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The time is right for another DC Comics HeroClix set, and blasting out of the distant past, far future, and current storylines alike comes the DC HeroClix Masters of Time expansion set! The pages of DC Comics have featured some hugely popular time travel stories over the years, along with characters who have lived in the ancient past or will live in the future (on various Earths and other places), giving WizKids fertile ground to build a character list for a HeroClix set. In this case, it includes all of that and specifically Return of Bruce Wayne Batman figures, the Jurassic League heroes (colossal figures in “Jurassic Boosters”), Booster Gold and Rip Hunter, Time Masters and Time Stealers, Justice League Dark, Dark Knights of Steel, and so much more. Today we’re going to check out a full brick of Masters of Time boosters, so let’s dive right into the time stream and see what we can discover!
Usually, a HeroClix brick provides you with ten boosters, each containing five game pieces and their respective cards. There’s a standardized rarity system so every pack should contain a number of commons and uncommons along with a rare, super rare, or chase, and some expansions also include other items like equipment. Masters of Time switches things up in a BIG way, with the inclusion of the Jurassic Super Boosters; bricks of this set have eight standard boosters and one of these big boys. The regular boosters each have five game pieces, while the super boosters appear to include one colossal figure, two standard figures, and a bonus Team-Up card for even more ways to play with characters from this set. The regular Masters of Time boosters feature artwork from the Return of Bruce Wayne storyline depicting various incarnations of Batman, with Rip Hunter teaching you about HeroClix resources online, and the side panels showing off 3D renders of Batman figures, Dark Knights of Steel, and Justice League Dark.
Meanwhile, the super boosters are mainly focused on the Jurassic League cast of characters!
Booster 1
Common 008 Booster Gold
Common 010 Prehistoric Warrior
Common 014 Time Trapper
Uncommon 028 Sgt. Rock
Chase 058 Prince Kal-El
Booster 2
Common 007a-f Trick Arrow Equipment
Common 013 Blackhawk Pilot
Common 016 Daxamite
Uncommon 027 Talia al’Ghul
Rare 040 Per Degaton
Booster 3
Common 005 Detective Chimp
Common 009 Jinny Hex
Common 012 Easy Company Soldier
Uncommon 023 Red Arrow
Rare 032 Batman
Booster 4
Common 002 Velociraptor
Common 006 Mister Mind
Common 013 Blackhawk Pilot
Uncommon 025 Cinnamon
Super Rare 054 Green Lantern
Booster 5
Common 003 Deadman
Common 005 Detective Chimp
Common 009 Jinny Hex
Uncommon 030 Hal Jordan
Rare 034 Morgaine Le Fay
Booster 6
Common 001 Batman
Common 004 Animal Man
Uncommon 029 Lady Blackhawk
Uncommon 031 Superboy
Rare 033 Batman
Booster 7
Common 006 Mister Mind
Common 011 League Assassin
Common 015 Superman
Uncommon 020 Dr. Fate
Super Rare 052 Darkseid
Booster 8
Common 011 League Assassin
Common 012 Easy Company Soldier
Uncommon 019 Wonder Woman
Uncommon 024 Beast Boy
Super Rare 051b Madame Xanadu (with Tarot cards Three of Pentacles, The High Priestess, Knight of Swords, The Magician, Page of Wands, Queen of Cups)
Super Booster
Common 002 Velociraptor
Rare 038 Supergirl
Chase 066 Supersaur
066.01 Supersaur Team-Up Card
Here’s the full breakdown of the figures in this brick (your results will vary of course):
COMMONS (including duplicates)
001 Batman
002 Velociraptor
003 Deadman
004 Animal Man
005 Detective Chimp
006 Mister Mind
007a-f Trick Arrow Equipment
008 Booster Gold
009 Jinny Hex
010 Prehistoric Warrior
011 League Assassin
012 Easy Company Soldier
013 Blackhawk Pilot
014 Time Trapper
015 Superman
016 Daxamite
UNCOMMONS
019 Wonder Woman
020 Dr. Fate
023 Red Arrow
024 Beast Boy
025 Cinnamon
027 Talia al’Ghul
028 Sgt. Rock
029 Lady Blackhawk
030 Hal Jordan
031 Superboy
RARES
032 Batman
033 Batman
034 Morgaine Le Fay
038 Supergirl
040 Per Degaton
SUPER RARES
051b Madame Xanadu (with Tarot cards)
052 Darkseid
054 Green Lantern
CHASE
058 Prince Kal-El
COLOSSAL
066 Supersaur (and Team-Up card)
Collation in a super booster brick is always going to be a bit out of the ordinary, as you’re missing two standard boosters. That being said, I think this was a really good brick! At the time of writing, I don’t know the full breakdown of how many figures are in each of the rarity levels in this set, but here’s a general overview. I pulled 16 commons (either all of them or just missing one), 10 out of at least 14 uncommons, 5 out of at least 12 rares, three super rares (including a Prime), a standard chase, and a chase colossal (with Team-Up card) – though colossals often have their own sort of rarity scheme.
One of my favorite parts of these HeroClix reviews is going through a brick by rarity level, seeing what themes appear and in what numbers. Starting with the commons, and right off the bat we’ve got a Batman! It will be a little while until we come across our next Bruce Wayne, but there are several in this set linked by their Return of Bruce Wayne trait that lets you swap between them during your games. Much of this level is dedicated to generic figures, a staple of HeroClix going back to the very beginning. Most of these are related to the past, with the Velociraptor, Prehistoric Warrior, Easy Company Soldier, Blackhawk Pilot, League Assassin, and alien Daxamite. Speaking of past, out of the old days comes Jinny Hex while from the far future is Time Trapper (real name “unknown” but I always think of the time it was Superboy Prime!). Animal Man is a far-traveling Justice Leaguer, and Deadman and Detective Chimp anchor this set’s Justice League Dark theme. The diminutive Mister Mind is our first Time Stealer, while Booster Gold and Superman are heroic Time Masters. Last but least is the Trick Arrow equipment!
Our uncommon pulls include many individuals with repainted sculpts from generics among the commons, with Beast Boy (Velociraptor), Talia al’Ghul (League Assassin), Sgt. Rock (Easy Company Soldier), and Lady Blackhawk (Blackhawk Pilot); they’re joined by wild west Cinnamon (based on the Jinny Hex sculpt) and Legion of Super-Heroes Superboy from the future (based on the Daxamite sculpt). Hal Jordan joins the Time Masters, and cool new versions of Wonder Woman and Dr. Fate magically appear for Justice League Dark. A bit of an outlier here is Red Arrow, but the marksman Emiko Queen makes her triumphant (and welcome) HeroClix debut.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… Batman? That’s right, the Dark Knight returns among the rares with two versions, a pirate and a witch hunter! The heavily armored Morgaine Le Fay emerges from the distant past, while the sword-wielding Supergirl is literally the Woman of Tomorrow. Last of our rare pulls is none other than the villainous Time Stealer known as Per Degaton, who returns to HeroClix for the first time since the Arkham Asylum set in 2008.
Getting into our rarest figures, the themes narrow down quite dramatically. In the super rares, Justice League Dark is here with a really cool Madame Xanadu, a Prime figure that comes with multiple Tarot cards to spice up your games. She’s joined by Green Lantern, in this case the Dragon Lord Jong Li from 7th century China! A bit harder to tie down (but still a very welcome pull!) is the mighty history-spanning Darkseid, whose first trait is appropriately called “Darkseid Was, and So, Darkseid Is.” Our standard chase figure leaps from the pages of Dark Knights of Steel with none other than Prince Kal-El; people who collect variations of Superman are going to love this guy!
I was really excited to check out our Jurassic Super Booster, as DC has had relatively few colossal figures over the years. I’ve never read the Jurassic League storyline, but the characters are very unique and colorful, and obviously they feature very strongly in this set’s colossal figures. Our pull comes from that very story, the Kryptonian Defender of Metraaaghpolis known as Supersaur! And wouldn’t you know it, here’s yet another Superman variant.
There aren’t a lot of brand new mechanics and game elements in the Masters of Time expansion set, but there are plenty of fun and thematic things going on. Starting right off with 001 Batman we’ve got the flavorful “Return of Bruce Wayne” trait capturing the feeling of Batman bouncing through time (and identities) after being blasted into the distant past by Darkseid’s Omega Beams. Other figures share the same, or similar traits as well, like the Time Masters who have Probability Control with a bonus effect, the marksmen with Quickdraw that benefit them when they shoot first, and Formidable Resolve that give soldiers tokens when their allies are KO’d that they can use for different buffs. Speaking of, Sgt. Rock can also “recruit” additional Easy Company Soldiers, while Dr. Fate can create duplicates of himself when he succeeds at either Shape Change or Super Senses. The Time Stealer Per Degaton has a very interesting trait that lets him switch between his different starting lines when KO’d depending on his starting point value and how many Time Discs he has. Madame Xanadu has multiple Tarot-affecting traits and a special power, Supersaur’s Team-Up card lets you play a Jurassic League team with up to 50 free points, and Darkseid is absolutely brutal with his ability to come back from the dead (potentially on click #1) and KO all enemies with the same name! DC even gets Trick Arrow equipment like Marvel did in the Next Phase set. Last but not least I have to call out the trait name on the Velociraptor because it’s what we all hear in our heads when the dinosaur comes up in conversation… “Clever…”
As a set promising heroes and villains from all throughout time, Masters of Time doesn’t skimp on the variety and flavor of figures. Sure, there are a lot of Batmen, but I appreciate how each one is unique with period clothing and accessories; of the three I pulled Mr. Pirate is my favorite but I also enjoy the sweep of the witch hunter’s cloak. Any set with dinosaurs is a winner in my book, and I love that WizKids took the opportunity to double up on dinos with Beast Boy versions. The Velociraptors and Supersaur are covered in stubbly skin texture and underlying musculature, not to mention the wicked claws on the smaller predators. Let’s go through the figures in the set that I really like (and there are a lot): Detective Chimp is adorable with his little outfit, Jinny Hex and Cinnamon have some very nice clothing details and very well painted eyes, the League Assassin and Blackhawk Pilot may look drab but up close there are tons of fine sculpted details, Daxamite and Superboy have a wonderfully exuberant pose, Hal Jordan (my favorite superhero) has a classic pose and bright colors, Supergirl looks awesome lifting her sword into the sky, Per Degaton oozes evil in his greatcoat upon his time disc, Madame Xanadu’s mystical conjuration of the Tarot uses transparent plastic really well and the card is incredibly detailed, Green Lantern’s martial arts pose is fluid and strong, and Prince Kal-El looks regal in his very detailed outfit and flowing cape.
Some of my absolute favorite figures include the adorable Mister Mind, Time Trapper who just looks so mysterious with his faceless robes, Wonder Woman holding up her mighty shield, the armored form of Morgaine Le Fay with her textured fur cloak, the massively muscled Supersaur, and, of course, that amazing Darkseid with his wraparound Omega Beams! One last night about sculpts: as seems to be standard these days for DC sets, there are no firearms, even on figures who “should” be wielding them (Easy Company Soldier, Sgt. Rock, etc.).
Perhaps nowhere more appropriate for bringing back old characters into new incarnations, Masters of Time bricks come with a Legacy Card! These randomized cards let you bring older figures back into the current game of HeroClix, giving new traits, powers, point values, and more to figures from the recent or even very distant past. The Legacy Card we pulled here is for Amethyst from the Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes (SLOSH) set from 2014. This new version drops the price from 80 to a very team-friendly 50 points, and my goodness is that just the tip of the iceberg! New Amethyst gains not one but two team abilities (Mystics and Cosmic Energy), swaps the Justice League keyword for Justice League Dark and Young Justice, and ditches a once-per-game trait for three much more useful ones. “Portal to Gemworld” gives her permanent Force Blast and Phasing/Teleport, “Princess of Gemworld” adds Close Combat Expert and Leadership while granting Mystics to friendly Young Justice allies, and “Gem Constructs” is a power action to create blocking terrain markers.
I appreciate everyone who’s read this far, and I won’t tease you any longer. Here’s what you came for, the dial reveals!!!
WizKids has a number of additional products on the way to supplement your Masters of Time experience with not one but two Play At Home Kits, one featuring Batman and the other Detective Chimp. There’s also a fun Release Day Kit coming to participating venues with prizes like a Limited Edition Batman (Man of Bats) and new maps! Check with your local comic book or game store and make sure they’ll have these for you!
There’s usually a bit of a long wait between DC HeroClix sets, and I think players and collectors alike are going to find Masters of Time worth it. It’s got something for everyone from fun generics to classic heroes and villains in new forms, easy team builders to big powerhouses and tentpoles, and freaking dinosaurs! The return of colossal figures is fantastic, and I can’t wait to see the full lineup of what you can pull from those Jurassic-sized super boosters. As you can see in my photos, the figures look great and will be welcome additions to your collection, whether that’s on the shelf or on the battlefield. Masters of Time will be hitting store shelves in late summer, so make sure to pre-order your boosters and bricks at your FLGS or online. As always, good luck with your pulls!
Visit HeroClix.com for even more info as well as downloads of rules and maps, and stay tuned to Action Figure Insider as we continue our reviews of new HeroClix! If you don’t have access to a local comic book or game store at this time you can also order your HeroClix directly from the WizKids website.
Review and photos by Scott Rubin.
Review samples courtesy of WizKids Games.
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