Monday, October 11, 2010

Kick Ass Get Its Butt Kicked

They might be six months late and missed both the theatrical and DVD window where interest might have been much higher, but Dynamic Forces' set based on Kick Ass has finally arrived. I loved the movie and its unapologetic send-up of the superhero genre, but I'm not at all excited about the prospects of what Dynamic Forces has lined up.

First, there's not much in the way of major star autographs. That is unless you're stoked about signatures from the guys who played 1st Gang Kid and 2nd Gang Kid. There's also a tie-in to the comic book with autographs from some of the creators who worked on the book, most notably John Romita Jr. They're all fine and dandy, considering this is a niche release aimed more at the hardcore Kick Ass fan.

But there's a few more autographs that I think might have been a cute idea done correctly. When I first heard of this set way back when, I never expected to see the likes of Nicholas Cage, McLovin or any of the other headliners signing cards. Dynamic Forces did include the following:


Now before you go getting excited that they landed Nicolas Cage (who played Big Daddy), they didn't. This is a "character autographed card" or "Tuesday intern project." Honestly, done correctly, the idea has some merit. But it all falls apart with the card backs:


Although it doesn't say Cage signed the card, they also don't note that these are gags leaving it open to unsuspecting collectors who might not know differently. Dynamic Forces doesn't exactly provide much promotional material to get word out either. My main concern is the confusion these cards are bound to cause. All it would have taken was a small disclaimer noting that "Big Daddy" is the nickname of the intern who signed the cards and that he's in no relation to the famous actor portraying him on the front. Confusion cleared up, idea is all of a sudden sort of cute, or at least different (unless it actually counts towards the advertised number of autographs in a box, then it's horrible).

So be careful if you come across these with a seller highlighting the Oscar nominee's autograph. It's not. It really is just Big Daddy from the Dynamic Forces offices.

Kick Ass also includes some decent-looking costume cards and sketch cards.

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