ADVANCE LOOK: WizKids Games Marvel HeroClix Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Review and photos by Scott Rubin

In 2014 Marvel Studios released one of the greatest comic book films we’ve seen yet, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy.  With its unique and colorful characters, the movie was a perfect inspiration for fun game pieces, and WizKids was on hand with a gravity feed set of HeroClix figures capturing all of heroes, villains, and those in between.  And now, as we wait with baited breath for the sequel to hit theaters in less than two months, there’s a whole new batch of galactic lowlifes coming to a gaming table near you with Marvel HeroClix Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2!

As they did with the first movie, WizKids is offering HeroClix players and collectors a gravity feed of single-figure foil packs featuring characters right out of the movie.  The set is split between figures available in comic book/game stores and at mass market (Target around here), each sharing 6 common figures but getting 4 exclusive rares and 1 exclusive chase respectively so you’ll have to do a little running around to catch ‘em all.  So let’s head to deep space with a look at a gravity feed box!

If you’re into package design and graphics (like me!) then HeroClix gravity feed displays are things of beauty.  The big, chunky box allows for a ton of imagery, and the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 version is definitely eye-catching.  The customer-facing front panel has all of the requisite logos for HeroClix, the movie title, and the Guardians symbol along with an illustration of the main lineup: little Groot, Rocket, Star-Lord, Drax, and Gamora.  It also helpfully lets potentially buyers know that inside is “a pre-painted collectible miniature game piece per foil pack” in case you weren’t sure.  The back of the box is a full-panel movie poster in a trippy blue, orange, and yellow color scheme.  Decorating the top and sides of the package is a really beautiful starscape with swirling colors; the box top has the movie and HeroClix logos while the sides feature more artwork of the main characters and 3D renders of eight of the set’s figures: Kraglin, Rocket and Groot, Sovereign, Nebula, Drax, Gamora, Rocket, and Star-Lord.  The foil packs themselves echo the design of the gravity feed box with repeated artwork and renders.

Alright, as always your results will vary but here’s what we pulled in this gravity feed display:

Commons

001 Rocket

002 Groot

003 Mantis

004 Star-Lord

005 Drax

006 Gamora

Rares

007 Ravager

008 Sovereign

009 Kraglin

010 Rocket and Groot

Chase

015 Nebula

I have to say, the collation in this box was fantastic.  We found at least two copies of every figure but the chase Nebula, and there were three copies each of Rocket, Mantis, and Drax!  With a small set like this it’s nice to see that all of the main characters are repeated in one box, and even the exclusive rares.  Sure, only one person is going to get the chase out of a display, but at least two people can collect the full set of commons and rares with a few figures leftover for a third person to get started.  Plus there are a couple generics (Ravager, Sovereign) for even more collecting fun.  Keep in mind that the other version of this expansion’s gravity feed has a different set of four rares and a chase (including the already revealed Yondu and another version of Star-Lord).

Like you, I haven’t seen the movie yet, but these sculpts look great and super accurate to the characters as seen in the trailers and promotional materials.  The poses and stances and all specific and appropriate, and I must say that overall these figures look like quite an improvement over the ones from the first movie… and I love those!  Going through the list, we start with a snazzy new Rocket dual-wielding blasters and aiming at two different enemies.  There’s nice detail on his blue uniform, puffy tail, and his fuzzy cute-but-deadly head.

Up next is Groot… and he brings the Tiny size to new heights with one of the smallest figures in the game outside of the non-figure “puck” bases.  The little dude is adorable with a tree bark texture and of course his beady white eyes.

Fan-favorite Mantis joins the Guardians in Vol. 2, and players are going to be thrilled to see that she’s among the common ranks.  The telepath wears an interesting black and green costume and stands in a martial arts pose, ready to strike.

Famous outlaw Star-Lord shows up in the commons with a great presentation of a helmetless Peter Quill resting with one foot up on a rock and twin Element Guns at the ready.  The figure has a good, scruffy Chris Pratt likeness in miniature with a cool jacket.

The muscle of the team is next with Drax, sporting his favorite knives in a pose that says he’s about to be lethal.  The Destroyer is heavily muscled and stripped to the waist, and his tattoos look amazing.  This figure is probably the biggest improvement over its version from the first movie.

Last of the commons is the other green skin in the bunch, Gamora.  This version focuses on her up close capacity for violence as she swings around with a sword held in a reverse grip in front of her while her hair and long coat float out behind her.

The first of the rares is the generic Ravager, a brutish pirate in a standardized uniform that is very highly detailed.  He has a cybernetic right arm that holds up a firearm, and he stares forward with beady eyes under a well-cropped mohawk.  Two slots later is the specific Ravager named Kraglin (played by James Gunn’s brother Sean) which uses the same sculpt but switches up the clothing color for a dark maroon and adds menacing facial hair.  Between the two Ravagers is the generic Sovereign, a race of gold-skinned humanoids represented here by a male figure wearing a sleek blue bodysuit and rocking stark white hair.

The last of this series’ rares is a two-for-one, Rocket and Groot in one package!  The furry one stalks forward holding a large blaster with two hands while the tiny wooden one perches on his shoulder.  Rocket has the same blue outfit as the common, while Groot is dressed for action with a super cute little red suit.  Lastly the chase Nebula has a bit of an awkward pose turning sideways with a pistol in one hand, but the details on the figure are tremendous.  She has a nicely textured red outfit that contrasts well with her blue skin and the bright silver of her cybernetic parts.

How about a couple dial reveals?  First up is the fierce, green-skinned warrior woman Gamora!  This assassin’s dial matches her intense pose, and it somehow captures a whole lot of pain (for your opponent) in just 65 points.  She has a short 4 range to surprise her enemies and Indomitable to keep going when others fall.  Her dial can be described as bloodthirsty, starting with Charge to get up close, Precision Strike, Combat Reflexes, and Perplex.  After her first click Gamora switches up Flurry and Sidestep the rest of her dial, gets some mid-dial Blades/Claws/Fangs, and halfway through switches to Super Senses.  This Guardian is all about getting into the fray early and then cleaving enemies with Precision Strike, Blades/Claws/Fangs, Flurry, and Perplex.  This daughter of Thanos has the Guardians of the Galaxy keyword along with the generic Martial Artist and Warrior.

When last we saw Thanos’ other daughter in the first film, Nebula had lost her patron Ronan and cut off her own hand to escape Gamora and the Guardians.  Well, she’s back in Vol. 2 and appears in HeroClix form as one of the set’s two chases.  New and improved Nebula is 100 points of nasty with a 6 range and Improved Movement ignoring characters.  If you look first at her dial you may wonder at her low damage (2s across the board), but check out her trait; “Cutting Deep” gives her permanent Blades/Claws/Fangs that rolls 2d6 and lets you pick one for the result!  Oh, and then she starts the game with the always awesome combo of Charge + Flurry with Combat Reflexes AND Outwit.  While in this up-close attack phase Nebula employs some Probability Control as well, and then halfway through her dial she switches over to Leap/Climb and Invulnerability with alternating Ranged Combat Expert and Outwit.  Whether she’s part of a theme team with Guardians of the Galaxy, Minions of Thanos, Assassin, Cosmic, or Pilot this cyborg is ready to slice and dice.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 promises all sorts of crazy action, and you can get a head start on the fun with the HeroClix figures from WizKids Games.  Each one looks great, especially in this scale, and at least from what we’ve seen in trailers they’re all impressively screen accurate.  Even better, they come with interesting and playable dials that will work on their own with movie teams or mixed with other versions of the Guardians from the first film or the comics.  While Vol. 2 doesn’t hit theaters until May 5^th, you can find the Marvel HeroClix Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 foil packs (MSRP $2.99 each) at both comic book/game stores and mass market (Target) a whole month in advance on April 5^th!  Collect Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Groot, and the rest to play in your HeroClix games or just to display in your home or office.  There are no better small scale Guardians of the Galaxy collectibles anywhere.

Visit HeroClix.com for even more info as well as downloads of rules and maps, and check Figures.com regularly as we continue our reviews of new HeroClix!

Review and photos by Scott Rubin

Review samples courtesy of WizKids Games

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