WizKids will introduce a new mechanic, SwitchClix, with the release of Batman: Gotham City Strategy Game in February. The game includes two sets of HeroClix dials; figures can be switched between two different types of dials. WizKids Marketing and Product Coordinator Scott D’Agostino explained how they’re used. "The first set of HeroClix dials are optimized for the ruleset of the boxed BGCSG game and the second set of dials is optimized for the tactical tabletop miniatures game that uses the Powers and Abilities Card (PAC)," he said.

interesting concept. They basically want to make new games with their comic licenses but don't want to make it completely separate from Heroclix so they're coming up with ways to make everything clix compatible.

i wonder if these sculpts will be repeated in one of the batman sets. i kinda feel that they should be unique for this set.

I wonder how long it will take WK to latch onto the idea that Switchclix could be leveraged to sell us boosters of nothing but dials. It sounds silly, but in this age of rehashed sculpture and prolific reuse of characters I would be somewhat open to it. Spend the extra dime to make a beautiful Captain America or Superman Switchclix sculpture every year or so and seed alternate dials for it into every other set. I wonder just how many such dials they could fit in a CTD size booster?

When does this hit the shelves?

I would love to see the concept used as a special promotion. Send in 10 booster UPC's and a check for $?? dollars and you can join the NECA Clix Club. For a 1-year membership, every 3 months you get a special dial in the mail that you can place any Clix onto. The overhead on this should be completely do-able b/c you don't have to worry about the packaging to protect a sculpt, you're just shipping a little black disc through the mail. Actually make them purple bases like the old purple ring LEs!

The little kid in me that remembers mailing in my UPC's for Star Wars figures loves your spin on the idea. And truly I think it's a good way to get around /some/ of the complaints related to character and sculpt reuse some of the technical difficulties in re-release or even the marketing concerns associated with non-blind products. I for one would favor clever use of this mechanic over say... bloating sets with five variants of Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark in different colors of Armani.

Isnt this basicaly a further play on the mechanic warlock has in GG, and sentry in CW?

Only vaguely. The pieces you mention use the Replacement Figure mechanics, just like AE's, Battlefield Promotions and Split/Merge. Team Dials appear to be the extension of those mechanics, and Team Dials also happen to take advantage of SwitchClix. Independently of those dials though, SwitchClix does not appear to have any meaningful mechanical function /during/ the game. It's just an efficient and sanctioned means of swapping sculpts, something the modders have done for ages.

If tournament rules are eventually changed to focus on the dial and base, solely, then not only will Switchclix will allows custom sculpts to be used with the bases, but modders would no longer have to worry about not having duplicate figures (one original, one modded) to have a "tournament legal" version.

Another approach would be offering alternate sculpts + cards as LE prizes. A SwitchClix dial would be still be playable with or without the original sculpt, but specific sculpts are marked on the underside with a set #/symbol, and allow you to use an alternative character card: The base and dial remain the same, but the SPs and traits could change with the "alternate."

On the face of it, this is an interesting idea, but it gives me a chill. WK's track record with changes to prize support has been mixed at best. Taken to the extreme, I could imagine someone thinking it was a brilliant idea to offer an LE sculpt, dial and card as prizes to pursue separately, and that would not end well.

i cant wait to play. now maybe i can convince my wife to play clix