In the wake of several quick sell-outs of HeroClix products, we caught up with WizKids President Lax Chandra to talk about the trends and put them in perspective.
WizKids has now been around in its NECA incarnation since 2009. How do you evaluate the progress you’ve made since the re-launch of the line with NECA?
We have been amazed at the success of HeroClix line from the beginning. When we came back, we didn't know how many customers had lapsed out of the game. But as soon as Hammer of Thor released, we were shocked at the brand's resilience and since that time we have been surprised at how fast it has grown.
You’ve been selling out recent HeroClix releases quickly. Is this part of a strategy to keep supply tight and collectible interest high?
Balancing a collectible game's collectibility against its availability is always difficult. But to be honest, since 2009, we have leaned towards availability because there was no new product in the marketplace during that transition. So our goal has been to have four to six months of product availability for any given release. But because we have to order our product so early and because the line continues to grow so quickly, we have yet to get in front of the demand curve.
What have your recent production trends been—i.e., how much product are you producing relative to the previous releases over the past year, or relative to pre-shutdown numbers?
The explosive sell through started with DC75, which evaporated about one week after release. Giant Sized X-Men (GsX) was our biggest release, in terms of dollars, since I joined WizKids in 2006. It sold out from almost all of our distributors worldwide, including the U.S., prior to the product's release. A sell-out that early had never happened during my tenure. For GsX, we had a strong preorder incentive so we thought those numbers were going to be stronger than we would see for subsequent releases. But we still decided to increase our print run of Captain America by more than 20% over GsX to ensure availability. 20% wasn't enough. Alliance had to stop taking orders on Captain America 13 weeks prior to release. Superman preorders are trending even higher than Captain America.
To what do you attribute the growth in demand for HeroClix over the past year and a half since the re-launch?
I don't think there is any one reason. But here are a few contributing factors:
Our customers are extremely passionate about HeroClix. Their support of the brand throughout the transition was remarkable. And since the release of Hammer of Thor, they continue to come out in record numbers.
We have been very impressed with the caliber of our retailers. They have gotten smarter. If we create good product, we can throw it over the fence and they know how to sell it. Their abilities allow us to spend more time on the product and less time managing and policing programs.
We have continuously improved our capabilities in pre-painted miniatures. It's a challenging category. But our team has spent a lot of time reducing timelines and controlling costs while still managing to improve overall quality. All of that effort has enabled us to be able to offer new licenses (Halo, Street Fighter, Gears of War, Pathfinder, Smurfs and Lord of the Rings), enter new categories such as the Star Trek Expeditions board game and the Quarriors dice building game, and provide new configurations such as single figure boosters and 6-pack Fast Forces.
