Wizkids recently announced a change to the Web of Spider-Man Prize kits. Previously, the Brave and Bold kit included 15 LE figures, 14 3-D objects, 10 maps, and 12 ATA cards, for $25.00. The new Web of Spider-Man kit is the same price and includes 15 LE figures, 10 Objects, and 6 maps. Additionally, Wizkids recently implemented a new policy that cut the orders of many large retailers, forcing them to wait two weeks for their entire shipment to arrive.

Dr. Faustin chimes in from Belize to give us his opinion about these changes.

With the dual announcements by WizKids of changes to the Official Prize kits (OP) and their Internet retailer policy, the Internet has been ablaze with complaints. People are screaming because the WoS prize kit has fewer items in it than originally solicited and, if you ordered from an online retailer (at a huge discount), you may have to wait two weeks post-release date to receive your Web of Spider-Man brick(s)/case(s).

While no one will argue that the decision to communicate these changes to the public so close to the release of Web of Spider-Man is mistimed, WizKids is still trying to do right by the customer. Before you begin shouting at your monitor screaming about how WizKids is giving us fewer prizes for the same amount of money (as The Brave and The Bold prize kit), lets try and keep things in perspective.

Times are tough, relative disposable income is at an all-time low (since the Depression), comic and game stores are closing up all over the country. The stores that are still in business are watching every penny and looking for any way to stretch to the far side of a dollar. Comic books and toys tend to be among the first things to go when cash gets tight.

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Above, the Web of Spider-Man prize kit (maps not shown)

Call Heroclixs what you want but, in the end, they are toys. WizKids is a toy company that operates in a very narrow niche of the toy market. Certainly the fans of Heroclixs are passionate and vote their loyalty with their money, but this is not enough. In this economy, flat is the new growth. For WizKids to survive, it has to replace any customers it loses (for whatever reason) with new blood. With their decision to favor brick and mortar stores over online presence, WizKids sided with the friendly neighborhood comic/game store as where that new blood would come from. The faithful hordes who order their cases online will call and moan about the delay, but WizKids is making a strategic decision that people who order cases online will NOT drop the game due to a two week wait. In most cases, these hardcore clixers can get their ‘fix for clixs’ by buying some boosters at their local brick & mortar store or by playing in some sealed events. Driving people to Mom & Pop shops is what WizKids is betting on. The future of the game depends on it.