Having a sort out, it surprised me how many sets were released without ending. Those I would have liked to have seen more of were:

Charmed - only one season and then derivatives.
Gotham - only two seasons.
Once Upon a Time - only one season.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (Rittenhouse) - only two seasons.

These are only the ones that have hoved into view, but I dare say there are others. Anyone got any more they would have liked to have completed?

Alias - only needed season 5 to complete the series and I really wanted a Rachel Nichols autograph card .

"The Big Bang Theory" had a 12-season run, but only 4 card sets that ended with Seasons 6 & 7. I think that was probably the worst incomplete series that started in cards.

Lost a lot of great guest star autographs from the last 5 seasons, but I think the principal actors either didn't want to sign anymore or just cost too much to get. No one picked up the license.

I did the first 3 Big Bang Theory sets and did not do any more. Loved the show, the cards just did not cut it for me. Maybe others felt the same way and sales showed it. Who knows.

That first set of "The Big Bang Theory" Seasons 1 - 2 came out in 2012 and Cryptozoic was fairly new on the scene, so it was a big product for them. The thing I remember most about it was that it was the first title I was interested in that really shot up in price on the secondary market.

As I recall, it's SRP was about $70 a box and by the time I saw it, it was over $120. Not long after that it was over $200, if you could even find a box. For 2012, that was a record box price. So in a way, if you wanted to trace back the history of the premium hobby box, I think this product could have been the start of the really expensive stuff. The only other one I could compare it to is Inkwork's earlier original "Twilight" boxes that had no autographs and limited interest until it was released, sold out on short printing, and then went through the roof on the secondary market.

With TBBT cards, it was the autographs that drove box demand, especially Kaley Cuoco. She only appeared in the first two sets and was always extremely scarce. I agree that Crypto didn't do a good job on the base card photos and all you ever saw were pictures of the 5 - 7 principal actors. Crypto also took a long time between releases and by the 3rd set, which was for Season 5, interest had waned. Some of the stars were not signing anymore either.

The funny part is that both Inkworks and Cryptozoic probably didn't make a lot of profit from these sets when they were hot. Inkworks cut production on "Twilight" when it couldn't get any cast autographs and only had relic cards. They basically dumped it and whoever bought the boxes up made the big money. Same thing with TBBT cards. The boxes went over $200 each, but it wasn't Crypto making that profit. It was the third-party dealers.

It's hard to be a card maker. Even with a hit, you may still lose money, so some sets don't pay to finish.

It seems like most of the episodic series that had sets ended up not getting finished in terms of covering the entire series, so it's more the rule.

Breaking Bad
Sopranos
Six Feet Under
Parks & Rec
Rick & Morty
Walking Dead
Family Guy
Orphan Black
24
CSI

The list goes on and on and on

Credit to the makers of the ones that were finished
Breygent finished the original Dexter series.
Rittenhouse finished the original Games of Thrones and also True Blood, albeit with some abbreviated sets for the last few seasons.
Skybox back when was very thorough with Star Trek and ST: The Next Generation.
Inkworks got all of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, not sure about the Angel spin-off.
I think Cryptozoic, to their credit, wrapped up Smallville which Inkworks had started.
Not sure about Stargate and Xena, but I know Rittenhouse kept those going for a good while.
I'm not sure if the various manufacturers have collectively covered all of X-Files, but they must be close to it.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
It seems like most of the episodic series that had sets ended up not getting finished in terms of covering the entire series, so it's more the rule.

Yeah, is "The Boys" going to have any more cards? Does "Outlander" have a final season in cards? Are new "Doctor Who" cards still in production?

There are so many unknown factors involved in trying to keep up card sets while a show is still running. That's when there is still the most demand, but card production always has to be a season behind the actual show to be made. Some of these streaming shows have erratic schedules and it can be 18 - 24 months between seasons. A lot of things can happen over that time. Casts change, signers stop signing, the hot demand goes cold. It is an enormous risk for card manufacturers to sink long term money into projects that they don't really control.

"Stranger Things" is the prime example of a show that could have been a great card license and was barely made and badly done. That show took too long to air, got too repetitive and ultimately ended as a disappointment. In other words, it was typical of what happens to these series. Don't even mention "Lost", another failed and abandoned card series.

In many respects, doing card sets on shows already finished is much more predictable and safer, but they are not hot properties, so is there enough demand? RA has started "Fraiser" and "Cheers" just this past year and seem to have sold through. They are also trying to stay current with "House of the Dragon", and "Foundation" is even more of a risk. I don't know when or if new "Doctor Who" comes out. Some kind of Star Trek won't die as long as the license holds up.

Another title that has had extensive card coverage is the group of James Bond movies. RA did the best job on the majority of the films. UD now has the license and put out the last two sets. Who knows when a new Bond movie gets made and who knows when or if there will be anymore Bond cards.

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

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
It seems like most of the episodic series that had sets ended up not getting finished in terms of covering the entire series, so it's more the rule.

Breaking Bad

The Breaking Bad set did cover the entire series.

Mandalorian Season 3 was never released.