Here are my picks for the top non-sport card sets of 2009 along with why I think so.
10. Star Wars Clone Wars Widevision (Topps)
I've always loved the bigger look of Widevision, or Tall Boy, sets. From the first one they released way back in 1994, the Widevision line captures the epic scope of the
Star Wars films. Sure,
Clone Wars isn't half as good as the original movies, but it's not horrible either. This set also marks the first time that sketch cards have been done on the larger format. Topps dabbled in oversized sketch cards last year with
Indiana Jones Masterpieces, but those were double-sized cards folded to fit in packs. The bigger canvas has led to some magnificent renderings by both artists commissioned by Topps and animators from the show.
Clone Wars Widevision packs in added value with the inclusion of autographs. They may not compare name-wise to the original trilogy's stars, but pretty much the entire cast of voice actors is covered in this relatively cheap set of signatures.
Other inserts in the set include a Foil parallel numbered out of 500, another limited to 1, Season Two Preview, Flix Pix Motion Cards (LENTICULAR!), Foil cards highlighting the show's characters and see-through Animation Clear Cel cards.
This set was released in the fall and boxes can still be found for under $50 (Blowout Cards currently has them at
$43.99).
9. Classic Vintage Movie Posters: Stars, Monsters, Comedy (Breygent)
Breygent's third set dedicated to old-time movie posters continued to impress with its mix of iconic artwork, diverse mix of memorabilia cards and overall excellent value. The 72-card base set features shrunken images of some of Hollywood's greatest films. While this set didn't feature the sparkle finish that really made the last movie posters set stand out, it's nonetheless a gorgeous set.
The chase element was led by the inclusion of two costume or prop cards per box. The checklist includes such legends as Audrey Hepburn, Clark Gable, Bruce Lee and even a piece of Babe Ruth's bat. The focus of the previous two poster sets, sketch cards return but on a much more limited basis. Rather than appearing in every box, they were limited to one per case. Cut signature cards were also included one per case.
The print run for
Classic Movie Posters: Stars, Monsters, Comedy was limited to 3,000 boxes. Boxes are getting tricky to find already. A couple on eBay can be found for around $60.
8. President Obama (Topps)
The start of 2009 brought with it a new hope with a new US President. In the months leading up to the historic election, Obama became a hobby all-star with cards in a bunch of sports products. To commemorate Obama's election, Topps released a set that showcased the President's life and the lead up to his presidency.
The set followed a relatively old-school formula of cards and stickers (which feature very cool artwork, by the way). There's also foil parallels for the stickers and foil stamp parallels for the base set (hobby and retail releases do have different colored foil). There were two cards that provided a try chase element. The first was a short print of Obama in his high school basketball uniform, which was found in about every eighth box. The other was a "Presidential Pup" redemption good for a card of the President's dog once it was picked. Redemptions were limited to every 16 boxes.
Although not hugely expensive,
President Obama was a set with mainstream appeal. Whether or not the interest lasts depends on how Obama's viewed in the public eye three years from now.
7. Battlestar Galactica: Season Four (Rittenhouse Archives)
Like most every
Battlestar Galactica fan, I was sad to see the series come to a close this year. Initially I scoffed at the idea of a "re-imagining" of the original series and thought that replacing many of the male stars with "hot chicks" was a gimmick. Was I wrong.
BSG had everything you'd hope for from science fiction: robots, spaceships, deep ideas, intriguing stories and humor.
Rittenhouse Archives has been there every step of the way with the show, releasing sets for each season. Often when this happens, later sets get dismissed because there's little that's new. That's somewhat true with
Battlestar Galactica: Season Four in that a lot of the autograph signers have had their signatures appear in previous sets. But top to bottom, this set has almost every main character including the first pack-insert autograph of Edward James Olmos (he was a six-case incentive in the
Season Three set). The hits also included costume cards, autographed costume cards and the first prop cards for the series.
The inclusion of two autographs and two costume/prop cards per box meant collectors got a lot of bang. The secondary value of some of the repeat signers might not be as high as they were in previous sets, but that worked for me because I was able to find an affordable Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) autograph.
I seriously doubt this is Rittenhouse's last
BSG set as there's still many possible spin-off products. But as far as commemorating the show goes, they went out with a set that's genuinely loaded.
6. Kiss 360 (Press Pass)
KISS are genuine icons in music. Perhaps more famous for their showmanship than their music, their career of headlining stadium shows has spanned decades. It's also spawned several trading card sets. Press Pass has been busy in the past year producing a handful of KISS sets. The first,
KISS Ikons was well received and included a nice base set, popular parallels and costume cards. The follow-up,
KISS 360, was even better.
Another stellar base set was complimented by more parallels, more costume cards and more other stuff. The Transformation inserts were my favourite cards of the year in the entire hobby. They took a face shot of the band and overlayed it with a similar shot with them decked out in their signature make-up. I'm already a geek for lenticular cards, but these worked out very nicely.
KISS 360 also included the first autograph cards from the band, including a quad autograph.
Boxes offer no guarantees as far as costume cards or autographs go, although I do believe that the material pieces aren't too terribly difficult to track down.
Stay tuned as I continue my look at the best non-sport sets of 2009 with the top five spots.
I've always loved the bigger look of Widevision, or Tall Boy, sets. From the first one they released way back in 1994, the Widevision line captures the epic scope of the Star Wars films. Sure, Clone Wars isn't half as good as the original movies, but it's not horrible either. This set also marks the first time that sketch cards have been done on the larger format. Topps dabbled in oversized sketch cards last year with Indiana Jones Masterpieces, but those were double-sized cards folded to fit in packs. The bigger canvas has led to some magnificent renderings by both artists commissioned by Topps and animators from the show.
Another spin-off of the Inkworks closure was the shuffling of licenses. Breygent did a quick turn-around on The Ghost Whisperer license that was set to be Inkworks' next set before they went under. Not only did Breygent make a set for the Jennifer Love Hewitt show, but they also used Inkworks autograph stickers in the set so the signatures wouldn't go to waste. Along with The Ghost Whisperer, Breygent produced a set for Showtime's Dexter. This pair of releases represented the company's expansion from strictly nostalgia-based products to current licenses. Breygent will continue to expand in 2010 with new licenses based on the box office smash Pananormal Activity and TV's royal drama The Tudors.
On the autograph front, there was some notable first-time signers. As a child of the 80s, none got me more excited than the Peter Cullen card from Topps' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen set. Cullen might not be a Hollywood superstar but as the voice of Optimus Prime he is a cornerstone of my childhood. Other personalities appearing on autograph cards for the first time in 2009 included the members of KISS (KISS 360), Ryan Reynolds (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg (Star Trek), John Cho (Star Trek), Bill Nye the Science Guy (Stargate Heroes), Saw master-Villain Tobin Bell (Stargate Heroes), the original Karate Kid Ralph Macchio (2009 Americana), American Idol finalists Kris Allen and Adam Lambert (American Idol: Season Eight) and real-life heroes turned Hollywood subjects Frank Serpico and Erin Brokovich (American Heritage: Heroes Edition). 
Although one manufacturer closed down this year, two others emerged. 5finity caters to sketch card collectors by offering sets that get right to the chase. In their first handful of card sets, the company hasn't included one base card - just sketch cards and other spin-off goodies like sketch commissions and sketch cards autographed by the featured stars and personalities. 5finity's first two sets, Archie and The Greatest American Hero, both saw all of their proceeds go to the March of Dimes charity. 5finity also released sets based on comic properties Mandy (the cartoon featured in Playboy magazine) and Moonstone Comics. The company also produced a new set entitled Zombies vs. Cheerleaders, which allowed artists to cut loose without any licensing limitations. Another new company is Factory Entertainment. Based out of the UK, Factory Entertainment is similar to NECA in that they're not just in the business of cards but other licensed collectibles such as replica props. Factory Entertainment is just starting to enter the card market having distributed a set in Europe for the video game Mario Cart Wii. 
When I think about the current movies and shows that make me laugh the most, it's often either heartwarming gross-out fare like The Hangover and Old School or things anchored in reality and nostalgia such Ferris Bueller's Day Off and TV's Freaks and Geeks. While they offer a good chuckle and some reminiscing for the good ole' days when life seemed to be a little simpler and more confusing, it's not very often that today's comedy offers us a lot of commentary on the world around us. Reflection, but not trying to look further. For example, I can relate to aspects of The Hangover, like seeing bits and pieces of friends and aquaintances in many of the characters. And while there`s some exploration of the dynamics of relationships - yes, even in all the genital jokes and Mike Tyson solos - it didn`t exactly make me think any deeper about my own relationships afterward. But comedy wasn`t always like this.
Chaplin`s movies today can be enjoyed on several levels. If you just want to kick back and laugh at the slapstick humor, you can. But there`s also a lot of depth to what`s going on. Chaplin wasn`t just an entertainer but a thinker as well. And by using film as his canvas, he was able to reach millions with his messages in a funny and entertaining way.
