Time for some idle "What If?" speculation...

Had Heroclix continued, what do you think the 2009 Starter set would look like? Which figures would be in it?

Asthetically, I'd want to get rid of the "Fantastic Four" Blister pack and return to a box, complete with at least one feat card, and preferably a couple of BFCs. 3D objects are of less interest, but no reason to not include them.

Functionally, for a "starter set" I'd prefer figures that didn't have so many special white powers, YMMV.

As for character list? I'm a tad stumped. The "smartest" marketing plan is to make the starter set feature current "hot properties"...and it's always a nice gesture to regular clix players to offer up figures that fill a gap in (restricted) game play. My thoughts follow:

Batman: Has been done to death between Alpha, AA and the bajillion Robin's available...so that is not a good choice.

JLA: It would be nice to get a more commonly available Superman, and a 100-point Wonder Woman would be nice...but this property isn't so hot, and we have plenty of such figures already, many unretired.

LSH: Despite the large number of unmade figures, it would be hard to make a thematic roster of marquee names. I'd justify this as an extension of the previous LSH starter.

Fourth World: So much untapped potential, but I don't know if the Marquee potential is there. A remade Orion would be nice, but the existing Mr. Miracles and Darkseid are so good I wouldn't want to waste two spots on those guys.

Titans: Recent emphasis in the Crisis release, I suppose some reprints could be made (Cyborg, Terra, Starfire) but probably not a winning idea.

I would actually have done a Brave and the Bold: Batman tie-in (like, the series, not the proposed set).

I mean, it's freaking Batman. You want people to buy? Tie it to the new cartoon series. Just have Batman and some of the partners/villains from the episodes.

Don't you mean Fifth World (That is, if you want to stay current)? I would like to see 2, yes 2 starter sets, a heroes and a villains starter set.
The first: JLA with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter w/a JLA Satellite HQ map, a Zero Gravity BFC, "A successful hit automatically knocks back a character twice the unmodified damage value of the attacking character and ignores all powers and TAs that prevent knockback. Knockback damage is doubled."

The second: Injustice League with Lex Luthor w. Worlogog (a respectable one this time), Joker, Circe, Sinestro, Mirror Master, Ocean Master and Libra, a Hall of Doom map and a Sinister Trap BFC, "When a character is knocked back and the knockback is stopped by another character, both characters receive and action token."

I would love to see a Golden Age JSA starter, but I think Titans are the more real probability out of any mentioned.

Brave & the Bold would make sense. Seems people can't get enough Batman. Maybe as a starter? Batman, Green Arrow, new Blue Beetle, vs. Kanjar Ro, Gorilla Grodd, and Gentleman Ghost. How groovy would that be?

If I had to pick, though, I'd probably go with the Sinestro Corps/War of the Lanterns. Gonna be big, and going to tie lots of the DC comics cosmic/space stuff.

If I had my dream: looking over the lists, there's a pretty hefty number of DC baddies yet to be made, and in need of updates, so I would go with... a Secret Society set!

I'd go with a Trinity Set.

75 Batman
125 Wonder Woman
200 Superman

against

60 Enigma
130 Morgana Le Fay
210 Mongul

Sure, the villains are obscure - but it's the heroes who are the draw. The villains are there as a "thank you" to long time players - give them some new/updated pieces.

Also, with my dream Heroclix company, I would put out a Superman-based DC set. Up, Up and Away. Lots of Metropolis-based figures, some STAR labs generics and maybe one or two high priced New Kryptonians.

I think a Superman-based set is long overdue... though I would do Blackest Night as the DC 2009 set.

Yes, a JLA "Big Seven" (either Silver Age or Grant Morrison era) would be perfect! It should have a Force Build Total of 600 with two 300 point Forces for instant playability and a JLA HQ map.

Oh, and don't forget the LONG overdue "Justice League International" ATA Feat which should be a less-powerful version of the Thunderbolts ATA. Limit the types of TA's that can be copied so it isn't so darn broken! Maybe make it Keyword-based?

Watchmen






filler

Since 2009 is supposed to usher in the "Blackest Night", maybe a GL-ish set would be in order. Perhaps including a lantern from each color.

I thought it was gonna be some 70th anniversary set for marvel? unless that was a proposed collector's set.

I love this idea. Of course you'd have eight figures with the Black Lanterns being represented, but I don't have a problem with that.
Now we just need to brainstorm on the representatives.

Green Lantern.
Seriously, we need some cheaper Green Lanterns anyways and with Blackest Night and Sinestro Corps War being so popular it would be a great idea to do.
You could even throw in 3 of the 7 figures as opposing Lanterns of a different color.



In all honesty, anything with Batman would cause me NOT to buy it.
I have had enough of the caped crusader for a little while.

John Stewart (Green)
Saint Walker (Blue)
Agent Orange (Orange)
Laira (Red)
Fatality (Sapphire)
Despotillis puck (Yellow)
Generic staff-wielding person? (Indigo)
Black Hand (Black)

That would be my picks, anyway.

The Justice League offers the names that will attract players. Superman and Batman= Win.

I did, however, like the Trinity idea, with three heroes and three villains. I suppose that if it reduced the cost, 6 figure starters would actually be better. A more affordable introduction into the game.
Going forward they wouldn't have to strictly stick with a 3 hero-3 villain scheme, and they would probably want to create multiple team combinations in every box. If, in the Trinity example, Mongul cost the same as Superman, Morgana Le Fay the same as Wonder Woman, and Enigma the same as Batman, then the team combinations would increase greatly. If they all cost the same, then the combinations grow even more. Again, in the Trinity example given, if Superman, Wonder Woman, Mongul, and Morgana all cost 160, while Batman and Enigma cost 80, then that would expand combinations without turning the latter two into bloated monsters or watering down the former four to the point of unrecognizability.