Card Swag from the 2010 San Diego Comic Con

Another Comic Con has come and gone. But like every year, there were loads of random goodies to be had, including some unique cards. While this is unlikely to be a complete list of what was available last week in San Diego (both free and for purchase), I'll see what I can do.

Breygent

Perhaps the biggest card-related splash at Comic Con came from Breygent who offered up Mystery Packs made specifically for the show. Two-card packs were selling for about $25 and included one promo card and one "hit" that was either a sketch card, autograph, costume card, prop card or autographed costume card spanning several licenses. Tons of goodies were found and I'm eagerly awaiting the one pack I ordered online. It seemed like a can't-lose proposition. If buying packs online, the one thing to watch for is that these can apparently be somewhat easy to cherry-pick because many of the costume and prop cards have a metal border, giving them a larger size and more weight.

Here's a checklist direct from Breygent of the premium cards available other than sketch cards in the Comic Con packs:

• 3 different Ghost Whisperer Metallogloss cards (costume and props)
• 4 different Dexter Metallogloss cards (costume and props)
• 1 Dexter Michael C. Hall autograph
• 1 Dexter Jimmiy Smits autograph
• 1 Ghost Whisperer Jennifer Love Hewitt autograph
• 1 Ghost Whisperer Jennifer Love Hewitt/Hilary Duff dual autograph
• 1 Dexter Camera Strap Prop Card
• 1 Dexter Crime Scene Marker Prop Card
• 1 Pananormal Activity Katie Featherston autographed costume card
• 1 Paranormal Activity Micah Sloat autographed costume card
• 1 Paranormal Activity Oren Peli autograph
• 1 Dexter 4-piece costume card
• 2 Dexter 8-piece costume cards (green front, black front)
• 1 Ghost Whisperer 9-piece costume card
• 1 Ghost Whisperer Sleeping Mask prop card
• 1 Ghost Whisperer Tooth Prop card

Breygent also offered a handful of over-sized Mystery Packs. These contained only sketch cards.

Artbox

In recent years, Artbox has gone from a major player in non-sport cards to the company that does Harry Potter and nothing else. Despite the limited number of licenses, they're still churning out some spectacular cards. They've been producing goodie bags at San Diego for years that include cards and binders from previous sets, but show-exclusive promos and cards as well.

This year's offerings include a three-card costume set limited to 550, a Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) autograph, a metal card set limited to 250 and a three-card crystal "card" set limited to 80 copies. I've also seen a trio of costume cards that are extremely rare. Two were of Fleur Delacour numbered to 30 and 10. This morning I also saw a Cedric Diggory costume card that was limited to four copies. Yup - four. As in count on one hand and you've still got your thumb left. I don't know if it'll make much of a difference as master Harry Potter collectors are going to want it no matter what, but Cedric was played by Robert Pattinson, who has since gone on to become the boy face of the Twilight franchise.

Artbox also debuted the first cards for the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows in the form of a pair of promo cards.

Rittenhouse Archives

Although Rittenhouse doesn't have a history of offering up huge offerings at ComicCon like some of their competitors, they still have some nice promos floating around. As in past years, the company didn't have a booth in San Diego, but they had a different promo card available for each day of the show offered at nearly ten dealers' booths.

Heroes Archvies CP1 (Wednesday)

Warehouse 13: Season One CP1 (Thursday)

Stargate Universe: Season One CP1 (Friday)

Marvel: Heroes and Villains CP1 (Saturday)

The Green Hornet CP1 (Sunday)

Factory Entertainment

UK-based Factory Entertainment is a relative newcomer to the non-sport scene. The company also specializes in replica props for several properties. This year at Comic Con, they offered a couple of special card sets, both focusing on the update spin on The Prisoner that aired earlier in the year.

The first package includes an exclusive 72-card base set, an autograph card from Ian McKellen, a foil facsimile autograph card of Patrick McGoohan from the original series, two promos and a sketch card. The package was limited to 400 copies.

Prop cards were the focus of the second exclusive. Limited to just 200 copies, the five-card set included prop pieces, all of which were from the new mini-series.

Factory Entertainment also had a few over-sized cards promoting their replica prop lines.

258 West Authentic

One of the licenses a lot of non-sport collectors are clamoring for is TV's True Blood. Various manufacturers have come straight out and said HBO isn't interested. But that hasn't stopped 258 West Authentic from working directly with some of the actors to produce celebrity autograph cards. Their line-up at San Diego also included cards from actors involved in Glee and Supernatural as well. Here's the autographs they had available (print runs are in brackets):

• Misha Collins - Castiel on Supernatural (400)
• Heather Morris - Brittany on Glee (258)
• Kristin Bauer - Pam on True Blood (500)
• Brit Morgan - Debbie Pelt on True Blood (500)
• Patrick Gallagher - Chow on True Blood, Coach Tanaka on Glee (500)

Miscellaneous Goodies

Card manufacturers are not only ones handing out cards at Comic Con. There's always a random and seemingly endless amount of stuff that pops up, sometimes for only limited amounts of time. Here's a couple things I've seen on eBay:

Dorothy of Oz - Nine-card set promoting an upcoming 3D feature film.

Red - Six-card set promoting an upcoming action film that has Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman.

Non-Sport Update's Card Talk forum has lists compiled from a couple of members who attended Comic Con that include some of the more random goodies they found walking the floors. The thread can be found here.

Stumbling Upon Heroes in Unlikely Places - Jim Henson

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Jim Henson. It was a shock to me then and I still find myself at a loss at times even today. I never met the man and rarely saw him speak out of character. But I still regard Jim Henson as one of the most influential people in my life.

To me The Muppet Show wasn't just another TV program. It was what life revolved around. Whenever it was on, I'd slide onto the floor in front of our old 13" TV and sit there glued from beginning to end. My sister was bigger and older than me but she knew not to mess with me and my Muppets.  There was also board games, toys and my first magazine subscription.

Watching the Muppets today, they're still as fantastic as I remember them. The Star Wars episode is a little awkward but the genius is still there. Of course, it wasn't all Henson's doing. He had an immensely talented crew working with him. But without Jim Henson, there were no Muppets. To prove that, one just needs to look at what's happened with the franchise since. Only recently have they started to become relevant again. And with a new movie on the horizon with Hollywood hipsters attached, maybe Kermit and company won't be relegated to semi-dictated DVD viewings at the hands of uber-nostalgic parents (sorry, Ethan and Ella). Rather, folks might just seek out the Muppets because they want to.

The Muppets have been featured in several card sets over the years. None have been fantastic and if a manufacturer were able to get the rights for not only the show but the notable guest stars as well, I believe it could be a very popular card license. Costly, but the autograph possibilities are impressive.

Disclosure time: I bought a set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie cards a short while back. I'd already bought some wacky stuff, so what's a little more. The set was itching to bring back a little nostalgia. There was no other agenda than to flip through some odd cards. Then I stumbled across these:

 That would be the master himself working not long before his untimely death. I don't think of Ninja Turtles when I think of Jim Henson, but I am certainly very excited to see him honored on these cards.

Jim Henson

September 24, 1936 - May 16, 1990

Is it Time the Manufacturers Look at Teaming Up?

Not only is the hobby's marketplace shrinking, but those in the game are disappearing too. They might not be going under completely (yet), but with the trend toward exclusive deals one-sport collectors are losing some of the long-standing brands they came to know and collect. But does it have to be that way? I think it'd be a win-win for everyone involved, from collectors to manufacturers and everyone in between, to consider something a little radical - teaming up and co-producing sets.

Here's how it'd work. Let's take Upper Deck Goudey Baseball as an example. Seeing as how Upper Deck isn't in the baseball game at all right now, 2010 Goudey isn't going to happen. At the same time Topps is working hard to re-brand National Chicle as a nostalgic art brand similar to what Goudey was for Upper Deck. So what if Topps borrowed the Goudey brand from Upper Deck, worked with Upper Deck as a contractor and released Topps Goudey instead of going through all the work of hoping a brand will catch on and adopt an identity for a few years.

The pros for Topps are they're getting a proven brand with a recognized following. Costs might also be a bit lower in that they're sub-contracting some of the work out. Ultimately Topps would have to sign off on it and add their brands to the packaging and they'd be the ones collecting the money at the end of the day. They also don't have to create a copycat brand to fill a hole left by a departing competitor and hope that collectors latch onto it. The industry proves every year that they'd rather take the safe road than risks. I respect this philosophy, even if it frustrates me at times, so this plays right into the conservative logic.

The pros for Upper Deck are that the brand they hold still remains in the public eye. That way, should they regain a license or look to expand into another sport, the name is still fresh in collectors' minds. Plus, Upper Deck is gaining some income from their trademark.

For collectors, they get the continuity that keeps a collection going. Often in today's hobby, there's lots of stopping and going resulting in gaps. I know these drive me nuts. Plus, the brands don't even need to change that much. Keep the spirit of the original product with the same people working on it as well, at least as consultants.

The obvious downside is that competitors don't often like working with one another. Even if Topps is the only kid on the block making licensed baseball cards, Upper Deck is ultimately still a competitor, as is Panini, In the Game, Rittenhouse Archives and even small manufacturers like 5finity and MonsterWax. For the big players in the hobby, there'd probably need to be some reconciliation. But at the end of the day, don't they all speak the same thing: $$$.

I've used the example of Goudey Baseball to illustrate my point but it's not limited to that. Imagine Upper Deck getting another chance to sub-contract to Panini to make SP Authentic and Exquisite Football? Or Upper Deck getting the go-ahead to actually use vintage Topps designs with O-Pee-Chee Hockey. 

Such partnerships aren't unheard of in the hobby. A couple of years ago Rittenhouse Archives made several excellent sets based on Marvel Comics properties on behalf of Upper Deck. I don't know the logistics of it all but Upper Deck seemed to have the license and Rittenhouse made the sets. Why couldn't this work in sports as well?

With this scenario I want to see the producers stay out to some extent. Act like a Hollywood producer who puts up the assets but holds filmmakers accountable for their work. So be hands on but let the partner maintain the brand's identity. This is the key for success. Taking Goudey and adding silver autograph stickers would kill the brand faster than Randy Johnson's fastball blowing up a seagull.

I don't know if there's legal holdups that wouldn't allow for such a scenario to happen. I'm just trying to get creative. I haven't looked into anyone's accounting books so I can't exactly where some manufacturers are at. But there are some signs that would point in the direction that some are doing better than others. So do what you must to survive and if you're hanging in there like Ford, there's no better time than to capitalize and make a little more money. So suck it up and shake hands, men.

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.

Weird Science

As a kid, I never liked science. It was boring, involved way too many text book pages and not enough blowing things up. That being said, the connection between the hobby and science is actually quite awesome. Here's a recent find from Stargate: Heroes:

Bill Freakin' Nye, the Science guy. I think I was born about a decade too late. His show was great: funny, connected to life, things blew up. Heck, something as simple as changing his pitch would've put him in the TV Scientist Hall of Fame.

Bill Nye actually had a set from SkyBox back in the mid-90s. The base set is 94 cards large including dinosaur and planetary punch outs and crazy window clings (like the one shown above). There's also lots of random science facts and blurry images from the show. The bright colors definitely show off the fact they're from the mid-90s.

But Bill Nye isn't the only scientist to come to my collecting attention as of late. Earlier this week, this card arrived in a small lot of Topps American Heritage Heroes Edition Chrome parallels:

Carl Sagan was more my dad's kind of scientist. When Cosmos aired on PBS, we watched the show together when I visited him every other weekend. Well, I was there in body, at least. The pictures were pretty but little else made sense to my wee little mind. I might revisit the show one day or pick up a couple of Sagan's books, but I might not.

In looking up a video clip to illustrate the genius of Bill Nye and his ability to make science understandable and entertaining to the masses, I cam across the following mash-up that puts the words of both science guys to melody.

Brilliant! But now where's a Stephen Hawking card? He's got a Simpsonized action figure.

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.

Beginner's Luck

On Friday I made a rare stop to get some packs. After a dozen packs of 2010 Topps Series One Baseball, I came away with nothing too terribly interesting other than a solid start on a set. Here's the results of two packs of Rittenhouse Archives' LOST: Seasons 1 Thru 5:

Pack 1:

It's Boone! Not a bad start. Autographs are 1:8 packs. I'm really liking the vertical design Rittenhouse came up with. It does a good job of capturing the feel of the show. Also, the pictures are a lot sharper than those in the Inkworks sets.

Pack 2:

 Another autograph! That's two-for-two, kids. Not only that but both autographs are 'limited' by Rittenhouse standards, which make them rarer than about half of the rest of the signature cards.

I'd say I pillaged that box as there's likely only one autograph left, unless it was pulled among the few packs that were already sold. And don't worry, these packs were grabbed from the top of the pile. No shenanigans were going on.