Marvel Battle World: Mystery of the Thanostones (Battle Ball)

While traveling for work last week I stopped in the Target down the road from my hotel to grab a snack after dinner. Of course I checked out both the trading card and toy section. On one of the end caps was this huge Marvel display for their new game, Battle World: Mystery of the Thanostones. I was surprised to see it was made by Funko and not a company like Hasbro. My older brother had told me about these earlier, but this was the first time I had seen them in person.

The top shelf of the display housed three gravity feeder type displays fill of Battle Balls. These retailed for $9.99, but were on sale at the time for $8.99. The bottom shelf had larger packs that retailed for $24.99. 

The display really catches your attention 1) for the sheer size and 2) the artwork used for the characters. In the center was a little display showcasing 6 of the actual figures that are used in the game. Each side of this figure display where images of the other characters available in this initial wave.

While some of the choices for characters is a little puzzling, I was surprised at just how detailed these figures are. They are only about an inch tall so Funko could have mailed it in and just released some crappy painted, non-descript figure. 

After standing there for a moment and looking at the display and the figures, I decided to take a change on the game and grabbed one Battle Ball.

These Battle Balls are made up of hexagon shapes so it's like a large die more than a ball. I noticed the top and bottom of the ball had a recessed section with a peg and a flat groove. The back of the wrapper shows you that contents of the Battle Ball along with an image of a Thanonstone.

Once I got the wrapper off and the ball opened, I found the orange Thanostone, some hexagon shaped cards (one of which was sealed in a black bag), and a small bag with a die and a figure.

The figure included w/ the die was none other than Ant-Man. The figure stands at about 1 inch tall and obviously isn't articulated. The sculpting and paint applications are well done for such a small figure.

In addition to Ant-Man's character card were four other cards. I had to read the included instructions to figure out what these were and how they were used in the game. Essentially each card is a battle playfield.

The Thanostone was interesting. It felt soft and almost like foam, but was hard like plastic. On the front of the stone was an "etched" image on Thanos' himself. I thought that only one figure was included in the Battle Ball, but I was wrong as the Thanostone also included a mystery figure. Once I was able to get it open I found...

Spider-Ham...the Infinity version. This figure is cast in translucent purple plastic to represent the Power Infinity Stone (I think). 

Now I understand why the character card was placed in a opaque black bag so it wouldn't give away the identity of the figure inside the Thanostone.

The instructions on how to set up and play the game are pretty straight forward. I'm not the biggest fan of board games or table top games, but this one looks interesting. I might be able to get my family to play, but that means we'll need to pick up another Battle Ball or two. Remember, you can click on the images to enlarge them.

When you're not playing the game you can use the two halves of the Battle Ball to display both the figure and their character cards. This is a nice addition as some may want to collect the figures and not play the game and this gives them a way to show off their collection.

What are your thoughts? Have you seen the display at your local Target store? Have you purchased one out of curiosity such as I? Have you played the game? I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on both the figures as well as the game.