Is it just me, or does it appear from what Crypto has recently announced, that they are focusing more on board games, gaming, statues, figurines, and non-card related merchandise ?

The only recent cards that they have done were for Outlander Series 4, to my knowledge.

They have CZX Middle-Earth and CZX Crisis on Infinite Earths as TBA. Also mentioned are Outlander Playing Cards. Don't know the direction anyone is headed these days.

Seems like in recent years that they've also tried to find some success with those Crypt-Kins monster figures with the cards (Jersey Devil, etc.)

There were a few dozen cards on those, mostly distributed at the San Diego Comic Con and other larger shows.

I get their newsletter and there are certainly a lot more little "figures", but it also looks like they are getting into Kickstarter projects, at least for card games. So maybe some of their new card titles will come out of custom funding.

Didn't they announce some time back that they were no longer going to produce trading cards? I understood they were moving to more gaming/statutes/figures. If you look at their website, the "trading card" section only shows a dozen or so titles, with most of them being marked as unavailable to purchase in their store.

A sign of the times ?

Card companies moving onto "other collectables" ?

I don't know if its a sign of the times so much as it is a continuation of where things are heading.

The CZX products were a nice idea but the price point was silly, no way they had to retail at $225-250, no one brought at that price point and boxes settled in at $125-150 which should have been retail to start. I would not be surprised if they issued no more trading card sets. They have been doing eBay exclusives but most are so limited it’s silly. I don’t know what they are thinking but I suspect all of their product lines are struggling not just trading cards.

It wasn't that long ago when we were commenting about Crypto having so many releases scheduled throughout the year that we didn't know how they would get caught up (or how we could afford them all). And now it's gone from one extreme to the other - with them having barely any licenses left.

They also lost 2 members of the Trading Card department, so I expect things to be wishy-washy until they get new leadership.

They have 2 CZX titles they are promoting. Which is the same number of titles we have announced in 2021 for Topps, so I wouldn't read too much into it

The eBay promotions are part of a larger effort on eBay's part to be the destination for trading cards. Topps and Rittenhouse also had sponsored exclusives. Crypto has just done a few more.

As for the games and trinkets, Crypto has always been a multi-product company. I don't expect that to change. They have had reasonable luck with the Bombshells line in both specialty and retail stores.

But them continuing trading cards will require them to pick up some new licenses. If they are done with DC TV and Comics, they don't have a lot of current projects in their portfolio. Though I would love another shot at the DC movie universe, with a little better product. But DC CZX sold well, and I never had to discount a box to sell all I had.

Ed

I brought this up in a facebook group last week. I then contacted Cryptozoic. I was told the same thing that they were down two people in their cards division but not to worry they are still making cards.

Good to hear they will be back with more cards once they have their house in order.

On the back of the latest issue of NSU there is an advertisement for CZX Crisis on Infinite Earths. So there an upcoming DC television based product coming soon.

Looks like Crypto has alot of playing cards and gaming cards (not our regular Non Sports Cards) on the horizon, including the following:


Outlander playing cards

Wonder Woman 1984 card game

I really hope that CZE gets their side of the non-sport card division re-staffed fast, because the companies that veered off and went this route before never seemed to return to the type of hobby cards that most of us here collect. Cryptozoic was making some nice products, purely from a card collector's standpoint.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
I really hope that CZE gets their side of the non-sport card division re-staffed fast, because the companies that veered off and went this route before never seemed to return to the type of hobby cards that most of us here collect. Cryptozoic was making some nice products, purely from a card collector's standpoint.

Agreed. Would hate to see the Crisis and Middle Earth sets not be made.

I hope that Cryptozoic starts posting some details soon about the Middle Earth and Crisis sets. I am curious.

After clicking around on Cryotozoic's website for about 5 minutes, I can't find one single reference to either Crisis or Middle Earth.

There was a reference to the Crisis set in Cryptozoic's Fans First e-newsletter earlier this week.

quote:

Originally posted by Curler:
There was a reference to the Crisis set in Cryptozoic's Fans First e-newsletter earlier this week.

And a Promo in the latest NSU