I agree, Batman. It's always fun to open packs so loaded with good stuff. There's a reason the price of those Star Wars Galaxy 6 boxes immediately went through the roof and stayed there, they were worth it. I also really loved the Razor Ink Vaults, those were a lot of fun, the randomness of what was in them and the potential to get a really nice autograph for my collection.

As to Raven's point about the relative value of things, I also don't consider my break worth $260....to me, but some of the cards I'm not interested in keeping are worth something to someone, and that was definitely figured into it before I made the purchase. I simply could not have afforded to buy 3 boxes of this unless I knew I could get at least some of the money back.

I'm very much in a place where if I wind up paying a net price of around $40 per box of cards (for the cards from it that I keep), I consider that "worth" it, even though I could've no doubt bought the resulting cards to be added to my collection for less from someone dumping the regular cards after selling the hits. But what you miss out with then is the chance to pull a really fantastic card, and that's definitely worth something, too, that chance.

Before the days of sketches and costume cards, that's exactly what I did, paid anywhere from $25 to $40 for a box, and happily kept everything from it. Things haven't really changed for me, there's just an extra step to do now. It has worked out well for me in that I wouldn't have close to as much cool stuff as I have in my collection if it wasn't for sketch and costume cards, the presence of which allows me to buy more boxes of the cards I like, even though it has raised the overall prices of boxes.

All right, that's enough ruminating from me on this. I'll not chime in further here unless I've got some more cards to show. I'm on the fence, but might buy another box or two before it's all said and done.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:

As to Raven's point about the relative value of things, I also don't consider my break worth $260....to me, but some of the cards I'm not interested in keeping are worth something to someone, and that was definitely figured into it before I made the purchase. I simply could not have afforded to buy 3 boxes of this unless I knew I could get at least some of the money back.

I'm very much in a place where if I wind up paying a net price of around $40 per box of cards (for the cards from it that I keep), I consider that "worth" it, even though I could've no doubt bought the resulting cards to be added to my collection for less from someone dumping the regular cards after selling the hits. But what you miss out with then is the chance to pull a really fantastic card, and that's definitely worth something, too, that chance.

Before the days of sketches and costume cards, that's exactly what I did, paid anywhere from $25 to $40 for a box, and happily kept everything from it. Things haven't really changed for me, there's just an extra step to do now. It has worked out well for me in that I wouldn't have close to as much cool stuff as I have in my collection if it wasn't for sketch and costume cards, the presence of which allows me to buy more boxes of the cards I like, even though it has raised the overall prices of boxes.

All right, that's enough ruminating from me on this. I'll not chime in further here unless I've got some more cards to show. I'm on the fence, but might buy another box or two before it's all said and done.

Your ruminations are most welcome, its not just about pretty pictures. In fact it's this kind of discussion that serves to inform collectors about new products and helps them to decide how much is right for them.

quote:

All right, that's enough ruminating from me on this. I'll not chime in further here unless I've got some more cards to show. I'm on the fence, but might buy another box or two before it's all said and done.

I ordered two more boxes this weekend, and who knows what I will purchase in Allentown!

Results of my two additional boxes, the auto is a duplicate which I will bring to Allentown for trading, but the sketches are first class!

Okay, so now I've busted two boxes. No autos, unfortunately, but I think the sketches might fetch a decent amount. Altogether, I got six costume cards and two sketch cards. While I don't know the artist's sig for the deadpool sketch (Web?), I do know the Spidey one is Eugene Commodore (he only did 12 cards, I believe). So that's cool. Fully-designed sketches, three Loki costume cards, a trio, and a quad. Not bad. Let me know if you're interested in anything!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: fan_fic_fan,

I wanted to thank you Chesspiece for a very nice, very detailed review of this set.

I've been unable to get any of these cases out here. Yesterday I picked up the only box that my hobby store I frequent could get. I'm eyeing a case, but at $1200 I cannot really afford that. So, this one box will have to do. Granted this box was amazing tho I'm still in shock.

Congrats on the great box!

Your haul comprises several boxes worth of "hits" from recent sets (Thor and Captain America, for instance), so you can see why Avengers Assemble boxes are selling for nearly double the usual price for these kinds of boxes, while the Thor and Cap boxes can now be had for $40, down $20 from the original selling price.

A box of Star Wars Galaxy 6 was also worth double the other recent series, right out of the gate, as boxes had double the usual amount of hits.
It's happened a few other times and usually occurs when the previous set from a franchise didn't do well, resulting in smaller pre-orders for the next set. Since the "hits" are made well in advance, and many more were created than were ultimately needed for the reduced print run, the manufacturs simply load the products, to be rid of the extra cards. It's hard to predict, but I'm sure (small, at least) fortunes have been made using this knowledge, and in sports cards, certainly. As with all things being bought and sold, supply and demand is ever the key.

All of this to say you never know which sets you can wait on, (and possibly even purchase at a bargain price later on), and which ones you had to have pre-ordered for any chance at a reasonable price for them.

It's not only extra hits that can propel a product. For instance, with "Twilight", Inkworks sent out an email about 2 months before it was released indicating autographs would not be in the set as advertised previously, and therefore cases were now being offered at $100 less than solicited. Anyone who'd already ordered could either have the partial refund or cancel their cases. I was on the fence with those just because I knew the movies were going to be hugely popular, but not caring so much for memorabilia cards, I cancelled my half case order and picked up something else with the money. Whatever I bought could not as been as good from a value standpoint as the price of those cards, despite containing only memorabilia cards, immediately soared out of sight.
Similar to "Twilight" are the boxes for "Walking Dead" and "Big Bang Theory". Even though there's not a crazy amount of hits in boxes, try a find them for any where near the original price now.

All of these sets were released at the peak of their subjects popularity, so even some people who don't ordinarily collect cards are picking them up.

The Avengers cards should heat up even more now that the movie is here. It's supposed to be "Iron Man" and "Spider-Man 2" good.

Game of Thrones and Mars Attacks are going to be the next big hits, I think, just a tip.

And all of that to say, I'm glad you were able to get at least one box of Avengers. You did better than I did with my four boxes, and yet I still feel like a got a good value. That's a pretty unusual statement.

And finally, welcome to the board! I grew up in New Mexico (1978-1986, age 7 to 16), and I loved it there. I can actually remember all of the non-sports cards I bought back then, usually at Sprouse-Reitz, Snappy Mart, or the local T.G. & Y (no Walmarts or Targets back then). I can still remember tearing into wrappers for Empire Strikes Back, E.T., Return of the Jedi, James Bond Moonraker, and the Dark Crystal from Donruss (and maybe a couple packs of Michael Jackson, Hee Hee!!!).

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:

All of this to say you never know which sets you can wait on, (and possibly even purchase at a bargain price later on), and which ones you had to have pre-ordered for any chance at a reasonable price for them.

Similar to "Twilight" are the boxes for "Walking Dead" and "Big Bang Theory". Even though there's not a crazy amount of hits in boxes, try a find them for any where near the original price now.

As usual you have expressed your insight very well and I don't disagree with your take on the subject, but I would add to what I feel is the deciding factor that pushes Walking Dead, BBT and the UD Avengers into value over the SRP. Yes the product is limited and they all have a card collector type fan base, but the autographs of stars and the WD rare sketches are going for BIG money. I'm looking at consistent figures in the over $350 range on eBay for the autographs of Avengers and BBT. Its less for WD, but the rare sketches are doing well.

Obviously there is no guarantee that you will get any autograph from a box of Avengers, that you will get any sketch from a box of WD, or that you will get the right big 5 autographs from BBT. However the chance is there and that can only broaden the appeal of these products to dealers, speculators and card collectors outside of the normal fan base that would want them. The box/case prices for those 3 releases are being driven by this because it substantially increases the demand on a supply that has already been set.

I just hope that no one starts talking about card investments again because the asking prices for the autographs and sketches in these products is so high coming out of the gate that I don't see how they can have much room for re-sale increase after that first buyer takes ownership from the seller who pulled it.

I wouldn't worry about any speculating with the Avengers, at least, since those boxes will be gone soon, even at their inflated prices. (Original price on those was $84, I think, making them expensive in the first place, so Upper Deck must've known they had to load these boxes.)

What these hot releases have in common is that it seems like the source material they are based on is pretty much guaranteed to continue to be produced for years to come. Also, the card companies making these particular sets, Crytozoic and Upper Deck, seem to have legs enough to stay in business for the foreseeable future.

The Artbox Harry Potter sets were huge right out of the gate because people knew there'd be more of them to collect. About halfway through, it becames inconceivable that Artbox wouldn't make them all the way through Deathly Hallows 2, and to their credit, they got it done, even as it seems they might be now withering away (I hope not!).

With the television show "season" sets, buyers of the initial release are basically being told there will be more sets, for why else would the cards be designated with a certain season if not? Walking Dead is already renewed for two more seasons worth of episodes, I think, and it's likely there will many more than that once it's over. Big Bang Theory could even "jump the shark" with this week's episode and it'd still be able to coast along for a few more years, no doubt about it.

With Avengers, there already have been several recent Marvel movie sets, and the popularity of these new Avengers cards seems to assure there will to be more of them, to go with many Marvel movies which should come out a couple per year for at least the next 5 years, that estimate based on the success of those that have been released thus far, and the now guaranteed success of the Avengers movie which has already made nearly 200 million overseas. These Marvel move sets absolutely would've been Topps sets in the old days, so that license was a huge get for Upper Deck. They were wise to pick it up when they still had so much sport card money.

Speaking of Topps, it's now difficult to imagine a year without a new Star Wars set (or three) being released by them. They are coming up on 20 years in a row releasing at least one Star Wars related set. It is likely that streak will continue for years to come, and that consistentcy has surely helped cement a certain amount of sales for each new Star Wars set at pre-order, which has been a very good thing for the hobby, especially during the leaner years. Topps is a rock.

As for companies issuing these "hot" cards, Cryptozoic, while new, clearly has big money behind it, and their first few sets have been well received and they already have more sets announced. Upper Deck was always more iffy in terms of nonsports. They seemed to only dabble in them when their main business was sports cards, but they've lost so many big league sports licenses lately, they are clearly putting MUCH more effort into their non sports sets these days. They are likely much more reliant on non-sports money now than they ever have been in the 20+ year history of the company.

These particular card collectibles, currently enjoying such success in online markets, are clearly appealing to more than just the usual card collectors since we don't have that kind of money, haha. But seriously, there is a good chance people buying these Walking Dead and BBT cards in particular have never bought cards before. I know that was true with "Twilight", so that has to be good for our hobby since it means more sets from more manufacturers in the long run.

Granted, not all of the resulting sets will be to each collector's taste, but its better to have a lot to choose from.

During our trip to NYC yesterday we stopped at Midtown Comics and they had a sale on Avengers boxes so I picked one up. Hit the Renner 4 packs in and also pulled a nice Spidey sketch!

Impressive...most impressive.

~Alan

quote:

Originally posted by A_Biegel:
Impressive...most impressive.

~Alan

That really is! Great box, Batman!

Batman strikes again

quote:

Originally posted by Batman:
During our trip to NYC yesterday we stopped at Midtown Comics and they had a sale on Avengers boxes so I picked one up. Hit the Renner 4 packs in and also pulled a nice Spidey sketch!

I think I'm going to find you at the next Allentown show and have you help me pick out my boxes! I'm on a losing streak for the longest time...

Congrats on the pulls!

Are these costumes screen worn or are they just used in the making of type of costumes, like the lord of the rings costume cards? They do look really awesome, and it's amazing there are so many of them.

Anyone know of a checklist ???

quote:

Originally posted by Mister E.:
Anyone know of a checklist ???

Here

Finally got 3 boxes of this! Talk about a huge set, WOW! Between 3 hobby boxes, and I think 10 retail rack packs, we made 2 base sets. It was a relief to not double up too bad on the hobby inserts. Still need to fill the holes but I only counted 5 dupes from them so pretty good I think.

Got 1 Colm Feore auto which was a nice surprise, 3 sketches and the rest were costumes ranging from singles duos trips and quads.



Thor by Boo, Mockingbird by Diana Greenhalgh (only did 38 it appears?) and Can anyone tell me who drew the Vision?

Vision is by Elvin Hernandez

Thanks Igman!