Heroclixin’ has been in existence for a little more than 10 years now, and we just finished off a decade. So here in the dawn of the 2020s, yours truly Heroclixin’ founder and webmaster Rurouni KJS begins a countdown of my favorite clix of the DECADE, where I look back at all of Heroclixin’s top faves and F.U.N. figs since 2010.

What’s aged well?

What’s been power creeped into irrelevance?

What’s even more beloved than the new hotness?

See how the old faves rank now!

Each will be named, along with a notation of how they ranked in my Top Ten faves in their release year. I’ll very briefly write about my impression back during the original ranking, then give an up-to-date opinion before saying how I’d use it next.

A couple of notes:

• Late bloomers. These are figures that usually were released very late in the year and so didn’t have time to make the needed impression to find a place on the top figs. I would usually introduce the current year’s list of favorites by talking about one of those come-latelys. Sometimes those figures would outshine several of the Top 10 if I had bothered to rank them.
• Top 10 Team: In recent years, I have pooled my ten-plus favorites into a Top 10 box to either be added to my weekly teams as the build scenario allows, or, even better, as a massive team together.
• I also tossed in 2019’s Top 10 (except Doctor Octopus [Earth X 034], which was solely Taylor’s favorite, not also one of mine like Red Hood [Rebirth 046] was), though I can’t rightly contrast my old opinions with my new ones yet.

This ranking was done in the HIGHLY SCIENTIFIC process of me arranging them first into tiers of how I feel about using them today, then an EVEN MORE SCIENTIFIC methodology of sorting each figure according to how much I wanna play it compared to others. So this countdown is completely objective for ME, RIGHT NOW.

No. 121

Animal Man [DC 75th Anniversary 036] Original rank: No. 8 of 2010

THEN: A boon to Animal themes.

NOW: Too many points for anemic dial.

NEXT? Nada. It’s gone from my collection and I’m not trying to reclaim it

——-

No. 120

Swamp Thing [War of Light 053] Original rank: No. 10 of 2014

THEN: Despite a pretty cool trait (make terrain, attack someone through it) It was a miracle he made the list at all.

NOW: 150 points for 10AV and no usable keywords means he’s only for Swamp Thing completists … and I’m not one

NEXT: Hope for a new, better Swampy

——-

No. 119

Martian Manhunter [The Brave and The Bold 036] Original rank: No. 7 of 2010

THEN: Fun tentpole for JLI.

NOW: 202 points for 10 AV 17 DV with no Willpower? Bleh

NEXT: Not only is this gone from my collection, the game’s brand-newest Martian Manhunter revisits the weird cookie fixation

——

No. 118

Gimli [Lord of the Rings 005] Original rank: tied for No. 8 of 2011

THEN: Despite his 9AV, the doughty dwarf clamored to be played.

NOW: 107 points is way too high for that.

NEXT: I don’t think I even own this anymore

——

No. 117

Amadeus Cho [Incredible Hulk 027] Original rank: tied for No. 8 of 2011

THEN: Very character accurate and inexpensive.

NOW: Too underpowered for 59 points, lives in the bottom of the box

NEXT: Maybe for a “plainclothes clix” theme…

——

No. 116

Titano [Superman/Wonder Woman G005] Original rank: No. 4 of 2015

THEN: He just happened to be the only other colossal from the set’s super boosters I wanted.

NOW: He resides mostly unplayed in my Gorilla Warfare box of ape-themed clix.

NEXT: He’ll be a Colossal Retaliator for the Gorilla Warfare team

——

No. 115

Green Goblin [Web of Spider-Man 058] / Doctor Octopus [Web of Spider-Man 054] Original rank: tied for No. 9 of 2010

THEN: Picked for great sculpts more than playability.

NOW: Both have been replaced with strong sculpts with better dials — though the sculpts have never been equaled!

NEXT: I don’t even know if I own these anymore

——

No. 114

Giant-Man [Chaos War 200] Original rank: No. 2 of 2012

THEN: As a fan of giant Pym figures, he was the most novel at the time for me. Loved that Building Shove SP…

NOW: …that is even more unusable now. 300 points or 75, he’s been replaced by many other Pyms.

NEXT: Maybe I’ll try one more Building Shove? IDK

——

No. 113

Stranger [Galactic Guardians 043] Original rank: No. 9 of 2012

THEN: He was as F.U.N. as a powergame-y tentpole could be.

NOW: He was a bit overcosted at 213 back then and his variable Colossal Size is no longer special at all. Gone

NEXT: No longer in the collection

—–

No. 112

Aquaman [War of Light 029] Original rank: No. 9 of 2014

THEN: He was an Aquaman, so he made the list.

NOW: It takes much more than simply being a favorite character to be a favorite clix. 129 points is kind of a lot to not fit on Atlantis teams. He’s staying because I’m an Aquaman completist.

NEXT: Having every Aquaman means I oughta play an all-Aquaman team sometime. Hmmm…

——

No. 111

Lex Luthor [Superman Fast Forces 004] Original rank: Late bloomer for 2011

THEN: Jailbird sculpt with cheap cost and support powers made him attractive.

NOW: There are more playable Luthors of similar cost and he doesn’t belong in jail anyway.

NEXT: I’ve been thinking of pitting all my Luthors against an equal build of Superman figures.

——

No. 110

Crystal [Chaos War 044] Original rank: No. 7 of 2012

THEN: Loved her “Tornado” trait to use Quake at range.

NOW: 105 points is too much, especially with far cheaper Crystal versions available today. Still like this piece a lot, though, and miss her (EDIT: I still have her)

NEXT: But she’s not my favorite Crystal anymore, soooo…

——

No. 109

Every Last HeroClix Figure with the “Morph: Many Identities” Trait in Age of Ultron: (Hank Pym [Age of Ultron 001], Ant-Man [003], Yellowjacket [022], Goliath [043], Giant-Man [044], Hank Pym [201], Ant-Man [202], Goliath [203], Yellowjacket [204], Ant-Man [205], Wasp [206] and Giant-Man [G200]) Original collective rank: No. 2 F.U.N. of 2015

THEN: This crew was one of the most F.U.N. concepts in the game.

NOW: I tried running this as a team and it was so overwhelming I’ve never tried again.

NEXT: I want to try again. Sometime. So they remain in my collection, in a Pym box

——

No. 108

Static [Teen Titans 045] Original rank: No. 3 of 2013

THEN: Just glad to get this Milestone figure in clix even though the then-new Precision Strike soon made him completely ineffective for nearly 100 points.

NOW: 98 points for no keywords means he doesn’t get played. He’s also been supplanted by a better version.

NEXT: I’ll team him up with the new one(s)

——

No. 107

 

All the reporters in Superman/Wonder Woman with their “The World Needs To Know” special powers and traits: Newsboy Legion [007], Investigative Reporter [006], Lana Lang [029], Jimmy Olsen [027], Lois Lane [047] —though hers is named differently — Clark Kent [026] and LE Superman [100] on his “deactivation” click.  Original collective rank: No. 5 of 2015 

THEN: As a professional in the journalism field, I love the concept of this trait representing pushy reporters digging for the story.

NOW: So many restrictions on their ability make them hard to play, so I don’t often.

NEXT: They remain in a special box for that rainy day when I can run them as a mob of journalists getting in someone’s face asking questions

——

No. 106

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold [The Brave and The Bold 052] Original rank: No. 6 of 2010

THEN: One of the best <100-point duos at the time.

NOW: Being too costly with 9 AV and double-based kept them from much play. Gone, but I miss them (EDIT: I still have them, actually. Just buried in a box)

NEXT: It’s still the least expensive way to run the Blue+Gold team, so I may need to reacquire (EDIT: OR JUST GET THEM OUT THE BOX)

——

No. 105

Uhura [Star Trek: The Original Series 038] Original rank: No. 8 of 2017

THEN: I love the idea to death; a sneaky assassin with not-Mystics and nixing defenses.

NOW: I’ve never had much success with her at all. Better on paper than in execution — especially with her usually getting executed

NEXT: I might try her teamed up with Mirror Geordi La Forge for the evil cookout

——-

No. 104

Peace Machine [What If 0043] Original rank: No. 9 of 2017

THEN: His power to limit big damage to just three fit my play style big time.

NOW: He was better for meta play than the F.U.N. fighting I prefer, so he lives in the box today

NEXT: One of these days I’ll try an all James Rhodes force

——

No. 103

Superior Spider-Man [Deadpool 060] Original rank: No. 4 of 2014

THEN: Though he’s F.U.N., I thought he’d be playable at closer to 120 points.

NOW: There’s another version of him at close to 120 points, so this 160-point one isn’t superior at all. (But don’t tell HIM that)

NEXT: I’ve actually wanted to team this piece with the newer Superior Spider-Man and some Spider-Bots.

——

No. 102

Luke Cage [Captain America 014] Original rank: No. 3 of 2011

THEN: He was the most playable Cage to date.

NOW: He is mediocre due to his lack of early Willpower and low defense once he gets it. For the Cage collection only.

NEXT: But when I run an all-Cage match, he’s on the team or I’m not playing it at all

——

No. 101

Question [WizKids D-008] Original rank: No. 6 of 2013

THEN: I collect trenchcoat sculpts, and this was a VERY GOOD ONE. He’s also strong.

NOW: All those things are still true, I’m just less passionate about any of them.

NEXT: Why have I not built a Trenchcoat Brigade team in forever? I need to rectify that and ensure he’s on the squad

——-

NEXT: Into the Top 100!