Well, I'm super excited to say I just ordered 3 boxes of Halloween cards from Fright-Rags. Fingers crossed I pull my holy grail Nick Castle autograph!
Just to spread the word Fright-Rags is currently running a Black Friday sale. All their trading cards are discounted from 10% up to 50% off (the 50% off items are Saw packs and Ash vs Evil Dead packs). All of the sealed boxes and sets are 25% off with the exception of Halloween. The Halloween boxes, sets, and packs are 10% off. So I used that discount and got myself 3 boxes. My first ever card purchase from Fright-Rags. I can't wait!
November 29, 2019, 09:40 AM
webjon
Nice pick up! $5 Saw packs are an amazing deal.
December 07, 2019, 05:18 PM
Logan
Silent Night, Deadly Night trading cards from Fright-Rags releasing this Wednesday at 10 AM EST...
December 11, 2019, 12:24 PM
Logan
Silent Night, Deadly Night cards are now live. There are no sketches and just one autograph (Linnea Quigley). Every sealed wax box contains the Quigley auto.
December 11, 2019, 09:17 PM
Batman
It looks like her kitchen needs an update!
____________________ "The problem, I'm told, is more than medical."
December 13, 2019, 03:19 PM
Logan
Halloween wax boxes are now SOLD OUT. Congrats to Fright-Rags on a stellar release!
December 16, 2019, 08:41 AM
Ben - Fright-Rags
Thank you so much, Logan! I appreciate it!
____________________ FRIGHT-RAGS kick-*** horror shirts and accessories www.fright-rags.com
December 28, 2019, 10:44 AM
Logan
quote:
Originally posted by webjon: $5 Saw packs are an amazing deal.
Well that deal got even better. I received a Fright-Rags postcard ad in the mail with a 20% off discount code last weekend. And right now they're having their "Winter Break Blowout Sale" and all their trading cards are on sale. Saw packs were down to $4. I kept adding them to my cart to see how many they had left in stock and the total was 89. So I decided to buy them all. At $4 a pack and then my 20% code + tax & shipping the grand total came to $317.79. That's for 89 18-card base & 2-card sticker sets plus around 15 of the autographs give or take - as the stated odds are 1 in 6 packs. Not a bad deal at all I say.
December 28, 2019, 03:11 PM
catskilleagle
That's an interesting gamble assuming you're planning on moving the extra sets and autographs with the selling point that the company sold out and you're the source now. You can sell for $5/set and make money. Any autographs you don't want would be the gravy. I did something like that years ago in another hobby and came out ahead.
Good luck,
Jess
quote:
Originally posted by Logan:
quote:
Originally posted by webjon: $5 Saw packs are an amazing deal.
Well that deal got even better. I received a Fright-Rags postcard ad in the mail with a 20% off discount code last weekend. And right now they're having their "Winter Break Blowout Sale" and all their trading cards are on sale. Saw packs were down to $4. I kept adding them to my cart to see how many they had left in stock and the total was 89. So I decided to buy them all. At $4 a pack and then my 20% code + tax & shipping the grand total came to $317.79. That's for 89 18-card base & 2-card sticker sets plus around 15 of the autographs give or take - as the stated odds are 1 in 6 packs. Not a bad deal at all I say.
December 28, 2019, 03:32 PM
Logan
quote:
Originally posted by catskilleagle: That's an interesting gamble assuming you're planning on moving the extra sets and autographs with the selling point that the company sold out and you're the source now. You can sell for $5/set and make money. Any autographs you don't want would be the gravy. I did something like that years ago in another hobby and came out ahead.
Good luck,
Jess
Thanks. I plan on keeping them unopened for as long as I can, while I figure out a game plan. I honestly want to keep all the autographs and a few mini-master sets, but all the other base/sticker sets I would like to move, once I decide to open them. I also have 14 sealed wax boxes of their Halloween cards which are now sold out also, and they're all still unopened. If and when I do sit down and open everything I want to be prepared for the large amount of base sets I will have to deal with, and right now I'm not (prepared). I would need plenty of snap cases or small card boxes and then mailers or shipping boxes on top of that, and I don't have it in me to figure all that out at the moment. So sealed is where everything will stay, for now.
December 29, 2019, 02:01 PM
catskilleagle
Yeah, take some time to work out the math and figure out what you would want to keep. Watch what the boxes, base sets, and chase cards go for over the next few months. That will help you decide what to do. There's a temptation to open all of it just to see what sketches you get. Both sets have just a couple of autographs. You might make more than one mini-master set with both and then have a few base sets with whatever bonus cards you have leftover to sell. On the other hand a lot of people prefer to buy an unopened box so you might want to save a couple of those and enough that a collector would know there's still a good chance at an autograph.
I have bought good shipping boxes at a local sports card store and they're cheaper than those you can get at a shipping supply store. They're used for storage but they fold up into sturdy shipping boxes too. I've been getting them for at least 25 (maybe 30) years and used to get them for 60 cents but they're more like $1-1.25 now - still a decent deal. I buy the boxes that are marked "300" and "400." You would want the one that holds one or more base sets plus some singles plus padding but not too big because then you're paying more postage than you need to. I've never had a problem with a bubble mailer but there's always a chance of a plastic box getting crushed in shipment.
Jess
quote:
Originally posted by Logan:
quote:
Originally posted by catskilleagle: That's an interesting gamble assuming you're planning on moving the extra sets and autographs with the selling point that the company sold out and you're the source now. You can sell for $5/set and make money. Any autographs you don't want would be the gravy. I did something like that years ago in another hobby and came out ahead.
Good luck,
Jess
Thanks. I plan on keeping them unopened for as long as I can, while I figure out a game plan. I honestly want to keep all the autographs and a few mini-master sets, but all the other base/sticker sets I would like to move, once I decide to open them. I also have 14 sealed wax boxes of their Halloween cards which are now sold out also, and they're all still unopened. If and when I do sit down and open everything I want to be prepared for the large amount of base sets I will have to deal with, and right now I'm not (prepared). I would need plenty of snap cases or small card boxes and then mailers or shipping boxes on top of that, and I don't have it in me to figure all that out at the moment. So sealed is where everything will stay, for now.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: catskilleagle,
March 07, 2021, 12:25 PM
Logan
Just an FYI Fright-Rags has released it's George A. Romero's "Day of the Dead" set. I had no idea it was out until I checked their site. It released a few fays ago, 300 sealed boxes made, and they're already down to only 30 boxes left. Price is $120 a box or $35 for the factory base set.
No sketches but there are 6 autographs, inserted 1:24 wax packs:
Lori Cardille as "Sarah" (50 made) Terry Alexander as "John" (50 made) Jarlath Conroy as "McDermott" (50 made) Gary Klar as "Steele" (50 made) Antone DiLeo as "Miguel" (50 made) Greg Nicotero as "Johnson" (50 made)
March 10, 2021, 02:42 PM
Logan
Day of the Dead wax boxes and individual packs are now sold out. Took about a week. With the vast majority of Fright-Rags' sets selling so well so quickly it makes me wonder why more card companies don't try to go after the iconic horror licenses. They seem to sell very well and have had a built-in fan base for decades. Seems like a no-brainer to me instead of going after these modern TV shows that fizzle out as soon as the sets are released.
March 10, 2021, 03:08 PM
Raven
quote:
Originally posted by Logan: Day of the Dead wax boxes and individual packs are now sold out. Took about a week. With the vast majority of Fright-Rags' sets selling so well so quickly it makes me wonder why more card companies don't try to go after the iconic horror licenses. They seem to sell very well and have had a built-in fan base for decades. Seems like a no-brainer to me instead of going after these modern TV shows that fizzle out as soon as the sets are released.
It a hard thing for card makers to pick properties. If you are doing a really short print run it's pretty easy to sell out, but how much money did you really make? On the other hand, to sell out 6000 boxes, you need a popular in demand title, not some niche/cult old franchise. This product sold through because it was kept small enough not to overstep demand.
The other aspect to it is the cost of the license. Like many of the Kickstarter cards, they could be open sourced or in the public domain. They don't require a license for someone to make cards, but with those iconic horror monsters, many titles would still be copyrighted by someone even if they are old.
No idea how Fright Rags is putting out these titles, if they are paying for licensing or not, but the fan base seems in tune with the production. If they were to try to expand on production to match the potential of a new TV series or a current movie franchise, they may have an opposite outcome. Sometimes staying small is the way to go if its profitable enough.
March 10, 2021, 03:30 PM
webjon
quote:
Originally posted by Logan: Day of the Dead wax boxes and individual packs are now sold out. Took about a week. With the vast majority of Fright-Rags' sets selling so well so quickly it makes me wonder why more card companies don't try to go after the iconic horror licenses. They seem to sell very well and have had a built-in fan base for decades. Seems like a no-brainer to me instead of going after these modern TV shows that fizzle out as soon as the sets are released.
Fantastic! Typically not my genre, but I am always glad to see a company out there making sets and selling out!
March 10, 2021, 04:33 PM
Ben - Fright-Rags
Thanks for the kind words on the cards! To answer some questions posted here, yes all the cards are officially licensed. Given that, many titles are extremely limited when it comes to rights. We've done sets where we've had the least restrictions with regards to approved images. For example, with Day of the Dead we were allowed use of any image from the film, we had access to behind the scenes photos, as well as access to some of the actors for the autographs. However, in the case of a movie like JAWS, we technically have "trading card rights" but we cannot use any likeness on the cards at all, so it would literally only be a set featuring images of the shark. To obtain those rights we would have to get approval from each estate (other companies like NECA have done that for figures), but it would add on to the approval process, cost, etc. and complicate the entire project. We were able to add that category to our bulk deal with other titles which allowed us to do the Chucky set; but again, because all the cards featured Chucky, not principal actors. Many titles are restricted like that, otherwise we'd be pumping out more sets. It's possible larger companies that focus only on cards have some way of getting around that with their licensing deal, but we spend a lot of money on licensing per year and I've tried hard to get rights to be able to do certain things to no avail.
quote:
Originally posted by Raven:
quote:
Originally posted by Logan: Day of the Dead wax boxes and individual packs are now sold out. Took about a week. With the vast majority of Fright-Rags' sets selling so well so quickly it makes me wonder why more card companies don't try to go after the iconic horror licenses. They seem to sell very well and have had a built-in fan base for decades. Seems like a no-brainer to me instead of going after these modern TV shows that fizzle out as soon as the sets are released.
It a hard thing for card makers to pick properties. If you are doing a really short print run it's pretty easy to sell out, but how much money did you really make? On the other hand, to sell out 6000 boxes, you need a popular in demand title, not some niche/cult old franchise. This product sold through because it was kept small enough not to overstep demand.
The other aspect to it is the cost of the license. Like many of the Kickstarter cards, they could be open sourced or in the public domain. They don't require a license for someone to make cards, but with those iconic horror monsters, many titles would still be copyrighted by someone even if they are old.
No idea how Fright Rags is putting out these titles, if they are paying for licensing or not, but the fan base seems in tune with the production. If they were to try to expand on production to match the potential of a new TV series or a current movie franchise, they may have an opposite outcome. Sometimes staying small is the way to go if its profitable enough.
____________________ FRIGHT-RAGS kick-*** horror shirts and accessories www.fright-rags.com
March 10, 2021, 06:12 PM
Raven
quote:
Originally posted by Ben - Fright-Rags: Thanks for the kind words on the cards! To answer some questions posted here, yes all the cards are officially licensed. Given that, many titles are extremely limited when it comes to rights. We've done sets where we've had the least restrictions with regards to approved images. For example, with Day of the Dead we were allowed use of any image from the film, we had access to behind the scenes photos, as well as access to some of the actors for the autographs. However, in the case of a movie like JAWS, we technically have "trading card rights" but we cannot use any likeness on the cards at all, so it would literally only be a set featuring images of the shark. To obtain those rights we would have to get approval from each estate (other companies like NECA have done that for figures), but it would add on to the approval process, cost, etc. and complicate the entire project. We were able to add that category to our bulk deal with other titles which allowed us to do the Chucky set; but again, because all the cards featured Chucky, not principal actors. Many titles are restricted like that, otherwise we'd be pumping out more sets. It's possible larger companies that focus only on cards have some way of getting around that with their licensing deal, but we spend a lot of money on licensing per year and I've tried hard to get rights to be able to do certain things to no avail.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks so much for your reply Ben. Card collectors are always interested in how the business really works within the card industry because so much of the time we wander around going why, why, why? It's great to get some expert answers now and then.
Your Dead cards got a nice article in the March NSU and I see that Fright Rags also has Creepshow in the future. From the comments it sounds like you have found a sweet spot, so best wishes for continued success in providing us with old favorites and fun horror titles.
March 11, 2021, 01:05 PM
Ben - Fright-Rags
Thanks so much, I really appreciate it! Yeah, there are a multitude of factors that go into these projects, and licensing makes it even more complicated. We've been very lucky to work with the properties we have, and Creepshow is definitely no exception. Expect that to be out next year for the 40th anniversary. I'm hoping to do other titles as well!
quote:
Originally posted by Raven:
quote:
Originally posted by Ben - Fright-Rags: Thanks for the kind words on the cards! To answer some questions posted here, yes all the cards are officially licensed. Given that, many titles are extremely limited when it comes to rights. We've done sets where we've had the least restrictions with regards to approved images. For example, with Day of the Dead we were allowed use of any image from the film, we had access to behind the scenes photos, as well as access to some of the actors for the autographs. However, in the case of a movie like JAWS, we technically have "trading card rights" but we cannot use any likeness on the cards at all, so it would literally only be a set featuring images of the shark. To obtain those rights we would have to get approval from each estate (other companies like NECA have done that for figures), but it would add on to the approval process, cost, etc. and complicate the entire project. We were able to add that category to our bulk deal with other titles which allowed us to do the Chucky set; but again, because all the cards featured Chucky, not principal actors. Many titles are restricted like that, otherwise we'd be pumping out more sets. It's possible larger companies that focus only on cards have some way of getting around that with their licensing deal, but we spend a lot of money on licensing per year and I've tried hard to get rights to be able to do certain things to no avail.
Thanks so much for your reply Ben. Card collectors are always interested in how the business really works within the card industry because so much of the time we wander around going why, why, why? It's great to get some expert answers now and then.
Your Dead cards got a nice article in the March NSU and I see that Fright Rags also has Creepshow in the future. From the comments it sounds like you have found a sweet spot, so best wishes for continued success in providing us with old favorites and fun horror titles. [/QUOTE]
____________________ FRIGHT-RAGS kick-*** horror shirts and accessories www.fright-rags.com
March 11, 2021, 02:58 PM
mykdude
quote:
Originally posted by Ben - Fright-Rags: However, in the case of a movie like JAWS, we technically have "trading card rights" but we cannot use any likeness on the cards at all, so it would literally only be a set featuring images of the shark. To obtain those rights we would have to get approval from each estate (other companies like NECA have done that for figures), but it would add on to the approval process, cost, etc. and complicate the entire project.
Thanks for the great response Ben. I also missed the announcement for DotD release so I can only hope to catch an autograph card or two on the secondary market.
Of course a decent JAWS set has always been a hope for me as a collector. Out of curiosity, does the rights to a likeness change if the set was art based instead of actual images from the film? I have seen other art based sets with the assumption that this was a way to get around certain license restrictions.
Is this true or am I way off base?
____________________ Just because it's rare doesn't mean it's valuable.
March 12, 2021, 11:21 AM
Ben - Fright-Rags
In general, if a license doesn't include likenesses then you are not allowed to use them in any way, even if it's artwork depicting them. For example, on our JAWS "Chum Bucket" shirt, the view is from inside the shark's mouth and you see Brody turned away from the boat as he's slinging chum (like he did in the film when the shark emerged from the water), so we were able to do that since we only used the side of Roy's face.
There may be exceptions; if we took away his likeness and just made a very cartoon version of him or even in the case of Funko POPs where all recognizable features are removed and only the "character" remains.
Licensing can get really tricky and complicated when it comes to likenesses which makes us definitely have to get creative but poses further issues as it relates to trading cards.
quote:
Originally posted by mykdude:
quote:
Originally posted by Ben - Fright-Rags: However, in the case of a movie like JAWS, we technically have "trading card rights" but we cannot use any likeness on the cards at all, so it would literally only be a set featuring images of the shark. To obtain those rights we would have to get approval from each estate (other companies like NECA have done that for figures), but it would add on to the approval process, cost, etc. and complicate the entire project.
Thanks for the great response Ben. I also missed the announcement for DotD release so I can only hope to catch an autograph card or two on the secondary market.
Of course a decent JAWS set has always been a hope for me as a collector. Out of curiosity, does the rights to a likeness change if the set was art based instead of actual images from the film? I have seen other art based sets with the assumption that this was a way to get around certain license restrictions.
Is this true or am I way off base?
____________________ FRIGHT-RAGS kick-*** horror shirts and accessories www.fright-rags.com
Fingers crossed I pull my holy grail Nick Castle autograph! 
of their Halloween cards which are now sold out also, and they're all still unopened. If and when I do sit down and open everything I want to be prepared for the large amount of base sets I will have to deal with, and right now I'm not (prepared). I would need plenty of snap cases or small card boxes and then mailers or shipping boxes on top of that, and I don't have it in me to figure all that out at the moment. So sealed is where everything will stay, for now. 
It's great to get some expert answers now and then.