MARVEL ZOMBIES INVADE HEROCLIX

**MattBrady** · 11-09-2006, 10:48 AM

They’ve invaded the Ultimate Marvel Universe, first in “Crossover” and then in the recent “Frightful” arc in Ultimate Fantastic Four, and of course, there was that whole best-selling miniseries with multiple printings and a sold-out hardcover, an upcoming crossover with the Army of Darkness, and the prequel and sequel. Yeah, on the whole, as a new Marvel franchise whose name is a play on what hardcore Marvel fans are called, Marvel Zombies is doing pretty good for itself.

So – what other worlds are left to conqueror for zombified versions of Marvel heroes?

Oh, simple – HeroClix.

At the end of October, a handful of HeroClix players who picked up pre-release packs of the Supernova Marvel HeroClix booster pack found some gross surprises, as Marvel Zombie versions of Spider-Man, Colonel America, Hulk, and Wolverine were randomly inserted into the packs. The figures are not part of the Supernova set per se, but will be found randomly inserted into the packs when the booster set goes into full release on November 15th. Think of the four as a prequel of sorts – WizKids, which produces HeroClix, will be releasing a full-on Marvel Zombies product in 2007.

“We're going into the 5th Anniversary of HeroClix and we wanted to do something exciting to shake things up a bit,” Mark Tuttle, HeroClix Brand Manager told Newsarama. “We also wanted to add some more collectibility into the game for those type of consumers. Marvel Zombies are hot right now and with our recent release of HorrorClix, it seemed to be a perfect fit.

“These four actually first appeared at the Supernova pre-release worldwide at the end of Octber, and can be found roughly 1 (of 4) in every 2 cases of Supernova. That said - Supernova itself is a great set which features many high point value characters like Thanos, Silver Surfer, and Drax the Destroyer. Many of the characters come straight from the Annihilation storyline.”

Power-wise, the zombie versions of Spider-Man, Cap, Hulk, and Wolverine are a little weaker than their non-Zombie counterparts, Tuttle said, adding, “The cool thing about them is that they come with HorrorClix monster cards so they are compatible with HorrorClix as well.

“The actual ‘powers’ names on the characters’ cards are appropriate for Marvel Zombies such as "Hulk is the hungriest one there is" and ‘Star spangled slaughter.’ Very fun stuff!”

As for that whole collectibility thing – Tuttle noted that the Supernova boosters are the only way (before the secondary market, of course) to get the Marvel Zombie versions of Spider-Man, Colonel America, Hulk and Wolverine – and while he would – eagerly – confirm that the Marvel Zombies HeroClix set was coming in 2007, Tuttle wouldn’t say a word about who else might be included…although he did have an interesting idea that needed to be passed through R&D:

“Along with a detachable head version of the Wasp, we could have a Black Panther made out of gummi candy - that way you could eat him through the game.”

Odie91 · 11-09-2006, 11:25 AM

These are pretty sweet, I hope to pick some of these up. First post.

grphxkindaguy · 11-09-2006, 11:33 AM

I stopped playing HeroClix awhile ago, but I definitely want to get the full set of these MZ one's, when they come out.

They look great!!!

EvilErnie13 · 11-09-2006, 11:33 AM

Holly crap! I need them all, even though I don't play Hero Clix...

alazar · 11-09-2006, 11:34 AM

Not a Hero Cliker, but I would have picked these up if I
didn't have to play the collector game to get them.

Ye Olde Iowa · 11-09-2006, 11:36 AM

I'm not a gamer and usually the HeroClix look weird (have you ever seen the Oracle HeroClix?), but these are pretty awesome. If I played the game, I'd be pretty jazzed about this. Either way, kuds to the folks who make the game for doing storyline based figures/game peices.

sol · 11-09-2006, 11:38 AM

Yeah...this is a good thing. I play (and judge) HeroClix, so seeing a HeroClix article of any kind on Newsarama is welcome.

willyd · 11-09-2006, 11:46 AM

VERY impressive and fast work by Marvel's licensing group...if only they could keep the Marvel Legends line this updated and relevant

xdemon · 11-09-2006, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willyd

VERY impressive and fast work by Marvel's licensing group...if only they could keep the Marvel Legends line this updated and relevant

I'm waiting for the Marvel Zombie Legends line!

The Heroclix are very cool!

RockLeefan · 11-09-2006, 11:54 AM

The figures are pretty sweet. I'm still surprised by just how popular this marvel zombies thing has been. It's passed me by but maybe i should check it out. Either that or they really know how to market marvel zombies. Nice to see it happening.

ThatNickGuy · 11-09-2006, 11:55 AM

I agree that these are great, but I'm worried at the same time.

Marvel has a tendency to run an idea (especially very original ones) into the ground. Foil covers and Alpha/Omega/Prime books in the nineties for crossovers or large events. Secret Wars was a great mini-series that didn't need a sequel. DItto for the INfinity Gauntlet. I'm surprised that the Ultimate line hasn't been run into the ground yet, but they've been pretty careful with that.

A lot of my examples are from the 90s, but maybe Marvel hasn't learned their lesson from overplaying something too much? I loved Marvel Zombies and no doubt, the sequel and prequel will be great. But between this and crossing over with Army of Darkness (no matter how cool it is, even to me) might be a bit much.

I just wish they'd start some announcing of the Marvel Apes/Monkies that was rumored at one time. Am I the only one that thinks there should be some heavy play from Kazar and maybe the Red Ghost? I think that's his name. The old guy that has three superpowered apes to help him with his crimes. Maybe it's the Crimson Ghost? Something like that, anyway.

Poolman · 11-09-2006, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sol

Yeah...this is a good thing. I play (and judge) HeroClix, so seeing a HeroClix article of any kind on Newsarama is welcome.

Hey I'm a judge too!

Those Marvel Zombies are HOT right now, if you folks want to get them, await a couple of months until prices on secondary market drop.

saiyanspider · 11-09-2006, 12:01 PM

What's really cool is that these can be played with Horrorclix!! AWESOME!!!

Moriarty · 11-09-2006, 12:06 PM

Heh. Look at what your story and ideas have led to, Mark Millar.

Spaz_Monkey · 11-09-2006, 12:08 PM

I own a grand total of 7 HeroClix figures/critters/thingies, but there are MUST HAVE! I can't wait!

Kamandi2 · 11-09-2006, 12:59 PM

I just checked on eBay since it said they were out.

The ones with less than 24 hours left are going for $200 each

CoolJerk · 11-09-2006, 01:11 PM

re: #11 -- Red Ghost and his Super-Apes are in the Supernova set. Red Ghost is a unique, and each of his three apes -- baboon, gorilla and orangutan -- are rookie, experienced and veteran Super-Apes, respectively.

WizKids did mix up the orangutan and gorilla sculpts, tho.

Poolman · 11-09-2006, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolJerk

re: #11 -- Red Ghost and his Super-Apes are in the Supernova set. Red Ghost is a unique, and each of his three apes -- baboon, gorilla and orangutan -- are rookie, experienced and veteran Super-Apes, respectively.

WizKids did mix up the orangutan and gorilla sculpts, tho.

Just switch the dials, quite easy actually.

ThatNickGuy · 11-09-2006, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolJerk

re: #11 -- Red Ghost and his Super-Apes are in the Supernova set. Red Ghost is a unique, and each of his three apes -- baboon, gorilla and orangutan -- are rookie, experienced and veteran Super-Apes, respectively.

WizKids did mix up the orangutan and gorilla sculpts, tho.

Um. That's not what I was referring to. I was referring to if Marvel does the Marvel Apes/Monkies, they should use Red Ghost and his primates.

Zemo13 · 11-09-2006, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamandi2

I just checked on eBay since it said they were out.

The ones with less than 24 hours left are going for $200 each

They are super rare, with 1 being in every two CASES. On top of that, they are in a set that hasn't officially been released yet.

There's been a lot of controversy over this among the Heroclix community.

I know that if I pull one, it's going on eBay!

Supreme Convoy · 11-09-2006, 01:35 PM

I don't play HeroClix... but I'll have to buy these since I love Marvel Zombies!

phicks · 11-09-2006, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supreme Convoy

I don't play HeroClix... but I'll have to buy these since I love Marvel Zombies!

For those who don't play Heroclix, these Marvel Zombies are ultra rare, meaning there will be one Marvel Zombie in every 96 booster packs. Booster packs sell for ~ $6 - $7 each, so hearing that Marvel Zombies are going for $200 on eBay is no surprise. And it won't be a simple case of just "picking these up." Sorry, wish it was!

Poolman · 11-09-2006, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phicks

For those who don't play Heroclix, these Marvel Zombies are ultra rare, meaning there will be one Marvel Zombie in every 96 booster packs. Booster packs sell for ~ $6 - $7 each, so hearing that Marvel Zombies are going for $200 on eBay is no surprise. And it won't be a simple case of just "picking these up." Sorry, wish it was!

Give them time.

The set hasn't been released yet. When they begin to pop everywhere they will get cheaper.

bishop-m · 11-09-2006, 02:15 PM

I used to play heroclix...maybe i'll start playing again....they look cool!!!

Scott Rogers · 11-09-2006, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poolman

Give them time.

The set hasn't been released yet. When they begin to pop everywhere they will get cheaper.

Uh, no they won't.

They are what are known as SUPER RARES - they appear one every 100 boosters (or one figure every 2 cases) - A case runs around $300. In theory, to get the full set of four, you would have to either a) buy 4 cases ($1200) and be very lucky to get all four (which is statistically again you - the reality is that you would probably get duplicates of at least one character) or b) buy an average of 8 cases ($2400) and still be very lucky to get all four (see my note above) - there is also option c) which is you spend your two and a half grand and don't get any Zombies in the case. (This is how my own luck works.)

Believe me, the prices won't drop and they'll be in super-high demand - especially that they are playable both with the heroclix and horrorclix (a really good game BTW) systems.

HOWEVER, there is some light on the horizon as the brand manager of Heroclix says that there is a Marvel Zombie set due out in 2007 - the bad news is, that there are conflicting rumors that these characters will not be in that set. The other alternative is that they will be in the set, but they will sport different dials and sculpts.