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.

A Tribute to Mom - The Top 5 Cardboard Moms

Mother's Day was two days ago and only now are you catching a post about moms on cardboard. This would be indicative of one or more of the following:

1. Life has taken over everything else.
2. I'm poring my spare time into a brand-spanking new site and need to convert and transfer another 1000-or-so pages of content.
3. I was too busy talking to my mom for the past couple of days.
4. I'm a slacker.
5. I believe that every day should be a day we all think especially highly of our mothers.

You decide. I'm going to countdown five of my favourite moms that I found digging through my collection. I'm probably missing a bunch, but here's a good start to get things rolling.

5. Sarah Connor - The Terminator franchise.
Let's see, she fought off killer robots from the future, got knocked up by her son's closest ally who technically wasn't born when he did the deed to conceive her and she can tote a mean machine gun. Ms. Connor was a little paranoid about the future, but I think she had a pretty good reason for it.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day Filmcardz Rare R5 (Artbox, 2003)

This card comes from Artbox's Terminator 2 Filmcardz series, perhaps my favorite Terminator set produced. The photos are printed sort of like oversized slides, giving them a unique look and feel. This particular card is a "Rare" insert. Linda Hamilton, who played Connor, also signed for the set.

4. Carmela Soprano - The Sopranos
Gold digger? Perhaps. She certainly must have known what she was getting into when she married Tony Soprano. But I'll let you in on a secret - The Sopranos was all about the familial structure of the Sopranos and Carmela was the driving force. The gangster stuff was cool and all, but I really dug the overriding themes of the series.

The Sopranos: Season One Le Belle Donne BD-1 (Inkworks, 2005)

Unfortunately Inkworks' set based on the show;s first season was a monumental flop. It hit shelves with a ton of hobby hype but within a couple of months prices were falling fast. I attribute it to the lack of big-time signers on the autograph checklist, but The Sopranos: Season One is seriously one gorgeous set. This particular card is from the Le Belle Donne insert set, a simple yet elegant take on the ladies of The Sopranos that resided outside of the Bing.

3. Missy - Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

So she's not really Bill's mom, but Missy is "Mom." Awkwardness ensues as Bill's best friend Ted fawns over the hot mama.

Bill and Ted's Most Atypical Movie Cards 27 (ProSet, 1991)

 Bill and Ted is one franchise that could easily be resurrected in the hobby, for at least one set. In 1991 ProSet combined both films into one bland set featuring lazy full-bleed photos and very short text on the back. But it's Missy.

2. Mama Fratelli - The Goonies

Growing up I wasn't sure if Mama Fratelli was played by a woman or someone in drag. I don't mean that disrespectfully. Rather, it was an awesome gimmick. Clearly, the late Anne Ramsey thrived taking on roles that required a tough-as-nails matriarch. Mama Fratelli wanted only the finer things in life for her boys. Presumably a single mom, all she desired was for the family to have what they deserved.

The Goonies 9 (Topps, 1985)

Topps' set based on The Goonies was standard stuff for them during the 80s. Cards and sticker with puzzles on the back. Such memories. The biggest chase element comes with a handful of stickers having variant puzzle backs. 

1. Carol Brady - The Brady Bunch

Is there really any competition? Probably not. Although let's debate for a small second whether or not Carol Brady really was the All-American mom pop culture has made her out to be. Yes, six kids is a handful. But Alice is the one looking after the house most of the time. And raising the kids? She passed the problems off to Mike more often than not. And it was Mike who threw the briefcase in court that made the scammer turn his head, thus getting poor Carol off the hook for a fender bender at the grocery store. Still, it's Carol freaking Brady.

TV's Coolest Classics Dream Girls D4 (Inkworks, 1998)

TV's Coolest Classics Memorable Moments M5 (Inkworks, 1998)

 Mrs. Brady appears in a couple of sets. There's the Topps set with the classic wood borders from back when the show was on the air. But a decade ago Inkworks came along with TV's Coolest Classics and gave the lovely lady who was bringing up three very lovely girls a more modern spin. So what does that mean: holofoil sparkles with the Dream Girls inserts and corny embossing on the TV-inspired design of the Memorable Moments card.

I tried looking for moms in the sports section but they proved elusive to find. Anyone got any leads?

To all those moms out there, it's still Mother's Day around these parts. Thanks for making us who we are. And a special thanks to my mom who passed on my guinea pigs to a more deserving home but didn't take my cards out to the fire pit.

Almost as Great as the Truffle Shuffle

My unofficial collection of autographs from The Goonies grew this week with the addition of this:

Little Mikey Walsh is all grown up and getting his butt kicked on 24. That's Sean Astin, who didn't last long on the TV thriller. If I recall correctly, his character was pretty annoying too, even for someone who's supposed to be annoying.

Artbox's note also gives this card the distinction of having the goofiest authenticity message I have on a card:

 

Astin is no stranger to signing cardboard having appeared in multiple Lord of the Rings sets as well as Donruss' cross-brand Fans of the Game. This particular card comes from Artbox's 24: Season Five set. The last couple of 24 sets flopped despite having lots of cool autographs and prop cards. It's too bad because Artbox did a nice job with them.

Other cards in my Goonies collection include:

  Mouth - Corey Feldman

2007 Upper Deck Spectrum Baseball 

Spectrum of Stars Autographs

Data - Ke Huy Quan

Indiana Jones Heritage

Autographs

Other autographs from Goonies folks include:

• Steven Spielberg (executive producer, story writer) has autographs in a couple each of Topps' three latest Indiana Jones set including one triple autograph that features him, George Lucas and Harrison Ford.
• Robert Davi (one of the Fratelli brothers), who has appeared in a couple of James Bond sets and one from Stargate: Atlantis Season One.
• Joe Pantoliano (Davi's on-screen brother), whose Daredevil autograph is the rarest pack-inserted card in the set (1:2802 packs) and its value rivals that of Ben Affleck's autograph.

 

Even though The Goonies got the trading card treatment back in 1985, I think it's prime for a revisiting, complete with all the bells and whistles of a modern set. Unfortunately two of the most memorable characters wouldn't be able to sign cards as they passed away within a few years of the film's release. Anne Ramsey, who played Mama Fratelli died in 1988. Less than a year later John Matuszak, who starred as Sloth, died allegedly from complications related to steroid use.

San Diego Comic Con Card Swag List

I'm going to do my best to keep a tally of the cards handed out at this year's Halloween costume mecca better known as Comic Con. The list will get to the point and that's about all, meant purely for reference purposes. If you know of anything that's missing (cards only, please), please email me so it can be added.

Artbox:

Harry Potter
Artbox is once again selling goodie bags that contain an assortment of previously released products and some new exclusives:

Prop/Costume Cards
SDCC09-CP1 Just Like That & Boxing Telescope Boxes
SDCC09-CP2 Slughorn's Office Cushions and Armchair
SDCC09-CP3 Slughorn's Christmas Party Guest Costume and Lantern Prop
SDCC09-CP4 Death Eater & Dumbledore Dual Costume

Prop Cards
Three different prop cards featuring pieces from Quidditch stand material. The cards are numbered /550 and showcase Gryffindor, Slythrin and one for all schools.

Harry Potter Stinks button. This will likely be one of the more popular exclusives from the show as it's limited to 33 copies and will only be given out through a raffle - five per day with three left over for the Artbox and licensor vaults.

Oversized Autograph
SDCC09. Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood

Breygent:

Dexter
Breygent will be offering special Dexter sets at SDCC. According to the Canadian company you get a 72-card base set, two costume cards and seven foil cards.


Ghost Whisperer
The first Ghost Whisperer cards will arrive at Comic Con with Breygent selling a box with a 72-card base set, two costume cards, two autographs and nine foil cards. The two autographs I've seen on eBay have the SDCC logo.

Rittenhouse Archives:
Althout RA won't be set up at the show themselves, they are making promos available at several card dealers' booths.
 

Lost 
P1 (Wednesday)
P2 (Thursday)
P3 (Friday)
P4 (Saturday)
P5 (Sunday)

 

  

  

Spider-Man Archives

SD09 available only at the Marvel booth. 

Stargate Heroes

SD09

 

Star Trek: The Original Series 2009

P4

 

  

Summit Entertainment:

New Moon
Two different promo packs for the upcoming Twilight sequel. The first is a set of five that focuses on Team Jacob. The second set of promos has four cards: Bella, Edward, Jacob and a header.

Unknown Manufacturers:

Spartacus
Promo pack of eight cards promoting the new series or mini-series that debuts in the winter.