Wednesday, October 31, 2007
From the Junkpile
Hoping both that they'll come up with a second, better preview for the holiday, and that this is the worst piece in the set, today's sneak peek is a zombie Iron Man.
How many more seconds do I want to waste on this?
I'll leave looking at the sculpt and stats to you, whoever you might be. I can't justify the effort of putting together the graphics for this one.
Instead, I'll reprint a couple quick posts I'd done in various threads elsewhere:
Potentially outpacing the stench of decay is the dial beneath this version of Iron Man. There's nothing on this dial I can feel inspired about, from the complete lack of move and attack values to the single-target EE to the low Damage values and the combination of Steal Energy (a close combat attack) with Energy Shield/Deflection (a ranged defense enhancement) and Damage Values low enough to prevent him from being able to put the bite on anyone with Invulnerability or better or even Toughness when it comes to the final click.
Those who don't pull him will have one less item they'll likely feel a need to chase after, and I hope that most of the ones who do pull him are those who are so caught up in Marvel Zombie-mania that it'll still feel like a good thing. Opening a booster and finding this, I expect, will elicit a groan from most players, especially if they've yet to pull an Apocalypse or one of the other SRs more likely to be of interest and broad trade potential. The only thing that'll keep this one's value up will be the zombie craze; some months, a year from now perhaps, most players will look at this and be surprised that anyone would have wanted one rather than any of the other Super Rares. Seriously, if there's a worse SR in this group then the set's in trouble.
I've bounced between giving this a 3 and a 1 on a scale of 10, deciding to go back to a 3 because, yes, he is a flying Perplexer, so that's worth something. Someone building a zombie team or a theme team built around "Monster" will likely want a themed taxi with Perplex. I may even find some use for it, but I'm not likely to find much motivation for it.
Even were I a fan of the Marvel Zombies I believe I'd be disappointed in this version. Most of the reaction appears to be that it's one less Super Rare they'll feel motivated to chase, while hoping there are enough who are really into the shtick so if they do happen to pull it someone will trade for a different SR.
I remain optimistic about the set -- we've seen some (IMHO) terrific pieces in it -- but this is the low point so far. The thought that there might be something worse in the mix is awful.
As far as the "real" monsters view [side note: A subset of the Heroclix community got it in their heads that "monsters" could only mean some of the 1970s monster invasion and/or a related stab made in the '90s -- this despite any of the promotional materials making it clear what the sets themes were.] , I can honestly say that since they explained the themes being drawn on in the same sentence when the set was announced I did not come to this set expecting Werewolf By Night, Dracula, etc. I expected that the titular monsters would be zombies, Hulk foes (some Hulks, too), and maybe a particularly misshapen mutant or two. I understand how some might have run in that direction either having missed the initial statement or by the "if not in this set, then when?" argument, but I cannot honestly claim that Wizkids in any way misled me as to the thematic contents of this set.
Would I like to see a Morbius, Man-Wolf or Werewolf By Night in clix form? Sure. They have their places in the history of the Marvel Universe, and one or more could yet be in this set, but I can't honestly say that I felt betrayed or cheated if they aren't in M&M. (How cheated I'll feel when I pull a zombie Iron Man, on the other hand... )
Hoping both that they'll come up with a second, better preview for the holiday, and that this is the worst piece in the set, today's sneak peek is a zombie Iron Man.
How many more seconds do I want to waste on this?
I'll leave looking at the sculpt and stats to you, whoever you might be. I can't justify the effort of putting together the graphics for this one.
Instead, I'll reprint a couple quick posts I'd done in various threads elsewhere:
Potentially outpacing the stench of decay is the dial beneath this version of Iron Man. There's nothing on this dial I can feel inspired about, from the complete lack of move and attack values to the single-target EE to the low Damage values and the combination of Steal Energy (a close combat attack) with Energy Shield/Deflection (a ranged defense enhancement) and Damage Values low enough to prevent him from being able to put the bite on anyone with Invulnerability or better or even Toughness when it comes to the final click.
Those who don't pull him will have one less item they'll likely feel a need to chase after, and I hope that most of the ones who do pull him are those who are so caught up in Marvel Zombie-mania that it'll still feel like a good thing. Opening a booster and finding this, I expect, will elicit a groan from most players, especially if they've yet to pull an Apocalypse or one of the other SRs more likely to be of interest and broad trade potential. The only thing that'll keep this one's value up will be the zombie craze; some months, a year from now perhaps, most players will look at this and be surprised that anyone would have wanted one rather than any of the other Super Rares. Seriously, if there's a worse SR in this group then the set's in trouble.
I've bounced between giving this a 3 and a 1 on a scale of 10, deciding to go back to a 3 because, yes, he is a flying Perplexer, so that's worth something. Someone building a zombie team or a theme team built around "Monster" will likely want a themed taxi with Perplex. I may even find some use for it, but I'm not likely to find much motivation for it.
Even were I a fan of the Marvel Zombies I believe I'd be disappointed in this version. Most of the reaction appears to be that it's one less Super Rare they'll feel motivated to chase, while hoping there are enough who are really into the shtick so if they do happen to pull it someone will trade for a different SR.
I remain optimistic about the set -- we've seen some (IMHO) terrific pieces in it -- but this is the low point so far. The thought that there might be something worse in the mix is awful.
As far as the "real" monsters view [side note: A subset of the Heroclix community got it in their heads that "monsters" could only mean some of the 1970s monster invasion and/or a related stab made in the '90s -- this despite any of the promotional materials making it clear what the sets themes were.] , I can honestly say that since they explained the themes being drawn on in the same sentence when the set was announced I did not come to this set expecting Werewolf By Night, Dracula, etc. I expected that the titular monsters would be zombies, Hulk foes (some Hulks, too), and maybe a particularly misshapen mutant or two. I understand how some might have run in that direction either having missed the initial statement or by the "if not in this set, then when?" argument, but I cannot honestly claim that Wizkids in any way misled me as to the thematic contents of this set.
Would I like to see a Morbius, Man-Wolf or Werewolf By Night in clix form? Sure. They have their places in the history of the Marvel Universe, and one or more could yet be in this set, but I can't honestly say that I felt betrayed or cheated if they aren't in M&M. (How cheated I'll feel when I pull a zombie Iron Man, on the other hand... )
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