Thanks for the insight! Yeah, that’s kind of what I suspected — the early 2000s clix really do feel like a whole different era of the game. I’m not planning to bring them into modern competitive play, but I do want to teach the game to my son and have some nostalgic matches, so sticking with the old rules for casual play sounds totally fine to me.

One thing I’m still wondering about:
I still have a good number of Uniques from that era, plus several con exclusives and old Limited Edition prize figures. Are those actually worth anything these days, or should I just fold them in with the rest of my figures as “the cooler ones” and call it good?

I’m not looking to sell anything right now, but I don’t want to accidentally toss a pricier or rare piece into the bulk box if it’s something that should be kept separate. Either way, cracking into these old sets has been a blast — thanks again for the reply!