Superman: Case Review!

Finally, finally, finally, I got my two cases of Superman Heroclix in yesterday. It was so good to finally crack into some boosters and see what awesomeness lie in store for us. I have to say I am quite satisfied with my pulls and you can feast your eyes on the photos.

It's really my own fault my stuff came so late. I probably should have contacted the company on the website and asked them if they could make sure my shipment arrived by release day, or at least the day after. Lesson learned!

So, what you are seeing is the result of opening two cases. I'm not just collecting for me after all, but my son and two other players (I give them extras and it means having more players in this area too). But even just for my son and myself, we have a lot to collect.

DISTRIBUTION: In one case I have to say I probably had all the commons and all the uncommons. I was pretty close to all the rares too. Not bad for one case. Two cases and I had a lot to spread around to all four people involved. Even the fourth person has just about all the commons, several uncommons and a few rares. For super-rares, I got the one I coveted most of all, Black Adam! As for the rest, I got the same people in each case (Flash, Aquaman, Queen of Fables, Darkseid, Imperiex, and Swamp Thing). My chases were Hoodie Superman and Apokalips Superman. Except for all the duplicate luck (that I really don't mind), distribution was awesome.

MANUFACTURING: The big drawback to these two cases (moreso than I've noticed ever before) was the odor. New plastic can carry an odor with it that comes from being made with petroleum. This odor does wear off, but it made us a little head achey while we opened packs. After sitting in open air it's dissipated. Sculpts look good while faces are hit and miss. No brittle sculpts or missing arms in two whole cases. Sculpts are pretty solid, even Livewire who stands on the dreaded "both legs together" skinny piece of plastic stance. Oh, but what's the big debut for this set? That's right, the new oreo dials!

These dials have a lot going for them. Once you get used to how you have to grab them, you can make them work well for you. You don't have to depend on grabbing a fragile looking sculpt to turn the dial. I still had to fix a few dials, and that involved learning how they work. It's not the same as fixing the other dials, but have no fear; this is a two-blog day. In my next article I will tell you all about how to fix sticking in the new dials! Over all, not bad, Wizkids and NECA, not bad.

GAME MECHANICS: Keywords, I just can't leave them alone. Good things for this set on keywords though. Kryptonians, Metropolis, Flashpoint, Phantom Zone, and Reign of the Supermen all get kudos for having enough people to build teams with. Downers aren't worth much mention in keywords for this set, but I will say that Superman Robot should have Kryptonian and Lobo should have Warrior. On a further plus with keywords, I haven't found one that doesn't have any! YEAH! I may just not have the pieces that are missing keywords, ha ha. Still, I've said it before, all figures should have keywords. It's a mechanic that is now embedded in how people play. Point values are really decent. Consider how you can play Non and Ursa for 300 points flat. Realizing Kryptonians just aren't cheap makes sense here and you have a playable Phantom Zone. The generic Kryptonians are still slightly short dialed, but they make up for it in ability. There are some definite improvements with this set!

The big kudo? Main characters as COMMONS! Superman, Lex, Supergirl, Superwoman, all commons and worth playing. Even if this Superman is based on All Star (see the movie if you haven't already), he's the best Superman statwise since Icons. And let's not forget the whole split dial thing. Having the multi starting areas on these dials is a real innovation. You can drop the detachable objects for all I care, but don't drop this. Wizkids, you are on to something here!

So, my opinion is, if you haven't got any of this set, you are missing out.

Review on Doomsday: What are they doing?

I have to say that making a Doomsday that can't make an even threat with a same set Superman, seems to be a trend.

Back in DC75th they made a very powerful 259 point Doomsday with a severely underpowered Superman in the same set. This figure had two main failings. First, his movement for someone who can leap like the Hulk (high enough to attack airplanes and far enough to go from county to county) his opening movement was pitiful as a 6. Anyone who can jump that far should have an opener of at least an 8. I could understand a max of 10 and going down from there for game balance too. Thanks to that sad movement Doomsday was and is a sitting duck for ranged psychic blast attacks. His trait was cool, but honestly a bit too much. You pick someone on your opponents team and Doomsday does penetrating damage to that person for the whole game (if he can catch them). It became kind of redundant on half his dial thanks to having exploit weakness. Everything else pretty much rocked on him.

Now, in the upcoming Superman set, we have a new Doomsday. The sculpt shows him with one arm tied behind his back as if he just got out of his buried prison. When posted on Facebook, the responses were very mixed. It was a love/hate combination and I could see why. Check out this pic:

So, first of all there's his trait. He uses battle fury (so he can't be carried) and can't be placed by telekinesis. I really wouldn't care about that if it weren't for the rest of his power issues. Like his movement that gives him charge. So long as he's using charge he can ignore hindering terrain and other characters for the move. You know what he doesn't get? That's right, leap/climb. They try to make up for this with his damage power, but it's only any good at the last three clicks of his dial where his defense is crud. Let's not forget that power is only any good if there's only one figure left on your opponents team.

Let's take a look at his opening damage, shall we? It's a 2. Huh? A casual swat from this monster only does a two? You have to wait and use close combat expert to get his real damage. I'm sorry, but yuck! Quake is okay, with the angle they are using (him having an arm tied up and all) but that didn't reduce his damage dealing by that much. Check this out:

Note what Guy looks like and how he says he didn't even have time to fight back. That's how it was for pretty much the whole JLA except Maxima. Even she took a pounding. That brings us to his opening attack value. It's a pitiful 9. For plenty of lesser figures out there a 9 is fine. But this brute stomped a whole team of supers in less than five minutes. It's listed in the book as "moments" or "seconds" and he only has an attack opener of 9? Never mind the fact he did all that with one hand tied behind his back.

DC75th had his reactive adaptation power on board. In this new one they try to use that in form of his stats getting nastier as he goes, except his defense. But if you look at how his power worked, you would see the dial misses the mark. If anything, his defense should go UP as his resistance gets stronger. In all the stories, when he's hurt by something, next time he's practically immune to it. So he should have started with invulnerable and moved up to impervious. If you're going to use combat reflexes, make the opening damage a 3 and have it move up.

As for a trait that would be more useful, try this: All characters must roll breakaway from Doomsday regardless of traits, team abilities, or powers. Anyone with the Superman Team ability, name of Superman, or the Kryptonian keyword is -1 to break away roll.

That makes his slow movement more acceptable. After all, he wants to kill Kryptonians and especially Superman, remember?

Sorry guys, while most of the Superman set looks exciting, this Doomsday is dismal. It's not even Doomsday, it's Mediocre Threat Day at best.

New scale of power in Superman set

I've been checking out the spoilers for the new upcoming Superman (slated to come out in September) set with awe. There's a new game mechanic that's going to shake up the game in a major way.

As a prime example we look at Superman and Black Adam. This mechanic involves a choice of starting zones on the dial, a first for standard sized dials. Each starting click has a point value to incorporate into your team. Based on the point level you choose, that's where you start on the dial and play through to KO (if he gets KO'd, that is).

I think this is amazing. This gives some major playability to pieces that wouldn't often hit the table. Talk about options! Another thing this kind of brings back to me, is the old days of rookies, experts, and veterans. Just look at those lines on Black Adam's dial below! Just click on a pic to see it bigger.

Now for a little review. First, Superman; a one man army in a 300 point game is always a risk. I don't care what you put on that dial. The kicker is, I think Superman could actually pull it off! For the first time in a long time, I think we're getting a Superman worthy of his name! Just look at what he can do. His dial is loaded with hypersonic speed, charge, and running shot. They way it's arranged means you don't know what he's going to do if and when you do hit him. This can make him hard to track for the guy playing him too, so get to know Supe's dial. He starts out awesome. 11 movement with hypersonic? Check! High attack value of 12? Check! Impervious defense of 18? You know it! Deals five damage with outwit? HUH? Yeah, Superman starts with outwit. I'll take it! This is based on the "All Star Superman". You know, the one who got over radiated and died from being too freaking powerful.

Then turn him to that second starting line to play him for half his points and build a good team around him. He's still worth half the 300 point team, but very playable with a new keyword, Scientist. Now let's just wait and see how accessible he's going to be.

Black Adam! Oh boy. You can play him at three levels; point costs of 300, 200 or 100. Even his lowest level of play isn't particularly weak. This figure is a monster and well worth the ranking of a super rare. Sadly, I haven't been able to land my hands on a Black Adam (solo, as I have the duo of Shazam/Black Adam) since he first came out. I have the veteran of that figure. Ever since then, I've coveted a new Black Adam. Now this one moves up on the want list past the previous one. I'm afraid his secondary market value is going to be ridiculous however.

Let's take a look at those white powers. His movement power allows him to charge a full ten spaces so long as he has no tokens on him. He also can't carry an object or person with him. This is actually an excellent "killing move" power. Past that, he has a ton of charge. I think he actually has too much charge. Take a look at his third click in from the 300 point start. It's an 11 movement with charge. This is redundant since he can use charge with his white power. He really should have started out with Hypersonic speed or that third click should have been hypersonic. Still, his numbers are amazing.

There's an important point to these numbers on the first two start lines that make those number hurt. It's his defense power that allows him to drop 3 damage instead of 2 (if being hit for four or more). But that's not the clincher for this power. It also says his powers cannot be outwitted (except his outwit power). And with a 19 defense to clear, he's not an easy hit. This makes his movement power as an opener a little silly. Who, in their right mind, wants to take pushing damage off of a defense like that? Unless it's the winning move, I would never do it. He's lethal with that defense power so I would hold it as long as possible.

Now for his attack power of Regenerative Lightning. It only comes up twice in his dial (like his defense power) but it will seriously hurt. Since Black Adam is mainly a close up fighter, you can be sure that he's going to be mobbed. So this click pops up and he can regenerate while dealing a penetrating damage to everyone in two spaces of him. That's like having a short range pulse wave while healing! Basically, he shouts, "SHAZAM!" and POW! This combination could make Black Adam a decent one man army in a 300 point match.

Now the really cool thing about this piece is the sculpt. For the first time ever, you see a sculpt of the person who designed this piece, being held by the throat. That's a sculpt of the designer of this piece, George Massu, 2010 Heroclix World Champion. So, if you really don't like this piece, or maybe he beat you in the championship; you can look at this and say "Take that George Massu!" (just kidding, George! Congrats on the big win!).

So this set, so far, is looking like a powermonger's dream. I'm not so sure that's a good thing. I hope to see some more balance coming to it soon. Till then, keep clixing!

Captain America case review

I bought two cases of Captain America and after careful consideration, I'm ready with my review. As usual, I'm going to talk about manufacturing and condition of the pieces as well as playability and some other things I noticed over all. Of course, it's just my opinion and you may feel differently on some points. Kind debate is always welcome.

So, first, the condition of pieces and manufacturing. These are actually really well made and solid pieces. In two cases I had only one figure missing an arm entirely, two that came off their bases (no problem with super glue), and two with arms to reattach. This appears to be the same solid plastic used for the Giant Sized X-men set. Some have a bit of a gloss coat but I find that cool looking. The dials turn really well, better than I've seen so far. In one case only two needed help. In the second, about four wouldn't budge at all, but that makes for six in two cases. A few others I adjusted because they were a little tight, but seriously, great job. And the best part is the sculpts in being able to turn those dials. Thank you Wizkids and Neca for managing to not make any sculpts that stand on a skinny little piece of plastic that feels like it's just going to break when you try and turn the dial! All of these figures are in solid poses that make dial turning and grip that much easier. I couldn't be happier on that one!

Keywords are at an all time high with this set. I'm actually quite happy to see the rebirth of Hydra and AIM. I remember when it was more cannonfodder than anything in both teams. There just weren't many characters, especially from the same set, that you could build for Hydra. Now, you have them all in one set and they can be a fairly decent threat. MODOK's 11 has grown some teeth, especially with the big head himself. But, as usual, not all keywords are created equal.

My first keyword problem is Nomad. Nomad has no keywords. He should have soldier or warrior at least. He was trained by how many Capt. Americas? Check his card, it says "two". I'll play him as a soldier anyway, but he should have the keyword. Gameplay is far too dependant on keyword themes, so there shouldn't be any pieces without at least one. Next there's Batroc's Brigade and Lady Liberators. At least you can find most of the Lady Liberators and maybe get a pass from the judge on keword, or will anyone even play it? It still makes me wonder how keywords get picked. I am glad to see Great Lakes Avengers get filled in a bit more and expansion for the Hand is okay too.

New strategies in duo based figures has been touched on. I know there are plenty of them out there, but most of them are duo figures or transporters, and not just a single figure with double base. I can see how this gives Cap some extra fighting room, but it also makes him a bigger and easier target.

Traits; there's an interesting trait that's surfaced and I like it. This has been done with some white powers before and also with the Warriors Three. Duo traits that give characters a bonus for being together is neat. I especially like the one for Black Panther and Storm, allowing them to use support on each other. Black Panther is kind of expensive though, more than he's ever been. I don't like that.

For my chases I got Capwolf and Rojhaz. I like Capwolf and what he can do for the animal keyword. For that matter, there's some good possibilities for that keyword still in this set.

This set gives a wide range in build possibilities and points. The Winter Guard makes an easy 400 point team while the Secret Warriors can do an easy 300. Ranged combat is getting a little more diverse with more odd numbers to ranges, but I guess that's okay.

Now for the biggest question of all, the removable pieces. I have to say these have been well made for the most part. I worry about small pieces like Cap's shield and the Scorpio Key getting lost but the fireball and invisible shield are pretty cool. I shake my head at the mechanic of the Weapon X tank and Cap's iceberg. I may work out in game play, but I just can't put "wait's to be used" into a good strategy. I would play it just to mess around, but four rounds of just sitting there isn't worth 70 points to me. So, sorry, I'd love to have Weapon X for my collection, but I have two other Wolverines that trump him because I don't have to wait to use them. They also have the built in healing factors. So Cap on ice and Weapon X get my vote for least playable. I'll be back with more heroclix fun soon so stay tuned.

My Giant Sized X-men Review!

I have a lot to say about this set. You know, what makes a set truly great is when the good so outweighs anything remotely “bad” that you just don’t care. Giant Sized Xmen brings that point home very well. This set is truly great. As we usually do, my son and I had a nice pack party with a case + a brick and one extra super booster. Sheboygan area sold out in less than 24 hours.

I have to say that we completed the commons almost twice over which is very good for distribution. It was interesting to get two Elixirs in the same booster and one booster had some broken pieces that I glued. Right now, I’m only missing the Captain, Phoenix, Cable/Deadpool, Pyro, Hulk, Apocalypse and the Mark V. I may have been very lucky, but I think they really are trying to make sure your chances are better by the brick. We were very happy and a great time opening packs. So I have to give prompts on distribution from what I’ve seen and heard from other local players. Hey, out of four super boosters, we got four different figures. That’s awesome.

The figure quality is also very good. They are certainly pushing the envelope to create more dynamic poses and appearances. Storm, Magneto and Juggernaut really show how much work they are putting into it. Yes, there are some cookie cutter figures (the Hellions), but that may have been necessary to get you the super cool poses molded for the rest. Some finer details are lost, but again, there’s plenty of way cool to appreciate. I really like them. Juggernaut’s new look really shows his imposing size compared to his last incarnation from Fantastic Forces. Of course, there are sharper small details on the previous sculpt, but it makes up for the difference.

Sculpt/manufacturing drawbacks: The new pioneering on figure poses and energy bolts have one flaw that I noted, Storm. She’s rather fragile and the way she sits makes turning her dial a little troublesome. It’s not easy to get a grip on the sloped base. My fingers just slide up to the feet and I worry that I’ll break her. Her hand came loose as I got her out of the package. I glued that, but still, worth noting guys. Bases are pretty good but I still had to do some doctoring to turn about 30% of them. There are two things making it hard to turn these dials. One that was more prevalent in Hammer of Thor and Web of Spiderman, was the notch that stands up inside the dial (the cause of the clicking noise) being too high, making the dial stick. A pair of fingernail clippers fixes that easily. The second and more of a problem for this set is a bit of plastic sticking out from the edge (side) of the inner dial that catches and stops turning. I used a pair of reverse curve toenail clippers to correct that problem. Most of the dials came apart easily enough to let me fix them. This isn’t a show stopping problem and I must also note that it is impossible to correct completely. It’s a problem of manufacturing. Sculpts are a lot more solid on their bases, but jamming is a big threat to the pieces that are on skinny little feet or small centers to grasp with the fingers. That brings me to the one thing that I am going to have to make mention of and I hope it’s considered with seriousness.

I have shed blood for heroclix.

The culprit: Horseman Wolverine. There are some small pointed plastic bits that stick up right at his feet (where players will put their fingers) and it’s all black. I went to turn the dial and one of the little pieces stabbed into my thumb. Yes, they came out very sharp and I corrected this with the trusty toe nail clippers. I got two of that Wolverine and both needed the adjustment, especially since one goes to my nine year old son. Wolvie isn’t the only culprit for being too sharp either. Vulcan’s flame job is also sharp and could cut through a piece of paper. This is not an alarm issue, but one that the company should take into careful consideration. I love the sculpting that they are doing, but they need to keep in mind two things; one is where peoples fingers are going to go in order to turn the dial and two is that small children will be touching these. I looked through my significant collection and found pieces that flirted with this, but these are the first I’ve ever seen that warrant a mention. Please, guys, correct this for future sets.

As for the colossal’s, AWESOME. Need I say more?

Game mechanics: I have to say that the point values are much much better than in DC 75th. The keywords cross and allow for some great team building. The set really goes over the top with the traits and special powers. They rule the set but some may be tricky in supporting on your team. Leech and Leland could be devastation on table control (especially together) but they are huge bullseyes and range will ace them if you aren’t careful. Half of the Hellions have the same problem, especially Tarot. Sure, she might do something really cool, but it’s a big ol toss up on if it will be when you really need it. That takes a major area of control out of your hands. Points though, love the points. Very few pieces in this set go over 200 in the standard size dials. I found 300 point possibilities for about every keyword in there.

Selection: I’ve knocked on this before and I’m going to do it again. There are some pieces that were more iconic to this area of the Xmen storylines that we are missing. So, I will take off my hat and give a moment of silence to: Mr. Sinister, Havok (why not have all three brothers?), Lady Deathstrike, Shadowcat (though Lockheed is awesome), Donald Pierce, Sebastian Shaw (though you can make a Hellfire club team still), Banshee and maybe Mastermind. While I realize there are only so many slots, I can’t help but think there are some characters here who could have stepped aside for one or two of them to step in. Who? Gatecrasher (who rocks by the way, but still), Ch’od (most of the other Starjammers were a long time ago), and certainly Gideon who is the loneliest figure of the whole set.

Finally, I’m going to pick on just two areas of comic book accuracy. 1) Cannonball: He should have the Xmen team ability as well as the Brotherhood. He was part of at least three X groups (New Mutants, X-Force, and even X-men for a while). Also, he could have the Externals keyword and then Gideon wouldn’t be so lonely. Cannonball is an immortal. In the Xforce story that this was discovered, Sauron killed him and he regenerated (albeit slowly- Feral also ripped out his intestines once and he grew them back). Go check it out at Marvel under his powers HERE. 2) Nemesis: Will someone please, please show me the storyline that he was colossal sized in? I can’t find it. Marvel.com lists him as only six foot, eight. Yeah, his armor has shapeshifting abilities, but so does Mystique and she’s not colossal (and she’s turned into monsters thank you). If someone can show me where he went giganto, I’ll happily stand corrected.

All that being said, I love this set… love it.

Giant X-men: Likes and Dislikes

Are you fired up and ready for your X-men? I know I am. I do plan to write a review after I get my case of X-men goodness (which may be all I can get my hands on) but before that, I thought I would toss out some of my likes and dislikes so far. You may be surprised and I'm sure opinions will vary.

Likes are fun, let's do those first.

-HORSEMEN keywords: For that matter, I like how most of the keywords are playing out in this set. You can actually play a full 300 point Horsemen set and be fully themed with two, also totally possible to play. I don't know how easy it will be to get my hands on them, but I really like they way they are working out.

-Reavers: What can I say? I like the Reavers and they are classic to X-men being over 20 years old. I like the mechanics with them and can't wait to annoy an opponent with some of the Reaver's skills.

-Collosals: Not just giants, but colossal figures, six of them is my understanding. I just hope it's easier to get all of them than it looks. I don't like the looming supply problem. It's an interesting marketing strategy and I like that you can at least get one with a brick, giving you a chance of some kind.

-Cool new power mechanics: Full length charge isn't really anything new, but it's nice to see and so are a lot of the new and cool white powers that I've seen so far. Angel looks particularly good. It's really nice to take the carry penalty away from him but it would be easier if being a transporter did that anyhow. Sorry, it just makes more sense to me that someone who is supposed to be good at "TRANSPORTING" people would have that kind of bonus regardless of what they do with the watered down hypersonic thing. I've said that before and will again.

Okay, now the dislikes:

-Chase figures: Ugh. Well, I do have to say that the distribution has gotten better so long as they at least do it like they did with the White Lantern chases. They're too hard to get and that makes them cost way too much money. Honestly, most of them cost more than what their power scale makes them worth. I've only seen a handful of chase figures that really and honestly do anything that most uncommon pieces can't do. So you wind up being gouged in the secondary market for nothing more than "rarity" and a name. I'd rather spend my hundred bucks on booster packs and get a whole bunch of things I or my players could use than just one single figure. Then I would have a wafer thin chance of getting the figure anyway. Sorry, but I find their "value" highly inflated too quickly to make them financially viable.

-Shadowcat: What's that you say, there is no Shadowcat? Well, that's the problem. I love that Lockheed is in the set, but he loses some of the spirit of being from Giant sized X-men days without the first X-man he ever bonded with. I'll take him, of course, but missing Shadowcat is a disappointment. It's like selling Robin without Batman. Think about it.

-3 Angels: Huh? Why do we have three forms of Angel in the set? Isn't two enough? Couldn't we have put a missing character in to fill out other themes? Shadowcat? Donald Pierce? Sebastian Shaw? Why do we need a third Angel form? Is it because of a suit and a couple clicks of hypersonic? I'm sorry, but whoopty doo. And if this is a chase figure it's a perfect example of the problem with chase figs mentioned above. It's not that it's a bad fig, really. It's that it's redundant. That slot would have been far better used with some other character and this one could have been done later one where it would have fit better.

-Deadpool: Okay, this isn't as bad as having three Angel's taking up space, but hang on a sec. Didn't we just see Deadpool, a better version of him, in the last Marvel set? I know he's got the keywords, but once again, there are characters that should be here and aren't in my humble opinion. Yes, I know there's a Deadpool movie looming out there, but that's not enough of a reason for me. A new Soulsword Shadowcat would have fit the theme better and been just as cool. I just think that filling out the Hellfire club inner circle or another missing classic Xman, like Banshee to match up with his daughter would be better. Heck, even remaking Mastermind or Arcade would be better. Mastermind was instrumental in the Hellfire club for triggering Dark Phoenix! How would that not fit?

And for a couple things I'm not too sure about though they sound cool:

-Gatecrasher: This depends on her keywords. If she's the only one with them, she won't get much play time. Hey look! More missing characters that could have been better to use than and extra Angel or Deadpool!

-Removable pieces: Hmmm, that sounds cool and I like some of the sculpting with that. But what does it really mean for game play? How does it affect cost? Yeah, it sounds cool, but is it really necessary? I could see some cool homegame things to do with a removable shield or hammer, but past that, I really don't know. Take the removable burning Wolverine. What else am I going to do with that? Yeah, it's cool, but I guess I'll have to get in my hot little hands first to really see.

DC 75th case review

So I got my case of DC 75th today and after school my son and I had a little pack party. I have to say that the claim of getting "at least" one white lantern per brick held true. Two bricks are in a case and we did indeed get two white lanterns. We got White Lantern Wonder Woman and Bart Allen. Not bad. As for the rest of the pulls we got:

COMMONS: All of them, yep, all of the commons nearly twice over. That's good for my son's collection.
Easy Company Soldier x 4
Zamaron
Dominator x 2
Gorilla City Warrior x3
Deadshot
Donna Troy
Ice
Crimson Avenger
Bart Allen
Johnny Quick
Mr. Terrific
The Atom
Green Arrow
Beast Boy with Cheetah and Bear versions

UNCOMMONS: Got all of these too with a few extras nearly completing my son's set once again.
SGT Rock
Queen Aga'Po
Ruling Caste Dominator
Solovar
Warlord
Nightmaster
Osiris
Detective Chimp
Sargon the Sorcerer
Superboy
Ocean Master
Mera
Aquaman
Wonder Woman
Batman
Superman

RARES: Missing a few yet but,
Isis
Animal Man
Captain Comet
Kyle Rayner
Guy Gardner
Saint Walker
Indigo-1
Atrocitus
Larfleeze
Mongul
Scar
John Stewart
Carol Ferris
Ganthet

SUPER RARES: Got seven of them with no duplicates.
Green Lantern
Batman
Hal Jordan
Barry Allen
Doomsday
Wonder Twins
Sinestro

I see three great theme teams in this that are easily built in the 300 to 400 point circuits; All Star Squadron, Teen Titans, and Mystical. Those are pretty much the most flexible and I think strongest teams that can be made from this set. The Animal keyword gets honorable mention thanks to Beast Boy, lots of Gorillas, and Animal Man.

The rest are pretty much power pieces that only fit themes for this set in 400 or better without looking at recent sets that help with filling out. Not to say I'm not impressed with the powers and arrangements in this set because I am. I can get to some opinions on those pieces a bit later right now I'm going to address something else.

Game mechanics do get a "A" because of how many stand alone teams are doable in this set within reasonable points.

Next lets look at the sculpts. There are some great sculpts in this and manufacturing managed not to destroy that on most of them. Unfortunately there are some downright shoddy sculpts too. Take Ice for example. Her face and detail just don't match up to the other pieces. Details aren't as sharp as they were in Web of Spiderman overall. I've seen them change how pieces are made to shave costs in the past and the result is typically a minus in craftsmanship. Carol Ferris has the same problem. Figures that turned out awesome are Doomsday and Sinestro. At least mine were. Zamaron and her Queen counterpart are the absolute worst. You can't even turn her dial without almost twisting the figure off. You have to be too careful.

Fortunately, I had only one or two dials that didn't want to turn and those were of Wonder Woman. she's also a very thin figure and bends too easily. You shouldn't have to try and grasp that moon shaped base they stand on with your knuckles to turn the dial. It's not as easy as it looks. I'm more critical on manufacturing than almost anything because it directly affects how long pieces will last, how well they can handle just being played for that matter. I'm paying top dollar for my game and if I can't count on the piece to hold together it's not worth the money. C- toward a D+ for sculpts and manufacturing. It looks like we pay more for the flashy laminated cards than the figures we twist and tug on and actually play with.

Packaging is my next area of fun and games. The way they keep coming up with extra shapes on figures makes it a real puzzle to get them out of the plastic holders. Yeah, I know, not that big a deal, but still. The plastic holder is built for the ease of packing the figures, not unpacking them. That's for sure. I realize there may not be much of a solution for this, but if they are going to keep getting crazy with the shapes, capes and poses; they may want to think about it. I hate most commercial packaging anyway.

In a final note, while I am happy with my pieces and will play them assuredly, why does Superman look so freaking sad? He looks seriously depressed, people. Just look at him. He looks like he wants to take a giant leap and hug some kryptonite on the way. Even his shoulders are drooping. Oh well. Hope you all enjoy your pulls!