It seems like a popular thing to do at the beginning of a new year is to do Top 10 Lists of things from the prior year. I decided I'd join in this year by picking my Top 10 Never-Before-Clixed Characters from 2012. To do this, I used what some might consider an odd set of criteria, so let me start by explaining what I did.
First, to be considered, the character had to have never been officially created in a 3D figure with a dial. This is important, because there are characters that have come close, either by being done "unofficially" or by being done as a Bystander Token. Secondly, with so many releases coming out this past year, I did try to restrict myself to 1 figure per release. In some cases this was difficult, but by choosing my Top 1 from each release, it allowed me to cover a lot of ground, even though I still had to overlook some releases (sorry Assassin's Creed and Hobbit), which I haven't bought into. That being said, I do own at least one copy of each figure that shows up on my list, and in MOST cases have actually played them in at least 1 game. Admittedly, some of the figures that made the list, I like a lot on paper, but haven't had the chance to play. That said, let's get to the list!
#10: Stan Lee: Stan the Man comes in at #10 largely because he's only a promotional figure, so technically he can't be played in regular HeroClix games. That said, they did such an excellent job making him a fun piece to include on your teams without making him completely outrageous, like Joss Whedon's click. The sculpt is a great likeness for Stan, and the powers really give the feel of him being the creator running around in his own book. Definitely a neat figure worth acquiring if you can get your hands on one.
#9 Egghead: A long-overdue inclusion for the Masters of Evil, Egghead comes in at #9. Also helping to fill the roster of the Intelligencia, this mad scientist brings a lot of nasty little tricks to your team for his 50 point price tag. Great for taking on most versions of his favorite foe, Hank Pym, he's also good at taking on any non-normal-sized adversary. His biggest issues are his low defense versus close combatants and his lack of Mastermind, as well as a short range. When Egghead gets hit, he's going to feel it. That said, he is more of a leading from the rear sort of figure anyway.
#8 In-Betweener: Some might argue that I've placed In-Betweener too low on the list, but truthfully, HeroClix is more fun as a team game. I'd much rather field a well-rounded team that a one-man-army, or even a tent poll team. That said, I'm a fan of all things Marvel Cosmic, so I was big into the Infinity Gauntlet events. Although I have yet to field a fully-loaded Gauntlet on anyone. It's just not my style. That said, the In-Betweener is a special kind of crazy click. His ability to dish out and take damage is ridiculous, once you factor in the Soul Gem, and really, why would you be fielding him without it?
#7 El Gaucho: I'll be honest, I haven't read any of the Batman Inc. stories, but I have to admit, I like the concept of having Batmen in other countries, and a luchador Batman is just too awesome to ignore! Admittedly, he's probably not even the best of the Batman Inc. pieces, but this piece speaks to me on a few levels. My favorite part about this figure is his "surprise" range attack via his Throwing Knives. Of course, Vet IC Black Panther was always my favorite out of that REV set as well, because people always forgot he had range too, and his is printed right on the dial.
#6 Spock: As much as a I hate the idea of out-of-scale Star Trek ships in my HeroClix games, I LOVE having in-scale Star Trek crew members! This was probably the hardest character on the list to choose because I love every character in the Away Team pack so much. Ultimately I picked Spock because his 2 dials are likely the two hardest to choose between. Both provide a lot of great options. Ultimately, you're going to choose the best one to complement the team. That being said, I think I like the "A" dial just a tad more for the inclusion of the Damage Special Power.
#5 Lucius Fox: The HeroClix representation of Morgan Freeman from Christopher Nolan's Batman films comes in at #5, both for being a clix representation of Morgan Freeman, and for being one darn useful click on a Gotham City team. I'm a huge fan of the movies, as one could note from my "Playing the Movie" series on those films, but he ability to use Leadership on figures far more costly then himself is one very useful power to have. Plus he's a low enough point cost that if he gets KOd, you're really not out all that much.
#4 Harvey Bullock: As a huge fan of the old Batman: The Animated Series, I couldn't help but get excited when I found out that we were finally getting Harvey Bullock in a 3D click. I look forward to fielding him on a team with Commissioner Gordon, Renee Montoya, and a Gotham City Detective (since that is Crispus Allen before he turned into the Spectre. Harvey brings some fun options to your GCPD team as well. I love both of Harvey's Special Powers, and can't wait to put them to good use.
#3 Agent Coulson: The glue that held together almost all of Avengers Phase 1, Agent Coulson is a great support piece for the points. As an indispensable member of S.H.I.E.L.D. now with representations both in cartoons and the comics, he's good at bedeviling your opponent with his hard to eliminate Perplex, and he packs a nice kick via Psychic Blast end dial. I have plans to mod mine so that he's holding the Destroyer gun, but have yet to get around to doing it. He'd have ranked higher if he wasn't a Target Exclusive piece.
#2 Cosmo: As I said earlier in the article, I'm a huge Marvel Cosmic fan, and being both a fan of the modern Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova, and the Annihilators (all books Cosmo made frequent appearances in) it wouldn't be right for me to leave him off of this list. Plus he is one darn good support piece. I was lucky enough to pull him with Silver Surfer and Nebula in my first Galactic Guardians sealed event. Those three did quite well together. Plus, I think he's the only Annihilator to come in under 100 points (at least until we can get an Ikon anyway).
#1 John Constantine: Now, I'm not a big fan of the DC New 52, but there is 1 book out of all of them that I was particularly excited about, Justice League Dark. I loved the mix of characters that they threw together as the debut team for the book, and I love even more that we got the full roster in the Justice League: New 52 set. Their inclusion and rarity is the exclusive reason why I bought a CTD of that set. And let's face it, any figure that can shut down Probability Control on everyone else, is a pretty strong figure to have on your team, unless you have a lot of Prob (like Justice League Dark). And his sculpt is perfect!If I get the opportunity in the near future, I'll try to do a list of my Top 10 favorite remakes and/or variants as well. Keep an eye out for it, and if your so inclined feel free to leave a list of your Top 10 favorite Never-Before-Clixed Characters in the comments.
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