Hasbro 2021 Remake: Public Unboxings ARE HERE!

[Kurgan]

I see several places are listing more stocks of the Retail game system are coming in May 2nd of this year. Prices range, but $134.99 is the MSRP. However Walmart has the lowest price, more like $110.

[Kurgan]

I think Elvyer was the first I saw to post this, but the Equipment Cards for the [Commander of the Guardian] Knight heroes are zoomed in slightly (the cage thing on the right side is cropped off vs. the Remake game system equipment cards and you see less of the archway, etc). Also the Shortsword and Shield artwork are different as noted while the values are the same although the Short Swords is called a "short sword" in the text of the Game System while the Guardian Knight version is called a "short blade." Very minor, but several ways to tell them apart!

[Kurgan]

GenCon (Aug 3rd-6th) is supposed to be revealing more about the Frozen Horror (and possibly this new Rogue Heir of Elethorn hero if we don't hear by then), finally, officially... and we've seen more pictures from Italian reporters, but then this new thing comes out of nowhere.

I pretty much assumed we'd be getting a new "original" release but wasn't sure what it would be. Hope it goes better than the last one!

The Rogue Heir of Elethorn... a dagger tossing elf hero packaged similarly to the Guardian Knight from this year. Details are coming in as we speak...


https://forum.yeoldeinn.com/viewtopic.php?f=143&t=6157

[Kurgan]

So this month has seen a lot of activity and as usual opened up some speculation... several websites (mostly in countries outside the US) have posted "pre-orders" for The Frozen Horror. Yes, about a year ago a Spanish gameshop listed it, but here they are actually taking (PRE) orders, it seems, not just taking down the listing immediately when someone tries to place one. Apparently some even report that they get a response as if they really pre-ordered.

My understanding of Amazon's practice is that they check your account to see if you have the funds available at the time of pre-order, but otherwise don't actually charge your card until the time of "fulfillment." If an item is then out of stock they cancel the transaction until it becomes available (within a few days, like 3-5). Check the actual pages for policies. But my thought is just because they charge your card doesn't mean you're actually getting it.

Pre-Orders these days aren't intended to mean you'll actually get the product (they will refund it if you don't), or even that you'll get it early or on the date of release. Instead, it's supposed to just mean IF supplies are available, you've secured your spot to get one, while for everybody else it will be first come, first serve based on what appears on store shelves. I'm told various stores nowadays use pre-orders to gauge their support or for their own internal numbers game. Typically retail products that run out of stock will acquire more to meet demand.

Another thing not to get confused by are that most of these sites (Amazon includes) have "marketplace" sections where third party sellers can sell even "new" products. It's possible that there are unsold (or new condition, re-sold) copies of the Guardian Knights still appearing out there. Also beware that some unscrupulous sellers will sell "pre-orders" of unreleased products on places like Ebay too which is VERY shady and I would report those. Also scalped sets of any of these new products Avalon Hill has asked (being sold above MSRP) be reported to them.

I'm not against people selling their own property they don't want, but I'm in good company when I complain about scalping of entertainment products.

All that said...

I decided after the Guardian Knights situation that I wouldn't pre-order any more entertainment products (not just supporting pledge drives for the same), that it wasn't worth the hassle over the perceived benefits. Rant Soapbox: I'm not one of these collectors or FOMO people and I don't want to be one. So I'd rather just buy it at a store with the "normies" and the "casuals" and "randos" when it comes out for real, and if it's not going to be that kind of product, but instead an "exclusive" or "limited edition" then count me out. To me, the entire spirit of HeroQuest these thirty years has been fantasy tabletop gaming for the masses... not an exclusive, elite, collector niche product. So regardless of how quickly these "pre-orders" get taken down or go "out of stock" it won't matter, as I have been told to "trust" in Avalon Hill, that they won't give us another situation like that again, and so it's just a matter of patience. HeroQuest's remake may have begun as a "cult" or "niche" product, but it deserves to be a mainstream retail product again, and any steps towards that goal I think are good and any steps away from it, not so good.

By the end of the year we should be able to buy these like we'd buy any other game product in a store without "fear" that they'll permanently "run out" and we'll "miss out."

Plus, we still don't know much about the mechanics of the new hero... what are his actual abilities and stats in the game?

We don't know what, if any positive changes will be done to the Frozen Horror to fix the issues from 1992 (I suspect little to none). Leaks indicate the Yeti hug works the same as before (you can't escape from it, somebody else has to KILL the monster to free you, which is impossible in the three solo quests unless they suddenly add friendly NPCs). So suspicion is that none will be added.

The Frozen Horror has cool new miniatures... it will be the first time those who missed out on the Mythic tier pledge version (most HeroQuest fans in the world missed out) will get their chance since 1992 to purchase a female Barbarian. It has another set of dice (I guess so Zargon can have his own separate from the hero players) and it has another set of character sheets (I guess if you were close to running out or your printer was out of order) albeit with a modified design. But few players from 1992 had it, and fewer still actually played it. The "nostalgia" this time is about something we heard about in 1992 but never got a chance to own because it was a flop... they destroyed the stock and so few people who wanted to buy it could... the infamous letters people who ordered it through the mail got saying it was no longer in production. Hasbro Customer Care has had the complete black and white photocopy of the quest book scanned and available for free on their website since at least 2001... 21 years we've known what was in that quest book if we knew where to look!

So anyway, we'll find out soon enough what's going on when the company finally acknowledges it. They've been so tight lipped these past 8 months, it's been a bit annoying, relying on leaks and other websites to give clues to those fishing for them as to what is going on. If you only checked Avalon Hill and Hasbro Pulse, all you'd know is that you need to "chill" and wait for the next legacy product to have further details released and a mock up of the remade box art in the background and that "ZARGON" is traveling to the frozen north to awaken the terror and stuff. Some journalists in Italy got a hands on unboxing (which still didn't show much of the actual content, though some blurry images of the character cards appeared).

Still, since Hasbro (I'm sure AH can only do what they are told, via their parent company, regardless of what they might want to do) has decided to handle things this way, I'm all the more grateful to all the online fan reporters who have brought us this information.

Are we going to have to do our own fan unboxings of these products to finally know what's in there? Perhaps not... GenCon (which would be very difficult for me to attend, it's a 6 hour drive each way and press badges are expensive, plus it runs into my work schedule) may be the perfect opportunity IF they allow people to show what the cards and quest books actually say. If photos aren't allowed at least they can report the information, unless they force them to sign NDAs (hopefully not, otherwise what's the point of allowing reporters in at all?).

But this is another rant for another time. The miniature for this new Hero looks fine enough, but what are the stats? What do the cards actually say? That is what will make or break this release. Of course you can always use the miniatures in your homebrew adventures and change them to your liking, but you can do the same with miniatures produced by any other company out there. I expect the "HeroQuest" brand products to fit with their own franchise, to be play-tested so they are actually something fun we'd want to play with "as is" in our games, which is how most customers who would buy it would do.



https://www.seventhdimension.co.uk/products/heroquest-expansion-the-rogue-heir-of-elethorn?_pos=3&_sid=7bb405c27&_ss=r

Credit to domymontalto, seekhashem and the other fan reporters on discord!

[Kurgan]

Since posting my thoughts up here I've actually corresponded with someone at AH, and been re-assured that they are indeed watching and listening to what the fans are saying and monitoring the situation. It sounds like they agree caution is warranted with these sellers who are "jumping the gun."

Heavily implied was the fact that they can only do what Hasbro allows them to do, and HeroQuest is still a small time operation compared to the other big IPs that Hasbro makes products out of these days, but that many of our questions will be answered at GenCon and probably not before then officially.

I won't take back what I said, because they do need to hear how frustrating and confusing it can be, not because I think they aren't doing the best they can at their jobs, but that the company needs to know what's going on, who their audience is and how best to serve them. Isn't that what any good company should do?

I think in a few streams I've referred to Hasbro as a "multi-million dollar company." This is factually incorrect... they are actually a multi-BILLION dollar company, so I think they can afford to do the right thing by their customers if they want to.

[Kurgan]

Looks like we may not really have to organize an official "unboxing" as youtuber Joe Kamler has already posted one (thanks to domymontalto for reporting about it on HQF discord!). Come join the thread and discussion of the first of, I'm sure many unboxing videos.

Apparently those who pre-ordered it from Amazon at least ARE getting it this week, I guess I was wrong. But don't worry, they say there will be plenty for all moving forward... and we still don't know the official release date.

https://forum.yeoldeinn.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=6093&hilit=unboxing&start=70#p120473

[Kurgan]

Another great unboxing video, this time from Amalgamash! In depth comparison to the 1992 edition, which is awesome since so few of us have that actual vintage version (can't really be called a "classic" even though it's from the same era as the classic HQ stuff, unfortunately):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAl0YcxM-zs

I expect many more of these in the coming days... again, shocking how quickly these orders are coming through for those lucky enough to have placed them. No more "pre-orders" showing on Amazon, and ship dates are rough estimates, but practically speaking people are getting them in a week, at least for now.

The errata has been leaked in bits and pieces from AH sources but not fully public yet. YET...!

[Kurgan]

Frozen Horror got its official (worldwide?) release date, August 1st, 2022. Of course as many know, places like Amazon.com are selling them already and people have gotten them to show off.

Another free quest was released, this time as a prelude to the Frozen Horror with the long awaited (but all digital) Errata ("Into the Northlands"):

https://hasbropulse.com/blogs/avalon-hill/heroquest-a-chilling-journey-north

[Kurgan]

My own copy of the Frozen Horror remake box arrived this afternoon. My initial thoughts are here

Seems to be a quality release, and I'm relieved that Avalon Hill released the "Into the Northlands" with playtesting and errata suggestions in PDF format to supplement this quest. Hopefully everyone who buys it or considers buying it is aware of this free quest! Even if you don't care about playing the new "prelude" itself (I playtested it on my Twitch channel HeroQuestFans and recently reposted it on youtube) the material at the end (including extra artifacts) was sorely needed to make the quest playable and remotely fun (rather than purely unfair): Get Into the Northlands here.

Thanks AH for putting this out. I think this gives us many clues for what future releases will be like... and as long as the above supplement blunts the inevitable complaints and clears up confusion about this very difficult pack, it should be a success and promise future quality packs in the remake line. Good luck!

[Kurgan]

My unboxing thoughts for the Frozen Horror remake HERE

A corrected version of "Into the Northlands" prelude online quest was also posted on hasbropulse website. Expecting more announcements the week of GenCon... and we expect the Companion App will be updated around that time too.