Buying HeroClix from TrollandToad.com

As I continue test-playing Power Legion, I should note that I've invested in miniatures to play the game with:  HeroClix.  For a few bucks, you can have pre-painted miniatures that are roughly (very roughly) 28mm sculpts of your favorite heroes and villains.

First, though, a word of warning:  when you first go looking for HeroClix, you'll be upset with the economic model that this game uses.  You buy a base set with known heroes, and buy individual or 4-5 at a time boosters that are sealed and have unknown miniatures inside.  You could spend hundreds of dollars on packs of unknown figures and never get the ones that you want.  And after the current movie tie-in or comic promotion is done, they are surplus on a shelf and can be found at discounted rates.  Why, it's almost like someone was trying to create a resale market for someone willing to open the packs, catalog miniatures, and let you buy exactly the HeroClix you want for a dollar (or less) each!

Enter TrollandToad.com.  Shop away and find the miniatures you want and have them shipped to your door.  I spent about $75, including shipping, for 50-some miniatures.  Here's what I picked up:

My ordering experience wasn't perfect, however.  Three of the miniatures provided were the wrong ones, and three different ones showed up in their stead.  The most unfortunate aspect of this was its effect on the Wrecking Crew:

You can see the sad look on their faces.  They happen to be short this fellow:

That's Thunderball, the scientist-turned-villain who wields a wrecking ball while pursuing criminal ventures with his fellow villains in the Wrecking Crew.

I contacted Troll and Toad and informed them of the mishap in filling my order.  Within 24 hours, I received an email back informing me that an order containing two of the three missing miniatures was packaged and being shipped to me.  They refunded the third miniature, which they happened not to have in stock.  A few days later, the postman delivered another Troll and Toad box to my door.  Now the Wrecking Crew is in a much better mood:

I've heard it said that you should judge a system by how well  it fails, not how well it succeeds.  By that measure, Troll and Toad has done right by me.  They set right everything that went wrong with my order in a timely manner.  I plan to use them again.

Anyone reading this - please don't buy up all of the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.  I have plans for a showdown after I've wrapped up an Avengers campaign or two.