.
What Heroclix fans can look forward to winning in combat are a new Daredevil, Kingdom Come Orion, Bombshell Hawkgirl, Banshee ID, Psylocke ID, Mr. Freeze ID, and a Poison Ivy ID. The items that we were also previewed are purchasable figures which include the Blackbird Set, Commissioner Gordon, and Star Trek Kirk and Uhura figure.
The first two glaring things that stick out to me on this list is zero Ninja Turtle figures are listed, hopefully this will change because the Turtles have been a great addition to the Heroclix family. Next, another Daredevil figure? Why!? Just why!? In the last two years we have had every single Daredevil you could have asked for made. We’ve had Cosmic Daredevil, the hand leader chair Devil made, Matt Murdock Agent of Shield, shifting focus Daredevils, you name it we have had it made. Why do we need another one and what could it possibly be that will drive people to want it? Is it a Netflix Daredevil or maybe a little sneak peak at things to come? We can only hope that it will be something that is worth showing up to events for.
After that the list looks solid, another KC figure for completets to chase and a KC figure that has never been clixed. Another bombshell to add to an already very solid sub set that sold well for the Harley Quinn set but also plays very well too. VILLAIN DC ID CARDS!!! I personally can only hope that this is a pre-cursor to things to come from the Batman the Animated Series set this summer. A lot of hate gets tossed towards the ID card mechanic, I really enjoy it but that’s a talk for another day. The only two things that we haven’t talked about are the purchasable Commissioner Gordon and the Kirk and Uhura figure. Not sure what is going to be great about this Gordon figure that will draw people to want to buy it, maybe it will be Batman Animated series related maybe it will be Gotham by Gaslight related. I wont spoil that movie but I would love for the Gaslight Gordon. My store didn’t get any of the Star Trek set, I was never really big into Star Trek but I was super happy to see another Indy set become modern and made to branch the game into new and hopeful directions. This figure the way that it is listed makes it feel like it’s going to be a duo figure, but other then that the description doesn’t leave us with anymore real give away to what to expect from it.
All in all after what Wizkids previewed we are left with a lot of questions but also some excitement as well. We can only hope that this isn’t the end of the list and some of the figures that were on the What We Want Wizkids polls will come true. Its still early and there are a lot of things that were left up in the air by Wizkids. Until next time this is Ares Edge, and may all of your rolls be critical hits.
