The last set (season 3, pt.2) came out last August. Just wondering if their has been any word of a season 4 set?

Nothing beyond it being on NSU's Upcoming Products list. And it appears they are doing a part 1 and part 2 again.

I think they are in the process of killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.

Ed

Yeah, what a terrible idea splitting it again. They're already 2, seasons behind the show now and this just keeps them further behind. By the poor sales of part 2, you'd think they would have realised it wasn't a good idea to repeat the process.

IF they were to ask me, or possibly if they actually come here and read threads, this is how I would do Season 4:

First: ONE SET

Second: HUGE base set, maybe 144 cards like you would have had in 2 sets, and make sure everyone is clear you will NOT get a set in a box.

Everything else, proceed as normal. Maybe adding the short print foil variants to the mix. And printing plates, people like those.

Now, if they insist on doing 2 sets, my recommendation would be:

Continue the numbering from series 1 through series 2, don't start the numbering over again. Have you ever picked up a pile of Season 3 cards and have had to sort them by which series they came from??? Don't, not fun.

Release the first one just before the new season starts. Interest is highest when the show is on the air. And honestly, you've waited this long what is another month or two.

Release the second when the season resumes in 2016. Again, interest is highest when the show is on the air.

Now, I doubt any of this will happen. But these simple steps would make for better releases.

Ed

I would like to see just one set but with at least 24 autograph cards.
The wardrobe cards over 2 sets are impossible to collect, there were around 70 last time over 2 sets? and with SP'S, impossible.

My son got a box of season 3 part 2 on the cheap and picked up a few packs of Season 3 part 1 from Walgreens when they were buy 1 get 1 free and then traded to finish it. He hated this format and said he was not going to do season 4 if they split it again. I told them it was going to be a split set and he said he was out. I wonder how many others feel this way?

One season, one set.

Some of these shows, including WD, have decided to split seasons in order to keep the viewers from having a long layoff and losing interest. I believe that most card collectors need the time and generally prefer one set a year.

The biggest drawback for me is that if I want to pass on Part 1 because I don't like what's in the set or maybe I don't have the funds, once I do that, there really is no point in buying Part 2 as far as I'm concerned. So it's not like the split product gets more customers. I would imagine that it is more likely to lose customers, as they will either buy both Parts or buy neither Part.

The reason we are releasing The Walking Dead Season 4 in two parts is because of contractual restrictions. AMC has restricted us to featuring no more than 13 talent in each product. (If you're curious, take a look at all of the other licensed AMC The Walking Dead products out there.) This restriction has been in place since the beginning--and it was explained by one of our execs in a forum post a couple years ago--but until Season 3 collectors didn't notice the impact of the restriction, that is, until we bifurcated Season 3.

As fans of the show know, The Walking Dead cast of characters is large--and growing, colorful, and living in multiple locations. It would be impossible to properly tell the story of season 4 (and season 3 before it) with only 13 characters. We split what would typically be a single product into two parts, so we can feature up to 13 talent in one part, and up to 13 talent in the other.

We always strive to include as many talent as possible in every product; four of our last five live action trading card sets have included 20 or more autograph signers. For AMC's The Walking Dead, the number is limited to 13.

quote:

Originally posted by mgeo:
The reason we are releasing The Walking Dead Season 4 in two parts is because of contractual restrictions. AMC has restricted us to featuring no more than 13 talent in each product. (If you're curious, take a look at all of the other licensed AMC The Walking Dead products out there.) This restriction has been in place since the beginning--and it was explained by one of our execs in a forum post a couple years ago--but until Season 3 collectors didn't notice the impact of the restriction, that is, until we bifurcated Season 3.

As fans of the show know, The Walking Dead cast of characters is large--and growing, colorful, and living in multiple locations. It would be impossible to properly tell the story of season 4 (and season 3 before it) with only 13 characters. We split what would typically be a single product into two parts, so we can feature up to 13 talent in one part, and up to 13 talent in the other.

We always strive to include as many talent as possible in every product; four of our last five live action trading card sets have included 20 or more autograph signers. For AMC's The Walking Dead, the number is limited to 13.

Thank you for taking the time to explain why it's a necessary evil.

Hopefully some of the suggestions we've made might make their way to those that make decisions.

Ed

I wonder what AMC's reason for doing this is .

This is why it I always try ( though I don't always succeed ) to give manufacturers the benefit of the doubt. Yes , sometimes they make poor decisions but equally sometimes it is out of their control.

Interesting explanation. I have heard of the images being limited by the studio, but never a restriction on the specific number of characters per set.

Here's what I would do. I would make one set per year, mid-range production leaning to the lower side. I would get the best 10 actors from the main cast and maybe 3 of that year's best new characters who will do autographs and I would get them to sign two different cards each. I would prefer all in the same number with no short prints, if possible. Then I would add 4 or 5 dual autograph cards.

So now you have 30 - 31 different autograph cards, plus the costume cards and the very limited sketches. Collectors will not mind the short signer's list if they have all, or nearly all, of the stars without fillers. The base set text could be worked around the images you can show and if it's not exactly a complete story no one will notice.

Sounds simple, and I know it's not really, but the WD stars have been well represented in past products. So if you can have them and they will sign enough cards, why split them up for two sets that you have to sell on separate merits when you could blow out one loaded set?

I really dislike the splint season format, but at least we understand the problem for CZE now.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Interesting explanation. I have heard of the images being limited by the studio, but never a restriction on the specific number of characters per set.

Here's what I would do. I would make one set per year, mid-range production leaning to the lower side. I would get the best 10 actors from the main cast and maybe 3 of that year's best new characters who will do autographs and I would get them to sign two different cards each. I would prefer all in the same number with no short prints, if possible. Then I would add 4 or 5 dual autograph cards.

So now you have 30 - 31 different autograph cards, plus the costume cards and the very limited sketches. Collectors will not mind the short signer's list if they have all, or nearly all, of the stars without fillers. The base set text could be worked around the images you can show and if it's not exactly a complete story no one will notice.

Sounds simple, and I know it's not really, but the WD stars have been well represented in past products. So if you can have them and they will sign enough cards, why split them up for two sets that you have to sell on separate merits when you could blow out one loaded set?

I really dislike the splint season format, but at least we understand the problem for CZE now.

While that might work for autographs and costumes, it doesn't tell the story of the show. I don't see how, at this point, a base set could be done well with just 13 characters.

So do we have any update on a when we might see a part 1 of a season 4 set? Nothing showing on the site yet...

quote:

Originally posted by Ryan Cracknell:

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Interesting explanation. I have heard of the images being limited by the studio, but never a restriction on the specific number of characters per set.

Here's what I would do. I would make one set per year, mid-range production leaning to the lower side. I would get the best 10 actors from the main cast and maybe 3 of that year's best new characters who will do autographs and I would get them to sign two different cards each. I would prefer all in the same number with no short prints, if possible. Then I would add 4 or 5 dual autograph cards.

So now you have 30 - 31 different autograph cards, plus the costume cards and the very limited sketches. Collectors will not mind the short signer's list if they have all, or nearly all, of the stars without fillers. The base set text could be worked around the images you can show and if it's not exactly a complete story no one will notice.

Sounds simple, and I know it's not really, but the WD stars have been well represented in past products. So if you can have them and they will sign enough cards, why split them up for two sets that you have to sell on separate merits when you could blow out one loaded set?

I really dislike the splint season format, but at least we understand the problem for CZE now.

While that might work for autographs and costumes, it doesn't tell the story of the show. I don't see how, at this point, a base set could be done well with just 13 characters.

You could truncate the show to tell only how those thirteen characters progressed that year.

A full season can not be truly be covered in any 90 card base set to begin with. Also a lot of sets contain character cards that only address that role, so what is dedicated to the actual season is more like 70 cards in a typical base set. Unfortunately some collectors don't even read the text on the backs, which is a shame because a lot of work goes into it, but they don't know if it's a good narrative or not.

Anyway I am all for comprehensive sets, but if the studio is going to restrict you to the point where you have to put out two sets instead of one, I would just load up the one and people will buy it. If you halve it and divide up the bigger names it seems to me that people will reject one or the other or both, depending on which half they think is better. It is always the big hits that drive the demand, no matter how you look at it.

Also consider that CZE has a bunch of new titles lined up, plus continuing licenses. It's dance card is so full, the schedule is always behind. It's one thing if two WD sets per year were making huge profits, but if it's just watering down the profits and it takes twice as much work with almost twice as much expense to produce when you could be using that for another product, well you get my drift. Just MHO.

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