What intrigues me is this statement from the release:
Next they will receive a one-of-one sketch card from top Marvel artists.

Does this mean actual comic book artists from Marvel's bullpen ? I know some sketch card collectors have been clamoring for sketch cards from actual Industry artists.

It will be interesting to see if UD provides an artist list !!

quote:

Originally posted by wonged:
What intrigues me is this statement from the release:
Next they will receive a one-of-one sketch card from top Marvel artists.

Does this mean actual comic book artists from Marvel's bullpen ? I know some sketch card collectors have been clamoring for sketch cards from actual Industry artists.

It will be interesting to see if UD provides an artist list !!

As I said earlier, I kinda thought it was artists from Marvel. But I truly doubt it. It's "top Marvel artists." Not, 'top artists from Marvel.'

quote:

Originally posted by Tattoox:
As I said earlier, I kinda thought it was artists from Marvel. But I truly doubt it. It's "top Marvel artists." Not, 'top artists from Marvel.'

If they use the same artists they've been using and expect us to pay 3/4 times more for the privilege then this is set is going to be a massive flop, folded sketches or not.

I'm completely open to the idea of a premium set (makes more sense than dumping 8000+ base/chase sets on a market that can't/won't handle them) but it seems doubtful, as Ed says there's 9000 sketches being produced which makes me believe they've relied on their normal artist roster.

I know some do not like collecting APs but UD seems to give out quite a lot of blanks to artists (even those not on the set) so it's not much of a choice if it's $200 on a gamble or just get an AP from the artist you wanted instead.

I buy a lot of sketches and I'm a terrible gambler so this should make me an ideal customer for these cards and yet I'm expecting to buy as much of this set as I did Avengers Kree Skrull War (i.e. none).

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
I'm not sure if I would call it an approach to the hobby as much as an approach to gambling.

Sports cards are driven more by the individual player than any product name. When you have those super premium sport packs buyers, they are more often than not searching for the first and best card of some hot rookie or a current superstar, rather than thinking of making a base set. Many times if they find that card it is on eBay the next day.

With the UD Marvel Premier what is the big score for a gambler? A sketch card or hinged sketch card of unknown quality by an artist that may or may not have a following. Or yeah, and it should be a sketch of an important Marvel character too, or else it loses fan interest.

This stuff will not attract gamblers and its too expensive for non-sport collectors that have that all or nothing mentality.

I happen to think it will attract the gamblers. UD is going to show only be best samples. And when you get sketch cards like the MA card of Ted's that brought $400 out of a $50 box, the gamblers are going to buy in.

The top artists will be like the HOF's and there will be some rookies who make a splash. Sketch cards in general are very much like sports cards.

Ed

Well I have been known to be wrong before Ed and you know your customers a lot better than I do, but as I love different opinions I would respectfully disagree. Sketch cards are nothing like sports cards to me and I have purchased both.

Sports cards first and foremost have a player who has a documented record in his sport or, in the case of rookies, has the perceived potential of greatness (sometimes more valuable than achievement it would seem). The player and what he is doing now, has done in the past or may do in the future are the most important things. Than you look at the product that the card is in and evaluate the pack/box price, the card production numbers, the market demand to supply, the relationship to other products that will contain the same player, the attractiveness of the card and finally the going market value at the time. Many sport card collectors are only doing player or team collections now having given up on the high prices of the premium products. They aren't interested or aren't able to chase the whole set.

Now an official sketch card has both an artist and a product, but I would argue that neither one is as important as the sketch, which is a singular piece of art after all. In terms of supply, all sketch cards are 1/1 unless the image is reused, and even than people will say that its not the same one because its art. If its a terrific sketch it will be terrific whether it came out of a $50 box or a $200 pack. And if its a junk effort it will be junk no matter the cost of the product too.

Now for the artist, gamblers know all about sports players, but do they know artist names? Safe to say not so much I think, but let's say they know about Artist X. Every sketch that Artist X makes may have a following, but that does not make them all good or all worth the same value. Sketches will always be judged on the work first and the artist second and that makes it very subjective to the buyer's opinion. Also the range of high/low prices for sketches in certain products by certain artists are so broad as to be unhelpful, often you might as well not have any. Gamblers do not want this kind of subjective ambiguity.

OK, I've gone on too long, but you get my point. Gamblers may take a run at expensive non-sport card products with certified autographs, but I can't see them taking the risk on artist sketches. I really would like to hear what true gamblers think about it, if any would like to weigh in.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
OK, I've gone on too long, but you get my point. Gamblers may take a run at expensive non-sport card products with certified autographs, but I can't see them taking the risk on artist sketches. I really would like to hear what true gamblers think about it, if any would like to weigh in.

If it's a famous artist that hasn't made sketches before it will be worth a lot and what is drawn doesn't really matter. As an example consider the Stan Lee Captain America sketches from Complete Avengers, it's certainly not the art that makes those $200 cards!

I think Ed's point stands that gamblers could indeed be attracted to the set but this can't happen if the product contains the same artists we've seen on the last 50 billion sets (if only for the simple reason that you can buy an old box for $60) and the credibility is stretched even further when you consider they're adding another 9000 sketches to an already over saturated market.

I know I have history and some may think I am biased but I feel like I should comment on this thread. I honestly see this as Upper Deck attempting to cash in on the secondary market prices cards can reach.

This is Upper Deck doing it in a "legitimate" way. They remove the cost of the set almost totally (99 sets of 50 is negligible cost wise)
and are now charging $100.00 for a sketch. Many companies would like a larger slice of the secondary market prices and reducing set sizes and print runs is a natural way to decrease cost, however what we see with a set like this is the extreme end of of the premium pack idea placed onto a mainstream product. It is in my opinion a very good indicator of the long term unsustainability of the of the format.

I have no doubt that people will buy this product, however if it is not good, and I don't think it will be for many reason not least the ones that Ed has mentioned, I don't think they will buy the next one.

Exclusive products at high prices have a place in the market however I honestly think this is an attempt to strike at the secondary market for a larger slice of the pie. I think thats a very bad idea, as manufacturers companies should strive for and support an active profitable secondary market in every way possible, as this is the only way to keep our niche industry alive. This is not an exclusive product there are 4950 packs. It's just an expensive product.

I would like to say one thing however, I know some of the artists working on the set and this isnt a comment about the work they do or it's value I am sure there are a lot of folks putting a ton of awesome work into this product, I just question the viability, in the longer term, of sets like this.

If the chase cards included some autos from the Avengers that we haven't seen yet, maybe they would have a shot at $200. Maybe. Shadowbox cards won't do it. Getting Nar to do some sketches is a good move (depending on how many he does) but the rest of the artist list needs to be huge. I guess if your Upper Deck, it's worth a shot. Is there license almost up? Maybe this is just a last minute money grab.

Many, many years ago, I decided to make up various sizes of blank cards for getting sketches done one. Our local print shop didn't have true card stock, but pretty close with very think paper. Most artists haven't had any issues with it.

So I got this triptych done for my wife for Christmas a couple of years ago. And last year we made it into a Christmas card, seen below. I don't think it would look very good with creases left in it from folding it.

I'm totally turned of by this idea UD has.

quote:

Originally posted by John Oder:
That's just stupid or greedy. Take your pick.

I pick stupid and greedy
these sports company just don't get it

quote:

Originally posted by DeathStorm:

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
OK, I've gone on too long, but you get my point. Gamblers may take a run at expensive non-sport card products with certified autographs, but I can't see them taking the risk on artist sketches. I really would like to hear what true gamblers think about it, if any would like to weigh in.

If it's a famous artist that hasn't made sketches before it will be worth a lot and what is drawn doesn't really matter. As an example consider the Stan Lee Captain America sketches from Complete Avengers, it's certainly not the art that makes those $200 cards!

I think Ed's point stands that gamblers could indeed be attracted to the set but this can't happen if the product contains the same artists we've seen on the last 50 billion sets (if only for the simple reason that you can buy an old box for $60) and the credibility is stretched even further when you consider they're adding another 9000 sketches to an already over saturated market.

$200? They haven't been $200 for a while, the last one I watched went for $525

http://www.ebay.com/itm/STAN-L...&hash=item2a1c0df20e

Dave and Adams has a few more artists named on this set...Mike Mayhew, Mark Texiera, Jamal Igle, Joe Jusko, Dennis Calero, Adriana Melo, Mike Miller, Rhiannon Owens, and Mick and Matt Glebe.



Check out my blog at Card Crazy!

Okay, I received this solicitation yesterday. Information seems different from what I first saw, such as 5 cards per pack. Some info seems contradicting within this solicitation below and/or lacking. Can't quite put my finger on it. Almost seems fishy. I don't know how much is from UD and how much is from the distributor that shared the info.







Configuration: 6 boxes per case / 1 pack per box / 5 cards per pack


CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS: (All content listed is an average based on the entire production run)

· The 50 card base set is comprised mainly of sketch cards! Each artist participating in the project will do their own rendition of the character list in the form of one-of-one art pieces! Look for one of these base card sketch cards per pack.

· Each pack will contain a two, three or four page folding sketch card! Artists will be using both the front and back of these cards as a canvas. The four page sketch card measures 10 inches in length. Add the back and overall it is a 3.5" x 17.5" sketch-able surface!

· Artists providing original sketch card art in this set include Mike Mayhew, Mark Texaria, Jamal Igle, Joe Jusko, Dennis Calero, Adriana Melo, Mike Miller, Rhiannon Owens, Mick and Matt Glebe, and many more!

· Look for the non sketch version of the base set with original art from Cruddie Torian! Two cards per pack. Each card is numbered to 199!

· Look for randomly inserted Classic Corners cards. These feature a manufactured patch of some of the most iconic cover corners in Marvel history!

· Look for randomly inserted Premier Shadow Box cards! These feature original art representations of classic battles in a 3-D format. Original art by Sanford Greene!

· Look for Emotion booklet cards containing original art on the interior by NAR! and one-of-one original art on the cover by Jason Adams! Each card is numbered to 50!

· One Classic Corners, Premier Shadow Box or Emotion card per pack!



PRODUCT BREAKDOWN:



Regular Set:

o 50 Base Cards numbered to 199 (2:1)



Insert Cards:

o 50 Sketch Base Cards (1:1)

o 50 Classic Corners Cards (1:3)

o 42 Showdown Shadowbox Cards (1:3)

o 18 Emotion Booklet Cards numbered to 50

o Hinged Sketch Cards (1:2)

o Double Hinged Sketch Cards (1:3)

o Triple Hinged Sketch Cards (1:6)

quote:

Originally posted by Incarnadine:
$200? They haven't been $200 for a while, the last one I watched went for $525

http://www.ebay.com/itm/STAN-L...&hash=item2a1c0df20e

Wow $500, I was expecting the price to drop slightly not more than double as you can get Lee autographs relatively cheaply. My point still stands however!

This is the first I've heard of the "manufactured patch" card for an insert.?? It's in the advertisement above but not the breakdown of the set below it.

quote:

Originally posted by goldenavenger:
This is the first I've heard of the "manufactured patch" card for an insert.?? It's in the advertisement above but not the breakdown of the set below it.

It's in the insert section under Classic Corners.

This is a little clearer than their original announcement, although there are a couple of discrepancies. Originally it was one base card per pack numbered to 99. Now there's 2 per pack with numbering to 199. Also first mention of the hinged cards being double-sided. The sketch "base cards" are also a new idea. I like the idea of pitting different artists on the same character and numbering them similarly. Adds some continuity.

One thing that didn't change - $200/pack.

So manufactured patch card is the same as a classic corner card? In the advertisement it reads like they are different because "....inserted along with....."

That what I don't like, sometimes they call them hinged sketh cards other times it's folded sketch cards. It's your product, figure out what you want to call them and stick to it.

quote:

Originally posted by goldenavenger:
So manufactured patch card is the same as a classic corner card? In the advertisement it reads like they are different because "....inserted along with....."

That what I don't like, sometimes they call them hinged sketh cards other times it's folded sketch cards. It's your product, figure out what you want to call them and stick to it.

I was originally confused by the Classic Corners too. I posted in an article they were pieces of the cover as that's when I understood from the original release. I got an email from them a couple of days later correcting my mistake. It was also mentioned the patches would come in varying rarities, which falls in line with what they've done in a some of their sports sets.

With 4975 packs @ $180/ea (that I can get), it looks like a guaranteed PASS for me...WAAAAAAY too much of this being produced.

I was originally doing stuff for this but decided to cancel. Too much work for to little.

The only Upper Deck products I dabble in (VERY LIGHTLY) is the Marvel movie sets. So this is an automatic pass. But I have to say...

I feel sorry for the collectors buying these that will be opening a manufactured patch card from a premium pack product like this. I've seen these by various companies in the sports side (Topps does them too on baseball sets), and I think they're ok on that end (it was fun seeing all the old baseball team logo patches). They have a nostalgic appeal and I get that.

But on the comic end of things (and I include the movie sets like Captain America too), I feel like the patch cards are something I should be picking up at Hot Topic for $5 and attaching to a backpack lol