In the HeroClix eco-system, each figure has an intrinsic value either because of its rarity, sculpt, combat stats, or other reasons; players would trade their extra/unnwanted figures (or cards) for other figures (or cards). Selling on eBay is always an option even though it is not part of this eco-system. Why? Well, let’s go back to the Spring of 2009, when HeroClix was still a dead game... there were still tournaments happening, and Feats/BFCs were still being used as commodity to trade for figures (regardless of the eBay prices). Again, this is because the cards carry the same value as figures within the game system.

Note that this does not apply to character cards, as they have little value in this system – figures oftentimes trade and sell for the same value whether or not the character card is present.

As of today, that same eco-system has been drastically altered because of Print and Play. That same person who traded their extra figures for physical cards is now stuck with pieces of paper that’s only worth the paper it was printed on. Those players who bought cases of product are cheated because any 10-year old can now show up at the tournament with home printed versions of those same cards. And to add insult to injury, the only way for a collector to get a complete set of Hammer of Thor is to use printer.

To be blunt, cards aren’t special anymore.

This is a serious problem since it weakens the core concept of the “collectible game” -- it feels as if NECA is converting HeroClix into a "collectible miniatures" product while weakening the "collectibility" and "game" aspect. I can’t imagine playing Magic the Gathering at a tournament level and allowing kids to print out their own cards (I've seen this plenty at a casual level). I can’t imagine a tournament where someone is using a can of chicken noodle soup to represent the World’s Finest figure, and having a printed version of the dial next to him. Wizkids is already allowing Bystander Tokens to be printed and played, so there's nothing to stop them from allowing dials to be printed in the future.

These may sound like extreme examples, but they really aren't, because Print and Play is introducing a non-collectible concept into a collectible game. That’s just inheretly wrong. To make matters worse, Print and Play is retroactive to all sets, making all our cards non-collectible. As a long-time collector, that’s just insulting.

It reminds me of the movie, The Incredibles, when the main villain boasts, "...And when I'm old and I've had my fun, I'll sell my inventions so that *everyone* can have powers. *Everyone* can be super! And when everyone's super -- no one will be."