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[TheLe]

Rumor has it that new HeroClix owners are on their way, which begs the question, "can a new company be profitable with HeroClix?" If not, then what can be done to change that? I’ve got some ideas…

Note: This article is the opinion of the author, and does not reflect the opinion of HCRealms or its staff / volunteers.

Hello gang, The Le here again. By my estimates, Wizkids made about $1.50 profit per booster of HeroClix (and it cost them about $3.50 to produce and get to market). Assuming they produced about 10,000 bricks, that 's a healthy $150,000.00 in profit. Of course, much of this money gets poured into paying for the next set. That being said, the new owners face an interesting challenge because a good chunk of that profit will go towards making payments on that big loan (which was needed to bring HeroClix back from the dead). There's going to be a great deal of pressure to raise prices for the sake of profits, but I don't think that's necessary. Let's see what options are available.

1) Raising the price of a booster
I put this first because I want to stress that I think this is a terrible idea. HeroClix has been dead for months now, and the price needs to stay the same to instill confidence in the community… at least for the first set. I understand that costs go up (a natural course of business), but please save those price hikes for future sets. If prices need to go up, do it once and get it over with, and don’t make it more than a $1-$2 increase, and keep it there for at least 3 years (don’t increase the price twice in twelve months like Wizkids did). Jeff from Phantom of the Attic felt that the $15.00 mark won’t fly very well unless some extra figures are thrown into that booster, but even that is iffy. The economy is still soft, and keeping the $12.00 MSRP will help reward loyal customers and bring back those other customers who vowed never to return. Is raising the price of a booster by 15% worth it if you’re going to lose 25% of your customers?

2) Increasing the cost of the mail-away figure
It's not unreasonable to pay $11.99 for a mail-away figure (same as a booster). I certainly would have paid that amount for the World’s Finest and Joker figures. Would customers purchase multiples? Absolutely. Those who are hoarding over 4 bricks are still going send away for those 4 figures (and still cause some artificial shortages), not to mention: players are getting at least a $12 discount per brick from their local retailer. Raising the price to $11.99 would definitely help make up for not raising the price of a booster!

3) Make the Mail-Away figures worth it.
If the cost of the mail-away is going to increase, then make it worth it. World’s Finest (WF) may be lousy to play with, but it looks cool and has a strong comic book tie in (and look at all the boosters that sold). And let’s not forget the cool Joker mail-away and even the Dark Phoenix! Give us a good mail-away, and we’ll buy more bricks, and be willing to pay the higher cost for shipping and handling! On that note, Jeff mentioned that many of his customers were disappointed that the WF figure sold out so quickly. I hope that the new owners keep the mail-away reprint policy that Wizkids implemented before getting closed down.

4) Huge Figures
These have sold very well at JC Comics, and John wished they could keep them in stock. The Galactus, Starro, and Spectre figures were snatched up within a week no less than two Cthulu figures (HorrorClix) were sold. The fact is that these are very popular to the HeroClix gamers and even the non gamer. If the owners can keep these around the $100.00 price mark, then these will sell very well to comic book and game shops everywhere. Even now I hear players wanting a Galactus and Starro (and Cthulu). I suspect these are more popular in comic stores than game stores, but both are equally important for the future of HeroClix.

5) More Boxed Sets
These are great. Period. Being able to see the figures in the box made them very appealing, but more importantly a collector or comic fan could buy am entire superhero team in one box. No need for new maps or dice – just give me a good team to help reinforce my love of comic book superheroes (or villiains)! Both John and Jeff were very pleased with the sales of these sets, and they were especially happy with the packaging (which made them easier to sell). The same is also true for the newer Starter Sets.

6) Boxed Cards
Here’s an idea, how about selling 10 pre-selected Feats in a non-random pack? Cardboard is dirt cheap, and they wouldn’t have to pay any licensing fees to make them. Jeff felt that the $3.99 mark would be ideal, while John felt that $4.99 would be fair. However, I’d argue that you could go up to $7.99. Heck, they could even reprint some of the more sought-after cards and errata them. I would pay up to $9.99 for a pack that included a fixed Fortitude and Nanobots card. Want to make it more interesting? Offer another mail-away figure if you send in 2 proofs of purchase!

7) Multiple Feats
The problem with the “Boxed Cards” idea is that you can’t assign multiple copies of the same feat to one character. This can be remedied at the design level; we should be allowed to put two or three Nova Blast's on Johnny Storm! Imagine opening a booster and actually being happy to get a 4th copy of the same feat....

8) Boxed figures that make sense
Hey new owners, please stop giving us boxed sets with a mixture of unique and non-unique figures! There is a dedicated group of people who like to purchase multiples, and so it would behoove you to cater to them. I personally would have loved to purchase multiple Days of Future Past sets so that I can play with multiple Sentinels – but what the heck am I going to do with those extra unique Colonel Logans and Hounds? That’s dumb. Either make all the figures in the pack unique or none of them.

9) Maps, maps, maps
For a while, Wizkids was sending us 1 free map per case of HeroClix. This no longer needs to happen. It’s an extra expense that the owners don't need to absorb. It costs money to get a map designed, pay the license to include a logo, and get them printed. There’s no need for this at all. Just release a generic pack every year with 2-4 maps for $19.99. At the very least, the judges who run the tournaments will purchase these, not to mention customers who play at home. Heck, making them them HorrorClix compatible to would increase the potential sales (HorrorClix still has a strong cult following). The convention exclusive Castle map has been very popular among my players, with several of them paying a pretty penny on eBay to get a hold of one; they would have preferred to buy them directly from their local stores if they could. Jeff felt that a good alternative is to provide a free poster in each case, which lists all the figures.

10) Keep Chase figures
Let’s get this out of the way right now – I don’t like Chase Figures. As a casual player and collector I simply don’t have the time or money to hunt these things down, but frankly they’re a necessary evil! It’s very clear to me that the DC Crisis wouldn’t have sold out without (1) a very cool mail-away figure and (2) ridiculously broken Superman chase figures. Arkham-Asylum has done quite well too (marred by the fact that the closing of WK was announced during its run). People who find the Chase Figure are thrilled by them, and it certainly adds a great deal of excitement when you open that booster – which is really half the fun of buying HeroClix (the opening of the box). Want to help offset the cost? Make it a "chase coupon" instead, with a small $12.99 shipping and handling fee. Who wouldn’t pay fee that to get the E2 Superman chase figure?

11) Direct Purchase Special Figures (that aren't lame)
I know we had some exclusive mail purchase figures before, like Sam Wilson or Professor Zoom, but they weren’t really worth it (and don’t get me started on the Tsunami clear Hulk). What we need are some really good figures that makes the player want to own them. The Man of Steel was a very good start that had an MSRP of around $8.00. What if a figure as powerful as the E2 Superman was available directly online for $11.99 (the cost of a booster)? You'd be crazy not to get one!

12) HeroClix: Legends
How about some reprints of old figures? Imagine a Marvel Legends set or a DC Legends set that contains "reprints" of original unrestricted figures. Would players pay $12.00 for a booster that could contain KC Superman or Vet Ultimate Hawkeye from previous sets? You darned skippy they would. The nostalgia factor alone would make it very appealing to older players who are still in the game, as well as bring back those who have left. Best of all, the designs, dioals, and molds are already complete, so the profit per booster would be very high!

Well, there you go. Don’t raise the price of the booster, but raise other prices instead. I know that a number of ideas aren’t going to resonate with some of the readers, but remember that HeroClix is a business first, and currently a dead one at that. The game simply must be profitable for its new owners to justify its existence, and I’m hoping that increasing the price of a booster is not the first option.

Special thanks goes out to:

-Jeff at Phantom of the Attic (Comics/Games)
411 South Craig Street, Pittsburgh, PA‎ - (412) 621-1210‎

-John at JC Comics & Cards
2609 State Rd, Cuyahoga Falls, OH‎ - (330) 929-1929‎

My previous articles:
-Comics and Clix: Black History Month
-Fixing HeroClix

Custom Bystander Tokens, Feats, and Battlefield Conditions:
HeroClix World

-The’ Le