- 1 August, 2006 -

Have you ever wanted to see the Ultimate Fantastic Four battle against Ultimate Dr. Doom, right on your kitchen table? How about Nightcrawler and the Juggernaut engaged in a massive battle royal in the lunch cafeteria? These scenes are just the start with the new set Fantastic Forces, for the Marvel HeroClix game by WizKids. Choose the heroes (or villains) that will make up your super-squad and go battle it out against your friend with these new characters. Fantastic Forces is all about being big ?no, seriously, I mean really big. In fact, this set has more big and ugly bruisers than any set ever before by a long shot. Every booster pack will contain a "big" (you knew I was going to say that, didn't you?) figure inside. A "big" figure is actually a giant, double-sized figure or a figure that has two bases. The figures that have two-bases are characters that WizKids couldn't fit on a traditional base because they are too long. There will be twenty-four giant figures in the Fantastic Forces set. So, what are you going to do with all of these humongous, heavy-hitting pugilists? Pit them together in an all-out brawl, of course! A ton of new abilities, plus a host of jumbo-sized characters from the Fantastic Four movie should make Fantastic Forces one of the best HeroClix sets ever. The list of characters in this set is eye-popping. Of course there will be a Spiderman in a very, very cool pose, but there are also many other got-to-have characters. Ghost Rider makes an appearance, as well as an alternate Chrome Johnny Storm that looks quite good. My personal favorite from this set though is Cain Marko, better known as the arch-villain Juggernaut. His figure looks just plain awesome and intimidating. It's one of the best figure sculpts that I've ever seen come from WizKids. The theme behind the set is the Fantastic Four characters, a perfect tie-in with the new movie. All of the popular characters from the Fantastic Four universe are here, from Johnny Storm and the Thing to Sub-Mariner and the Scarlet Witch. There will also be plenty of new characters that have never been made before. One such character is the Inhuman transporting dog, Lockjaw. In the Marvel universe, Lockjaw is a huge, half-ton dog that can literally transport people, whether ten feet or 10,000 miles ? or even all the way to the moon. Well, you might ask, how does this translate over to HeroClix? Lockjaw (the half-ton, teleporting dog with human intelligence, mind you) was made into a double-based character. The end result actually works out very well, giving Lockjaw a considerable amount of girth and making him scale-perfect compared to the other figures in the game. This is the first time that WizKids has made any double-based figures for HeroClix. It gives them a unique opportunity to make some very interesting sculpts and poses for characters they haven't had the chance to make before, like Ghost Rider. With every new set of HeroClix there are new abilities and features to add to the game. This time around, Fantastic Forces has added the Transporter ability and alternate team abilities. We might as well talk about Lockjaw again, as he is the best of the transporters in this set. Basically, any smaller character can now jump on Lockjaw and ride him to whatever new destination they have in mind instantaneously. This move is immediate ? so basically the figure can move from one end of the game board to the other, no problem. The other new feature in the set, the alternate team abilities, comes on small cards that are placed on the battlefield. These cards change the abilities of certain teams, giving them more versatility when they need it. Basically, the alternate team abilities are just another way to add more depth and realism to an already outstanding game. It is another welcome addition to an ever-growing set of abilities that players can use to customize and modify their teams. The Fantastic Forces set was released on June 29. Booster packs retail for $7.99. They contain one oversized figure, either a giant figure or a double-based figure; two regular-sized figures; and a bystander token, battlefield condition, or feat card. I know I'll have a fantastic summer, how about you? - Dan Schmidt Dan Schmidt is a Category Development Coordinator for HobbyTown USA?. HobbyTown USA

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