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Gold Card Talk Member
Picture of X
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I've been reading Upper Deck's website, trying to grasp the e-pack element of this product but still feel almost none the wiser.

What I have read that I DO understand!
- Combine 10 copies of any individual 2016 Alien Anthology digital base card on Upper Deck e-Pack™ to receive an e-Pack exclusive red foil parallel of that card with the ability to have the physical card mailed to you.

- Collect and combine 10 copies of any individual red foil base parallel card on Upper Deck e-Pack™ to receive an e-Pack exclusive orange foil parallel of that card with the ability to have the physical card mailed to you.

- Collect the e-Pack Exclusive 3-card Alien Anthology Achievement set!
Collectors who complete the following sets on Upper Deck e-Pack™ and elect to utilize them for the corresponding achievement card by 9/29/2016 at 11:59pm (PST) will have an exclusive achievement insert card added to their e-Pack collection, with the ability to have the physical card mailed to them. Collect them all to complete the 3-card achievement set!
> Complete a space Marine Dog Tags set (15 cards) to earn the exclusive SP1 achievement card.
> Complete a Base Red Foil parallel set (94 cards) to earn the exclusive SP2 achievement card.
> Complete a Base Orange Foil parallel set (94 cards) to earn the exclusive SP3 achievement card.

Pictures of cards SP1, SP2, SP3 can be found here:
https://www.upperdeckepack.com/News/LoadNews

Then there are 10 Alien Anthology Quad Autos available featuring Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, Charles Dutton and Ron Perlman. To get one, you have to complete an Alien Anthology Master Set (base set, silver foil parallel set, 3-card achievement set, W-Y Propaganda Art set, Character Bios set, and a Legendary Game Art set) by 9/29/2016.

Eek

The money needed to compile all of the above would be astronomical and I really don't get how dealers will assemble any of this let alone collectors. I am not the biggest fan of parallels but decided to do the normal silver parallel set for Alien Anthology because it wasn't daft money, but these red, and orange ones... even if somehow, someone managed to do the set, if they decided to sell it, how on earth would they price it? I don't want to get into the 'value' of trading cards debate but I could never see the asking price for this set being worth the money you'd need to invest to get it in the first place. We're talking THOUSANDS of dollars for parallel base sets.

As for the bits I don't get... there are people on Blowout saying, "I pulled this etc." and we're seeing sketch cards, autos etc. They're talking like they're real cards. So to those more familiar with Upper Deck's electronic product, does that mean if you buy a digital pack and 'pull' and auto for example, you have the option to receive the physical version of that card? There is a guy on COMC who is asking $500 for an Ian Holm autograph card so that must be a hard copy and not just a digital image. So great, there was an Ian Holm auto all along, and who knows how hard it will be to get, obviously an exclusive of one of the best characters in the franchise to hook people into this nonsense.

If you CAN receive a physical auto/dog tag/sketch after 'pulling' it in an e-Pack I understand a casual collector trying a few packs here and there for a bit of low-level gambling, but who has the finances and stamina to chase down all these parallels and exclusive cards. I don't get who this product is aimed at at all. Can ANYONE complete it??? And then you have deadlines in September, so a whopping 2 months! to chase certain exclusive cards down if you're mad enough to try it. Twak Who will manage it that quickly? What will happen to the cards that are inevitably going to go unclaimed? ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH

I don't want to sound overly dramatic but I think it is bit disgusting that it looks like Upper Deck held back a lot of the production run for this product. I have no problem with any card company making money, they are a business after all but it just looks very sly to shift product by flogging electronic **** (nothing!) to get people to chase down cards that should have been in the initial cases.
More broadly, what will this do to values of what is out there? How much is truly available? Will we see a lot more autos hit the market? At least it explains why we have seen barely any product, especially sketch cards already.

A much better company than Upper Deck deserved this licence. Hell, even Topps would have been better. Did I just say that?!?
 
Posts: 3136 | Location: England | Registered: June 23, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Diamond Card Talk Member
Picture of Raven
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Trying to understand your post makes my head hurt. Let me rephrase that, trying to understand what UD is doing makes my head hurt.

Is it supposed to be clever to need an instruction sheet to buy trading cards, physical or otherwise? Then I guess I fail at clever, but what I do get is the part about premium hits that you thought went to one product, winding up in another.

As far as I'm concerned the e-Pack trend, just like the Pokémon Go lunacy, can get along without me. Wink
 
Posts: 10382 | Location: New York | Registered: November 20, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Silver Card Talk Member
Picture of Ryan Cracknell
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quote:
Originally posted by X:

As for the bits I don't get... there are people on Blowout saying, "I pulled this etc." and we're seeing sketch cards, autos etc. They're talking like they're real cards. So to those more familiar with Upper Deck's electronic product, does that mean if you buy a digital pack and 'pull' and auto for example, you have the option to receive the physical version of that card? There is a guy on COMC who is asking $500 for an Ian Holm autograph card so that must be a hard copy and not just a digital image. So great, there was an Ian Holm auto all along, and who knows how hard it will be to get, obviously an exclusive of one of the best characters in the franchise to hook people into this nonsense.

If you CAN receive a physical auto/dog tag/sketch after 'pulling' it in an e-Pack I understand a casual collector trying a few packs here and there for a bit of low-level gambling, but who has the finances and stamina to chase down all these parallels and exclusive cards. I don't get who this product is aimed at at all. Can ANYONE complete it??? And then you have deadlines in September, so a whopping 2 months! to chase certain exclusive cards down if you're mad enough to try it. Twak Who will manage it that quickly? What will happen to the cards that are inevitably going to go unclaimed? ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH

I don't want to sound overly dramatic but I think it is bit disgusting that it looks like Upper Deck held back a lot of the production run for this product. I have no problem with any card company making money, they are a business after all but it just looks very sly to shift product by flogging electronic **** (nothing!) to get people to chase down cards that should have been in the initial cases.
More broadly, what will this do to values of what is out there? How much is truly available? Will we see a lot more autos hit the market? At least it explains why we have seen barely any product, especially sketch cards already.

A much better company than Upper Deck deserved this licence. Hell, even Topps would have been better. Did I just say that?!?


ePack is a mix of digital and physical. Every pack has one card that is physical. It starts in your ePack account where you can keep it or you can move it to your COMC.com account and either flip it or ship it (or have it sit there until you have a few you want shipped).

The base cards are digital until you do the combining thing you mention. So in a sense, it's like trading.

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Posts: 1177 | Location: Nanaimo, BC | Registered: November 17, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Gold Card Talk Member
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quote:
Originally posted by Ryan Cracknell:
ePack is a mix of digital and physical. Every pack has one card that is physical. It starts in your ePack account where you can keep it or you can move it to your COMC.com account and either flip it or ship it (or have it sit there until you have a few you want shipped).

The base cards are digital until you do the combining thing you mention. So in a sense, it's like trading.


Thanks for your reply Ryan. You make it sound pretty straight forward.

Right, so if someone buys an ePack, 'opens it' and you 'pull' an autograph card, you have essentially got a physical version of that card? (Once you've transferred it across accounts/shipped it etc?)

Thanks,
 
Posts: 3136 | Location: England | Registered: June 23, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I see that Upper Deck had an exclusive San Diego Con promo for this last week

Is this the only Alien related promo that UD has produced ?
 
Posts: 4714 | Location: Bayonne, NJ, USA | Registered: May 06, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Silver Card Talk Member
Picture of Ryan Cracknell
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quote:
Originally posted by X:

Thanks for your reply Ryan. You make it sound pretty straight forward.

Right, so if someone buys an ePack, 'opens it' and you 'pull' an autograph card, you have essentially got a physical version of that card? (Once you've transferred it across accounts/shipped it etc?)

Thanks,


That is correct. I bought a couple of packs and got basic foil parallels.

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Posts: 1177 | Location: Nanaimo, BC | Registered: November 17, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Diamond Card Talk Member
Picture of Raven
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quote:
Originally posted by Raven:
quote:
Originally posted by Ryan Cracknell:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by X:

That is correct. I bought a couple of packs and got basic foil parallels.


So you paid $5.99 for a basic foil parallel in your hand and a few virtual cards in a virtual vault? Nice. Twak Big Grin

Really. if you want them, wouldn't it be better to just buy the darn cards when they show up? Confused

And while I started to think about this, most of the autograph cards are the same, although at least a few and the multiple signatures appear exclusive. So now you are talking about card values from another product. Is a similar card going to be the same, or should the e-Pack card cost more than the same one from Alien Anthology, or should the ones in Alien Anthology go down because the supply is now greater than was believed before?

Can we tell the difference if it is from an e-Pack or a regular pack? I guess it's on the card back, but I don't know because I haven't seen one.

I mean there are a lot of questions here and the most important one to me is how much real stuff you thought was going into the physical Alien Anthology was really earmarked to go out in a virtual/physical product that collectors didn't even know was going to be made.

I'm quitting now before I think of some other consequence to this thing that annoys me. Wink
 
Posts: 10382 | Location: New York | Registered: November 20, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Silver Card Talk Member
Picture of Ryan Cracknell
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quote:
Originally posted by Raven:


So you paid $5.99 for a basic foil parallel in your hand and a few virtual cards in a virtual vault? Nice. Twak Big Grin

Really. if you want them, wouldn't it be better to just buy the darn cards when they show up? Confused

And while I started to think about this, most of the autograph cards are the same, although at least a few and the multiple signatures appear exclusive. So now you are talking about card values from another product. Is a similar card going to be the same, or should the e-Pack card cost more than the same one from Alien Anthology, or should the ones in Alien Anthology go down because the supply is now greater than was believed before?

Can we tell the difference if it is from an e-Pack or a regular pack? I guess it's on the card back, but I don't know because I haven't seen one.

I mean there are a lot of questions here and the most important one to me is how much real stuff you thought was going into the physical Alien Anthology was really earmarked to go out in a virtual/physical product that collectors didn't even know was going to be made.

I'm quitting now before I think of some other consequence to this thing that annoys me. Wink
[/QUOTE]

So you've never bought a pack of cards before and gotten skunked?

e-Pack is merely another pack configuration. The cards are the same as the "regular" ones minus the whole digital aspect. Think of them like hobby vs. retail. We don't seem to get bent out of shape too much about that distinction. It's not that much different here. It's just a very different platform that has some pros and cons.

And yes, with the 2016 Marvel Masterpieces I went the singles route instead of packs. COMC is flooded with base cards so I was able to put together the entire base set except for the 9 cards /99 for the price of a handful of packs.

____________________
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http://www.tradercracks.com

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Posts: 1177 | Location: Nanaimo, BC | Registered: November 17, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Diamond Card Talk Member
Picture of Raven
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Ryan Cracknell:
quote:
Originally posted by Raven:


So you paid $5.99 for a basic foil parallel in your hand and a few virtual cards in a virtual vault? Nice. Twak Big Grin

Really. if you want them, wouldn't it be better to just buy the darn cards when they show up? Confused

And while I started to think about this, most of the autograph cards are the same, although at least a few and the multiple signatures appear exclusive. So now you are talking about card values from another product. Is a similar card going to be the same, or should the e-Pack card cost more than the same one from Alien Anthology, or should the ones in Alien Anthology go down because the supply is now greater than was believed before?

Can we tell the difference if it is from an e-Pack or a regular pack? I guess it's on the card back, but I don't know because I haven't seen one.

I mean there are a lot of questions here and the most important one to me is how much real stuff you thought was going into the physical Alien Anthology was really earmarked to go out in a virtual/physical product that collectors didn't even know was going to be made.

I'm quitting now before I think of some other consequence to this thing that annoys me. Wink


So you've never bought a pack of cards before and gotten skunked?

e-Pack is merely another pack configuration. The cards are the same as the "regular" ones minus the whole digital aspect. Think of them like hobby vs. retail. We don't seem to get bent out of shape too much about that distinction. It's not that much different here. It's just a very different platform that has some pros and cons.

And yes, with the 2016 Marvel Masterpieces I went the singles route instead of packs. COMC is flooded with base cards so I was able to put together the entire base set except for the 9 cards /99 for the price of a handful of packs.[/QUOTE]



Ryan, I just got done reading your Non-Sport Notes in the new NSU and as you say card makers "are pouring a lot of effort and money into digital cards". You describe it as a normal change, and if it's not your thing that's fine, but it shouldn't be dismissed as inferior. Your words.

It's not as simple as that. It's not just pros and cons either. It's a totally different mentality from what we are as card collectors. And while companies are pouring a lot of effort and money into digital cards, your words, what are they doing with the physical products that has always been the hobby?

This is a significant issue, particularly if it is going to be pursued in the manner you described and I really can't outline my objections in a single public post. Suffice to say, we are not going to agree on it, but you can always ring me up to chat. Smile

To answer your question, I have gotten skunked on sealed packs and boxes more times than I care to remember, but I keep coming back because there is nothing like busting packs and having binders full of trading cards as a reminder of how you wasted your life and enjoyed most of your time doing it. Big Grin
 
Posts: 10382 | Location: New York | Registered: November 20, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by Raven:

Ryan, I just got done reading your Non-Sport Notes in the new NSU and as you say card makers "are pouring a lot of effort and money into digital cards". You describe it as a normal change, and if it's not your thing that's fine, but it shouldn't be dismissed as inferior. Your words.

It's not as simple as that. It's not just pros and cons either. It's a totally different mentality from what we are as card collectors. And while companies are pouring a lot of effort and money into digital cards, your words, what are they doing with the physical products that has always been the hobby?

This is a significant issue, particularly if it is going to be pursued in the manner you described and I really can't outline my objections in a single public post. Suffice to say, we are not going to agree on it, but you can always ring me up to chat. Smile

To answer your question, I have gotten skunked on sealed packs and boxes more times than I care to remember, but I keep coming back because there is nothing like busting packs and having binders full of trading cards as a reminder of how you wasted your life and enjoyed most of your time doing it. Big Grin


I'm not sure what it is "we are not going to agree on." I'm simply trying to clarify how it works. Things are being dismissed as bad before they're fully understood.

Yes, change is happening. Companies are looking to expand their audiences and revenues. That includes digital. That includes physical.

Upper Deck's ePack is trying both at the same time. It's a different format that isn't for everyone. That's fine. From what I see, some are enjoying it. For me, I think I've bought four or five packs total on there. Casual user might be generous. But it's also creating some great prices (for physical cards) on things on the secondary market and as a buyer I like that.

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Posts: 1177 | Location: Nanaimo, BC | Registered: November 17, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Well I'm already on COMC so figured I'd try a e-pack of these, you never know your luck in a raffle they say, and I still need a couple autos and other bits...

First pack yielded me base and one silver foil I actually neeeded (out of a about 20 I'm missing), so I took that as a good omen to buy another. Got the same again but I didn't need the silver in that one. So a tenner spent on one foil and electronic base cards I can do nothing with. Now I remember why I don't buy sealed product anymore!!!

On the upside it inspired me to have a look on COMC for Alien Anthology cards and for the same money as two e-packs I found another printing plate I needed, and for the cost of one e-pack I bought a red parallel base card, which felt money far better spent.

I don't know why I was getting wound up about these impossible to get parallels when I should have (and now will do) what I do with Bond: just buy one of each parallel for a favourite card from the set. I now have the regular base, silver parallel, red parellel, and printing plate of an Alien 3 card, so I just need the orange parallel if one ever comes up. Roll Eyes
 
Posts: 3136 | Location: England | Registered: June 23, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post



Diamond Card Talk Member
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I don't think there has ever been a thread here discussing the finer points of COMC. I'm familiar with it in general, but never tried to use it. I don't know how many collectors here have ever used it.

If I were selling, I think I would be reluctant to send in very valuable cards for them to hold. So I don't know how many good cards are for sale or if it is just a lot of bulk cards that are surplus inventory.

If anyone has opinions or advise it might be an informative thread to start. Not in Alien Anthology, but in it's own thread. Smile
 
Posts: 10382 | Location: New York | Registered: November 20, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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One look at COMC postage charges and i know i will not be having anything to do with them, it's the GSP all over again. Shake Head

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Posts: 28999 | Location: wolverhampton staffs uk | Registered: July 19, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Slow down wolfman, I for one would never use COMC if they're shipping was akin to the GSP, which I find to be disgusting. I am not scared of regular airmail, having lost maybe two things in all the years. And you've just made me jinx it!
I have a few cards 'resting' in my account ready to be shipped - here are the shipping options to the UK from their site assuming I requested shipment today:

Delivered in 1-2 months
$4.99 - Economy (No Tracking)
Delivered Duties Unpaid

Delivered in 3-8 weeks
$5.74 - Economy Rushed (No Tracking)
Delivered Duties Unpaid

Delivered Friday, September 2
$39.99 - Priority
Delivered Duties Unpaid

Delivered Saturday, August 20
$40.74 - Priority Rushed
Delivered Duties Unpaid

Delivered Saturday, August 13
$76.49 - Express Rushed
Delivered Duties Unpaid

I have only had them ship me a bunch of cards once last year and I think it was no more than $4. All were well packed and arrived in a timely manner. Very impressed.

I don't profess to know all the finer points of COMC, and the selection is no-where near eBay, and with a far poorer search engine, but I REALLY like it as a platform. I would recommend it because:
- Whatever program they run allows you to compare the same card from different sellers very easily side by side.
- Because COMC have everything in hand, the image quality/scans of what you are buying is superb and there is no doubt as to condition. You can flip the card over to see the back and zoom as well!
- You can make sellers offers and should your offer be too low it will tell you what the sellers minimum accepted price is. They can still refuse that price/offer(!) but it sure does keep things simple and transparent.
- I love that you buy the cards and they are then just held in 'stasis' for you. You can keep buying more at your complete leisure and have then shipped whenever YOU want.
- You have the option of adding a toploader per card for 20c, which is nothing. I LOVE having the reassurance that I know how my cards will be protected because even a toploader is not guaranteed with every eBay seller these days.
- As mentioned above, CHEAP international shipping options.
- A selection of cards that are not always as heavily available on eBay and sometimes for VERY good prices. After 6 years of looking I found on there the mega scarce Empire Strikes Back 3D (30th Anniversary) promo P1 for a tenner. Also very good for finding singles some sellers can't be arsed to list on eBay.

I'd recommend any collector give it a look, you never know what you may find. Thumb Up
 
Posts: 3136 | Location: England | Registered: June 23, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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yes yes, but apart from all that...... Big Grin

I have to admit i have only seen ebay auctions mentioning COMC and the postage allways looked crazy. Are you saying i should be looking somewhere else?

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Posts: 28999 | Location: wolverhampton staffs uk | Registered: July 19, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Funny you say that wolfie, I actually saw an Alien Anthology auto listed on eBay last week ('fulfilled by COMC'), and saw the stupid shipping you mention. That prompted me to go direct to their site to buy the same thing with cheaper shipping options that don't need to meet eBay's ever more particular shipping rules! Oh my memory. Big Grin

Just use their main site. Free to make an account as well but you don't need one to browse.
http://www.comc.com/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: X,
 
Posts: 3136 | Location: England | Registered: June 23, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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It has its own marketplace on comc.com. You have to go to the non-sport card section and be prepared to spend a lot of time. I never dug very deeply into it because the autograph cards that I always look for seemed way overpriced. I mean cards I got for $30 had starting at $99 tags.

I don't know if that is supposed to be negotiable or not, but I get turned off fast and I never really went back. That's why, when the subject came up again, I am curious if other collectors find it useful now.
 
Posts: 10382 | Location: New York | Registered: November 20, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I agree Raven, some very overpriced stuff on there but no different to eBay in that regard.

I would find COMC even more useful if more people used it, so collectors have more variety and choice. I think it is the first legitimate competitor to eBay for cards and I am really struggling to see any negatives to using them.
 
Posts: 3136 | Location: England | Registered: June 23, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Thanks, i will take a look. Wavey

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Posts: 28999 | Location: wolverhampton staffs uk | Registered: July 19, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by X:
I agree Raven, some very overpriced stuff on there but no different to eBay in that regard.

I would find COMC even more useful if more people used it, so collectors have more variety and choice. I think it is the first legitimate competitor to eBay for cards and I am really struggling to see any negatives to using them.


Well some research has to be done, more so for sellers probably. I believe they are acting as a middle man, so you have to physically send your cards to them if you want to put them up for sell. For buyers, they are holding your cards until you want shipment. So the greatest risk would be that it closes up and everything goes "poof". I'm not at all saying that would happen, its just different from eBay in that regard where they conduct and monitor the transaction, but don't actually touch the merchandise.

The other big risk would be the security of stored payment information of buyers and sellers. That's true with all market websites, they are always under attack.

I'm going to take another look at it though, soon as I get a chance.
 
Posts: 10382 | Location: New York | Registered: November 20, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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