quote:

Originally posted by Logan:
On the Rittenhouse boards I just asked Steve about the rumors of another Buffy set and here was his response:

"Re Buffy, we need to figure out what the first set will consist of. Until then, I can't even contemplate doing anything else. Still waiting for approvals from the studio."

Give Steve credit for responding. It is a telling comment to say that RA is still figuring out what the set will consist of, but it is what it is.

I also give WarriorBabe credit for reminding us how jazzed everybody was at the prospect of having an official Buffy SMG autograph. I know I was, but there has been a big shift from what was originally discussed and what this product has turned into, and that is where the disappointment lies more than anything else. Yes, an SMG auto is now guaranteed in every set, but I don't know if I can afford the price, or if any will be available. We are all essentially paying for that one autograph and any other cards or sketches are merely an extra bonus. I am sure that the sets will sell out regardless, because the number made is likely to be low and there are enough collectors with deep pockets.

I would have preferred to take my chances of pulling her autograph or getting any autograph from the cast, same as the odds in any traditional card product that RA manufactures. That's not how this is going to work and the only big questions are who is going to be selling these sets and how much is it going to cost in retail?

I wish we knew for sure if more Buffy was coming for one particular reason. It has a huge impact on how much I'm willing to pay for this set/Sarah autograph. If she signs again for more Buffy sets I wouldn't be willing to pay anywhere near the amount that I would if I knew this was going to be her one and only official Buffy autograph card. I do realize however that there are no guarantees like that for any set (that the big name will only sign once). But regardless I'm now hesitant if this set has an enormous price tag.

I guess I see it differently to some others, originally when they announced it and we all thought it was going to be a normal box/case release we assumed SMG's auto was likely to be an incentive which will make it an extremely expensive card. Then when it was said that it would be pack inserted I though for sure it would be so rare that unless you are buying multiple cases there won't be much of a chance to pull her auto and I would have to resort to the secondary market (aka feebay and it's outrageous postage costs).

So for me when Steve announced that it was going to be just her auto plus whatever else they put in I was really happy, because I will have a much greater chance of getting SMG's auto myself, and not to mention so much cheaper than buying cases of the stuff (which I cannot afford).

Yes it would have been wonderful to have a full release with all the scoobies signing plus the rest of the cast, but at least we do have all the Inkworks sets for that if nothing else.

Happy day people! Buffy info is up on Rittenhouse's site:

http://www.scifihobby.com/products/buffy/ultimate/

Release date is March 25th and the SRP is $399.99. Each set comes with a SMG auto and 9 sticker cards. There are 2 different autograph designs with 200 of each made (400 sets total). In my opinion the second autograph design is just as nice if not nicer than the first. On the site it reads "Randomly selected sketch cards with every 4 autograph cards purchased." So I'm not sure if the sketches are now incentives or if they're randomly inserted in the sets. Pre-orders are already popping up and I managed to snag 4 sets (2 of each version). It cost me a ton but this is what I've been waiting and saving for. Beyond excited right now!

$399.99? Well that's me and a lot of people out of the running, then. Considering how little you're actually getting.

Oh well, more cash left to concentrate on GoT.

I'm not sure the cards are the real signed things being shown yet...because it looks like the exact same signature on the two cards..as in EXACT. So I assume one is real and the other is the second design that they've photoshopped her signature onto to show the design. Unless 'Buffy' does have incredible skills and can sign exactly the same way ever time she holds a pen.

Pardon me whilst I just fall off my chair.

I dunno, it seems like $400 is a pretty fair deal considering the Whedon and Angel cards from Series 1 have recently sold for $200, and the Hannigan goes for at least as much, if not more, and I remember the Charisma Carpenter card as also being pretty popular from that set.
With that in mind, and the fact that SMG probably got $100 (or more) per signature when those people above probably got close to nothing for signing theirs way back when they were largely unknown, I'd say that price is just about right.
Regardless, they will very soon be all gone, so it'll be interesting to see what the autograph cards sell for one year from now. The stickers sets will be worth a minimum of $50 by themselves, I would think, maybe more.

I wonder if we will ever find out what went wrong with this set.I feel bad for Rittenhouse, they spent all this time and everyone was so ready for a great new set and now, nothing.

Sorry that is just not a realistic selling price. If they can sell out then good luck to them but for that price I would want a minimum of two sketches per box with the autograph. One sketch for every four autograph sets tells me the approval process was a disaster and a lot of artwork got rejected.

The sketch cards are 4-set incentives.

so you have to spend $1600 in order to get one sketch.

Oh sorry I forgot, you get some stickers aswell, that's ok then.

Now it's your money and I would not even start to tell you how to spend it, er, so I won't.

It would be nice to hear what happened with this release because I don't think it was ever supposed to be this.

I must admit I'm surprised that so many think that $400 is too much for an SMG auto. The last Alyson Hannigan autograph I saw on eBay sold for almost $390 and as much as I love Alyson and her Willow character, she's not Buffy. A year from now I think this price will end up being a bargain. But, everyone's entitled to their opinion. That's just mine.

Although I will not be buying this product, I do agree with Logan that a price of $399 is probably the least RA could to ask. Forget about those stickers, it is the autograph only that may or may not be worth it, as you see fit.

Now if I calculate correctly 400 sets means 100 sketches, possibly a few more as extras. I see no examples of these sketches, so they may have actor likenesses, or they may be as the GOT sketches that were of non-actor images. I don't know, but it's an $1,600 investment to get one either way. And that is what was supposed to have held up the release date.

So does it pay to spend $400 on a Gellar autograph? Well I won't spend $400 on anybody's signature and that is my answer. But it's not everybody's answer and I can see where the card might go higher if it is bought up quickly by a small number of people just to flip it. It will sell out, at 400 copies there is no chance that it won't.

Will it retain the retail price or the peak value, even if she ever signs again? Ah, that is different topic.

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

An artist over on Blowout said he did nearly 100 sketches himself and they weren't allowed to draw 3 characters (David Boreanaz/Angel being one of them). The math adds up to exactly 100 sketches for the 400 sets. So if one artist did nearly 100, I would say quite a lot of sketches must not have been approved. Or perhaps they're being saved for a later set. Though that doesn't seem likely since initially every one of these sets was supposed to come with a sketch.

I'm with you on this, Logan, but there surely is a upper limit on what the value of a single autographed card signed by a living (and still young) actor in the quantity 400 copies is, and this $400 (say $375 minus the value of the stickers) has to be pretty close to it, or over it, as Raven reasonably contends.

In the past, the market been able to take cards with more humble beginnings to that level (the first Buffy autos, for example), but generally these kind of multi-hundred dollar autos are worth that amount right out of the pack, the result of a high profile signing, anticipated by collectors. This one is a little different, since the entire release is so dominated by this one card, with its value arrived at by the manufacturer beforehand.

I do remember buying a $600 (I think) Rittenhouse case of Iron Man, getting the Downey Jr.. card in that, and being pleased enough to buy another case (months later, on clearance, for less around $400) and being mildly disappointed in not getting another Downey (or the Jeff Bridges). My point is that had this set been given its seemingly originally intended full-set treatment, there would have been at least 500 cases (6,000 boxes) which means not every $720 (current RA case price?) case would've had even one of the SMG autos in it. (And can bet that from those in our box breakdowns who found one in their $720 case would've rightly posted something like: Thrilled to get the Sarah Michelle card! )

So, sure, you're not getting a proper set, or autographs from anyone but the person who played the title character on a beloved 7-season show who has never signed cards before, ahem, but you are getting a card that normally would've only come from a $700+ case, and that, if you were lucky. To pull one from a single box would've been about 1 in 15, or so, so not too likely at all.

With that in mind, that this card has been made available directly (and for at least several hours) now to anyone who wants one for the cost of about 6 boxes regular RA cards is another reason to appreciate all that Rittenhouse (and Steve at Fleer/Skybox before that) has done for this hobby. I always hate to see sets that don't come to full fruition, because that has to be a hit to the bottom line for these smaller companies, but that Rittenhouse has consistently made lemonade from lemons when they've needed to is certainly some of the reason they are still in business 15 years down the line...

I agree there is a limit. I'm just saying every set has a $200, $300, or sometimes $500 card in it. And I feel SMG as Buffy is absolutely deserving of that tier. That character is iconic and without meaning to sound too dramatic, one of the best in TV history.

I was expecting a price like this
I just wish both autos were not released at the same time

With SMG now part of the Star Wars saga expect more autographs to come on Topps cards.

I was hoping for more out of this set...

But All I really wanted was a Sarah Michelle Gellar Buffy Auto Card for my collection...

So now there are two versions of them.

I personally do not think $400 is a high price for a Gellar Buffy Auto Card...

I was expecting the price to be around $500 to $750 for her Buffy Auto.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Although I will not be buying this product, I do agree with Logan that a price of $399 is probably the least RA could to ask. Forget about those stickers, it is the autograph only that may or may not be worth it, as you see fit.

Now if I calculate correctly 400 sets means 100 sketches, possibly a few more as extras. I see no examples of these sketches, so they may have actor likenesses, or they may be as the GOT sketches that were of non-actor images. I don't know, but it's an $1,600 investment to get one either way. And that is what was supposed to have held up the release date.

So does it pay to spend $400 on a Gellar autograph? Well I won't spend $400 on anybody's signature and that is my answer. But it's not everybody's answer and I can see where the card might go higher if it is bought up quickly by a small number of people just to flip it. It will sell out, at 400 copies there is no chance that it won't.

Will it retain the retail price or the peak value, even if she ever signs again? Ah, that is different topic.

I do agree with you that people will buy it and try to flip it for a higher amount.

If this is the only Buffy Set she signs for, then I think the value will go up a bit.

Hopefully this will be the first and last Buffy Set she will sign for.