Sets I Want to See: The Expendables

Sylvester Stallone
Bruce Willis
Jet Li
Dolph Lundgren
Jason Statham
Arnold Freakin' Schwarzenegger
Mickey Rourke

As far as legitimate action heroes from the past 25 years go, these guys are the who's who of cheesy guy flicks where things blow up real good. There's also Stone Cold Steve Austin, Randy Couture and Eric Roberts. All that's missing is Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Damme. Well, the list above are attempting to make the cheesy action flick cool again with The Expendables. The trailer debuted online today and quite honestly, I was expecting more. Note to Sylvester Stallone: we want to see you kick people, not listen to you babble constantly.

That being said, I so want a card set just for the autograph possibilities. From that list, only a couple already have autographs. Schwarzenegger appeared in Batman and Robin Widescreen from SkyBox, Terminator 3 from Comic Images and on a pseudo-cut Conan the Barbarian card that used cut-up Batman and Robin cards. Fleer  convinced Stone Cold to sign in their Wrestlemania set back in 2001. Randy Couture's currently in Upper Deck Prominent Cuts and has also signed for Donruss Americana and Topps Allen and Ginter. Finally, there's Julia Roberts' brother Eric, who was in Upper Deck Spectrum and Donruss Americana.

Tonight I had a little fun and came up with some mock-ups for a possible set. Enjoy! The Expendables is in theatres this August and I'm guessing it'll be on DVD and Blu-ray a couple weeks later.

Complete Upper Deck Prominent Cuts Checklist

Upper Deck Prominent Cuts Checklist (Google Docs)

If you've been browsing autographs on eBay this week you've probably noticed tons of cut signatures from Upper Deck's new Prominent Cuts set. Thanks to Upper Deck for forwarding on the checklist to me, which is massive. As in nearly 900 cut signature subjects.

The set is pricey, running about $200 per box. Add to that the largely hit-and-miss cut signature subjects, one of which is guaranteed in a box, and it's a risk I'm not sure I'd consider. While there is a lot of big hits on the checklist, some of the names among the cut signatures are really horrible. Take Bai Ling for example. Her Donruss Americana autograph (which includes her picture) can be found for around $10. And that's the hit in a $200 box? I hear the banjo tuning up in the background to a familiar chorus. I've also got huge issues with cut signatures on cards of folks who are still very much alive. Bai Ling fits that category as well.

After browsing through the set, Prominent Cuts is a confused product. The eclectic base set checklist of politicians, actors and athletes, and plentiful movie costume cards give it a definite Donruss Americana feel. The gazillion cut signatures inserted at reasonable rates compares to Razor's cut signature products. The MMA toss-ins are another Donruss Americana nod, as well as a spin on Topps' UFC products. Does that mean Prominent Cuts' personality is made up from the shadows of others?

At any rate, if you're looking for the checklist, I've put it into a Google Docs spreadsheet and organized it in a way that's useful for me. I'm not super familiar with spreadsheet creation so I'm coming at it from an angle that's aimed at finding things in an organized fashion, hence the multiple sheets to keep the various aspects separate.

Please comment if you find checklists like this useful (even if Prominent Cuts isn't your thing). I've been preparing some on my own using pre-existing sheets that I have a tough time navigating through. If it's helpful I'd be happy to share what I've got and maybe be a little more motivated to put together others in the future.

Prominent Cuts is Finally Live, Complete with Patrick Swayze's Dress

Originally planned for a late-2009 release, Upper Deck Prominent Cuts is finally live. It's a catch-all sort of product with the usual Upper Deck sports stars, lots of MMA fighters, politicians, celebrities and multiple Kardashians (note how I refuse to consider them celebrities).

What's caught my attention is the sheer number of costume relics from prominent movie and TV stars. Even though the costume pieces seem to be leftovers from two years worth of A Piece of History Baseball, they're nonetheless impressive. The checklist includes names like Tom Hanks, Ben Stiller, Brad Pitt, Drew Barrymore, Farrah Fawcett, James Dean, Sammy Davis Jr, Mike Myers, Denzel Washington and tons more. And unlike the Donruss Americana sets that Prominent Cuts is somewhat modelled after, these costumes are mostly from actual films that you've probably heard of. A few exceptions exist, but these are mostly the older names. And when you get Sammy Davis Jr's briefcase, the brown leather swatch looks great.

The big drawback with these cards is the fact that there's no images. Without any logos to pretend to hide behind, it makes it tough for these cards to reach their full potential. But the swatch sizes are much bigger than they were with A Piece of History so the lack of imagery isn't quite so bad.

Upper Deck has also made lots of pairings, taking obscure connections and tossing two swatches on a single card. One that I got my attention was the match-up of Patrick Swayze and Harrison Ford under the banner "Action Hero Stars." With classics like Point Break and Road House under his belt, the late Dirty Dancing star fits the bill. Then there's Ford who gets the nod for pulling the trigger on old Greedo. It's a cool enough card numbered out of 99. But there's something that makes me giggle about this card and it's declaration of action heroes.

Upper Deck Prominent Cuts Hollywood History Dual Materials Patrick Swayze/Harrison Ford /99

The Ford swatch comes from the movie Crossing Over. I haven't seen it, but a quick Google search came up with this picture:

We have a match. 

I couldn't find an image to match up the Swayze swatch, but here's a picture of him in a different scene from the film:

It's a dress swatch Swayze wore in the cross-dressing film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar.

Action hero, indeed.

Oscar Predictions Are in the (Autographed) Cards

The red carpet is open and some gold statues are apparently being handed out in a little while. Looking at the list of nominees, there's not much out there from this year's lot in the way of autograph cards. Still, there's a few.

And the nominees are:

Best Actor

The odds-on-favorite in this category is Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart. Honestly, I wasn't a big fan, however The Dude was great (isn't he always), as was his co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal (nominated for Supporting Actress). Bridges signed for 2008's Iron Man set from Rittenhouse Archives. It was the toughest autograph to find in the set and is quite costly, despite the unflattering bald head that doesn't look right on the normally shaggy actor. An autograph went today on eBay for a touch under $250, which was $100 more than the previous copy went for a couple weeks ago. Clearly, there's an Oscar bump happening here. Should Bridges pull off the expected, I suspect the card will settle back into the $200-range, which is what it was originally selling for when the set first came out.

Complete Iron Man Autograph Gallery 

The only other nominee in this category to have a certified autograph is George Clooney for Up in the Air. The Facts of Life-alum is well-respected for making films that are usually both entertaining and intelligent. His turn as Batman in Batman and Robin was neither. Even still, his tallboy autograph from Skybox's set based on the film is one of many highlights in a remarkable checklist that also includes Uma Thurman and Arnold Schwarzenegger. eBay currently has one Clooney Batman and Robin autograph listed. The price: $1,125. The prices from this set have always been through the roof and because the card pops up so infrequently and is already high, I'd say that if Clooney pulls the upset, the values will still stay the same.

Complete Batman and Robin Autograph Gallery

Best Supporting Actor

Autographs are even more sparse in this category. Veteran Christopher Plummer (The Last Station) is the only nominee to have a certified signature card, but even if you saw it you likely wouldn't recognize him.  That's because the card highlights his role as a Klingon general in Star Trek VI. The card is from Rittenhouse Archives' Star Trek Movies in Motion set, released in 2008. Expect to pay $40-50 for the card online. And don't look for a spike because Plummer has no chance of winning here and The Last Station will be even more forgotten than it already is in a couple of weeks.

Complete Star Trek Movies in Motion Autograph Gallery

Best Director

This is the only other major category that has nominees with autograph cards, both of whom are the biggest names nominated. First up is some guy named James Cameron for some movie called Avatar. Cameron's made a couple of other movies too: Titanic, The Terminator and it's wittily titled sequel Terminator 2. His lone autograph is from none of these, but rather a short-lived TV show called Dark Angel, which is most notable for launching the tabloid career of one Jessica Alba. Alba's autograph might be prettier to look at, but in the spirit of the post, here's the nominee:

Complete Dark Angel Autograph Gallery

The second nominee in this category is Quentin Tarantino for Inglorious Basterds. A personal favourite of mine, his signature has appeared in two of Donruss' Americana sets: Americana II and Celebrity Cuts.

Donruss Americana Gallery Index

Hosting the show tonight are Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. Martin had an autograph a few years ago for his role in Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Pick up the card for the legend's signature, not for the attractiveness of the card.

Looney Tunes: Back in Action Autograph Gallery

For the sake of predicting and prognosticating, here's my picks for tonights show in the Acting, Directing and Best Picture races.

Best Picture:

“Avatar”
“The Blind Side”
“District 9”
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”

My choice: The Hurt Locker
Will win: Avatar 

Best Director 

“Avatar” James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

My choice: Kathryn Bigelow
Will win: Bigelow

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”  

My choice: Jeremy Renner (yeah, I like The Hurt Lock a lot and I don't think Bridges deserves it this year as it feels like rewarding his career rather than a slightly better-than-average film)
Will win: Jeff Bridges


Best Actress

Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” 


My choice: Carey Mulligan
Will win: Sandra Bullock

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon in “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” 

My choice: Christoph Waltz
Will win: Waltz

Best Supporting Actress

Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” 

My choice: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Will win: Gyllenhaal provides the biggest upset of the night.

Charlie Chaplin: Chasing a Tramp

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.

You may have heard of a guy named Charlie Chaplin. There was a time when he ruled the film world. He wasn`t just an icon like Brad Pitt or George Clooney, but rather he was also the artist behind the camera. Chaplin brought together comedy and commentary so well that he was forced into exile outside of the United States for being a potential Red threat.

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.

Despite his lasting appeal, Chaplin has remained somewhat elusive in the hobby. There were several cigarette cards and similar items produced during his reign as king of the entertainment world, including a spot in the 1926 W512 set that mixed stars with athletes including Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. The cards were produced in strips, although many were cut.


Here are a few other Chaplin cards from the 1920s:

In this era of cut signatures and entire sets dedicated to pop culture, Chaplin has largely escaped the spotlight. He has two cut signature cards. The first was in 2004 Topps Tribute HOF where he appeared in the Signature Cuts Personalities insert set. Chaplin also had an autograph inserted into 2009 Donruss Americana. Both were limited to one copy.

More affordable is this card:

It`s also from 2009 Donruss Americana. It`s from the Movie Posters insert set, which includes classic artwork on the front. Here`s a shot of the back:

Yup, that`d be a piece of his clothing. Although not from a movie costume, it`s still cool to have a piece of a genuine legend. At 500 copies, it`s not too terribly tough to come by, nor is it overly expensive. I picked up this one, in which it would have been the hit of a $35 pack, for less than half that. Chaplin has two other memorabilia cards in the same set, one of which is a dual card featuring a piece of Claudette Colbert`s clothing.

Lt. Dan Approves This Card

I'm not the only one going out and getting solid autographs from Donruss Americana for less than the price of a pack more likely to have a costume piece from someone I've never heard of, am I? Here's another one:

That'd be Gary Sinise, Academy Award nominee, star of CSI: NY, Apollo 13, The Green Mile and seemingly every other made-for-cable movie about a politician. I'd also mention Mission to Mars and Reindeer Games but I'm working on forgetting those ones.

Being one of three people in North America who doesn't watch any of the CSIs, Sinise is best known for this role:

Believe it or not, there's CSI: NY cards out there. Released a couple of years ago by British manufacturer Strictly Ink. Sinise was scheduled to sign, redemptions were included, many sold on eBay for more than $50, then Sinise never signed. After more than a year and many promises from the manufacturer (if you want to sift through the details you can in this long discussion thread starting around page 15) this is what collectors were sent instead:

It's a cool looking card, right? Perhaps but it's not Sinise's autograph. It's a preprinted facsimile. And yes, that's a hologram on the bottom of the card promising that it's a real "not real" autograph. To be fair - at least a little bit - to Strictly Ink, apparently they included another fake autograph card and a few promos as well. But the owner also promised in the thread linked above much more than that.

I don't know the story as to why Sinise never signed the CSI cards, but it's another example of why redemptions suck.

Would You Let Your Daughter Go Out In This?

As nearly perfect as much of The Sopranos is itself (Yes, I like "the ending". A lot.), another thing I'm thankful for is the fact that it brought TV shows on DVD to the masses. I don't know if it was the first show put out in the format but it, along with Band of Brothers, seem to have kicked things into high gear. Without it I would have never caught on to Rescue Me starring Dennis Leary.

I only got into the show less than a year ago. I had a lot of catchup to do as it's now on Season Five. So I started renting the first couple of seasons and got a deal on a couple more. Brilliant stuff.

There's not a whole lot of cards connected to the show. Leary has an autograph in the old Donruss Fans of the Game stuff, but it's out of my price range. But in the new Donruss Americana set there was this:

That'd be Diane Farr. She was only on the show for a couple of seasons playing the only female firefighter in the testosterone-fuelled New York firehouse in which the show is set.

The card itself is all right. Donruss went overboard with the foil. It worked with the old design to a better extent because most of the photos had backgrounds. The new design has the subject placed in a silver background. The stickers - well, I tolerate them. I'm not a big fan but when you're chasing B-list celebrity autograph cards there's not many options.

When I picked up the card, the waredrobe swatch was a bonus. I like costume cards but the Americana sets are pretty much all things from the actor's closet that I have absolutely no connection to. Let's do a little zoom in on the material:

The picture doesn't get the point across very well so I'll try to describe it. The white that you see is the backside of the card. That would mean that the clothing part is tiny little strings that if put together to make an outfit would look something like, well, close your eyes and imagine because I'm doing my best to keep the blog clean.

I get the point of having a nice, sexy outfit, but when it'd leave nothing to the imagination, what's the point? Of course, it could be a part of a dress/shirt/skirt that has more to it but that's part of the problem with these generic Americana material swatches - there's no point of reference so it's all up to the imagination.

The Karate Kid Invades Philadelphia

I have to say that after looking at the initial checklist for the upcoming Donruss Americana III, there was very little that caught my attention. The autograph checklist has a lot of familiar names who have already signed for the series.

There is one exception that I'm very stoked for: Ralph Macchio, better known as The Karate Kid. The promo card pictured below will be one of several exclusive cards handed out at the Philly Non-Sport Card Show this weekend in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Macchio's autograph card debut will come with several parallel's in Donruss Americana III, which is scheduled for release at the start of June. Other Americana "rookies" include James Caan (Sonny from The Godfather), Michael Madsen and JOEY LAWRENCE! Understand my lack of excitement, now?

For more product info, here's Donruss' page.

Make Your Own Card Set: Kill Bill

Firstly, sorry for the lack of updates as of late. I recently moved from the classroom to the office - sort of - until we hire someone to replace me, I'm still planning and teaching most of my classes still on top of all the new duties as well.

Enough excuses. On with the cards. Something tells me Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films will never see the cardboard as they're a) a few years old now and b) the violence isn't well suited for the 'kid friendly' hobby. Oddly enough, it was the conversation between Bill and Beatrix that somehow mentally got me thinking about parenthood. Then a week later, without suspecting anything my wife dropped the bombshell that our first child was on the way. Don't worry - there's no twisted meaning. I just felt at peace with the idea after watching it for some weird, subconscious reason.

Being a big-fan of the films (and several other Tarantino films), I present to you the do-it-yourself collection of Kill Bill autographs.

Quentin Tarantino - The Director
2008 Donruss Americana II Private Signings

 

 Also in: 2008 Donruss Americana Celebrity Cuts autographs and Letterman Signatures.

 

Uma Thurman - Beatrix Kiddo
Batman and Robin (Fleer/Skybox, 1997)

 
David Carradine - Bill
Alias: Season Three (Inkworks, 2004)

 Vivica A. Fox - Vernita Green
Alias: Season Three (Inkworks, 2004)

 
Michael Madsen - Budd
James Bond: Die Another Day (Rittenhouse Archives, 2002)

Also in: 2007 Upper Deck Spectrum Baseball Spectrum of Stars Autographs (Mystery Signature redemption).

 Michael Bowen - Buck
Lost: Season Three (Inkworks, 2007)

 

Samuel L. Jackson - Rufus

 Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith Widevision (Topps, 2005)

Also in: The Spirit (Inkworks, 2008) [set comes out shortly]

I couldn't find anything from The 5, 6, 7, 8's, so here's a video:

Donruss Americana II Blaster Box Break (with a twist and a game)

Like most every other box I get, this retail blaster box of Donruss Americana II is not exactly a new release. The set's been out for a handful of months now. But like the blaster box of Upper Deck Masterpieces Baseball, this was another spotaneous $9.99 eBay purchase bought with combined shipping in mind.

The retail version of Americana II is meant to appeal to set collectors. They don't have the shiny finish like the hobby release, and nor do they have the price tag. A hobby pack seems to run in the $25 range. Sure, it guarantees you a hit, but I'm pretty sure my blaster box was almost guaranteed a hit as well.

Going in I knew that there'd be a lot of has-been stars and some who never were stars in the first place. I've seen a lot of the images. Yet it's hard to truly appreciate the horrendous checklist of this set until you line up all the cards together.

With that in mind, I'm going to introduce a game element to this box break. I'm going to post a picture of each card, pack by pack. Give yourself a point if you can name the "star." At the end, post your score in the comments. Don't cheat, though. No reference materials, checking of checklists and the like allowed. I was thinking of going in and Photoshopping the names out but that'd take too much time. Maybe if the set was a little nicer the effort would be worth it.

The person with the highest score by the time I wake up on Wednesday morning wins a virtual high five. There might be a little something else, there might not be.

Pack One

So the "hit" came right off the bat. No serial number like the box suggests there should be. Interesting.

At any rate, I recognize two sitcom stars and a dad from A Nightmare on Elm Street. 3 points for me.

Pack Two

1 point

Pack Three

2 points.

Pack Four

1 point.

Pack Five

3 points if you count me referring to one as "That guy from the ping pong movie." Two points if not.

Pack Six

3 more points.

Pack Seven

3 points. The Proof card is one of many parallels. This one's numbered /250.

Pack Eight

2 points.

My total score: 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 2= 18

So I consider myself a bit of a pop culture geek and yet I couldn't identify more than half of the faces on these cards of "pop culture icons." Yikes. So either a) I need to read more Perez Hilton and The National Enquirer or b) This set isn't what it claims to be.

While I like the idea behind the Americana line as it enables cards to exist without the limits of a particular license, there's a long way to go before I could back this brand as a whole. Sure, there's some fun cards like the Diff'rent Strokes dual autograph I picked up as a single and a handful of other autographs. But there's also way too many Dancing With the Stars candidates.

Here's a couple of suggestions on how the Americana line can be made better:

1) Make it simpler.
I like that Donruss is trying to create mass appeal by offering both hobby and retail versions. Limit the differences in cards to the base cards. As it stands all inserts are different based on their foil finish. When you get all the different levels of parallels together, it's just too much. If you want to keep the parallels, that's fine. Just spread them across both versions. Make them easier to find in hobby packs if you must. But when you have a bronze hobby version numbered out of 250 and a bronze retail parallel numbered out of 250, confusion's going to set in, especially when not everybody knows there's hobby and retail versions.

2) Use more costumes, not just street clothes.
The guarantee on the back of the memorabilia card I received reads that the swatch was cut from the star's own clothing. Unless you're an icon like John Wayne, Humphrey Boggart or Marilyn Monroe, nobody's going to care. Instead, let's see some costumes. Sure, this would make the pool of potential memorabilia cards much smaller, but who really wants to pay premium pack prices for the shirt from the guy who co-starred in A Nightmare on Elm Street?

3) Get better photos.
Most of the cards appear as though they were shot at public premieres. They're far from flattering. I mean Supergirl has the half-blink happening. But look at the publicity shots, particularly of the older stars. They're quite attractive. Give us more of those. Plus, those subjects who were in Donruss Celebruty Cuts have the same photos. Let's get some variety happening.

4) More genuine stars.
If the cards are going to be ugly, it'd be nice to at least know who you're looking at. I apprecaite the angle of having guys like Gary Coleman who never were huge stars outside of a single role, but American Idol rejects from several years ago?

5) More Mr. T.

So remember to get your scores in to the comments section. There's a virtual high five in it for the winner. But don't cheat by clicking on the cards and reading the names. Go by who you recognize off your initial impression.