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| 2012 Mars Attacks Fiasco | Login/Join |
| NSU Elf |
So tell us how you really feel 
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Diamond Card Talk Member |
I quoted myself because that's what I did pretty much, except that I bought two boxes.  I don't think this set was a fiasco, I rather liked it up to a point. I never saw all the cards in the original Mars Attacks and a box will make a full set. The 5 3D cards are well done. There are different levels of color borders, green ones are the easiest to get. I liked the deleted scenes cards and don't know why they made New Universe. There were too many of these in each pack, but that's all Topps thought to do I guess. With the two boxes I did get a complete run of all the cards, but you do need two. I made another set for a friend. I didn't pull the autograph. Some are on eBay and they should have been done better. You can barely see the silver signature in the scans. A special card with a proper place to sign or even the same card signed on the back would have looked more attractive. Now my sketches were iffy. I will not name the artists because its probably not their fault. I got two Martian heads in B/W pen. The first was an OK copy of the ones in the cards, the second I swear looked more like the Ghost Rider skull than a Martian. The one thing that you have to consider is that these boxes cost me the price of one box that I normally buy. So its a cheap product by comparison. I had fun opening the packs and it was good to see thick cardstock again. I think it was shortchanged in the quality of sketches and small subsets, I'm not sure anyone would need to collect a different color border. Its not a fiasco, but Topps missed an opportunity to do something great. | |||
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Member |
Couldn't possibly agree more and it's exactly why I'm easy to please. I've never been one to rip & flip and only buy boxes/cases for sets I want to collect. As long as I get what is "guaranteed", I'm a happy camper. | |||
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Titanium Card Talk Member |
Well whose fault is it then, Henry Kissinger? ____________________ Come, it is time for you to keep your appointment with The Wicker Man. | |||
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| Member |
I bought a case and have opened 2 boxes so far. I'm pleased with the sketches but don't inderstand why there are more of the subset cards than the base set. | |||
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| Diamond Card Talk Member |
No, they stopped blaming him a long time ago, everything in the last four years has been George W's fault. What I meant was that the sketch artists for any card set are picked by the manufacturer and the sketches are ultimately either seeded in the packs or rejected by the manufacturer. There are an awful lot of B/W Martian heads in this product. I got two in my two boxes and you can see a bunch on eBay. I'm sure Topps told its artists that this was a preferred subject and it certainly approved them for insertion. Now you only have to look at the Indiana Jones cards for past history on how low Topps has set the bar for acceptable, especially when a lot of sketches are needed. Topps knew that they were going to put this 50th anniversary edition out, they could have taken a long time to commission all the sketches they needed and gotten some really good work. Judging by the quality I'm seeing I suspect that they didn't do that. If an artist takes a job to create a lot of sketches in a short amount of time the work will probably suffer. If that artist is not paid a lot per sketch it will really suffer. Since Mars Attacks is a fairly cheap buy as compared to some other titles, I can't believe a lot of money went to the artists in general. So what you are bound to get is quick sketches of lesser quality. I'm sure there are some really nice sketch cards from certain artists in the mix, but these look to be the exceptions here. Since the artwork on the original Mars Attacks cards was so good, its a shame that the new sketches are mainly B/W fish-bowl heads. And I do blame Topps for not demanding and paying for better. | |||
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Gold Card Talk Member |
Now that I've seen the Heritage cards and read much of the reaction, it seems that only the long term Mars Attacks fans don't like this new set, and that's fine, they have invested a lot into the cards over the years, particularly those who have a set of the original cards. The bigger picture however, indicates this set is far from a fiasco, and is in fact a real benefit to the hobby. Consider the original cards have been too expensive for the average collector for a long time. The 1994 reissue was limited and has also long been sold out so even that 1994 reissue set (along with the Lost cards and New Visions) has sold for $50 or more for years. So to all the "old-timers", I appreciate your devotion to the original Mars Attacks release, but this Mars Attacks Heritage issue puts an absolutely gorgeous reprint set of the classic 55 into the hands of younger collectors who weren't around for the 1994 Archives, let alone the original 1962 release. Why shouldn't younger collectors have a chance to own a set of these, and at what is after all, one of the lower prices to be found on any modern Topps card box being offered? An earlier post opined that 99% of the sketches in this release are basically trash, which sorry, is just true by no standard of "what is art" on Earth (check the breakdowns on the very board for simple proof that MOST of these sketches are passable if not downright good. Granted, there aren't too many that are Norman Saunders finished painting quality, but is that what people expect on every sketch card in this set?). I sure hope not, but whatever, and for that matter, never mind the sketches this time around, and the New Universe cards, even the 3D cards. That the original cards are finally reissued with such attention to detail is just a great thing for the legacy of Mars Attacks, as the younger generation can now see (and own) these images as they were intended to be seen, on actual cards. The fact is, because of the sketches and the other things casebreakers can sell, the set of base cards will be very affordable for the forseeable future, and without at all compromising the value or collectibility of the original cards or even the Archive version (the "Lost Cards" from that 1994 set, for some reason not reprinted this time, remain very collectible. They should've been reprinted this time along with the original 55, for sure). I just don't get all the hand wringing on this set or how so many people can agree with the original negative opinion that this was a fiasco, a very strong term that I feel should be reserved for actual fiascoes. That opinion, to me, seems to have been already been formulated well before the Heritage set was even released. To sum up, calling this set a fiasco is just way off base, since it is inexpensive limited edition that provides both undeniably beautiful reprint AND sketch cards, and puts the classic cards into the hands of modern collectors at a reasonable price for the first time in nearly 20 years. Thanks for this great set, Topps, now how about Mars Attacks II? (and make sure to reprint the Lost Cards and even the New Vision cards from the 1994 set next time around!)This message has been edited. Last edited by: chesspieceface, ____________________ Everywhere around this burg they're running out of verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. Everywhere around this town, they're running out of nouns. | |||
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| Silver Card Talk Member |
I was super excited for this set. My dad bought these cards when he was a kid and still has the cards, so I've known about Mars Attacks my entire life (luckily I had Dinosaurs Attack as a kid). I knew the 50th anniversary was coming, and I've been bugging Topps about it for the past 2 years. I think I put more effort into this set than any other I've done, painting 100 cards. If time would have allowed me to do 1,000, I would have done it in a heartbeat. I didn't really care if anyone liked my cards or not, but I was so close to the subject I wanted to "pay my respects" to the original set. It really sucks to read so much negativity about the sketch cards when some of us poured our hearts into every card. I don't want to say anything else about that because I'll just make people mad, including myself. For the price, I think this set turned out great. Yeah, it's another reprint, but there's enough new stuff complementing the original cards in it to make it fresh. Topps promoted the hell out of this set, and you can see they're trying to expand the brand with all the innovations beyond the set. When was the last time Topps had a presence at SDCC? There's more Mars Attacks merch available now than I think I've ever seen, even when the awful movie was out. I can only hope this leads to a new card series with new artwork, like a Masterpieces set. This really is a rebirth of the brand, think of this set as the origin story. Yeah, we all already know it, but you need to be able to set the stage to move forward. | |||
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Silver Card Talk Member |
I for one loved this set. I have always wanted to have a Mars Attacks set, albeit it’s a repro, but it looks excellent all the same. The packaging, repro base set and the 3D cards are beautiful, and I am very happy I bought a box on the basis of these alone. Most of the sketches I have seen on the bay are worth collecting (many are truly excellent too). Dealers may be unhappy that these aren’t selling for huge sums on the secondary market, but that’s the nature of the market that has been created by devaluing base and chase by so much that all profit and loss is based on the one insert, the sketch. ____________________ Aahhh, Beer! – The cause of, and solution to all our problems. | |||
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| Member |
I think the biggest disappointment here is that this is a product set up for dealers to make a little money on stuff other than sketches - specifically parallel cards, plates, autos, and master sets. the problem is all of those have grossly underperformed. topps should have not inserted the two inserts one per pack - they should have been tougher pulls to make master sets more difficult to build. having said that, there are only about 50 golds of each and they are just not performing the way they should (same for the silver and greens). | |||
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| Diamond Card Talk Member |
Hey snoopy351, I know you.  Welcome to Card Talk, what took you so long? | |||
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| Gold Card Talk Member |
Dealers who can afford to have patience will eventually be be able to sell the base sets for around $20, once all the boxes are gone and the sets have dried up, which will happen at some point. Mars Attacks has been popular for 50 years, what's 10 more years? A case yields 10 or 11 sets, let's just say 10 sets. That means there will ultimately be about $200 in the base cards alone, or about half of the price of a case. That certainly makes at least breaking even a possibility for most case buyers, as long as they can wait for a while for the base sets value to accrue in order to recoup the costs. If the parallels, autographs, sketches aren't worth what they should be, its just supply and demand. There's a lot to be had, and the Mars Attacks sketches are competing with the utterly saturated sketch card market. The price of the average sketch card has dropped. There's so many to choose from, it is truly now a buyer's market. So maybe this one wasn't too good for flippers, but hey, you win some and you lose some. But I've said if before and will say it again: if you have an extra $400 (or $700 or $1000!) for a case of cards and your main motivation is to make a profit from a quick-sell turnaround, I just think there are a lot better ways to spend the money to accomplish that goal, and one of them is sports cards. I just don't think too many people are getting rich from modern non sports cards. Hugely profitable-from-resale sets like "Twilight" and "Walking Dead" are the exception and not the rule. ____________________ Everywhere around this burg they're running out of verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. Everywhere around this town, they're running out of nouns. | |||
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| Diamond Card Talk Member |
So you're saying that dealers should be content to wait ten years so that they can sell $20 base sets? Ahh, I don't think you're going to get too many takers on that one. Look like I said, these cards have their merits. Its the artwork of the original Mars Attacks, its worth having even in a reprint set. The 3D cards are very good, but they only did five. The deleted scenes and new universe were too small and too many in the packs. Colored borders, not going to inspire anyone. Printing plates and autographs are very good, there should be more. And those sketches! If this is going to be some kind of continuing series the average sketch has got to be better. Please note that I said average, because that's how I judge a product whose main hit is a sketch. Take the best 50 sketches in any product and it will look awesome. Show me the average sketches, show me the worst sketches. That's when you get a feel for the quality of what was acceptable and what you are likely to get. Just look at Vampirella or Betty Page. They were premiums and cost $35 or $40 for a base and one sketch, same price range or less than one of these boxes. And just about every sketch I saw was good enough to keep, including the ones I pulled. Not all masterpieces to be sure, not ones that could all sell for profit, just reasonably good efforts by every artist in the lineup. Put that kind of effort into the sketches in the next Topps Mars Attacks set and see the difference it makes. | |||
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| Silver Card Talk Member |
Small correction required. The majority of the Vampirella packs came with two sketches not just one. So they were even better value | |||
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Silver Card Talk Member |
Sent Topps an email on September 4th about another missing sketch(2 out of 2 boxes). Funny, but for my birthday yesterday, I receive the email you are supposed to get back in three days-ha ha ha. I am happy I got my response but did not know that the new math was 3=24. I received my missing sketch yesterday from Topps. A nice pencil sketch of an Alien by John Ottinger.This message has been edited. Last edited by: Headless Horseman, ____________________ "Rise up once more, my Dark Avenger! Rise up, my unholy Horseman! Come forth again through the Tree of the Dead..." | |||
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| Silver Card Talk Member |
Life Magazine thought it was controversial. | |||
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| Gold Card Talk Member |
The writer of the piece (on page 4-6) indicates the controversy is born of the alarmist view taken of the Japanese as depicted on the "Horrors of War" cards, which repeatedly cite the aggressive Japanese tactics in their then recent war against China. The article ends with the opinion that if the US warred with Japan in the future (spoiler alert, we did), historians would attribute at least some of the blame to the Horrors of War trading cards and the clear role they played in influencing American kids of 1938 against Japan, really a significant charge to make in an article that also features a humorous photo montage of a boy blowing bubbles with the big hunk of Blony Bubble Gum that was issued with the cards! It was a hugely popular combo, the gum and war cards, with the article stating Blony was selling a million(!) slabs of gum a day, and that despite a lot of competition. So by the time Pearl Harbor happened just a few years later in 1941, I'll bet George Maull, the Sunday school teacher and editorial adviser for the "Horrors of Wars" set, was like, "See? See? I told you we had to watch out for those guys!" to anyone who would listen. Thanks for the look at a whole issue of Life from 1938, and the year's swimsuit issue, no less. Some of those pictures are too beautiful to be real. One of these days, I'm going to "Somewhere in Time" it back to the 1930's to meet some of those ladies! I also get a kick out of the ads in these old mags, beautifully illustrated many of them are, but the ad copy on the cigarette ones in particular almost reads like a Mad Magazine parody in our more politically correct and far more medically enlightened times. Check out the one for Camel cigarettes with Margaret Bourke White who they call "America's Famous Woman Photographer". Margaret: "When I'm tired I get a lift with a Camel. And at mealtime I enjoy a Camel for digestion's sake. You know there's just something about Camel's that AGREES with me -all around!" When Margaret's between assignments, we're informed, she does what most other young, attractive, alert New York women do, and she says "there's rarely a time when I haven't plenty of Camels along with me. Camels make a big difference in the fun I get out of smoking." Get a load of the picture of the newly anointed Archbishop Walsh from Newark on page 12 as an old lady has broken through the parade line to kiss his most holy foot, and even he's like, "C'mon lady, there's no need for that". On page 13, the less than progressive Archbishop O'Connell of Boston advises all to "Don't go near the movies, the talkies... You must avoid them if you want to save your soul". He also calls modern fashions "abhorrent" and says women who try to dress like men on the beach or elsewhere are "abnormal". Hey, Archbishop, I suggest you skip over page 27 of this very issue! Page 40 has a large photo captioned "Rome - Getting Ready for Hitler" You have no idea! There's also a great photo feature with Seabiscuit, the legendary racehorse, plus an at home with Ginger Rogers feature, too. Towards the end of the issue, a pretty girl in a picture takes a bite of one herself and reminds you to also "Pep up with Quality Tested Doughnuts". Will do! The back cover has a full page painted ad for Coca-Cola. Those are always amazing. I've got a bunch of Life Magazines from the 50's and 60', but none this old. Thanks for sharing. I wonder if the Mars Attacks controversy was covered in Life in 1962-1963?This message has been edited. Last edited by: chesspieceface, ____________________ Everywhere around this burg they're running out of verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. Everywhere around this town, they're running out of nouns. | |||
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