THEN: I rated him an honorable mention among the best of the year due to his opening Hypersonic Speed, once-excellent AV and Power Cosmic. though his low damage and poor defense for his cost lost him his spot.

NOW: Changes to powers make him a little better on top dial. But the only material changes to him personally are a MAJOR cost drop from 201 to just 125 points — with a trait that respawns him in your start zone on click #1. Wild, that point formula.

F.U.N.? Now that you can actually fit him on a team, sure.

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THEN: He almost made me quit the game back when I started in 2005 thanks to Enhancement EE. But the rules got changed and, while never bad, he faded into Golden Age obscurity. Still, with a sky-high 12 AV, Perplex to aid his printed 3 damage, his old Minions of Doom wild card status and two clicks of Mastermind, he could last a good while on that top dial with the right 102 points of support to back his 198-point price.

NOW: No longer a wild card and with Perplex no more working on damage, he instead gets a cost shave to 175 and a bunch of traits centered around making up to 3 Doombot pogs (which have the same powers/stats as the old Veteran Doombot) to serve as MM fodder and Leadership tokens off Doom himself, boost his AV and DV and number of [BOLTS], and FREE KO them to heal and teleport to their last square.

F.U.N.? He’s super F.U.N. Having to hit to create Doombots keeps him from being unfair.

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THEN: Totally relying on his wild card status, he was generally unplayable because a bloated 186 price left him with few points to team up with. And his strong Pulse Wave numbers notwithstanding, he really wasn’t impressive stats-wise.  

NOW: .He gets a couple of new traits: one that makes Mosquito pogs and the other that boosts his AV and DV against targets he and his pogs hit this game. Also drops to 125 points.

F.U.N.? Seems OK. Definitely not an overbearing piece.

THEN: With sky-high starting numbers and gameplay allowing him to carried into battle and attack right away, he was part of the S-tier meta early on. Changes to the game made him much less central, but he remained a top figure for years after retirement thanks in part to his TRASH numbers down his very long dial making him very easy to heal back into the fight.

NOW: .He only drops 7 points … a very modest discount compared to others so far. But he gains a lot: Cosmic Energy, FREE Regen and, once a game, a free attack with his printed values.

F.U.N.? That last thing is a nice nod to his original play style, but balanced in a way that it wasn’t back then. So yeah, F.U.N. indeed

THEN: As the “L” in “L.A.M.P.,” Lockjaw was part of a meta-defining strategy: Use the Phasing transporter Lockjaw (L) to taxi a piece bearing the Armor Piercing feat (A), the Mastermind defense power (M) and the Poison attack power (P) next to a target, then deal free damage to the target turn after turn while any enemy damage gets thrown onto the big dog’s very long dial.

NOW: He still has Passenger:1 but can carry 4 if they share a keyword, making him more of a mega taxi than ever. Moreover, keyword pals get to use Mastermind on him, so three-fourths of the LAMP strat returns! Finally, he has a great use as a tie-up piece — when he misses attacks, he immobilizes the target (thanks to his poor AV). All for 8 points less!

F.U.N.? Without Armor Piercing (think Precision Strike that also works with non-attacks), LAMP isn’t really as effective. But I daresay this is 100% a meta piece again.

THEN: His friendly Mind Control SP with +3 AV made Monster teams viable.

NOW: The SP is changed to double target Incap … not good with his not good 9AV, even though his Incap deals penetrating damage. Better is his new trait that gives him Passenger: 6 for Monsters, even colossal ones.

F.U.N.? Mole Man usually rides out with his armies, so this is much more character accurate.

THEN: At the time he was one of the cheapest Power Cosmic figures at 106 points. But his SP to teleport foes he damaged up to 3 squares away was never that great despite his Hypersonic Speed.

NOW: He no longer has to damage in order to ‘port targets, just hit, and it’s based on his BCF roll instead — a power that combos with HSS now. He also costs WAY less: just 60 points.

F.U.N.? Better than before, but still not much use.

THEN: “Fat Thanos” as I used to call him, had a fearsome mid-dial 15 AV but not much else to make him notable even just three or so years after his release.

NOW: .Oh brother. Not only does he shave from down to points, but he gains Cosmic Energy TA (Power Cosmic didn’t exist in the very first HeroClix set), the ability to reduce penetrating damage, and, above all, his Infinity Gem-themed trait “Behold the Ultimate Power in the Universe” that add 1 to 3 powersets of his choice each turn. It’s a lot more than I want to go through. Suffice it to say that he can always see through EVERYTHING from 10 range and hit you hard right after Mind Controlling you, maybe even after Phasing 5 squares for free. Or free heal up. And more.

F.U.N.? Not in the least. This guy is pure top tier meta, something we kinda hoped these cards would never be. Only his putrid defense numbers on his latter half make him even slightly fair.

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Heroclixin’ supposes that because these cards are event prizes rather than being simply a little bonus for buying a brick, they were made a bit stronger. But we’re still a little disappointed that they’re not quite the pure F.U.N. their predecessors were.

Like we said, legacy cards are here to stay. Look out for our review of the 12(!) in War of the Realms.