Daniel Craig to Sign for New James Bond Set

Rittenhouse Archives' next 007 set James Bond: Heroes and Villains just got a huge boost as Daniel Craig, the current Bond, has been added to the autograph list. This was confirmed by RA's Robert Kohlbus on Non-Sport Update Magazine's Card Talk message board. Craig makes for the third Bond to sign for Rittenhouse, following multiple autographs of both Roger Moore and George Lazenby in previous sets. Moore and Lazenby will be appearing on a dual autograph in the Heroes and Villains set as a six-case incentive.

Heroes and Villains is scheduled to have three autographs in every box. The preliminary autograph checklist is:

• Daniel Craig (James Bond)
• Gemma Arterton (Agent Fields in Quantum of Solace) (Full Bleed Style)
• Olga Kurylenko (Camille in Quantum of Solace) (40th Style)
• Joaquin Cosio (General Medrano in Quantum of Solace) (Full Bleed Style)
• Jill St. John (Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever) (Full Bleed Style)
• Sean Bean (Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye) (Full Bleed Style)
• Corinne Clery (Corinne Dufour in Moonraker) (Full Bleed Style)
• Jonathan Pryce (Elliott Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies) (Full Bleed Style)
• Izabella Scorupco (Natalya Simonova in GoldenEye) (Women of Bond Style)
• Joanna Lumley (The English Girl in On Her Majesty's Secret Service) (Full Bleed Style)
• Kabir Bedi (Gobinda in Octopussy) (40th Style)
• John Cleese (Q in Die Another Day) (40th Style)
• Geoffrey Holder (Baron Samedi in Live And Let Die) (40th Style)
• Michael Kitchen (Tanner in GoldenEye) (Full Bleed and 40th Style)
• Anatole Taubman (Elvis in Quantum of Solace) (Full Bleed and 40th Style)
• Cecilie Thomsen (Professor Inga Bergstrom in Tomorrow Never Dies) (40th Style)
• Gottfried John (General Ourumov in GoldenEye (Full Bleed Style) 

Although insertion rates haven't been announced, there's also a handful of prop relics:

• King Industries Dossier from The World Is Not Enough (numbered to 177)
• Renault Taxi Cloth Interior from A View To A Kill (numbered to 177)
• Bomb Detonator Box from The Living Daylights (numbered to 444)
• Chase Boat Interior Leather from Live And Let Die (numbered to 444)
• Parahawk Parachute Bag from The World Is Not Enough (numbered to 600)
• Speed Boat Interior Leather from Moonraker (numbered to 777) 

Following the cool factor of the Aston Martin windshield prop card in last year's James Bond Archives comes three more car relics that will be inserted randomly as case toppers:

• Aston Martin V8 Windshield Card from The Living Daylights (numbered to 200)
• Carabinieri Windshield Card from Quantum of Solace (numbered to 333)
• Aston Martin Rear Bumper Panel from Quantum of Solace (numbered to 150)

James Bond: Heroes and Villains is scheduled for a late-May release. Personally, I'm not a hug James Bond fan as a franchise, but Casino Royale bought a lot of goodwill from me and a Craig autograph would definitely be a nice little card to add to my collection. Plus, I've loved the diverse mix of prop cards Rittenhouse has included in recent Bond sets. So while I don't normally buy much Bond other than a pack or two here and there and the very occasional base set, this one's now definitely on my radar.

Click here for a large gallery of James Bond autographs, costume cards and prop cards.