This is a public service announcement from the HeroClix Loyal Opposition.

Let's do a comparison of the OP Prize Support Kits from the last three sets (Hammer of Thor, Brave and the Bold, and Web of Spider-Man). How many prizes could you give out with each OP Kit?

Facts are facts... and math is math... Here I present the facts: The 3 OP Kits compared side by side, then I present the math (The price of the OP Kit, the items in the OP kits, and how many weeks you could out of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Fellowship prizes (as I do at my venue).

(Editors note: Even giving away 1st, 2nd, & Fellowship as WizKids suggested, math is math.. and we got a lot less with each release).

It appears that WizKids, along with their many other quality-reducing measures since NECA took over (note: too many to name here, and that's another topic anyway), that they are now attacking the OP Kits as a means to give us less product for more money.

Let's break down each OP Kit... and how many prizes could be given out per set since NECA took over.

At my venue... I usually give away 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Fellowship Prizes (and with only one OP Kit), so I'll break down how many weeks you could give out 4 prizes a week:

Hammer of Thor - $17.99

- 15 Limited Edition figures (3 copies of 5 different figures)
- 13 3-D objects (10 heavy objects & 3 special objects.)
- 9 event dials ( 3 copies of 3 different event dials)
- 9 feats (3 copies of 3 different feats)
- 6 alternate team ability cards (6 copies of 1 card)
- 3 battlefield condition cards (3 copies of 1 card)
- 10 Maps (24” X 36”)

Total Prizes to give away: 65 Prizes! (16.25 weeks (4 months) worth of prize support, with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Fellowship prizes)

Brave and the Bold - $24.99 - Raised price by $7.00, but gave us less product

- 15 Limited Edition (LE) (5 copies of 3 different figures)
- 14 3-D objects (2 copies of 7 different objects)
- 10 Maps (24" x 36")
- 12 Alternate Team Ability feat cards (3 copies of 4 different cards) (editors note: Which they banned halfway into the prize support cycle)
- 3 Black Lantern Objects (editors note: Only some venues received these... my venue got screwed)

Total Prizes to give away: 51 + 3 = 54 Prizes! (13.5 weeks (3 months, 1 week) worth of prize support, with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Fellowship prizes)

Web of Spider-Man - $24.99

- 15 Limited Edition Figures (3 copies of 5 different figures)
- 10 Objects (5 copies of 2 different objects)
- 6 Maps (24" x 36")

Total Prizes to give away: 31 Prizes (7.75 weeks (1 month, 3 weeks) worth of prize support, with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Fellowship prizes)

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There you have it folks... I don't have to say anything negative. I'll let the numbers speak for themselves.

Let us simplify this and break it down:

HoT OP Kit: $17.99 - 65 Prizes - 16.25 weeks (4 months) worth of prize support, with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Fellowship prizes.

BatB OP Kit: $24.99 - 51+3=54 Prizes - 13.5 weeks (3 months, 1 week) worth of prize support, with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Fellowship prizes.

WoS OP Kit: $24.99 - 31 Prizes - 7.75 weeks (1 months, 3 week) worth of prize support, with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Fellowship prizes.

***************************************

Long live HeroClix! Long live the HeroClix Loyal Opposition!

Your numbers are a tiny bit off in calculating the amount of weeks of prizes. In a standard HC tournament, there is no prize for 2nd and 3rd place, just for 1st and Fellowship.

But...yeah. WK is cutting costs, there.

(The tags are incendiary, though. I agree with you but still almost went off like Ribbon did.)

Actually, since NECA took over, there is 1st, 2nd, and Fellowship, as stated on the official OP Kit Directions and Suggested sheet that is included in each OP Kit. But those are only suggestions. I took it a step further, and gave out 1st through 3rd, and fellowship as well.

But I did mention in my op, that even with just 1st, 2nd, and Fellowship, it's still less.

But glad we agree my friend, less for more is never good. Now you have to do your "WizKids is racist" parody on this. I love those!

yeah I've definitely been noticing this ridiculous trend

Maybe it's more a matter of materials increasing in price, so the costs go up and they are trying not to make it so the price of the set goes up more. Unfortunately, this requires cutting other things and as a reality of things, the stuff they hand out for free and make the least profit on are going to be the first to be cut.

Maybe they've been getting feedback that moved them in this direction.

not entirely true. HoT was never stated for 1st, 2nd and fellowship. just B&tB, and WoS.

it seems fairly obvious that neca saw how disinterested/upset people were with card prizes after PnP and the ATA debacle, and decided to just do away with them for this OP kit. i think its unfortunate, because some players do actually enjoy those things.

for me the real loss is switching from 5 of each le figure to 3. thats a lot less of each prize i have to give to my players

i'm willing to bet that neca has plans to juice it up for DC75, if not, well then maybe i'll jump down there throats (but since you'll still be playing i'm sure sure i won't have to, you'll already be there)

While that is possible, I wonder what feedback gave them this idea? IE, from who.

On a side note- I wonder if this has anything to do with there being more dials (dials need to be designed for les) than BATB's prize pack which led to less product in this prize pack?

Like it or not, you have to ignore the cardboard. Yes, technically it's a physical element that is no longer included, but it's also a game element that is no longer encouraged. So that's a wash.

Let's strictly compare the contents of HoT to those in WoS [ignoring the cardboard]:

Hammer of Thor - $17.99

- 15 Limited Edition figures (3 copies of 5 different figures)
- 13 3-D objects (10 heavy objects & 3 special objects.)
- 9 event dials ( 3 copies of 3 different event dials)
- 10 Maps (24” X 36”)

Web of Spider-Man - $24.99

- 15 Limited Edition Figures (3 copies of 5 different figures)
- 10 Objects (5 copies of 2 different objects)
- 6 Maps (24" x 36")

You've got the same amount of figures, but the LEs in WoS have alt paint schemes, which increases production cost. So there's some explanation of the set price there. You're getting less objects, but technically you're getting 2 molds. So.... that's sort of hard to balance. [Also, HOT had multiple paint schemes]. You're getting straight-up less maps and no Event Dials, which, [while, really, hardly anyone is missing the EDs], is unaccounted for.

So yeah. Less for more. Inflation? Yes. Higher than it should be? Eh. Where else can you buy this stuff?

Remember how prize support for Heroclix used to be: free. But for Horrorclix you always paid. I'm sort of numb to the whole situation now.

Also: math isn't math.

i think that actually there's a fairly solid population of folks that dig the event dials. i don't think that population is overly similiar with the population that enjoys regular competitive gaming however

One thing you mentioned in error: These OP Kits are not free, we have to pay for them.

But you have some valid points. Costs are rising on some products, such as plastic. Many plastics are made from fossil fuels, and those have raised in prices.. but they were higher when HoT came out. But when buying plastic in bulk... it is extremely cheap. Just look at the grocery store bubble toy machines. Those little toys, made of plastic, are pushed out by the millions, and only cost 25 to 50 cents... and they are marked up very high... cost of those times, after manufacture, shipping, etc, is about 5 cents a piece.

But paper and printing is relatively cheap, more so now than ever, due to technology.

But overhead is becoming higher at businesses as well, due to political reasons. (but that is a topic left alone here in the General forum).

But overhead and costs haven't risen that much for WizKids to have cut quality as much as they have.

The people in China making these figures make approximately $620 a month, and that is before the compulsory 8% in deductions. So the labor is very minimal.

Yes, I remember when prize support was free, and when WizKids took pride in their work, and they gave us a TON of FREE prize support.

Take the pre-Avengers set for example: They gave us a TON of free LE figures for prize support.

Let's look at that:

Infinity Challenge: 21 LE Figures with 3 copies each! (63 figures) (Not counting the mail-away and convention exclusives)

Yeah... I remember the good days. This continued on up until the Avengers set came out.

I love Event Dials. Never been a big fan feats and BFCs, but I have always loved the comic-book flavor of Event Dials.

I dont mind paying for OP kits, i just wish the quantity had been a little better.

If they had of gone with the 3rd object i actually would have been fine with what came out of this OP kit, even with the reduced maps

but they cut an object and that bothers me.

my only problem with the BatB kit was the numbers of each item. they should of had 3 of each figure and 3 of each object instead of the 5 of the figure and 2 of each object, a minor gripe really.

oh and on a side note, the webs are not "objects" they are tokens, and they have no unique effect on the game, they only are a replacement for a chit that comes in the starter kits, so boo on NecaKids for building me up for more 3d objects then ripping that out from under me. Although the web tokens are cool.

Me neither. I love HeroClix and my venue wanted to charge entry fees for the tournaments. I'm very opposed to entry fees where the prize is just a figure, object, or card. I told my venue I'd pay for the OP Kits, so they wouldn't want to charge an entry fee.

Even though... since I've taken over at the venue, sales have increased massively. They can't keep HeroClix on the shelves anymore, since they sell so fast now. When I started judging at the venue, they still had a ton of boosters from Armor Wars up to Hammer of Thor... just sitting and collecting dust. Those are sold now since I took over as judge.

I love HeroClix with a burning passion, so a $25 to $75 out of my pocket for prize support means little to me.

just remember that some venues didn't get half the OP kit for HoT but stll paid full price, just sayin.

As for the plastics cost, the plastic used for these figs is a much better quality plastic than the stuff used for the $0.25-0.50 figs you get out of vending machines and therefore it costs much more to produce (not to mention paint, handpainted remember). I wouldn't be surprised if it costs close to $0.25+ to produce each fig when you account for materials, wages, shipping etc.