Monday, August 17, 2009
Hammer of Thor
Back to the set list
Back to the set list
No new info here. This is just my looking over the set list we're expecting so as to get myself back up to speed after this long, long dry spell of new sets.
With the set likely due out around Thanksgiving (that's the U.S. one, in late November, not the October celebration our neighbors to the North have) I wanted to drag out and dust off the set list as we understood it to be for this set months and months ago.
So far all confirmed info's backed it up, and indications are that since this set was all but produced at the time Wizkids was shut down by Topps the new owners are starting things off by essentially flipping the switch on the process. That they're apparently also aiming to produce Brave and the Bold (roughly next February) - the set originally planned to follow HoT, this line of thought has so far stood up.
We don't know how the new owners will be dealing with many things, including whether they'll continue the Buy It By the Brick mail-away piece promotions. If they are going to do it, it seems unlikely they're planning on using the Thor's Mighty Chariot for that as they've sold them directly at Comic-Con International and GenCon so far, and people can buy them from Amazon.com. If you don't go via that link, be careful not to just casually search for "Chariot of Thor" or somesuch, because another store is one of those selling items through Amazon and the wrong search could bring their ad up instead (my frist stab did), which would be the same piece for $34.99 instead of $19.99. I ordered mine last month, but the order's bundled with a book that' isn't due out until next month, so I'll see mine in late September, which is fine with me.
Anyway, the Hammer of Thor list as best we know it, with some parenthetical notes where I thought they might be helpful) is seen below.
I've done some color-coding.
In green are those directly to do with the set's titular character, Thor.
In red are Runaways -- a series of characters I know virtually nothing about.
In blue are Agents of Atlas.
In orange are the Guardians of the Galaxy/Infinity Watch "cosmic" heroes and villains.
In purple are Thunderbolts-related characters.
Common
#001 Bug (The Micronauts/Guardians of the Galaxy)
#002 Kingpin
#003 Asgardian Warrior
#004 Valkyrie (AFAIK this will be a generic)
#005 Hand Ninja
#006 Rock Troll
#007 Jimmy Woo
#008 Fire Demon
#009 Pip the Troll
#010 Malekith
#011 Marvel Boy
#012 Enchantress
#013 Thor
#014 Bi-Beast
#015 Phalanx Soldier
#016 M-11
Uncommon
#017 Balder
#018 Fandral
#019 Chase Stein
#020 Karnilla
#021 Ulik
#022 Moonstone
#023 Beta Ray Bill
#024 Namora
#025 Starlord
#026 Pluto (Okay, I know he's from the Greek pantheon, but he first came into Marvel comics via a Thor tale.)
#027 Moondragon
#028 Rocket Raccoon
#029 Gorilla Man
#030 Owl
#031 Ronan the Accuser
#032 Daredevil
Rare
#033 Sif
#034 Hogun
#035 Loki (This is the newer, female form.)
#036 Heimdall
#037 Songbird
#038 Venom
#039 Surtur
#040 Captain America
#041 Molly Hayes
#042 Phyla-Vell
#043 Penance
#044 Airwalker
#045 Karolina Dean
#046 Fenris (This is the Asgardian creature, not the offspring of Baron Strucker)
#047 Nico Minoru
#048 Spider-Man
Super Rare
#049 Ultron
#050 Hela
#051 Odin
#052 Venus
#053 Seth (a character based on an Egyptian death god)
#054 Loki (classic look.)
#055 Valkyrie (This is the Defenders character, who - nonetheless - draws on Asgardian magic and certainly theme. I'm expecting her to be on flying horseback.)
#056 Destroyer
#057 Thor and Loki
#058 Gertrude Yorkes and Old Lace
#059 Volstagg
#060 Kurse
If they stuck to what had seemed to be the most recent standard operating procedure then we'd expect two of the conceptually wretched chase pieces, neither of which I have any idea about.
Looking at all the green this set's striking me as perhaps the most focused one yet, which may work against it for many.
Looking at where the red shows up, it appears that part of the plan was to pull Runaways fans deeper into the set as they chase the team. The first doesn't show up until the Uncommons -- still fairly easy to pull - three more among the Rares and one among the Super Rares. Hey, maybe one o both of the chase pieces will turn out to be a missing team member from that group? As best I can tell their line-up also includes Victor Mancha and Klara Prast. Well, that's one of many "we'll see" elements...
I generally like the list, especially including the generics. The Runaways characters aren't any I have a personal interest in, so maybe that'll work to my advantage if it comes down to trades, since one of them is a Super Rare. Among the Asgardians I can't say I'm especially excited about the Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg) nor Heimdall -- seeing them generally just as supporting players, though I know I'm doing them some disservice in that.
Back before the summer a list of playtest dials emerged. With the caveat that many of them were very obviously still in need of changes and so shouldn't be what we'll expect, here's a link to those dials.
As a promotional item, Neca/Wizkids produced some "Mystery" cards that they began putting inside the Chariot Thor boxes, each one a mostly blank character card with s Special Power described on it, leaving it to the holder to gues which character it will be associated with in a Clix set. The ones that have been reported match up (albeit in one case the text was altered to improve the version we'd seen leaked earlier) further confirm much of what we know about the set list.
That's enough for now.
Labels: Hammer of Thor, Heroclix, Wizkids
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Friday, August 14, 2009
Hammer of Thor!(Updated 8/15 to include the ad poster above, including a Loki, the long-awaited appearance of a Captain America sculpt we saw over two years ago, and further confirmation of the set list we'd seen leaked last year, with the special spotlight on Runaways.)
Okay, I haven't written anything in here in months despite trickles of information here and there. To bring you up to speed -- there really isn't a great deal, but after this long, long drought of information there's sufficient, corroborated news to make it worth noting:
- Neca Toys has purchased Wizkids from Topps.
- They've already been selling the Chariot of Thor vehicle, originally intended as a Buy It By the Brick mail-away. They started selling it at Comic-Con in San Diego last month, simultaneously pre-selling it on Amazon.com.
- They waited until GenCon Indy, running this weekend, to try to make an official announcement. There's apparently still some legalese being ironed out in their official announcement, but they are there - in their booth as Wizkids - running events and displaying the Chariot of Thor, along with clix of Volstagg, Surtur, Daredevil and Thor, along with a prototype for a Batmobile that's pending some tweaks and approval from DC.
- The long-awaited Hammer of Thor set is scheduled for November.
- The next DC set, Brave & the Bold, loosely scheduled for next February.
Still, we'll work with that we have. Before getting into the latest pics, here are the dial details on Thor's Mighty Chariot (As with any of the images, if you click on it you'll shift to a larger version):
Its major flaw is the combination of it being a 500 pt piece, and it neither having Power Cosmic nor is it eligible for Fortitude, as that card requires a standard fist Attack symbol, while the Chariot is a Duo, and so has a different Attack symbol. The result? A piece that's going to be taken apart with ridiculous ease by any team with Outwit. Among those who've reported playing it so far many have already house ruled Power Cosmic onto it. I'd be more likely to house rule an exception for Fortitude. I don't mind spending the extra 25 points once I've already gone that far. I'd probably even kick in an additional 25 for Repulsor Shield, so the Chariot would not only be immune to Outwit and Exploit Weakness, but also Psychic Blast and the Damage-boost from Ranged Combat Expert.I'm not one of those who've been chomping at the bit, waiting for the advent of vehicles in Heroclix, but they will have some uses, and I'm glad they've approached them as it seems they have: Making them high-point pieces, so they can be interesting accessories in large point games, but won't make an impact on standard game builds.
Surtur is fairly obviously a giant, and seems nicely sculpted, with the flaws (such as they are) looking to be more a case of the choice of source artwork. Still, it's a dynamic pose and what I can see of the musculature is attractively detailed. I've picked up a second shot of him, over on the right, making it clear that Surtur is wielding a sword.
So far our information on the set list leaked months ago appears to be good. One of the many nice things about that is that we appear to have a number of generics coming in this set, including Fire Demons and Rock Trolls, and it appears the generics this time out tend to have Special Powers that activate when specific leader types (Surtur for the Fire Demons and Ulik for the Rock Trolls), and early on started to raise thoughts of a huge, apocalyptic battle if enough pieces come my way.
The generics -- again, if the list holds true, and so far it has -- are: Asgardian Warrior, Valkyrie, Hand Ninja, Rock Troll, Fire Demon, and Phalanx Soldier. That's six generics out of the 18 Commons, which really helps raise the value of an average pull. Even if one doesn't care for generics he's going to be able to find people interested in trading for them. Spot number 16 is the robotic M-11 (Agents of Atlas), and could prove to be a good, loose-themed generic, too, if one's not too much of a purist.No good shot of this set's Thor has made it my way so far. The combination of so much armor, and the set including the likes of Malekith, Kurse and Thor's Chariot, at least, strongly suggests the set designer was drawing on the Simonson run of the 80's so this may be Thor when he was cursed and having to increasingly rely on magical armor.
The heavyweight member of the Warriors Three, Volstagg makes an appearance in this set. A flagon of ale in his left hand and a joint of mutton? A ham? Well, something meaty in his right. A great boot rests on the chest of a fallen troll, and without a doubt the big V's already spinning it into another battle legend to regale the bored with in one of the feast halls of Asgard.The long-ago leaked dial and cost is sufficiently ridiculous that I'm not going to bother getting into it here. I'll be interested to see what they've actually decided to do with him.
According to the set list, Volstagg will be one of the Super Rares, which isn't a terrible spot for him inasmuch that some won't be interested in him at all, while others will be very interested in completing their Warriors Three.
The set also includes a new Daredevil. What's most interesting about what we've seen so far is that a zoom-in on the dial gives us a Special Power square on the Speed slot.Aside from thoughts of him having a mix of Leap/Climb and Running Shot (and/or maybe Charge), most of us are watching for something else that would be criminal to not have on a DD in an age of Special Powers: An anti-Stealth power. A man who doesn't rely on his eyesight (he's blind) but instead on a synthesis of the remaining senses, ampllified, should know not only when someone's hiding in the shadows but even if the person's invisible.
We'll see...
For the moment, I'm happy to see the game getting a continuation via a new company, and the very promising Hammer of Thor set getting its chance.
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