Topps closes WizKids; HeroClix to continue?
According to industry web site ICV2.com, Topps has announced it is shutting down the WizKids division of the company. WizKids was the company that premiered HeroClix, Mage Knight and Pirates of the Spanish Main. It was acquired by Topps in 2003; Topps itself was acquired in 2007 by Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company and Dearborn Partners, ICV2 reports.
Topps said in the statement it was pursuing “strategic alternatives so that viable brands and properties, including HeroClix, can continue without any noticeable disruption.”
This is rough news for fans of the WizKids games, and even moreso, obviously, for the people who worked there. Will HeroClix continue, and will it do so as a game focused on the hobby gaming market? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
– Matt Price
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Comments
This is definitely not the news I wanted to see on Monday. However, some of the former employees are trying to keep the HeroClix we love going strong. I have my fingers crossed they can acquire the license and at least finish out the Hammer of Thor set.
On the plus side, Topps is going to send out at least the December prize kits (and hopefully the January prize kits as well), so we will have at least a few more tournaments with new prizes. After that, we will start digging into my pile of extra figures and run venue supported events when possible. Hopefully we can keep the tournament scene alive long enough for someone to pick up where Topps dropped the ball.
Its just like TOPPS to kill something that was going strong and good and screw over the consumers that made the product for what it was before they got their deathly, greedy, don’t know what their doing hands on it, just look at their history of company take overs, besides Wizkids was stupid dumb ass for letting TOPPS taking over such an great gaming company, never again.
This comes the day after Colin and I played Heroclix… well, “played” is putting it loosely. “Intense thrashing by Cody whereupon Colin suffered extraordinary defeat by first a team comprised of characters with Girl in their names (Thor Girl, Spider-Girl, Batgirl, etc) and then even quicker by Superman Prime/Beyonder Doom, who defeated his 600 Mystic Doom team in 15 minutes.” That’s probably a better way of putting it…
BUT… this sucks. Totally. I am at a loss for words.
It’s like Wizkids just rolled double ones. After taking pushing damage. I hope someone has support, or they can trade a click of a healing with a Titan or X-Man….