Imports Dragon launches NHL Figures League app
By Stephen Laroche | Beckett Hockey Editor
When most of us were children, our toys and games could only be played with in a physical way. This was not a bad thing, but can you imagine what it would have been like to play with your toy cars or action figures with other people from around the world with just a few moves of your fingers?
Imports Dragon, who are now in their second season of making NHL figures have taken the game and their 2.5″ scale toys to a new digital arena and the NHL Figures League app launched this week for both the Apple and Android formats.
“The NHL Figures League app allows our fans to take their figures on the go, and play whenever, wherever, and against whoever they want,” said Imports Dragon president, Stephan Tetrault.
Free to download and begin play, users are given a starting lineup of players they can stack up against competitors from around the globe. Play itself is rather easy at a basic level, but it does require a bit of luck and skill to become a star.
Once a player enters competition, they set their lineup by matching them up against their opponent at each position.
Each figure of a forward or defenseman has a specific skill rating in several offensive and defensive categories.
Goalies also have several skills to help keep the puck out of the net.
After the lineups are set, a typical game starts with each player rolling dice to see who gets possession after the
faceoff. The winner rolls again to determine which of the five skaters gets the puck. From there, they can pass or
shoot, with the opposing team having the ability to defend or intercept. Their success is based on the number of
pucks showing within the dice thrown, with the possibility of additional dice being cast. Some figures have special qualities or may even get bonuses from being in the same lineup as others. A game lasts up to five minutes or less, if a team manages to score three goals before time runs out.
Adding figures to your lineup is simple. One method is to buy a physical figure at a store and enter a code that comes inside of the blind packing for the 2016-17 edition. This way, you can use it in a physical table top game or display it as well.
However, most app users may find it easier to simply buy the digital figures. This can be done by purchasing ticket packs, which range from $1.39 for 80 tickets to $39.99 for 3,500 of them. Figure packs start at 240 tickets for the
basic 2015-16 edition. There are also premium packs for 300 tickets or three-figure premium packs that will cost 720 tickets. The more expensive packs should give a better shot at uncommon and rare figures that have better skill sets. For those wishing to focus on building a lineup featuring players from their favorite teams, there are also club-specific packs available for 375 tickets.
Tickets can also be earned by winning league games where you go head-to-head with other players. Winning a game also helps players move up within leagues. As a player manages to reach certain milestones such as winning 10 games or collecting two figures from the same team, they will be awarded tickets as well.
For additional fun, there is also the option to purchase a specific NHL logo avatar to personalize your account (150 tickets each). The availability of these does appear to change on a daily basis.
With each passing series, the lineup of available figures will continue to grow. In the game presently are 91 figures from the 2015-16 season along with a new group or 62 that will see physical release this year.
2015-16 NHL Figures League Series 1 and 2
Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
Max Domi, Arizona Coyotes
Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
Seth Jones, Nashville Predators
Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars
Francois Beauchemin, Colorado Avalanche
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Kyle Okposo, New York Islanders
Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks
Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators
Justin Faulk, Carolina Hurricanes
Jacob Trouba, Winnipeg Jets
Sam Bennett, Calgary Flames
Tyler Bozak, Toronto Maple Leafs
Sean Couturier, Philadelphia Flyers
Jonathan Drouin, Tampa Bay Lightning
Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche
Anthony Duclair, Arizona Coyotes
Nikolaj Ehlers, Winnipeg Jets
Aaron Ekblad, Florida Panthers
Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators
Brendan Gallagher, Montreal Canadiens
Noah Hanifin, Carolina Hurricanes
Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
Oscar Lindberg, New York Rangers
Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
Sean Monahan, Calgary Flames
Artemi Panarin, Chicago Blackhawks
Tomas Plekanec, Montreal Canadiens
Sam Reinhart, Buffalo Sabres
Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Mark Stone, Ottawa Senators
Ryan Suter, Minnesota Wild
Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues
Trevor van Riemsdyk, Chicago Blackhawks
Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals
Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
Jonathan Bernier, Toronto Maple Leafs
Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay Lightning
Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings
Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets
Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
David Desharnais, Montreal Canadiens
Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
Alexander Edler, Vancouver Canucks
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes
Marc-André Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
Alex Galchenyuk, Montreal Canadiens
Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers
Taylor Hall, Edmonton Oilers
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings
Andrew Ladd, Winnipeg Jets
Kristopher Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens
Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers
Ryan Miller, Vancouver Canucks
Rick Nash, New York Rangers
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Max Pacioretty, Montreal Canadiens
Zach Parise, Minnesota Wild
Ondrej Pavelec, Winnipeg Jets
Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks
Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings
Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs
Pekka Rinne, NHL All-Star
Cory Schneider, New Jersey Devils
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning
P.K. Subban, Montreal Canadiens
John Tavares, New York Islanders
Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
James van Riemsdyk, Toronto Maple Leafs
Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers
Shea Weber, Nashville Predators
Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
2016-17 NHL Figures League Series 3
Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
Morgan Reilly, Toronto Maple Leafs
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets
Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks
Adam Henrique, New Jersey Devils
Alex Galchenyuk, Montreal Canadiens
Bobby Ryan, Ottawa Senators
Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
Brandon Dubinsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
Brandon Saad, Columbus Blue Jackets
Brayden Schenn, Philadelphia Flyers
Chris Kunitz, Pittsburgh Penguins
Evander Kane, Buffalo Sabres
James Neal, Nashville Predators
Jeff Skinner, Carolina Hurricanes
Joffrey Lupul, Toronto Maple Leafs
Jordan Eberle, Edmonton Oilers
Jordan Staal, Carolina Hurricanes
Justin Abdelkader, Detroit Red Wings
Kyle Turris, Ottawa Senators
Leo Komarov, Toronto Maple Leafs
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
Marian Gaborik, Los Angeles Kings
Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets
Martin Hanzal, Arizona Coyotes
Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers
Nazem Kadri, Toronto Maple Leafs
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Patrick Sharp, Dallas Stars
Reilly Smith, Florida Panthers
Ryan Callahan, Tampa Bay Lightning
Ryan Johansen, Nashville Predators
Tyler Toffoli, Los Angeles Kings
Vincent Trocheck, Florida Panthers
Wayne Simmonds, Philadelphia Flyers
William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs
Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks
Cam Fowler, Anaheim Ducks
Dougie Hamilton, Calgary Flames
Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
Jeff Petry, Montreal Canadiens
John Carlson, Washington Capitals
John Klingberg, Dallas Stars
Kevin Shattenkirk, St. Louis Blues
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, San Jose Sharks
Nathan Beaulieu, Montreal Canadiens
Olli Maatta, Pittsburgh Penguins
T.J. Brodie, Calgary Flames
Tyson Barrie, Colorado Avalanche
Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild
Jake Allen, St. Louis Blues
Martin Jones, San Jose Sharks
Petr Mrazek, Detroit Red Wings
Roberto Luongo, Florida Panthers
Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche
Thomas Greiss, New York Islanders
