I’ve been rather impatiently waiting for this release.  Legion of Super-Heroes.  Legion of Doom.  New Gods.  Three great themes that needed to be revisited.  And WizKids did just that.  Here are my initial reactions based on what I’ve seen on various sites.

Cosmic Boy

EPIC WIN
- Keeping part of the set secret until the end, allowing us to hope for certain unconfirmed characters in every theme, right up to release day.  And then the last minute reveals – Polar Boy, Tyroc, Computo !!!, Mon-el, Tellus, Timber Wolf, and the Servants of Darkness chases!
- The shear size of Validus.

BIG WIN
- The number of never before made characters: Amethyst, Blight, Blok, Chameleon Girl, Computo, Daemonite, Daxamaite, Gates, Glorith, Helspont, Highfather, Ladytron, Lightray, Mr. Majestic, Polar Boy, Takion, Tellus, Triplicate Girl, Tyroc, Universo, White Witch / Black Witch.

WIN
- Surprises we never would have guessed included in the set from announcement (White Witch, Lightray, Amethyst), through the previews (Universo, Mr. Majestic, Gates) to Toy Fair (Ladytron, Glorith, Chamelion Girl) to the final reveals of yesterday when some people got the set early (Polar Boy, Tellus, Computo, Servants of Darkness).
- Completing the Fatal Five in one set.

Lightray

- Using different subsets of the main set for the Gravity Feed (LSH) and the Fats Forces pack (LOD).  Two versions of more characters is better than 3 versions of one.

- Mon-El as a Green Lantern in the OP Kit.  Alternate costume / power set which appeared for a short time.  Comic accurate and makes sense as a limited edition piece.
- The number of characters included which we have not seen in a long time: Black Manta, Cheetah, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Giganta, Kalibak, Lighning Lad, Mano, Mon-El, Mr. Miracle, Phantom Girl, Riddler, Saturn Girl, Science Police, Shadow Lass, Shrinking Violet, Stargirl, Starman (Jack Knight), Tharok, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy

GOOD
- Distribution between the themes.  I feel like we got a ton of Legion, a good number of Legion villains, a decent number of Legion of Doom and New Gods.

Mister-Miracle

Disappointments
- Some of the characters in those themes which needed the biggest update, having not been made in forever, were skipped (Captain Cold).
- The quantity of certain characters.  Shrinking Violet. With Shrinking Violet in the OP Kit, she should have been dropped from the Gravity Feed and replaced by a different LSH member.  Mordru.  Not enough of a fan of Mordu to chase down a second hard to get version (SR and LE).
- the Legion of Doom members chosen made the set feel a bit too much like Arkham Asylum.
- the Legion of Super-Heroes revealed early on made the set feel too much like the Legion starter set.  The preview of Gates really helped dispel this.
- Big Barda and Mr. Miracle duo – unneeded.  This slot should have gone to another New Gods character, whether a remake of a character like Desaad which we have not seen since Hypertime or an unmade character like Steppenwolf, Forager or Kanto.

Fail
- Although we don’t necessarily need another basic piece named “Superman” in the game right now, his name is in the set, so there should have been one.

Universo

Big Fail
- Inclusion of characters made who still have Modern Age legal versions. The following SLOSH characters still have Modern Age legal versions:  Bizarro, Darksied, Luthor, Sensor Girl, and Wildfire who were all in the Superman set in fall 2011.  I’ll give Darksied and Luthor a pass as they are key to the themes of the set, not so much the others.
- Bizarro.  Yes, the main set Bizarro has a killer concept of a dial, but it could have been saved for the next Superman or Legion of Doom themed group of characters.  With Forever Evil being such a big deal, we know WizKids will be revisiting the Legion of Doom theme.  Bizarro could have been held back for that to give us the more needed remake of Captain Cold.

Epic Fail
- Wildfire, Sensor Girl.  These two should have been removed to give us much more needed characters like never made Legion members Lightning Lass, Ferro Lad, Night Girl, Chemical King/Kid, XS, etc.  I can almost give Wildfire a pass because of his membership and participation in Legion Lost stories, but the inclusion of Sensor Girl negates it because there is zero reason why an obscure character like her should be remade so soon.  Considering how rarely we have gotten Legion members in the past and fear that we might not get them again any time soon, no excuse.  In fact it makes the inclusion of a new Dawnstar also feel rushed to a point.

Riddler

OVERALL – I love the set.  A ton of characters I cannot wait to get and play with only a few I do not.  Now the only question is, Do I buy a brick (10 5-piece boosters shrink wrapped together) all at once or a few boosters at a time?  I’ve already bought 13 of the single piece boosters, what do you think