I’ve been away for the holidays and so haven’t made any recent updates. Sorry about that!

But I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas. And while we’re all looking forward to a brand new year, it’s nice to look back at the one almost finished with.

It was a good year for HeroClix, as it transitioned from its near-death experience of 2009 to its current state:

• In April, The Brave and The Bold released. Unlike its predecessor Hammer of Thor (which was all but fully completed when Topps pulled the rug out from under WizKids in December 2008), the first new DC set in over a year felt incomplete due to its bad LEs, unusually numerous sculpt recycles and lots of duos. But for DC Clix fans, it was still refreshing (especially after being delayed from a late-February release), and initial disappointment turned to grudging and sometimes outright admiration.
• A late April release for the Blackest Night Starter Set turned to late June. It wasn’t totally worth the extra wait, as the map was missing important terrain color-coding. But the figures were nice and it’s always good to get the new rules.
• Delays were the rule in 2010, as both Watchmen and Web of Spider-Man were shoved back about a month or so to August and September, respectively. Watchmen was controversial for being loaded with unpopular duos instead of the-blink-and-you-missed-them Minutemen or a generic or three, and for being $100. Web of Spider-Man was a bit better-received due to being A) a Marvel set and B) it was the first brand-new, no-holdover-from Topps full set.
• October brought us Brightest Day, a 7-figure Action Pack with a 2-sided map. That had to tide players over until December, when the delayed DC75th Anniversary set released at almost the end of the year. The verdict’s still out on the set — it’s barely 2 weeks old and the Christmas holidays have disrupted a lot of tournament schedules — but initial buzz is that it’s one of the best yet.

 

For the next few weeks, in lieu of my usual features, I’ll be sharing my Top Ten of 2010, which will be much different from 2009’s due to simply having so many more to choose from! In fact, my current plan is to do a standard one for Most Playable of the year and a second one for MY top ten favoritesm which may not be playable at all. Bookmark the site and return daily starting Jan. 3!