If I were King....

Hello, been too long since I've updated this blog but here we go. Today I'm going to discuss Wizkids, Inc. The creators of Heroclix one of the games I'm most passionate about. Being an avid comic book collector it was a natual draw to a game consisting of plastic superheroes from the comics. (wwwww.heroclix.com ) If your also a fan of this game and been following WK (wizkids) actions you'll know what I'm talking about. The company is a subsidiary of Topps, Inc. and they've recently had a bunch of layoffs and the company is little more than a skelton crew right now. They are nor financially feesible right now and most of the reason for that has be lacking sales in their games.
Heroclix is their number one seller and they haven't made great decisions with their main product. Some things I would have done different are listed below:

1. A few years ago, they had announced that they were going to release ToonClix, a variation of their product based on cartoon characters. They announced they had the licence to Cartoon Network characters - this is when Power Puff girls were popular along with Fairly Odd GodParents, Jimmy Neutron, and other cartoons. I know it was because of Financial reasons they pulled the product, but the later announced and released Halo-Clix. While, HaloClix did well with their inial release, I think ToonClix would've had more staying power, especially if they went and pursued licences from Nickalodean, Time-Warner, etc. I think ToonClix would've been huge. Keep the game somewhat simple and pull in a huge player base from kids, teens and adults. It was a mistake to pull this product line.

2. HorrorClix. Their biggest blunder with that line was the delay they had on their last set - Nightmares (or was it the Lab?) They were suppose to release the expansion in October, just before Halloween but for whatever reason, the release got delayed for four months coming out in February, bad move, they lost the interest of a lot of their regular players who got tired of waiting. They also lost potential sales by not making the product more compatible with Heroclix, The rules were different enough that it make players feel the two products wouldn't work together. They came out with one dual-product - Hellboy - where the figures were interchangable with Heroclix and HorrorClix just by switching the card you used. This was a great idea tho they have yet to produce another Dual-pack. Marvel Monsters - Dracula, Mummy,Frankenstien Monster, Man-Wolf, and others are perfect candidates for another dual-product.

3. Action Packs. I don't think Wizkids produces enough of these. There are many comic book base teams that either haven't been produced in the main expansion sets or are missing some members. Teams like Great Lake Avengers, Zodiac, Shai'r Imperial Guard, Seven Soldiers of Victory, Gen13, and many others. Also, Map packs with objects could be produced, many fans are looking for them, the right Action packs would be sought by many Heroclix players and collectors. I feel they don't produce enough of these, hopefully, they will produce more.

4. Tornaments. One big mistake WK has done was to do away with their pre-release games. They had hundreds of players show up for these and the amount of boosters bought at these events had to more than cover the prize support that the company would have to send. They had to be making money off these events. They also built up hype and excited the players with the new set coming out. Marquees are also seem to have been nixxed. Another mistake I feel. They still have a kind of release but the players win only an event dial where they should have the prize be an LE figure like they did with the old Marquee.

Well, that's it for now, if I come up with more I'll post them here. :)