More American Idol Cards on the Way

Whilst purusing the aisles of Dave and Adam's I came across a pre-sale for a new American Idol set due out in April. Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss! Or not. Definitely not. There weren't a lot of details other than boxes having 24 packs of five cards, autographs, costume cards and music download opportunities.

This marks the fourth American Idol set (fifth if you include Fleer's card game) from three manufacturers. Fleer made sets for seasons three and four, while Comic Images stepped up for season six. All included autographs, most of which have faded into the obscurity they deserve. However there are a couple of standouts. The Season Three set included Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson and Season Four was buoyed by the success of Carrie Underwood. I managed to get $65 for a Hudson autograph a couple of years ago, but that was literally minutes after her Academy Awards speech. Today you can find it for under $15. The Underwood is much more expensive. Expect to shell out around $100 for one, more for the parallel limited to 25 copies.

The only way I can see any lasting interest in a new set is if Upper Deck convinces Paula Abdul and some of the special guest singers to provide autographs. Otherwise expect to find this set on clearance by the end of next year like the Season Six set from Comic Images is now.

In the meantime, here's a gallery of the Season Three autographs to send you into your own way back machine: