sometimes i wonder why we dont just make our own.

How bout Kryptonian Set?

TheLe, sometimes I wonder about you. I can certainly understand a dislike of NBC's Heroes after the first season (although I'm still pretty much a diehard fan).

But to call Watchmen "lame?" Seriously? I suppose if you don't care for the murder-mystery aspect, or the deconstruction of the superhero genre, or the visual puns, or the parallel story structure(s), or the rich background of the text portions, or the wonderful irony throughout, or the fun panel structure of the "Fearful Symmetry" chapter...

...I suppose if none of that moves you, then yes, "Watchmen" IS lame. There's no accounting for taste.

Me, I'd jump on a "Heroes" boxed set before ANY of your suggestions. And I mean every single suggestion in this thread so far. Even before a "Grendel" set. Especially -- ESPECIALLY -- if the set included Monica Dawson, the girl with the Taskmaster's photographic reflexes powers. To get that SP in a much more cost-effective (and cuter) figure would be all kinds of awesome.

The one set I'd really like to see besides that one? One based on Matt Wagner's "MAGE" series.

I do. ................

WildC.A.T.S or Wetworks box sets would be very cool.

I wonder if the opinions on Heroes, DKR, Automan, Watchmen, etc. are his actual opinions or if he says things to rile clix fanboys up to get tons of comments on his articles/website. Either way, this list is 80% FAIL.

How's about a collector set specifically from "Heroes Return" Avengers #4 with everybody who was ever an Avenger (circa 1999 or so) redesigned and renamed for Medieval times? Honestly this set would serve very little purpose but if done right would have some AWESOME sculpts.

and I am distressed not to see a Earth/Universe/Paradise-X set in this list thus far.

Thank you for all your comments. I've compiled 10 responses below:

1) I really do believe that Heroes is terrible, even the first season. That season ending was heinous of epic proportions. You're telling me that Silar can stop Matt Parker's bullets in mid-air, but he can't stop an overweight Asian charging him with a sword from 10-feet away (moving about 5 miles per hour, and screaming the entire time)? Really? I love how Nikki can punch people and knock them 30-feet away, but when she whacks Silar with a parking meter he just keels over. I love the one where everyone knows Peter can heal himself, but they still refuse to shoot him in the head to stop him from exploding -- and I love how he decided not to simply jump into the huge WATER FOUNTAIN behind him.

2) No, I don't care for the Watchmen at all. It really isn't the greatest comic book story every written, and it's highly overrated. The movie is one of the best comic book adaptations of all time, which really emphasizes how overrated the story is (since the movie was so mediocre). There really isn't much meat to the story at all, with a lot of "filler" in there to extend the story for the sheer sake of making it longer. It reminds me of Kevin Costner's movies -- are they really that bad, or are they just too long?

Even Alan Moore admits that he only had about 6-issues of real material... he "padded" the rest of the story with the black freighter and origin/flashbacks. From Wikipedia: When writing the script for the first issue, Moore said he realized "I only had enough plot for six issues. We were contracted for 12!"

This isn't a slight on Alan Moore (who I think is certifiably crazy), because the V for Vendetta comic is easily in my top 5 of all time.


3) I never claimed Marvel Apes is good. As a matter of fact, I make it very clear that it is terrible. But it still shows up on my list because visually it would be very cool to have in HeroClix form. If the dials are done right, it would be a very fun set and would have good sales thanks to the unique look of the figures.

4) I still don't understand all the X-babies hate. And yes, I love the "Superhero Squad" toys too... especially the GI JOE and TRANSFORMERS versions.

5) I considered putting the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the top 10, but I was afraid that it would just be another Indy-like set filled with Blades/Claws/Fangs.

6) A Generics set could go either way. Note that I am not suggesting that generics be removed from core sets. I'm just saying that it would be very cool if I could just buy a box of Doombots or Moiloids. From a business point of view it translates to customers buying multiple copies, which means increased sales... whereas you only needed one Hellboy set.

7) Yeah, Automan was a fun show, but alot of that also has to do with the cool Cursor and 90-degree-turning Autocar.

8) I considered putting Grendel on the list, but ultimately I left it out. Grendel: War Child is also in my top 5 comic books of all time, but I suspect that would be far cooler (and popular) in an HBO mini-series form rather than HeroClix form.

9) The reason I put Spider-man on the list is because there are so many variations of him that it could easily justify a boxed set. From a marketing standpoint you're looking at one of the most popular characters in the Marvel catalog that could be a huge seller to HeroClix players and non-players alike. It would do well to bring in new players and the physical product itself could be visually stunning (assuming the sculpts are done right).

10) I read each and every reply, and I appreciate all of them (even the ones burning me in effigy). It's easy to succumb to a list of just popular comic books, but I tried hard to think a bit outside the box. Regardless, I am thankful for all your responses and I urge you all to keep voicing your opinions! I'll post a new article in a few weeks so you can burn me some more...

-The Le

Love it or Hate it....The Watchman set is no. 1 not 21....you jabroni. Its the one we'll never see. Until then keep on painting those Aces blue. Still waiting for Goku as well. Neca...A Cheech and Chong Duo fig would rock!!!!

1.Heroes: You're entitled to your opinion. I'm entitled to disagree. That little bit of nitpicking does not hold water and certainly doesn't discredit the entire season

2. Watchmen: Again it's your opinion and again..think you're way off. To say the story of the Watchmen lacks "meat" shows how little you grasped it. It may not be the greatest comic book ever written but it's deconstruction and reinterpretation of the Archetypal hero in comic genre was undeniably Groundbreaking. Moore's initial lack of material, if that is true, does not render the final material devoid of value either. His "filler" as you put it, was excellent and made the tale that much better. Those flashbacks were great and really added to the characters.
All I have to say regarding Kevin Costner: Dances with Wolves.

3.Marvel Apes: Your rationale for a Marvel Ape's set makes no sense. Yea let's take a crappy story with crappy characters and make a set out of it cause someone might think monkeys in Super Hero costumes looks cool. How can you say it would have good sales if no one likes the characters? With all the other options available that have WAY more interest and support this suggestion is horrible and is not defensible. Bad choice...nuff said.

4. You will never understand the X Babies hate because your tastes are very ...unique. However, you really need to understand that X Babies Hate IS OUT HERE and is they are NOT wanted in CLIX.

5. TMNT has a way better following than Marvel Apes and just because YOU don't want to see a lot of BCF doesn't mean it doesn't deserve a set. I have no interest in it and don't want it as a set but PLENTY of people who would spend money on it do.

6. Spider Man: Perhaps, but the goal you proclaim as justification for this set could be achieved with sets based on other characters that CLIX FANS would enjoy far more. NECA needs to cater a bit to the standing clix fan base and re-secure their patronage. Repeating characters we've seen plenty of already isn't going to do that.

Whether you meant to or not, inserting "WE" into the title of your article implies that you speak for us, the Heroclix Community. You are NOT the spokesman of the Heroclix Community. You are a valued member whose efforts and articles are appreciated but you need to tone down the ego. You're opinions are in fact, shared by less members of the community than I think you are aware. try to keep that in mind if you ever
get the urge to speak for us again.

While I agree/disagree with many aspects of your article (Watchmen especially), I do appreciate the time and effort that you take to write Heroclix articles.

If I could offer some advice meant not to 'burn your effigy'...perhaps trying to be more objective...at least on articles where your title (as in, Top 22 Box Sets We want) would imply such. I think that either making it known more up front that the article was more about your ideas/wishes, or else trying to take into account what most people would want (I think that Watchmen and TMNT are just 2 examples of where this principle could have been applied and you could have "taken one for the team").

Some people will just always hate your stuff just because they see 'Thele' and put on their blinders. And that doesn't take away the relevance of their voice, because even in the midst of the venom can be some truth. At the same time, don't always try and take on the world. Like my good friend Despair.com once said, 'In the battle of you against the world, bet on the world'.

Keep on clixin/writing!

I, too, am not on the Watchmen bandwagon. It was OK for awhile but it fell apart at the end. The entire thing with a fake alien monster was a hoax to make the superpowers stop fighting each other and work together? That was the plot of at least half a dozen issues of pre-hero Tales to Astonish!

By the way, about the cartoon above: clever, but am I to understand that Popeye is Rorschach and Charlie Brown was the Comedian? I think the other way around would have been better casting. (And I'm sorry we didn't see Cathy as Silk Spectre!)

I'm really rooting for Elseworlds i think its one of the best choices on the list.