games developer and publisher genre collectible gaming founded july 2000 2000 07 founder jordan weisman headquarters new jersey u.s. area served worldwide key people justin ziran products mage knight heroclix mechwarrior pirates constructible strategy game halo actionclix star trek attack wing parent neca website see tfm wizkids.com wizkids neca llc is an american company based in new jersey that first made its mark in the game industry producing collectible miniatures wargames . wizkids was purchased by and is a subsidiary of national entertainment collectibles association . the company was founded in 2000 by jordan weisman a veteran of the game company fasa . 1 it was purchased by sports card manufacturer topps inc. in 2003 . 2 topps was in turn acquired by michael eisner s tornante company and madison dearborn partners in 2007 . wizkids was acquired by neca in september 2009 . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 topps shuts down wizkids 1.2 continuation and neca purchase 1.3 partnership with mfv 1.4 storyline organized play 2 production 3 games and products 3.1 board games 3.2 books 3.3 collectible card games 3.4 dice building games 3.5 collectible miniatures games 3.6 constructible strategy games 3.7 pocketmodel games 4 awards 4.1 board game geek 4.2 diamond comic distributors gem award 4.3 origins awards 5 references 6 external links history edit wizkids was best known for its collectible miniatures games or cmgs mage knight heroclix mechwarrior and horrorclix all of which made use of the company s clix system in which the changing combat statistics and abilities of each figure were indicated by a turnable dial inside the base underneath the figure . their last cmg was halo actionclix based on the console game halo released in august 2007 . wizkids was founded in 2000 by jordan weisman previously of fasa to publish mage knight . mage knight was the first collectible miniatures game . early employees joining jordan in this endeavor were his wife dawne who led the company s graphic design ; his father mort who ran international sales ; his brother in law ray who ran domestic sales ; and jenny trisko berg previously of bungie who was in charge of marketing . in 2001 the company went from being virtual to having its own office in bellevue wa . employees had previously been spread through washington illinois and missouri . mage knight was selling as fast as it could be made and the company moved into the hobby s list of 10 largest publishers . the employee count went up to over 30 including don gorski coo ; tom virgin cfo ; martin a. stever executive v.p ; and marc sachnoff president of wizkids licensing and media who made the innovative deals bringing together the marvel and dc comics character universes into the heroclix line . though they proved less successful wizkids also produced the short lived cmgs crimson skies shadowrun duels and creepy freaks as well as a baseball themed cmg called mlb sportsclix . a cmg called toonclix was announced in march 2006 but canceled before it was released . example of a clix figure in july 2004 wizkids created a new product category with the release of their first constructible strategy game or csg pirates of the spanish main featuring miniature ships assembled from pieces punched out of styrene cards . their next csg was a science fiction game called rocketmen released in the summer of 2005 followed by a nascar csg called raceday later that year though these last two games were discontinued shortly after . by 2007 wizkids was also calling some of their releases involving csg elements pocketmodel games beginning with the star wars pocketmodel game . in 2005 wizkids released their first collectible card game high stakes drifter which was discontinued after its initial set . in may 2006 they released their second ccg a licensed game based on the reimagined battlestar galactica tv series . wizkids entered the board game market with a board game called tsuro in 2005 followed in 2006 by oshi and pirates quest for davy jones gold a board game based on the pirates constructible strategy game . the company also owned the rights to the role playing games shadowrun and classic battletech which they licensed to fanpro in 2001 . later in 2007 the franchise was licensed to inmediares the games publisher . 4 a game created by the company called zypods with a physical structure similar to matryoshka dolls had a limited release but was never distributed nationwide . topps shuts down wizkids edit the topps company announced on monday nov. 10 2008 that it would be closing down wizkids and discontinuing product lines including heroclix . topps ceo scott silverstein commented this was an extremely difficult decision . but in light of the current economic conditions we feel it is necessary to align our gaming initiatives more closely with topps current sports and entertainment offerings which are already being developed within our new york office . in the statement announcing the close of wizkids topps also indicated that it was pursuing alternatives to discontinuing brands so that brands such as heroclix could continue on without any noticeable disruption in future product offerings . continuation and neca purchase edit at the july 2009 san diego comic con national entertainment collectibles association neca was showing off a thor figure for heroclix indicating that they might be the new parent company for wizkids . on september 14 2009 neca announced that they had purchased the assets of wizkids from the topps company . neca will be continuing the heroclix family of games under the wizkids brand . the wizkids assets sold did not include shadowrun and battletech which were retained by topps inc. the buy it by the brick retail promotion returned with the marvel heroclix hammer of thor set . unlike previous offerings the promotional figure ragnarok surtur was available with the 10 pack brick purchase at retail locations rather than through mail in redemption . 5 with the following set dc heroclix brave and the bold the promotional figure a batman and catwoman duo figure returned to redemption through wizkids neca though this time done online . spider man on a heroclix base . partnership with mfv edit in april 2013 wizkids announced that they would be working with mfv in order to release tabapp elite . this helped to integrate figures with the combat dial system into digital form . releases for tabapp include the sort of comic book properties that wizkids is known for such as spider man man of steel and others . storyline organized play edit beginning with the infinity gauntlet in 2012 wizkids began to implement storyline organized play programs . these programs would let gamers go to their local store once a month to play in an event that built up to a grand finale . players are typically rewarded for attending multiple events before the finale . storyline organized play themes have included no man s land for dc fear itself for marvel the dominion war for star trek and others . wizkids continues to implement tweaks to their storyline organized play programs . production edit wizkids produces both licensed and first party games . many of the games wizkids utilize include patented elements like the combat dial system . wizkids produces both physical items like heroclix as well as digital transliterations like quarriors for ios . 6 games and products edit board games edit justice league freddy vs jason forest of fear gremlins the hobbit an unexpected journey mage knight oshi pirates quest for davy jones gold star trek expeditions star trek fleet captains tsuro mage knight board game books edit mechwarrior dark age novels mage knight novels and collectors guides collectible card games edit battlestar galactica high stakes drifter dice building games edit quarriors lord of the rings dice building game dice masters marvel dice masters avengers vs x men uncanny x men age of ultron the amazing spider man civil war releases may 11 2016 dc comics dice masters justice league war of light world s finest originally superman batman yu gi oh dice masters series 1 dungeons & dragons dice masters battle for faer n faerun under siege teenage mutant ninja turtles collectible miniatures games edit clix games creepy freaks crimson skies halo actionclix heroclix dc heroclix marvel heroclix indy heroclix the bprd and hellboy heroclix city of heroes heroclix city of villains heroclix invincible heroclix gears of war heroclix iron maiden heroclix the lord of the rings heroclix street fighter heroclix star trek heroclix yu gi oh heroclix horrorclix mage knight mechwarrior mechwarrior dark age mechwarrior age of destruction shadowrun duels sportsclix star trek attack wing mlb sportsclix zypods star trek attack wing d & d attack wing constructible strategy games edit pirates constructible strategy game rocketmen nascar race day lord of the rings csg 7 unreleased pocketmodel games edit star wars pocketmodel trading card game pirates of the caribbean pocketmodels awards edit board game geek edit 2012 golden geek best thematic game mage knight board game 8 diamond comic distributors gem award edit 2010 game product of the year for dc heroclix blackest night starter set origins awards edit 2010 best miniature figure or line of miniature figures of the year for marvel heroclix hammer of thor expansion 2011 best miniatures game rules of the year for dc heroclix blackest night starter game 2013 best miniature figure line of the year for marvel heroclix galactic guardians 2013 best family party or children s game of the year for quarriors dice building game 2013 best miniature rules of the year for the hobbit an unexpected journey campaign starter set 2016 best collectible game for dc comics dice masters war of light by mike elliot and eric m. lang 9 references edit company information . wizkids inc. archived from the original on september 29 2007 . retrieved june 26 2007 . topps acquires wizkids . icv2.com . icv2 . june 23 2003 . retrieved august 12 2009 . neca acquires wizkids assets from topps fanpro faq . fanpro . december 1 2006 . retrieved june 26 2007 . heroclix brick promo for hammer of thor gamasutra http www.gamasutra.com view pressreleases 205839 quarriors for ipadreg uberstrategic monsterbattlingtrailer available now.php wizkids games arneson http boardgames.about.com od awards a golden geek.htm academy 2016 origins award winners . www.originsawards.net . retrieved 2016 07 22 . external links edit official website v t e star trek outline timeline canon television series star trek episodes the animated series episodes the next generation episodes deep space nine episodes voyager episodes enterprise episodes discovery feature films the original series the motion picture the wrath of khan the search for spock the voyage home the final frontier the undiscovered country the next generation generations first contact insurrection nemesis reboot series star trek into darkness beyond setting concepts 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