Spiderman 3 Card set from Rittenhouse Archives

[Guest]

[Roz]

Thanks Zach - I couldn't remember whether it was Pence or Miller

[Martyn]

1 week to go! 
Let the countdown being 

[Roz]

What is RA up to? One WEEK until the movie is released and we are hearing rumours of a last minute 40% hike in the print run (at 2 autos per box, that's a HECK of a lot of autos (14,000 autos)) and there's no definitive list of what we are getting. Can it possibly be out before the week's up?

This is getting a little too fishy for my liking.

[ztaylork]

I agree.  2 weeks ago I was sooo excited for this set, and now I am scared that it is gonna flop with the rumors of box increases and not knowing for sure who is actually signing for the set.  Rittenhouse could quickly be right up there with artbox in companies that annoy me.  I don't know what I prefer least, a comapany that doesn't announce any details on a set until pretty much after its released, or a company that changes things twenty times in the last month before release. 

[Martyn]

After a few e-mails with RA, my 2 main questions where "Do you have any information on the set" and "With no solid information yet, could the set be delayed?"

The 2 answers I got where "Unfortunately, no." and "No. The set will release on schedule as far as I know."

This is the first RA set I have ever collected! Does it give me great confidence in the company? At the minute "NO"

Lets just hope it's not delayed and see what my cases are like and we will go from there!

[sketchqueen]

Customer Service is what happens after the product is released. I fix problems with incomplete base sets and missing cards and damaged cards. I will get product notes on or just before the release date. I can't give you information I don't have, it's as simple as that. I apologize for that, but I'm as anxious as everyone else to see what goodies are in store. Should that diminish your confidence in our company? I don't see why - I do my job to the best of my ability. Were you ever to encounter a problem with our products, you can be assured that I will work to remedy that in a timely, professional manner.

[Bryanjs14]

sketchqueen - i think the problem a lot of people are having are two things.

1) All the info WAS up on the site, and now there is nothing at all. RA could easily come back and say Tobey will not be signing for the set now, the same thing they aparantly did with Thomas Hayden Church, and to be 100% honest, when I heard Tobey was signing I IM'd my local distributor and had him put me down for a case. So if RA can so easily pull down one of the huge signers (Church) what is to say they could not do the same with Tobey. With a week to go before release it is just a bit scary when a company pulls down all the info. Hell, the list could go back up and only have two signers if RA wanted to...Naked Guitar Guy and Hal Sparks. Imagine 7,000 autos from each of them.

2) If the rumor of a 40% increase in box numbers is true, I will NEVER purchase from RA again. I have NEVER had a problem with RA and as a matter of fact, because of this, I always praise them as my favorite. I bought my case thinking this would be a very premium low printed product. It was to my understanding there would be 10,000 autographs, not 14,000. This brings the resale value of the easier to pull autographs WAY DOWN. I'm not in this hobby to make money, I have found that is almost impossible, but I am a collector, and if I am putting together a set, there needs to be some VALUE in even the lower end autographs to help me obtain other cards I need. The cost of a case is a lot of money, a LOT, and if the rumor is true, RA has basicly just lowered the value of my investment by 40%. That is unacceptable and I prey that it is simply a rumor. Look what happened with POAU, you can pick up costume cards from that set for under $5...and it also made a lot of people look at Artbox in a different way after the seemingly perfect release of POA. They hiked their case production, and dealers and collectors alike both felt the results of that.

So should those two things make us "diminish our confidence" in RA. Maybe not, because chances are we will still always buy your products. We do the same with Artbox even though (and they have KIND of been doing better of late) they treat the collector like crap and do the same things it is rumored RA might be doing (pulling out inserts they origially listed and increasing productions after they stated a certain amount).

That said, I know that "I" personally will be a little weary about purchasing from RA in the future if these RUMORS (the key word right now) turn out to be true

[bush360]

I agree with all the concerns as I too have ordered a case of this product, I had a prooblem before with Xmen 3 where i had ordered based on preliminary information from a distributor only to have the actual release details being different from what I thought I would get. So my case of this was ordered late on after the tobey auto was included. I am a massive spidey fan and have collected the comics since i was about 5, I viewed this set upon it being the ultimate auto line up of any spideman set possible. I know this may be a sinical view but i think RA saw the demand set after the inclusion of the Tobey auto and are probably able to get more of the common signers signatures therefore increasing the production run but having a much higher proportion of the lesser character autos. I do believe this may be common practice as i seem to remember with Topps LOTR Masterpieces many artists were requested to produce extra sketches but this set was still great.
It is still very dissapointing as this set should have been awesome I hope this uncertainty doesnt ruin it.
Fingers Crossed Hey 

[Raj]

Assuming the news of the increase of the production run is correct, the only reason we'd know is because RA is the only company that releases that info.  Any and all other companies could have significantly increased or decreased their production runs based on orders received on any of and we'd be none the wiser.

I don't remember anyone complaining about getting 2 costume cards per box instead of 1 in the Fantastic Four movie set (I know it was by a different company but the point stands).  I would guess that was because the production run was decreased due to low demand.

In this case, RA would be responding to demand - high.  They are a business after all. 

[Raj]

Has anyone noticed that it says 2 autos per box on the RA website?

[Bryanjs14]

It has said that for quite some time....the 2 autos per box was anounced before the Tobey autograph.

[Raj]

Really?  I guess I wasn't very observant.  I thought it was 1 per box.

[Bryanjs14]

It was originally.

Then they took Thomas Hayden Church off the list and made it 2 Autos per box prob because interest in the set was no where what they expected. Then they added Tobey and increased the production 2,000 boxes because interest skyrocketed with that anouncement.

Also, it looks more and more like this is not a rumor, as the person who originally posted the 5,000 to 7,000 increase said that he spoke directly to someone at RA and they said "they still would not have enough to fill the orders that have come in"

That sounds pretty legit to me.

[Bogleg]

I think it needs to be reminded that most on this board are collectors, not dealers. If an increased production run means it's going to be cheaper for me to complete a set, then great  These are TRADING CARDS. The trading seems to have, for the most part, lost. I have, in the past, traded a card "worth" £80 for one "worth" £30. I have also traded a £10 card for a £120 one. In both cases, they were doubles that I didn't need and someone else did. As soon as the hobby becomes a business, it seems a lot of the enjoyment disappears.
As far as Rittenhouse goes, you get what you pay for - the best quality cards you can buy. They, together with Inkworks could run master classes on how customer service should be run.

I may buy one box of Spider-Man. I will definitely buy a case of DC. No worries what I'm going to pull because I know it's going to be good.

[Martyn]

It's here, the checklist     

http://www.scifihobby.com/products/checklist.cfm?SetID=156

[  ] xxx-001 Tobey Maquire as Spider-Man (Very Limited)
[  ] xxx-002 James Franco as Harry Osborn (Limited)
[  ] xxx-003 Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn (Limited)
[  ] xxx-004 J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson
[  ] xxx-005 Lucy Lawless as Punk Rock Girl (Very Limited)
[  ] xxx-006 Bruce Campbell as Ring Announcer (Limited)
[  ] xxx-007 Dylan Baker as Dr. Connors
[  ] xxx-008 Bill Nunn as Joseph Robertson
[  ] xxx-009 Elizabeth Banks as Betty Brant (Limited)
[  ] xxx-010 Jayce Bartok as Subway Guitarist
[  ] xxx-011 Brent Briscoe as Garbage Man
[  ] xxx-012 Mageina Tovah as Ursula
[  ] xxx-013 Aasif Madvi as Mr. Aziz
[  ] xxx-014 Stan Lee as Innocent Bystander
[  ] xxx-015 Larry Joshua as Wrestling Promoter
[  ] xxx-016 Hal Sparks as Elevator Passenger
[  ] xxx-017 Jack Betts as Henry Balkan
[  ] xxx-018 Joe Manganiello as Flash Thompson
[  ] xxx-019 Avi Arad as Producer (Very Limited)
[  ] xxx-020 Elyse Dinh as Violinist

[kbmum]

I really like the design of the costume card!

[Martyn]

Me too, Looks like this set is back on track! 

& with 4 days to go i'm getting excited!! Pitty the Monday after release in the UK is a Bank Holiday, so no post. I have to wait an extra day for my cards!!

[Bryanjs14]

ouch...with my luck the "very limited" auto I will pull will end of being Avi Arad.

still not to happy with the fact that the production was increased, that is really a slap in the face to the people who ordered early (before the big auto anouncement)

the sketches are amazing though, those are going to comand BIIIIIIG $$$

[Martyn]

ouch...with my luck the "very limited" auto I will pull will end of being Avi Arad.

Thats what I was just thinking to myself!

Whats the insert rate like when they say VERY LIMITED & LIMITED

Is VERY LIMITED 1 Per Case
LIMITED 2 Per Case

  

[sketchqueen]

From the scifihobby.com website's FAQ :
Q: What does "Limited" and "Very Limited" mean in regards to autograph card quantities?
A: Normal = 500 and up
Limited = 300-500 range
Very Limited = 200-300 range

http://www.scifihobby.com/faq.cfm