Greetings HeroClix retailers and supporters,
We’re writing to you today about the Marvel HeroClix: Fear Itself (FI) Organized Play Program. The FI program was a bold, new program with a new configuration and content model. We had a good idea that FI would grow the line but couldn’t reasonably anticipate the sort of growth we’ve been seeing at the store level.
Before we explain what we can do in the short run, we would like to apologize for the inconvenience any OP kit shortages has caused. Your support over the last few years has transformed the product line for the better and we empathize with your frustration over the lack of FI OP product.
The Fear Itself OP model was an entirely new undertaking for WizKids and despite forecasting a healthy amount of growth; we were blown away by the turnout. As many of you know, HeroClix has been growing at an impressive rate over the past 3 years and the surge of growth with Fear Itself has put us behind demand curve. We are aware of the shortage situation and are taking steps to shore up downstream OP programs. We are in the process of placing orders for next years programs and have already increased our print runs to accommodate the new level we seem to have achieved with FI. Additionally, we are changing the configuration to match the new attendance levels. Next years’ kits will have separate prize and booster SKUs – This will give us some additional options when it comes to fulfillment. We’re also going to adjust the kit size based on the attendance we’re seeing at the stores.
In the short run, we’re going to offer factory sets of the Fear Itself OP program contents to those stores allocated in months 4, 5, or 6. Starting today (9/30/2013), we will be taking orders for a ‘print to demand’ Factory Set of the Fear Itself. Only stores that were allocated in months 4, 5, or 6 will be eligible to order product and you will be limited to 1 factory set per store front allocated. Orders will be cross referenced between Diamond, Alliance and NECA direct stores to prevent double dipping. We will be offering the Fear Itself factory sets (SKU 70876) to stores at the reduced pricing of $72 per set. These sets are limited to one Fear Itself factory set per allocated store front.
Each Factory set contains one of each figure from the booster, one of each OP kit component and 1 final prize.
We expect the Fear Itself Factory Sets to be available in early December and will keep you updated should the schedule change.
Additionally, regarding Avengers vs X-Men (AvX) Storyline OP: we have increased our print run to a level that we believe should be more than adequate for the current levels of demand. We are also taking away the purchase requirement for the AvX program however we will be manually evaluating store orders based on purchase history,WizKids Event System registration and player registrations.
Lastly, we’ve updated all of the Avengers vs. X-Men event templates in the WizKids Event System from purely constructed events to a hybrid of sealed and constructed. Players will still need to bring at least one figure from their selected AvX starter, but now our recommendation will be to create the rest of their force utilizing some combination of figures they bring to the event and sealed five-figure booster product.
As always, thank you for your continued support and interest,
-The WizKIds Team
Related posts:
Marvel HeroClix: Avengers vs. X-Men Storyline Organized Play Event Update 
Marvel HeroClix: Fear Itself Update 
Important Marvel HeroClix: Guardians of the Galaxy Booster Brick Update WizKids Promotional Product Licensing Agreement Amendment: Marvel HeroClix: Fear Itself 
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Organized Play Kit Update 
Marvel HeroClix Fear Itself: Book of the Skull! 
Marvel HeroClix Fear Itself: Iron Fist! 
Marvel HeroClix Fear Itself: Attuma and Nerkkod!