The good news is that HeroClix has been squarely in the hands of local gaming shops since the beginning. A company like Wizkids has been successful because of their local mom and pop store presence, and the failure of Borders is unlikely to hurt Wizkids or HeroClix.

That doesn’t mean Wizkids' parent company is safe. In fact, NECA has recently popped up on the list of companies that are owed at least $100,000.00 – a huge some for any company to absorb, that’s for sure. To put that in perspective, that’s over 1,380* bricks of HeroClix that Wizkids needs to move! One-tenth of a million dollars is a staggering sum for even a big company.

*Assuming Retailers get a 40% discount from the distributor, $100,000 divided by $72 = 1,388.

Overall I doubt this will have a direct impact on the HeroClix brand (this wouldn’t be a reason for booster price increase), but it always hurts to see a company take a hit like this. I'm certain that NECA will survive the fall of Borders, as they've spread themselves out to many different retail areas; diversifying is always smart business.

I wonder, though, what other ripple effects we'll see from the Borders bankruptcy?