May 11 looks to be the official official day (and a steady stream of Crypto releases for the next couple of months following if schedule remains in tact): http://gogts.net/cryptozoic-co...dates-multiple-sets/

11 sets in a 3 month window of time??? Lucky for me, I am only getting a base of Big Bang Theory.

Orphan Black Seasons 1 and 2 are only 2 weeks apart?

I would say that the posted scheduled is impossible, some months have a set coming out nearly every week.

But let's say that it is possible, what exactly is the point? You are not only competing in the marketplace with other card publishers, your products are competing against each other for sales. They are all entertainment based titles. It's not like each has there own dedicated card collectors, the same buyer might be interested in multiple titles. Now that buyer has to chose how to spread his money in a limited period. Some of these titles are going to pull the short straw.

This just makes no sense to me from a business standpoint, but some of these products have been held up for so long that they have to be released or cancelled. Cancelling and selling off whatever hits you have unreleased might be more cost effective than dumping out full or truncated sets and make dealers take the loss. Dealers will not continue to carry the line if they don't make money.

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

I would say that schedule is MOST Ambitious.

If it actually holds, I run out of money about half way through and can't take any more.

There is no reason on this planet why Walking Dead and Big Bang should release on the same day.

But, I'm confident this won't happen. So hopefully they will be paced a little different.

Ed

They have bought too many titles . Whoever runs the process for choosing subjects needs to be much more selective.

Hopefully they have not paid out too much in licence fees otherwise I can see them getting into financial difficulties .

Zero chance of them achieving that schedule. They can't even get two sets out on time in a quarter, let alone 11.

Nevertheless, glad the only one of interest to me is Orphan Black (autograph line-up dependent).

Final checklist has been released: http://www.beckett.com/news/20...rading-card-details/

Set's out on Wednesday.

A 54 card base set! Then 1:30 odds on both sketches and autographs, so you might have both in a box, but maybe only one type of hit!

CZE really knocked this one out of the park, not!

If you take all the "hits"

Film Cells
Autos
Sketches
Patches
Printing Plates
Slime Cards

And apply the odds across the board, you end up with 2.75 hits per box. Not a bad number really.

I guess it all depends on what you want out the the box. If it's just autographs and sketches, then the odds are still pretty good you'll get 1 of each in a box.

But I wholeheartedly agree that a set covering all the movies and the animated series should have been MUCH bigger.

Ed

quote:

And apply the odds across the board, you end up with 2.75 hits per box. Not a bad number really.

In theory true, but I really don't imagine many people consider fake patches and fake slime as worthwhile hits. And are printing plates really that popular too?

quote:

Originally posted by ravenheart:

quote:

And apply the odds across the board, you end up with 2.75 hits per box. Not a bad number really.

In theory true, but I really don't imagine many people consider fake patches and fake slime as worthwhile hits. And are printing plates really that popular too?

That is exactly how I was going to respond.

And I can't think of anything less appealing than storing a fake slime card for years.

I love Printing Plates and consider them a "hit".

They are a hit, as are film cells, but I as a collector consider those secondary or extra hits to the primary of an autograph or sketch, depending on the nature of the title.

Manufactured patches or pins mean absolutely nothing to me. A fake corn syrup slime card is nonsense, wait until the thing leaks.

If a sketch and an autograph were guaranteed in every box, then also factoring in the possibility of the extra plate or cell, I would say you have a shot at value from a random sealed box. As it is, if the stated 1:30 holds and the box had only one or the other, you would have to pull the Ackroyd signature or maybe a truly wonderful sketch for me to think money well spent as opposed to simply buying only the cards you like you know where. Just MHO.

Printing plates are a bit like considering a single card from a parallel base set a hit...

Autograph rarities direct from George:

Limited to 175-225:

Ben Stein
Dave Florek
Harris Yulin
Jason Reitman
Jennifer Runyon
Laura Summer
Maurice LaMarche
Michael Ensign

Limited to 350-375:

Annie Potts
Arsenio Hall
Bobby Brown
Dan Aykroyd
Dave Coulier
Ernie Hudson
Ivan Reitman
John Rothman
Kurt Fuller
Larry King
William Atherton

If that's right, it's unusual. Taken as a group, I would say that the more desirable signers are on the less limited side. Not complaining, it's just normally the other way round.

Saw the new Ghostbusters movie Friday night, and really liked it. It would be cool if someone picked it up for a set.

In addition to the returning characters from the previous movies, there are already signed cards from Bokeem Woodbine, Finn Wolfhard, Bob Gunton, J. K. Simmons, Josh Gad, and Paul Rudd.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:
Saw the new Ghostbusters movie Friday night, and really liked it. It would be cool if someone picked it up for a set.

In addition to the returning characters from the previous movies, there are already signed cards from Bokeem Woodbine, Finn Wolfhard, Bob Gunton, J. K. Simmons, Josh Gad, and Paul Rudd.

I really liked it too but non sports seems to be dying down to a handful of title categories. It makes me throw up a little in my mouth to say that Upper Deck has the most exciting (TBD) titles at the moment. Companies that try to branch out from the major titles die a slow and painful death. MarvelXBondTrekWarsofThronesDC FOREVER!

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
I really liked it too but non sports seems to be dying down to a handful of title categories. It makes me throw up a little in my mouth to say that Upper Deck has the most exciting (TBD) titles at the moment. Companies that try to branch out from the major titles die a slow and painful death. MarvelXBondTrekWarsofThronesDC FOREVER!

And the sad thing is that some of the interesting (to me) UD titles have been delayed for a very long time or not released at all -- i.e. Chasing Amy.

Perhaps Fanatics will breathe some life in to Topps, or maybe Panini will branch out now that I think they are losing some of their sports licenses.

Maybe the DC CZX set will blow the doors off of Crypto and restart their creative sales.

I personally think the most likely path forward to new product is going to be celebrity based sets that don't require working with a studio for licensing. Perhaps Topps will bring back American Pie, Panini will continue with more music themed sets -- or century collection. I dunno. . .

It seems that outside of the few titles mykdude mentioned there just aren't enough box buyers or complete set collectors to drive sales.