Hi,

Is there a topic or a page on this site that details the various bases used, and the rarity of each figure (and how those two are related)?

I know of course about the yellow/blue/red being rookie/exp/vet - that part is clear . But what about the figures from the REV sets that had only one version usually numbered 85 and higher)? And the same sets often also had a few figures in the 100-series, and another few (or sometimes a lot) in the 200-series. Are higher numbers more rare? I would expect so, but they seem to be priced below the REV version of the same figure as often as they are priced the same or higher (prices checked on Troll & Toad BTW - if there is another site that is more accurate with pricing of all figures, I'd love to know about it!).

Then there are the grey/silver and bronze/gold-ringed bases, and differently colored set icons. And finally, there appear to be separate colored bases that fit around the figure bases. I'm not sure if those are fixed or they can be taken off (I didn't want to risk damaging the figures, so I didn't try yet). Are those the "identification rings" I see mentioned sometimes? Or do they belong to specific figures, and also indicate rarity?

I just started with these figures, so while this might be clear as glass to most people, I'm completely baffled by it :P . Thanks a lot for any insights!

It's kind of a long story explanation, but fortunately we're glad to answer. I'll start another post with the grand history of it, but I bet someone posts the basics before I do. Stay tuned.

"Old style" Ring around Bases
Yellow Ring - Rookie
Blue Ring - Experienced
Red Ring - Veteran
Silver Ring - Unique
Bronze Ring - Limited Edition (most commonly a prize fig)

Current/New Style Colored set symbols
White - Common
Green - Uncommon
Silver - Rare
Gold - Super Rare
Bronze - Chase/Limited Edition

Silver rings are solely a game mechanic now so they can show up on a piece of any rarity. Green Rings are Primes. Prime is a game mechanic and a sub-rarity. Alternate base color is just something Wizkids sometimes does, usually for chases, but not always

When you talk about the different coloured bases that fit around the bases do you mean like this?

If so they belong to a now obsolete arch enemy mechanic where you scored extra victory points if you ko'd a figure with the matching base, so Hobgoblin would score more for a ko on Spider-man

and vice versa.

Identification rings were something else a sort of rubber O ring that you could buy that fit the edge of your base so you could keep track of your figures separate from your opponents but I don't think they were ever an official wizkids product.

there are also "ID" rings... These are used by some to denote which figure they own. Like when you have a battle royale and everyone has 1 or 2 figures on the map. Could be over 40 figures if its a good turn out. After your turn, you wait like 20 min and now there are like 6 of the same character on the map. All on the same click. Which one is yours? Its a plastic ring that the base fits into that comes in different colors.

Hope that helps...

HeroClix is entering it's fifteenth year in 2017. Few similar games have enjoyed anywhere near that kind of longevity. In that time a lot has changed, but it's even more accurate to say that there have been changes with each new product release, including plenty of notable differences to set distribution and rarity scheme. Take a look in the Units section at the link above to get an impression of it. If you're deeply curious, search Google patents for 6899332.

In the early days, as you observed, character distribution followed HC's predecessor, Mage Knight, where a given character would be produced with three levels of rank, or experience, marked by the colored rings (REV). Other figures were given a Unique rank, marked with a silver ring (varieties of white and gray are found). Prize figures were marked with a gold ring (or bronze/tan), also denoting a Unique rank. Although the silver and gold rings represent higher rarity, the span of colored rings does not follow the rarity scheme, exactly. In those sets, rarity levels were 1-6 plus LE. A low numbered Rookie (yellow) would be level 1 rarity, while all Uniques (silver) were level 6. High numbered Veterans (red) were rarity level 5. Where the lines blur is among the mid-numbered figures, and the fact that the number of figures per set varied, as did the production counts for each set. Consider that there are Rookies from some sets that were produced in fewer numbers than Limited Edition figures from other sets, and you'll start to understand the convoluted rarity scheme that is this collectible game. Additionally, there were characters at various times made with a purple ring, indicating that the figure was Promotional and not intended for use in tournament play, which have their own strange rarity level.

Pricing is another topic entirely, because value is relative not just to the rarity of a given piece, but character popularity and game utility are also heavy factors to consider in calculating demand.

Colored bases were initially tied to a game mechanic - Arch-enemies - and had nothing to do with rarity. The rules were abandoned more than a decade ago, but in recent years Wizkids has taken to producing colored bases to highlight chase level rarity figures in a set. More on that in a sec. If not, and what you have is a soft, rubbery material, those are probably ID rings. They were produced by a third party and should be removable.

The set icon and collector's number are items that have been consistently applied over the years, with one caveat: rarity tabs. For their 5th anniversary, WK shook up everything about their production in regards to rank and rarity. Gone were the range of experience levels for every character in a set, and a refreshed "industry standard" rarity scheme was employed. Ever since, the set symbol is seen within a colored tab (white = Common, green = Uncommon, silver = Rare, and gold/bronze = Super Rare, but also includes Limited Edition and Chase levels). Character Cards were introduced, so if you have figures with rarity tabs be sure that you also have their corresponding cards. Experience levels are no longer indicated by a colored ring, but by the color present behind the figure's image on the card, with the exception of Uniques, who still wear a silver ring on their dials to show that they must obey the rules that govern that mechanic.

Along the way, Prime figures were introduced, indicated by a green ring and image background. Prime figures are like having a chase figure at every rarity level in a set. Is your brain melting yet?

And all of this is recounted without having mentioned the myriad mailaway figures, convention exclusives, store incentives, brick/case incentives, colossals, duos, event dials, relics, resources, team bases, and the occasional ultra rare super chase! Phew!

Welcome to HeroClix.

I forgot to mention vehicles. There are also vehicles.

Wow, thanks a lot everybody for all of this info! Quite confusing indeed, but exactly what I was looking for!

The colored bases I mentioned turn out to be arch-enemy indicators. Did a certain figure ALWAYS come with an arch-enemy indicator (so if you have the figure without one, it would be considered incomplete)? Or could you within a set have the same figure both with and without this indicator? Or did those things come separately, and you could choose your own arch-enemies?

I would also still be interested in the best site for approximate values!

Thanks, Zeus

They always came came with them (with the caveat that not every experience level necessarily had an arch-enemy) as they are the base of the figure and not removable.

eBay is the market.

There were definitely pieces in the REV era which were arch enemies at one version but not the other. Batman here had 3 arch enemies in the same set, each represented by a different color. But a different version of the same sculpt could be run with that arch enemy as long as the base color was not the same.

AE Joker

AE Ras Al Ghul

AE Hush


#85 or greater you mentioned. Those pieces were the super rares of their day.

Colored bases in oreo bases sets are chases, rarer than super rare. There are some sets where the chases did not get colored bases.

AE's were established in each set, ie. Infinity Challenge Wolverine was an AE of Infinity Challenge Sabretooth, as their AE base colors (other than black) were matched and they were from the same set with different names. Wolverine was not an AE of Dr. Doom from a later set, though they would have the same blue base color. Other iterations of Wolverine would not have an AE base, and would not be an AE to any other character.

There are a few examples like Superfriend points out of a character with one color AE base for R or E versions and a different color for the V, indicating different sets of AE's. The player did not choose characters to be AE's, except in the case of a specific Feat Card (another category of elements long gone from the game) that mimicked the effect of having different colored dials without physical alteration.

Thank you all again for your very clear and comprehensive answers!