Bye-Bye Battle Dice

I figured something like this was going to happen. I went to Toys R Us about a month ago looking for Battle Dice products (I was going to do a “buy in”) and they were buried with other Marvel Licensed products. What really torqued my hide was that all the products seemed to have the same packaging. It made finding the Dice difficult in the first place. They had no starters and about 10 boosters.

Grrr…

I figured something like this was going to happen. I went to Toys R Us about a month ago looking for Battle Dice products (I was going to do a “buy in”) and they were buried with other Marvel Licensed products. What really torqued my hide was that all the products seemed to have the same packaging. It made finding the Dice difficult in the first place. They had no starters and about 10 boosters.

Grrr…

Yeah, I figured the end was near when Target started to blow them out a few weeks ago. Their existing stock at that time seemed to confirm that the line just wasn’t selling.
This was really a product that needed to be hand-sold, or have good word of mouth; IMHO, Playmates didn’t promote this line to the Hobby adequately enough to get either one.
Stil sad to see it happen, though; it was a cool game.

Yeah, I figured the end was near when Target started to blow them out a few weeks ago. Their existing stock at that time seemed to confirm that the line just wasn’t selling.
This was really a product that needed to be hand-sold, or have good word of mouth; IMHO, Playmates didn’t promote this line to the Hobby adequately enough to get either one.
Stil sad to see it happen, though; it was a cool game.

This was one of the problems the game faced. A flood of licensed Marvel products made it hard for Marvel Battle Dice to stand out.

Now that Hasbro has the master toy license, we may see some more focus for Marvel toys. For games, we’ll see Marvel Heroscape and Marvel Attactix in November. With Brett Seymour helping with the game design on the Attactix game and Julie Guthrie and Bob Ridolfi handling most of the sculpting for the Heroscape game, Marvel fans still have some great games in their near future.

This was one of the problems the game faced. A flood of licensed Marvel products made it hard for Marvel Battle Dice to stand out.

Now that Hasbro has the master toy license, we may see some more focus for Marvel toys. For games, we’ll see Marvel Heroscape and Marvel Attactix in November. With Brett Seymour helping with the game design on the Attactix game and Julie Guthrie and Bob Ridolfi handling most of the sculpting for the Heroscape game, Marvel fans still have some great games in their near future.

Thanks, Bill. Your point about hand-selling or word of mouth applies to just about any game, which is why they almost always start out in the hobby industry before going mass market. Playmates learned a lot of lessons while trying to sell this game. With any luck, they’ll be able to apply them to another game before too long. (That’s not a hint, just a hope.)

Thanks, Bill. Your point about hand-selling or word of mouth applies to just about any game, which is why they almost always start out in the hobby industry before going mass market. Playmates learned a lot of lessons while trying to sell this game. With any luck, they’ll be able to apply them to another game before too long. (That’s not a hint, just a hope.)

Matt, sorry to see this one go…it’s a great game innovation with a little old school Overpower flavor thrown in…I’ll miss it, I was really looking forward to seeing a DC set.

Matt, sorry to see this one go…it’s a great game innovation with a little old school Overpower flavor thrown in…I’ll miss it, I was really looking forward to seeing a DC set.

Me too, Brett. I’m looking to see if I can hunt down some of the figures for my shelves, just as a reminder of the great work done on the line—even if most of it will never see shelves.

Still, now I can look forward to Marvel Attactix!

Me too, Brett. I’m looking to see if I can hunt down some of the figures for my shelves, just as a reminder of the great work done on the line—even if most of it will never see shelves.

Still, now I can look forward to Marvel Attactix!

Well if you come up with some spares or some content for my site I would be forever grateful. That goes for any of you product testers as well. I know a ton of stuff is out there somewhere why not let the fans have a crack at some of it.

Well if you come up with some spares or some content for my site I would be forever grateful. That goes for any of you product testers as well. I know a ton of stuff is out there somewhere why not let the fans have a crack at some of it.

I’d love to Malakai, but my ongoing business relationship with Playmates makes that tricky. I’ll ponder on it, though, and if I can come up with something I’ll let you know. Thanks again for the support!

I’d love to Malakai, but my ongoing business relationship with Playmates makes that tricky. I’ll ponder on it, though, and if I can come up with something I’ll let you know. Thanks again for the support!

Matt,
You were involved in a funky thing of beauty. I wish I could have seen a close up of the Blue Beetle figure, and all the other unreleased figures of Marvel and DC. Is there any chance of utilizing the sculpts in another format? A board game, perhaps? It seems such a waste of creativity in both game mechanics and the sculpting of the characters.

I worry that the above falls under the umbrella of intellectual property and thus will be shelved in a dark warehouse next to the Ark of the Covenant, or just chucked in a landfill. Maybe in a fit of pride or vanity, the sculptor and/or painter took detailed digital images of all the pieces???

Please let us know if you find out anything! and thanks again for the fun!

PS. Marvel Attacktix? is this in addition to Marvel Heroscape??

Matt,
You were involved in a funky thing of beauty. I wish I could have seen a close up of the Blue Beetle figure, and all the other unreleased figures of Marvel and DC. Is there any chance of utilizing the sculpts in another format? A board game, perhaps? It seems such a waste of creativity in both game mechanics and the sculpting of the characters.

I worry that the above falls under the umbrella of intellectual property and thus will be shelved in a dark warehouse next to the Ark of the Covenant, or just chucked in a landfill. Maybe in a fit of pride or vanity, the sculptor and/or painter took detailed digital images of all the pieces???

Please let us know if you find out anything! and thanks again for the fun!

PS. Marvel Attacktix? is this in addition to Marvel Heroscape??

I was shocked to hear of the death of this great game! My children and I enjoy it very much, and I am very disappointed that there will be no new waves of figures.

I do have high hopes for MarvelScape. The basic mechanics of HeroScape are such that I think it will be very playable with my children (ages 5 and 8). The Marvel Attacktix, however, does not excite me. In light of the passing of MBD, getting into another collectible game is not something I am looking forward to. (I still do not have all the MBD figures.) So MarvelScape, I am pinning my hopes on you!

I was shocked to hear of the death of this great game! My children and I enjoy it very much, and I am very disappointed that there will be no new waves of figures.

I do have high hopes for MarvelScape. The basic mechanics of HeroScape are such that I think it will be very playable with my children (ages 5 and 8). The Marvel Attacktix, however, does not excite me. In light of the passing of MBD, getting into another collectible game is not something I am looking forward to. (I still do not have all the MBD figures.) So MarvelScape, I am pinning my hopes on you!

Thanks for the good thoughts, Henry. I’m looking forward to both the new Marvel games myself, plus the upcoming Marvel board game from Fantasy Flight.

Thanks for the good thoughts, Henry. I’m looking forward to both the new Marvel games myself, plus the upcoming Marvel board game from Fantasy Flight.

Matt – I’m a fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes and I had heard earlier this year that Battle Dice waves 3 and 4 were supposed to include some DC Comics Legionnaires (Saturn Girl, Live Wire, Brainiac 5, etc.). Obviously that’s not going to happen now, but can you tell me if anything ever made it off the drawing board and into prototyping?

Matt – I’m a fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes and I had heard earlier this year that Battle Dice waves 3 and 4 were supposed to include some DC Comics Legionnaires (Saturn Girl, Live Wire, Brainiac 5, etc.). Obviously that’s not going to happen now, but can you tell me if anything ever made it off the drawing board and into prototyping?

Hi Michael:

I’m not in the Playmates office, so I can’t say for sure. However, I don’t believe any prototypes ever got back the first wave for DC Battle Dice. There could have been a few Wave 2 figures, but I’d be surprised to learn any Wave 3 or 4 figures were sculpted. Sorry!

Hi Michael:

I’m not in the Playmates office, so I can’t say for sure. However, I don’t believe any prototypes ever got back the first wave for DC Battle Dice. There could have been a few Wave 2 figures, but I’d be surprised to learn any Wave 3 or 4 figures were sculpted. Sorry!

You should try to distribute the remaining stock through comic book stores. It will probably do well in comic stores.

You should try to distribute the remaining stock through comic book stores. It will probably do well in comic stores.

The game already went into comic stores through Diamond Comics Distributors. Sadly, they didn’t sell enough of them to keep the game afloat.

The game already went into comic stores through Diamond Comics Distributors. Sadly, they didn’t sell enough of them to keep the game afloat.

Well there is life after death..

2/1/2007
- Marvel Battle Dice hits stores in France. Publications indicate Hasbro is distributing Starters and Boosters to French Retailers. These starters are still Playmates Branded.

Posts indicate the Series 1 boosters contain the never released Series 2 figures that were slotted to be distributed in the US last July (’06).

The French release have 3 languages on packaging and dice, both are in French, Spanish and Dutch. Figures are printed in english.

Malakai-
http://www.popdice.com

Well there is life after death..

2/1/2007
- Marvel Battle Dice hits stores in France. Publications indicate Hasbro is distributing Starters and Boosters to French Retailers. These starters are still Playmates Branded.

Posts indicate the Series 1 boosters contain the never released Series 2 figures that were slotted to be distributed in the US last July (’06).

The French release have 3 languages on packaging and dice, both are in French, Spanish and Dutch. Figures are printed in english.

Malakai-
http://www.popdice.com

Thanks, Malkai. I’ve heard the game is selling well in Europe, but I didn’t know if any of the Series 2 material would be released.

Thanks, Malkai. I’ve heard the game is selling well in Europe, but I didn’t know if any of the Series 2 material would be released.

I just received Moon Knight and Havoc figures from a collector in Romania. We traded figures.

He also sent me pictures of Iceman, Xecutioner and Kraven.

So this proves the release of Series 2 in Europe.

I just received Moon Knight and Havoc figures from a collector in Romania. We traded figures.

He also sent me pictures of Iceman, Xecutioner and Kraven.

So this proves the release of Series 2 in Europe.

Thanks for the tip, Ronaldo. It’s possible that an official Series 2 never hit Europe but that the figures from Series 2 were folded into the European Series 1. The ways of international toys rollouts are strange and mysterious.

Thanks for the tip, Ronaldo. It’s possible that an official Series 2 never hit Europe but that the figures from Series 2 were folded into the European Series 1. The ways of international toys rollouts are strange and mysterious.

I am still trading with a collector from Romania and according to him there are a lot of boosters available, but no tournaments.

No launchers too.

And it seems the Series 1 figures are not complete. Maybe this is the reason why a few Series 2 figures were included.

I am still trading with a collector from Romania and according to him there are a lot of boosters available, but no tournaments.

No launchers too.

And it seems the Series 1 figures are not complete. Maybe this is the reason why a few Series 2 figures were included.

I was just going over posts on my forum and it appears Illektron’s motion to stop Playmates Toys from using the battle dice logo has dropped dead in it’s tracks. Is it possible for a re-work of Battle Dice from Playmates Toys. Can we get the game back in stores here. Anyway just thought I would help spread the word around…

I was just going over posts on my forum and it appears Illektron’s motion to stop Playmates Toys from using the battle dice logo has dropped dead in it’s tracks. Is it possible for a re-work of Battle Dice from Playmates Toys. Can we get the game back in stores here. Anyway just thought I would help spread the word around…

Last I heard, Malakai, the lawsuit is still ongoing. I haven’t checked on its status for several weeks, though, so I could be wrong. In any case, I doubt the game will be back, even if the lawsuit is resolved. It’s always possible, of course, but that would be up to Playmates. I’d love to see it myself.

Last I heard, Malakai, the lawsuit is still ongoing. I haven’t checked on its status for several weeks, though, so I could be wrong. In any case, I doubt the game will be back, even if the lawsuit is resolved. It’s always possible, of course, but that would be up to Playmates. I’d love to see it myself.