Okay, I really don't know how to say this without sounding catty, and I apologize for that, but if you're looking for maximum crowd-pleasing, I think that EVERYONE might get more of an "Ooh / Aaah" factor out of knowing FOR CERTAINTY they'll be able to buy at least THREE BOOSTERS of Supernova product at the pre-release (and maybe more in a 're-flight' situation), instead of having to shell out their hard earned cash for 'filler boosters' to make up for the fact that the venue hosting the event only was sent two cases of new product...
Just my two cents.
-jason

Personally, in this situation, if I were the venue, I'd limit the pre-release to the first 32 players.

This is a terrible idea on WK's part. As a consumer, I like to know what I'm buying as well. Plus, giving us frequent previews gives us a reason to keep talking about the product.

I for one am all for this. I remember when Clobbering Time was not out yet and how WK "treated" us to some previews like Spiral and 6-Arm Spidey. It just kinda left a better feeling not knowing everything prior to the release. I remember the first time we knew the full character list was when we actually went to the release in seattle when WK was based there [?] and we saw the poster on the wall of all the guys we could pull when they started selling boosters...good times!!!

In short this will make prereleases a lot more fun not knowing everything about every fig ahead of time. It will not impede people to buy the product however as people who pre-order are going to do so irregardless of what the set puts out [they will have at least a list of the figures if not the stats anyways thanks to boneyard], and the dials will undoubtably be all up and posted shortly after the pr but before the release date.

I will however miss checking every couple days on here for new figs to look at, wont be as much fun getting them all over a few day span at all =/

I'm failing to grasp the "as a consumer I want to know what I'm buying" argument. Dials will be spoiled after the Pre-Release. That leaves you two weeks or so to decide if you want to purchase product or not. Do you really need more than that to mull it over?

Now, the "judges need time to consider the rules arbitration" angle is a bit easier to swallow.

Still, I'm pretty apathetic about the decision. They can show them or not, but this time around I think I'll decide to just not look at the galleries until I get some figures in hand. I miss the old days of Infinity Challenge and Xplosion and Critical Mass. I had a general idea of who was lurking in the boosters, but I had no idea what surprises their dials were going to bring.

Like you I'm pretty apathetic, but I have to say that I can't wait until two weeks prior to release to tell my local B&M how much I'm going to order. They give a discount to folks who pre-order WELL in advance (more than two weeks), and they base their order on the number of pre-orders they've received (bumping it up a bit from there). Waiting two weeks before the release will cost me (and my store) money.

Of course this isn't a problem for me, because I'm fairly happy at this point basing my decision on the sculpts in the set. if we still had Jon L as our designer, I'd probably be waiting to see the full dials like these others though.

I honestly think this is exactly why they are not releasing dials. Charcoal, Transporter Spidey, et al, were a HUGE mistake by WK. A such they took a lot of heat prior to the release of the set beacuse of all the errors.

Jusy a week ago we had the map given out. This release contained erroneous rule decisions contained within. The entire community erupted over the gaff.

WK looks at these scenarios and figures "Hey, they can't complain about what they don't know." Who could have guessed Charcoal was a flier without the released list? Transporter Spidey? You couldn't. You might be surprised if there was a character list with just names or first clix ala Inquest IF you knew the character. I for one had never heard of Charcoal prior to Sinister and would have had no clue he could fly. Am I POed that they would decide to change his dial as a misprint after telling us he could fly and that was the reason for Earthbound on his dial? Oh heck yeah!

Anyway, the smaller hole they dig for themselves, the easier it is for them to climb out after. This is a real copout in my opinion (humble or not!) Post the damn dials!

As BB_Downunder said, given that we probably won't get a prerelease in this country I would prefer to have official previews rather than rely on the possibly inaccurate reporting of people who did get to go to a pre-release. If the bulk of the dials on't go into the figure gallery until after the prerelease, well... I can live with that. But I would like them to be there before the street release date.

I'm also definitely in the camp that says it's a good idea for the feats and BFCs and special objects to be online early. Rules arbitration problems tend to come from these rather than new dials (because each card is effectively a new rule), and judges and players both need time to absorb and discuss them.

Update: The Assistant HeroClix Brand Manager, Wade Sugiyama (nevamind), has announced that the cards will be spoiled before the Pre-Release events.

How about this; I need to know dials as early as possible because I have plans to drop quite a bit of cash on figures. That means that I need to save money. Not all of us can just drop $300 with two weeks notice. This system discourages case buyers. I'm making a pretty large investment in clix. I figure in previous years with 4 sets I was burning close to $1200 a year on clix. Now that we have 3 sets a year I'm looking at $900-ish + whatever special packs we get (Danger Room, DoFP, Collectors sets, etc). That's a lot of money for me, a married man with a house I'm paying on and monthly bills.

So, it is quite a big deal for me. The earlier I know the dials the longer I have to save up the money to pick up a set. I really appreciated it when we'd know over a month in advance so I could save.

Is that a good enough explaination of that issue for you?

Yep, I agree with this. (Enjoy the rep!)

I skimmed the thread but did not see the answer to this question. Do I recall correctly that Wizkids had said that to increase brick purchases for the brick&morter stores, they would announce the complete set a month before the release date? If so, and the pre-release is 10/28, then when did the release date get moved from 11/15 to 11/28?

I have heard nothing about your first question (relating to a set a month), so I would say that what you heard was a rumor.

Official street release is November 15th. You can find all dates associated with Supernova events at the following link: article

Construted events test your team building, and sealed events test you on the fly. Now, we have pre-releases, which are a completely different challenge. They'll test your comic know-how, and make you read your opponent's poker face and body language to figure out which character has a nasty surprise that your opponent already knows about, and which one is going to collapse like a crystal chandelier! I like it.

Typically, I've got most dials in my head when I get to the pre-release. I think I'm a decent player already, but those who haven't studied are at a greater disadvantage. Now, I'm walking in blind, and I have to prove that I'm the better player on a level playing field. I love a new challenge, and I like the emphasis on play.

Here's my prediction: if you absolutely need to see every stat before buying into the product, you're probably only looking for a handful of figures that are more efficient than the rest. You're going to justify buying singles instead of boosters by saying that "this set sucks" no matter what's in it, so you monkeys can wait. Flame on!

What about the "I'd prefer to know the dials on roughly the same schedule we've had for the past few years" angle?

Anybody with a lick of sense, a comic, and the Heroclix PAC?