If anyone had any information about any company doing cards for this movie? Not seeing anything on Topps or Cryptozoic.

tlca:

You might look at this thread (Hobbit Trading Cards). Thus far, no one has announced cards for the movies.

Such a Same! Artbox or Breygent would have been killer with this set!

I am sure the license isn't cheap but with a trilogy now I would love to see trading cards to go with my LOTR Topps Master collection

Any listings or rumors about who will be signing for this set?

According to someone quoting the NSU article on The Hobbit (I haven't seen the article yet):

"Much rarer (than autographs) will be the Fine Art Cards, founds about two or three per case."

There will also be a "large cast of signers" but they haven't been announced yet... I check every other day or so and still no news...

Don't like the sound of that.

So a box is basically going to have 1 autograph in it and that's it? And even then, if the signers list is going to be long, the chance of a good autograph is rare too?

Another box I won't be buying, by the sounds of it...

quote:

Originally posted by ravenheart:
Don't like the sound of that.

So a box is basically going to have 1 autograph in it and that's it? And even then, if the signers list is going to be long, the chance of a good autograph is rare too?

Another box I won't be buying, by the sounds of it...

The Topps Lord of the Rings Sets (all the film specific ones before chrome) all only had 1 hit per box. 1 auto, and they sold amazingly well.

quote:

Originally posted by NonSportCardGuy26:
The Topps Lord of the Rings Sets (all the film specific ones before chrome) all only had 1 hit per box. 1 auto, and they sold amazingly well.

The first two did. Because they had short autograph lists that were almost all stars. The third not so much, but even then the autograph list was short, so chances of a good one (I got Christopher Lee in one box and Andy Serkis in another) were high. And very often only cost £30-£40 per box.

Judging by what Cryptozoic normally do, the boxes of this will be a minimum £50, and the bulk of the autograph list in this set are likely to be extras and bit parts.

quote:

Originally posted by NonSportCardGuy26:

The Topps Lord of the Rings Sets (all the film specific ones before chrome) all only had 1 hit per box. 1 auto, and they sold amazingly well.

They did. . . but that was 10+ years ago -- the market has changed a lot since then. . . The movies were also much, much hotter than The Hobbit is.

True, but that was over ten years ago. Lots of things in the trading card world have changed since then, especially in movie cards.

(edit:webjon you beat me to it)

I can't remember the exact signers list but I do remember when I was looking at autograph cards to pre-order from a dealer for the very first LOTR set, (FOTR) it was hard to choose which to pre-order because there wasn't a duff signer amongst them. Because the popularity was unknown at the time and some of the actors were big but not as big as they became, I picked up Viggo and the Sean Bean UK exclusive autos for £50 the pair!!

For FOTR and most of the main sets(not the many ones they released after the main movies) there were autos and costumes of all the lead actors...none of the "blonde girl in bar" or "doorman at hotel" actors you get in a lot of modern sets which struggle to make £5 each on evilbay. So from those boxes each hit was really worth something.
But for the type of sets released now, you do expect more than one hit per box.

I like that Cryptozoic is (according to the NSU article) inserting sketches at 2-3 cards per case. You'll have a 1:4 boxes or 1:6 boxes chance of getting a sketch as well as the guaranteed autograph. Not GREAT odds, but much better than the 1:12 odds for The Walking Dead. I'd think the sketches could be worth... I don't know... $80+ at those odds with hotter characters and artists demanding more.

quote:

Originally posted by SHouseman:
You'll have a 1:4 boxes or 1:6 boxes chance of getting a sketch as well as the guaranteed autograph. Not GREAT odds, but much better than the 1:12 odds for The Walking Dead. I'd think the sketches could be worth... I don't know... $80+ at those odds with hotter characters and artists demanding more.

I don't think that sketch odds mean anything, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say they mean nothing to me and I think many collectors would agree.

A sketch is judged by its quality and appeal. If a great looking sketch is pulled from a one per box product, then the same sketch pulled from a two per case product could well be worth more. However I don't believe the reverse holds true.

A garbage sketch is a garbage sketch, no matter what the odds. Does anyone say its a $10 card, but I'm going to pay $80 because the odds of pulling it were higher? I sure wouldn't. So the sketch prices will depend on what comes out of the box.

As for comparing the popularity of Walking Dead to The Hobbit, there is no comparison. Even with long odds WD sells, at least so far.

I am more interested in the autograph list myself. One per box worked for LOTR because, as others have pointed out, all the lead actors signed and you actually got their cards. If the Hobbit follows suit one per box will be fine, but if we get signatures from the nameless hordes it will not be worth it.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

quote:

Originally posted by SHouseman:
You'll have a 1:4 boxes or 1:6 boxes chance of getting a sketch as well as the guaranteed autograph. Not GREAT odds, but much better than the 1:12 odds for The Walking Dead. I'd think the sketches could be worth... I don't know... $80+ at those odds with hotter characters and artists demanding more.

I don't think that sketch odds mean anything, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say they mean nothing to me and I think many collectors would agree.

A sketch is judged by its quality and appeal. If a great looking sketch is pulled from a one per box product, then the same sketch pulled from a two per case product could well be worth more. However I don't believe the reverse holds true.

A garbage sketch is a garbage sketch, no matter what the odds. Does anyone say its a $10 card, but I'm going to pay $80 because the odds of pulling it were higher? I sure wouldn't. So the sketch prices will depend on what comes out of the box.

As for comparing the popularity of Walking Dead to The Hobbit, there is no comparison. Even with long odds WD sells, at least so far.

I am more interested in the autograph list myself. One per box worked for LOTR because, as others have pointed out, all the lead actors signed and you actually got their cards. If the Hobbit follows suit one per box will be fine, but if we get signatures from the nameless hordes it will not be worth it.

We all know the autograph list WILL drive this release - a weak list and we'll have a poorly received release, a great list and we'll all wish we had a case!

My opinion on the sketches: I was just adding in that a sketch will figure in as an additional hit, though a lowly 25% extra chance or so per box. Some people only collect autographs, I'm a biased sketch artist and see it as a chance at another hit per box, and many feel that way as well. The quality of sketches will of course be a factor, and for dealers (not most collectors as I'd keep a sketch I pulled), the scarcity of the sketches will drive up prices unfortunately. We won't be seeing any Topps $5 Star Wars or Mars Attacks sketches included, though, as Cryptozoic does a pretty good job at getting good artists (though I'm in the Cryptozoic stable, so not ALL good artists ). There will be a premium on the sketches out of the gate - Walking Dead Season 2 sketches started around $200 for the basic walker sketches, and ran up to almost $1000 for Glebe, Kezele, etc and I KNOW that's comparing apples and oranges. I generally expect The Hobbit ones to command 1/4 of those prices perhaps. To pull a Walking Dead TV sketch was a $$$ pull for anyone. I see The Hobbit sketches as a chance for the common collector to get one for a master set at a more reasonable price. But the sketches will be higher priced than that of a Marvel sketch from the same 6 sets a year. I've seen posts on the net of some artists on this set, and I think it'll bring out some of their best work. There will be some average sketches, there will be some awesome sketches, and regardless, the 2-3 per case WILL impact their value. But you are correct that a garbage sketch is a garbage sketch, hopefully we'll be seeing some nice cards!

Enough rambling It's an extra hit in my book. We'll just see how it works out on the autograph line-up: an all-star list will drive the release, box and subsequently sketch demand, a poor auto list with a bunch of dwarves and bit players and there won't be a lot of value in any of the inserts as box prices will stay at retail of decline.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
A sketch is judged by its quality and appeal.

Agree 100%. If a sketch appeals to me in some way, I'll buy it (or bid on it), based on what I feel it's worth to me. If not, I'll pass. Whenever I see dealers asking ridiculous money for a mediocre sketch, simply because it's "rare", I roll my eyes and move on. OTOH, I have some really cool little sketches in my personal collection that I paid less than $20, because they were well done and I liked them.

quote:

Originally posted by dcole:

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
A sketch is judged by its quality and appeal.

Agree 100%. If a sketch appeals to me in some way, I'll buy it (or bid on it), based on what I feel it's worth to me. If not, I'll pass. Whenever I see dealers asking ridiculous money for a mediocre sketch, simply because it's "rare", I roll my eyes and move on. OTOH, I have some really cool little sketches in my personal collection that I paid less than $20, because they were well done and I liked them.

I agree. Sketches can be priced as high or low as anyone wants to sell them at, but if they're not something appealing, no one will buy them!

On a side note, I am excited to see what comes out of this release as "sketch" cards have evolved so much since the LOTR Masterpieces sets. I saw Andy Fry was doing sketches for this release, he'll be the Cat Staggs of this set with his pencilwork. There won't be any Waterhouse Gondor soldiers (like the infamous Indiana Jones monkey sketches). Being a sketch artist, I'm excited for this release!

quote:

Originally posted by SHouseman:]
On a side note, I am excited to see what comes out of this release as "sketch" cards have evolved so much since the LOTR Masterpieces sets. I saw Andy Fry was doing sketches for this release, he'll be the Cat Staggs of this set with his pencilwork. There won't be any Waterhouse Gondor soldiers (like the infamous Indiana Jones monkey sketches). Being a sketch artist, I'm excited for this release!

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the quality of sketches in this release!

Indeed. I certainly won't buy a box on the off chance I might get a sketch (and let's be honest, the boxes that will reach the collector's will be the ones left over from the cases after the dealers have opened enough to find all the sketches), so with no more guaranteed in the box than a bit part actor's autograph, I'm pretty sure, based on current information, there is absolutely no way the contents of any box I might be able to buy will match the price I'll have to pay for it.

Autograph signers are up on the Cryptozoic website, looks like no Martin Freeman or Ian Mckellan

quote:

Originally posted by Darth Graham:
Autograph signers are up on the Cryptozoic website, looks like no Martin Freeman or Ian Mckellan

well seeing as they are the two main characters in the film that does not bode well.