Please correct me if I'm wrong about this. I don't follow the discussions of many of the new releases that I know I won't be purchasing, so I don't know if my observation is correct. I always see a lot of discussion about upcoming releases, at least for popular titles. After that, there are usually a number of "box breakdowns" wherein the contents of ones purchase is categorized. However, I rarely if ever see any discussion about the set itself once it is purchased and presumably tucked away into protective pages. Are others of you interested in hearing what people think of the cards after they get them? Would anyone go for a, say Five Favorite Cards topic? I understand there should be no card or company bashing involved, but I would think there should be more said about a product once it is in our grasp. What say ye?

I'm a little surprised no one has responded. . . It seems few sets are getting discussed at all -- not many break downs are being posted either. . . I have no idea why. On some other forums a few specific titles are being discussed at length, but other titles are ignored completely.

The online non-sport community has become very fragmented.

Check out the Mars Attacks Invasion thread on Blowout -- nearing 1500 posts, and still very active. . . people are talking about their pulls, what's popping up on eBay, artist identification, what they like and dislike, which cards are short printed etc, etc, etc. . . I certainly would like to see more conversations like that. . . The Mars Attacks Invasion thread here hasn't been touched in about a week, and has way fewer posts.

What I'm picturing is what people would do if they were sitting in the same room opening packs. Simply talking about what they like or don't like about the cards. I imagine the people who make the cards would like to know what they did that went over well and what didn't. Aside from this "critical" aspect of the discussion, can't people just spend a little more time thinking about what they have instead of what's coming next? If you went to a movie with your friends, wouldn't you all pick it apart. This was cool. I wish they'd done that differently. I never really see that kind of discussion here. Box breakdowns are more like "I got this this and this", but not " I got this and these are really great, but that was only so-so. Are people concerned about expressing opinions for fear of sounding critical? I don't know. Maybe it's just that we are not talking about the cards much at all. After all the effort that the companies put into getting or creating interesting images and creative approaches, the only responses seem to be "I got this many of these and none of those.
Maybe this would create more involvement from people who might not want to just repeat the "contents" talk that others have put out there.

For me, the big two right now is Mars Attacks Invasion and Bond Autos and Relics. Both came out on the same day for me, and I've been hitting my local shop every day to pick up a few packs of each.
I'm not going to say much about the big hits, I want to address the base sets and low level inserts.

As I was putting away the Mars Attacks Invasion cards, I thought again how nicely done the base set was. Real art, not photos of a TV show. If Mars Attacks is a classic, Invasion should also be considered a classic set as well. The inserts are really neat too, the Anatomy of a Martian set is brilliant, and while I don't like parallels, the parallels on retro stock done in 60's style is also very clever. The "extra gore" and posters with graffiti send this one over the top, I think this is Topps' set of the year.

The Bond set is very nice too. No gimmicks or wasted space on them, a nice retelling of the most recent film. As much as I like the retro Goldfinger set, these are really hard to complete, I still don't have a complete Dr No set. Would like to see these reduced to a 66 or 90 card set like 60's and 70's sets often were.
The Gold Girl subset remains one of Rittenhouse's most beautiful subsets ever. The Quotes are too numerous, should have been limited to nine. While I didn't like the parallel sets from Bond 50th, the parallels in this set are very classy, especially like the numbered gold cards.

Of the two, I think Invasion is the best, but the Bond set is one of the best I've seen.

It is true on, NSU at least, there is not much after release talk. I can only comment as a Star Wars focused collector but it would be great to hear what collectors actually think about the set after it comes out. There is normally plenty of talk before hand, some praise and some negative but it would always be good to hear what think after the product is out there.

If not for anything else it give manufacturers the opportunity to gain feedback about sets.

Maybe I should check out the Blowout forums. For my Star Wars focus there is always starwarscards.net. Cannot comment on other licenses but if there are specific sites for them it may always be worth giving them ago for greater volume of post releases chat and aftermarket talk specific to them.

NSU forums are not called CardTalk for nothing

Well here's my two cents . . .

Expectations are always better than hard facts. Potential is always regarded as higher than actual achievement. In the sportscard world a rookie who might get to the Hall of Fame is more valuable than someone in the Hall of Fame. You get the idea.

People like to gossip and predict, so there is a lot of speculation about new releases. Then the cards arrive and the box breakdowns on Card Talk are usually just a recap of what someone got in their boxes/cases. Maybe there should be more conversations, but if collectors start to talk about particulars amoung themselves someone usually reminds them that this is in a Breakdown thread. End of discussion.

Meanwhile the set is not new anymore, its released, so those threads begin to die too and the next unreleased set becames the big topic.

I agree that we should have more postings about products on Card Talk, maybe people are wary of giving feedback because of possible negative feelings. As long as its reasonable, objective feedback I for one would welcome it and consider it a service to the community.

It's nice to see some people responding.
In the spirit of the idea, I'd like to continue with my thoughts on the latest "Mars Attacks" set, which I have had the chance to see.
First impression - the art, for the most part, is terrific. I'm a big fan of original art on cards, so this is a treat.

I would have liked if they led into the "Attack" with at least one cards worth of introduction to the latest scenario. In card number one, they are already on the ground, attacking Philadelphia. Give me a space shot or a battle council on Mars to set things up. I understand that Topps may have wanted to not repeat too many scenes from the previous sets, but I think this would have been nice.

Having a number of different artists work on a set can be tricky, especially with a "story line" set like this. For the most part, this is a success. Even tough there are some distinct style differences, it makes for interesting visuals. I found myself wondering what the set would look like if each of the artists had been the only one working on it. There were only a few cards done in a "cartoony" style which I thought did not fit in well. All in all, some real eye popping stuff.

Another aspect which I brought up, lo those many years ago here, is the way the card backs line up with the front orientation (horizontal or vertical).
My preference, when putting cards in protective sleeves, is to be able to read the backs left to right, top to bottom,, the way I would read a book. Usually, and again here, if you line up the horizontal images so that the backs can be read that way, when the front image goes vertical, the back of the card is upside down, or the front of the card is upside down. I'm not sure why the cards could not be set up to have it consistent. Not a big deal, but it would be nice.

I liked the "Masterpieces" subset, as well as the "Early Missions". The "Anatomy" cards didn't work for me, though I applaud the effort to do something different and interesting. The "Recruitment" posters also just didn't seem to fit. I would like there to be no reference to the goofy movie, or it's silliness made in a set as interesting as this. The original "Mars Attacks" had a real impact on me as a ten year old. I suppose that's why I want subsequent efforts to retain a serious atmosphere.

My five favorite images are on cards number 7, 12, 21, 25, 32. These are subject to change.

This is a terrific set and I thank Topps for putting a lot of effort into making it something worth spending time with.

Since you are talking about Mars Attack Invasion Mike, I had a slightly different impression of it. I agree with just about everything you said. I bought one box, have the base set and guaranteed extras, got a decent sketch, so that was good. I love the heavy cardstock and the artwork on the cards was generally first rate, as you said a few clunkers, but all and all well done.

Now here's my only criticism, besides the quality of some sketches I have see, and I'm sure not everyone will agree with it. I think some of the artists tried too hard to make their pictures controversial. Perhaps that's not the right word to use because the original Mars Attacks was designed to be controversial for its time and this set is supposed to be in the same vein.

However the art is better here and the pictures appear meaner. Too many people being killed, too may creepy situations, too many leering looks on the Martians. I would not for example give these cards to any of my friends young kids, yet I wouldn't have worried about showing them the reprints of the original set. I just felt that there was not a good nature here. I mean you know what to expect from the Walking Dead, but I expected a lighter touch from Mars Attacks.

So yes, Topps did a nice job with the production, I guess I just think they wanted to outdo the original set for our more graphic times and some of the cards were not that amusing. Just my opinion.

I think the general problem is that there is a "taboo" element if you get a box and don't really like the set vs. you get a box and disappointed with your hits.
I think if people would stick with what they think about the set both positive and negative, it is cool. When it becomes an issue of I wanted Super Extreme limited auto and did not get it, the review feels angry. So, maybe people don't want to post.
I know the last few boxes I have got. By the time I get to posting the breakdown, I have forgotten some of the details of the breakdown and then I just forget to post at all.
It would be nice if we had a community again. I know in the early years several of us really tried to build cardtalk into a community of active voices.

[QUOTE
It would be nice if we had a community again. I know in the early years several of us really tried to build cardtalk into a community of active voices.[/QUOTE]
...and some of us have never stopped trying to harass some of the most reticent people they've ever met in a forum into posting. I reckon it all stems from apathy. People are willing to read other people's posts but can't be bothered to post their own thoughts. Maybe that's the way of the world (sigh)

Sadly, it may be that there is a lack of interest in the card sets themselves.
So much has been made of the "big hits" that I often feel as though the base sets are inconsequential. This is why I was hoping to get some people to spend a few minutes with the base sets AND with the chase sets, and see how they really feel about their purchases. If most buyers don't care about the base sets, maybe the card companies can save themselves some effort by just putting out small numbers of "special" cards. I don't know. I'm an old school collector and I love to look through each card and read every back. Perhaps I'm part of a dying breed.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeFitz:
Sadly, it may be that there is a lack of interest in the card sets themselves.
So much has been made of the "big hits" that I often feel as though the base sets are inconsequential. This is why I was hoping to get some people to spend a few minutes with the base sets AND with the chase sets, and see how they really feel about their purchases. If most buyers don't care about the base sets, maybe the card companies can save themselves some effort by just putting out small numbers of "special" cards. I don't know. I'm an old school collector and I love to look through each card and read every back. Perhaps I'm part of a dying breed.

I think that is why Rittenhouse has toed with the Premium pack.

It is why sports card sets now have 1700.00 a pack products.

If people don't care about the base set then it really is doomsday for the industry.

I have gotten my son into cards. It is something we do together but he cannot get a single one of his friends into the hobby. He has Magic: the Gathering card playing friends, a kid that has never grown tired of Pokemon, but none of them want to cross over to Non sport cards.

The only place in town to buy cards is Wal-mart. Maybe that is part of the problem. I always see a pretty nice selection of non sport Cards when I hit Target in other cities but for my community- nothing but Wal-mart.

I have given singles away to the Boys and Girls club, to hospitals, Trick or treat prizes. Just don't know what is happening. The digital age I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeFitz:
I'm an old school collector and I love to look through each card and read every back. Perhaps I'm part of a dying breed.

Put me down for that! You are not alone Mike, I do exactly that almost every night. All we both most want is a lot more like us!!

quote:

Originally posted by MikeFitz:
Sadly, it may be that there is a lack of interest in the card sets themselves.

For the most part I don't think this is true. . . I just think for various reasons the conversations have moved to other forums and to Facebook.

I've always been a base set collector. I stopped collecting in the early 90s and started back around 2007 and missed the growth of the chase card market. When I stopped collecting chase cards were around but they were considered separate from the set and were treated more as bonuses. That's the way I still view it. My set is complete when I get the base set and anything else I pick up is a bonus. It also helps that I couldn't afford to come even remotely close to completing most master sets. If I really like a set, I'll buy 2 and display them in 8 pocket pages with the front and back side by side. Then I can see the front while I'm reading the back.

I think the box breakdown is the appropriate place for the discussion. That's what I have done.

I try to be respectful of the manufacturer, but I also say where I think they could do better. Heck, Tom from Breygent was in on the conversation regarding Grimm. It was actually a great way to have a conversation about the product.

Some great thoughts here. And yeah, the only thing I like more than going to the movies is talking about them to others and finding out MORE movies I want to see. The same goes for cards. I'm not much a chase card collector, so all the "big hit" stuff doesn't do much for me. I would never buy a product just on the hope of finding a rare card. I want quality base sets, otherwise, forget it. So the more people talk about the basic series (which is the real guts of the set) the better.

The only change I would offer to Mike's first comments are I'm less interested in the favorite five cards in a set than I am the favorite five SERIES that the collector has recently collected. And not just a list, but a few reasons WHY that series was enjoyable to the collector. (That way I can see if their reasons also would apply to me.)

A thread called "my favorite recent set (or sets) and why" would certainly grab me by the eye balls (ouch!) and I expect it would grab others as well. Sure, it would bounce all over the place jumping from series to series, but as long as they include reasons why they liked each, it would be good reading (IMHO).