[Guest]

Yay !!

As for the "featured graphics," the series isn't based on the Disney movie, it's based on comic series. And the artwork in the comics is dominated by views of our favorite Martian Princess, Dejah Thoris. Princess or not, according to the original books, there's a bit of artistic license (or attempts to retain PG rating) when the artists add the pasties.

Almost half of the base cards feature art from the comic miniseries "Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris" and "Dejah Thoris and the White Apes of Mars." Many of the other cards can feature muscled thews à lá Conan-style artwork. Joe Jusko did two complete art-card series featuring the Carter/Barsoom and Tarzan cycles and he contributed a dozen of the base cards and some Z-card sketches here. Cryptozoic's recent Tarzan-comics set didn't have as much opportunity to focus so heavily on babes.

Many sketch and comic artists have found success by not shying away from picturing the lightly clothed female form. And 100 years ago, Edgar Rice Burroughs was writing *pulp* novels as magazine serials. They are "romance novels" as much as "thud and blunder." Add a half century, and you see John Norman try to repeat the genre with Gor books, which are so laced with explicit sex and violence that you'd have great difficulty selling a screenplay to Disney! In the early 20th Century, ERB left a little bit to the reader's imagination.

If they were there, they hid themselves very well. No reps sharing anybody else's booth either, that I could see. (Of course, individuals might have attended. I even ran into Allan Caplan.)

Artbox (Japan Printing Products USA) is just a division of a much larger Japanese hobby-and-other company. I suspect they will just move on to other things. They existed in 1995 before cards, and the Potter franchise was modeled on Topps's successful LOTR franchise, even to hiring Gary Gerani as the first set designer. It was unlucky when your division's main product line was licensed from a media outlet that doesn't like to bother with trading cards. I'll miss Kay and her small support team, they've been a great asset to the hobby. But we might see them again.

At least they haven't reassigned the booth # yet. Hmmmph.

Someone contradict me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there was one. There was retail packaging for movies 3-4-5 and their updates and 3-D 2nd edition. There may have been others, but even then they never showed up in the stores around here (it's not a big region for non-sports cards) and I didn't note auctions for different retail and hobby configurations. It was my impression that sales pretty much all moved to the internet and the hobby market, with our lust for more autos, costumes, and props!

Booth 2842. The exhibitor list with locations is up at the SDCC website.

Yes it does make sense, especially if Artbox knew if they didn't have costume and prop material on hand when the movie came out, they might never get it (contract or no).

If the variety of images used for the Part 2 base set is an indicator, I don't think they ever got much cooperation. The autographs were in-hand partly because they could start working on getting them signed at the start of Part 1. They were able to do autos without redemptions, but two of the puzzle-auto signers don't even appear in Part 2.

Maybe the Michelle Fairley puzzle auto is going to jump up in value a little bit.

End ending's a shame, because I wouldn't have minded final 3-D or Memorable Moments or Posters sets. Or Masterpieces or Evolution sets that worked so well for LOTR.

If this is true, then why didn't Artbox just state that they weren't given the items they needed for the set?  I'm assuming the contract specified that WB would provide Artbox with access to autographs, costumes and props, and WB therefore could be in violation of that contract. 

If so, there might be a lawsuit brewing. And that would be a good reason not to be talking about it everywhere ...

Another good reason would be if you think there's a real chance you might get them to sign some future license if you talk friendly - maybe not cards, but JPP/Amada does have other products.

My pet theory: There was disagreement on whether the terms were supposed to cover movies for seven books, or seven movies.

Artbox has been great for the hobby. I hope their people do well in their next ventures.

I have been challenged to prepare a checklist of all of the Artbox Harry Potter exclusives from San Diego Comic Con. My first shot is posted here: http://nslists.com/hpsdcc.htm.

Obviously it's a work in progress.    A few things are undoubtedly garbled when I misinterpreted words on some of the auctions, and there may have been some Con-only variants that I thought were the same as cards found elsewhen. Any corrections, additions, or supplemental information would be welcomed and profusely thanked.

Maybe they have all the costumes and props for a TDH2 update, but never got any images for the base set. 

They sure had a limited gallery for the first TDH2 set, with some of the pix almost identical to others.

Any other Yaksters who will be there on Thursday this year, please LMK. I'd hate to miss running into you. I'll be taking my sister around (her first and probably only time) and figure I need to focus on getting her into programming. Our single day will make it difficult to spend enough quality time with my favorite exhibitors, so I might have a fatter wallet than usual when I leave!

I'll be going Thursday only.

The card licenses vary all over the map, even from one set to the next with the same media company.

We don't know when the Artbox HP license ends, anyway. I have a suspicion that it ended last December. Possibly the announcement that redemptions would be honored through June 31st [sic] means that there will be a lot of Potter cards in July at Comic-Con. Without Potter stuff to sell, I wonder why they would even set up a booth.

Bryan, where did you see this year's Exhibitor list?

What an outstanding value this is, compared to World of Harry Potter in Orlando ...

Jeff, do you know if Artbox will have a booth this year?

I haven't seen confirmation, but I expect yes. It might not be a coincidence that the website says redemptions will be honored through June 30. There might be special packages if Artbox had costumes and relics in-hand for TDH2 Series 2, or it could be a good year for goodie bags, maybe with TDH2 binders. The only problem I see is that there isn't any buzz about new products in the pipeline.

I didn't post before because there wasn't anything new to show, but John insisted that I needed to show my photo with Kay.

Not the best photo of the geek, but it shows that I can sense quality when I see it. I'm attaching a separate photo of Kay without the alpha male distraction. But note the sign on the wall, showing that 10 copies of the Peter Best Death Eater auto were available if you got the right bingo ball with a goodie bag purchase. If that was 10 copies per day, then at least 40 of the "100 signed" were distributed that way.

My goodie bag included a generic album, HP&HBP tin, Andy Linden as Mundungus Fletcher auto, CFC6 from HBPU, P3 Cushions from HBP, a MM2 mini-master, the Star Wars Real Mask magnet collection, and a box of cards (I forget which).

This year I wonder if we will see the props and costumes that were supposed to be in TDH2 Series 2. I wouldn't mind finding a copy of the SDCC-2010 Dumbledore's Army Set 2 so that I can focus on the less-than-#50 items that LORS snagged (and the 2008 Felton)!

Copies (from multiple places) are showing up for an alternate DEPZ-02 card marked and signed by Peter Best.

Nobody reported pulling one on the original release. I speculate that Best was scheduled to sign the Death Eater card but it looked like it wasn't going to happen, so they replaced him with the Trinder card. (They wouldn't think about using a redemption card for this series, would they?) Then the signed cards came in and found their way into a few goodie bags or dealer specials, or maybe they even ran out of Gambons as the Mad-Eye replacement.

Does anybody know?

The sum of the numbers for CFC cards is 3840, so it looks like they had been hoping for enough presales to justify a 5000-box print run even fairly late in the game.

I mistyped previously, which made it tough to see the point! There are 6 per case or 2400 in boxes, so that means there are 60% more CFC cards than the ones put in boxes. This was about the same as TDH1 and HBPU, but about double of what was usual for earlier sets. I theorized that the high recent numbers were based on hopes to have bigger print runs, but it's also possible that changes in manufacturering meant that they had more filmcards spoiled in production. But prop cards had a 60% overage for TDH1 and they used to be at about 30% too.

When you're winding down on your license, I wonder what you'd do with 1440 unspoiled extras. The reason I've been watching the count on 'overproduction' is to gauge how many items might show up later, one way or another, to dilute the value of the cards we purchased from pack distribution. We recently saw the fire sale of Inkworks' accumulated inventory of extras through Razor, but Artbox isn't going bankrupt any time soon. Licensing arrangements for what a card company can do with leftovers after the license ends are usually kept secret, but some companies have been unable to honor redemptions. I don't have any inside information, but if Artbox had a legal requirement to stop distributing things after January 01, 2012, I think we would have seen more goodie bags or mystery packs offered already.

It looks like SDCC exclusive sets that numbered to about 200 or above are showing up with the TDH2 prize cards and in goodie bags, so if you missed out the first time, there's still hope.

With some of the "premium" sets, where there are only chase cards or they are the only real draw, the terminology of "pack" and "box" and "case" becomes less helpful. Some packs contain a sketch card or several chase cards and one or a few base cards, and they are wholesaled in what can be called either a box or a case. Others like recent Breygent sets come in a "box" that has a complete base set plus the premium chase that the fans are going for, but for them it's the moral equivalent of a "pack."

Somehow for me the process of opening packs and assembling base sets is still part of the tradition. Of course it doesn't make much economic sense, but it *feels* like you're doing more. I find that I tend to pick up just a base or mini-master set and give a pass to the premium chase.

And then they come up with the hybrids, where the base cards are numbered to 250 or 300. I think we're in for even more experiments as the hobby market evolves!

Well, after viewing the base set, there ought to be plenty of images to choose from. There were huge gaps in the plot, and a large number of slightly different angles on the same scene. I suspected that WB didn't give them access to much of anything before the movie released. It's obvious that there would have been profit potential from SDCC exclusives, so the lack thereof makes me wonder whether there's any energy left at Artbox for trading cards. At least I will always have the photo of me and Kay.

Has anybody heard 'official' word on what autos are Ultra, Rare, and Common? I suspect that my duped Lewis and Leonidas are commons, and the Davis is not going to be high-value even if it's Rare because he's signed so often. I have some hope only if some of the puzzle autos are rare-ish, but that would sort have defeated the purpose for Artbox. Even my Prize Card wasn't in the top tier.

The sum of the numbers for CFC cards is 6400, so it looks like they had been hoping for enough presales to justify a 5000-box print run even fairly late in the game.

But hey, even if the license with WB ends soon, there's still a need to finish the Literary set ...

My case ... I suspect that I was on the short end of quality autographs.

Boxes hold 24 packs of 8 cards. 10 boxes per case, 4000 numbered boxes. Expect 2.94 base sets of 54 if collation were perfect. Expect 1.33 sets each of base puzzle cards and base clear cards.

Sand-Blasted Crystal Case-Topper (CT1-CT3): CT2 Dragon

BOX 2223/4000

Base cards (01-54): 1 complete set, 5 short of 2nd, 12 threes, 8 fours, 4 fives, 2 sevens, 1 eight
Base puzzle cards (BP1-BP9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Base clear cards (BC1-BC9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Chase cards (R1-R9, 1:4.8 packs): R1 R4 R6 R8 R8
Autograph cards (11, TBD): none
Puzzle Autograph cards (PA1-PA9, TBD): PA3 Jamie Campbell Bower - Young Gellert Grindelwald
Cinema Film Cell cards (CFC1-CFC18, 1:40 packs): CFC6 (Narcissa casting) (112/213)
Silver-Etched Box-Topper (BT1-BT4): BT4 Malfoy
Prize Winner Card (1:240 packs): none

BOX 0719

Base cards (01-54): 1 complete set, 2 short of 2nd, 20 threes, 9 fours, 1 five, 3 sixes
Base puzzle cards (BP1-BP9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Base clear cards (BC1-BC9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Chase cards (R1-R9, 1:4.8 packs): R1 R3 R4 R6 R8
Autograph cards (11, TBD): none
Puzzle Autograph cards (PA1-PA9, TBD): PA2 Jon Campling as a Death Eater
Cinema Film cards (CFC1-CFC18, 1:40 packs): CFC12 (Snape at steps) (017/213)
Silver-Etched Box-Topper (BT1-BT4): BT4 Malfoy
Prize Winner Card (1:240 packs): none

BOX 3124

Base cards (01-54): 1 complete set, 1 short of 2nd, 14 threes, 9 fours, 7 fives
Base puzzle cards (BP1-BP9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Base clear cards (BC1-BC9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Chase cards (R1-R9, 1:4.8 packs): R3 R4 R5 R8 R8
Autograph cards (11, TBD): none
Puzzle Autograph cards (PA1-PA9, TBD): PA9 Michelle Fairley as Mrs. Granger
Cinema Film Cell cards (CFC1-CFC18, 1:40 packs): CFC10 (armored warrior) (174/213)
Silver-Etched Box-Topper (BT1-BT4): BT4 Malfoy
Prize Winner Card (1:240 packs): none

BOX 0051

Base cards (01-54): 1 complete set, 8 short of 2nd, 10 threes, 12 fours, 8 fives, 1 six
Base puzzle cards (BP1-BP9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Base clear cards (BC1-BC9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Chase cards (R1-R9, 1:4.8 packs): R1 R3 R4 R6 R8
Autograph cards (11, TBD): Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom
Puzzle Autograph cards (PA1-PA9, TBD): none
Cinema Film cards (CFC1-CFC18, 1:40 packs): none
Silver-Etched Box-Topper (BT1-BT4): BT3 Ron Weasley
Prize Winner Card (1:240 packs): none

BOX 3913

Base cards (01-54): 1 complete set, 4 short of 2nd, 19 threes, 8 fours, 3 fives, 4 sixes
Base puzzle cards (BP1-BP9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Base clear cards (BC1-BC9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Chase cards (R1-R9, 1:4.8 packs): R1 R2 R5 R7 R9
Autograph cards (11, TBD): Georgina Leonidas as Katie Bell
Puzzle Autograph cards (PA1-PA9, TBD): none
Cinema Film Cell cards (CFC1-CFC18, 1:40 packs): none
Silver-Etched Box-Topper (BT1-BT4): BT1 Harry
Prize Winner Card (1:240 packs): none

BOX 0506

Base cards (01-54): 1 complete set, 5 short of 2nd, 20 threes, 6 fours, 8 fives
Base puzzle cards (BP1-BP9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Base clear cards (BC1-BC9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Chase cards (R1-R9, 1:4.8 packs): R1 R4 R6 R7 R8
Autograph cards (11, TBD): none
Puzzle Autograph cards (PA1-PA9, TBD): PA2 Jon Campling as a Death Eater [second]
Cinema Film cards (CFC1-CFC18, 1:40 packs): CFC4 (Fenrir, Hermione, Ron) (005/213)
Silver-Etched Box-Topper (BT1-BT4): BT4 Malfoy
Prize Winner Card (1:240 packs): none

BOX 0757

Base cards (01-54): 1 complete set, 8 short of 2nd, 19 threes, 8 fours, 4 fives, 3 sixes
Base puzzle cards (BP1-BP9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Base clear cards (BC1-BC9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Chase cards (R1-R9, 1:4.8 packs): R1 R2 R5 R7 R9
Autograph cards (11, TBD): Warwick Davis as Griphook
Puzzle Autograph cards (PA1-PA9, TBD): none
Cinema Film Cell cards (CFC1-CFC18, 1:40 packs): CFC15 (Harry casts) (049/214)
Silver-Etched Box-Topper (BT1-BT4): BT1 Harry
Prize Winner Card (1:240 packs): none

BOX 2027

Base cards (01-54): 1 complete set, 3 short of 2nd, 18 threes, 5 fours, 4 fives, 1 six, 1 seven, 1 eight
Base puzzle cards (BP1-BP9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Base clear cards (BC1-BC9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Chase cards (R1-R9, 1:4.8 packs): R2 R4 R6 R7 R8
Autograph cards (11, TBD): none
Puzzle Autograph cards (PA1-PA9, TBD): PA5 Rusty Goffe as Grigotts Goblin
Cinema Film cards (CFC1-CFC18, 1:40 packs): CFC1 (Ron, Hermione, Marauder's Map) (068/213)
Silver-Etched Box-Topper (BT1-BT4): BT4 Malfoy
Prize Winner Card (1:240 packs): none

BOX 1771

Base cards (01-54): 1 complete set, 4 short of 2nd, 16 threes, 12 fours, 5 fives, 3 sixes
Base puzzle cards (BP1-BP9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Base clear cards (BC1-BC9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Chase cards (R1-R9, 1:4.8 packs): R1 R2 R7 R7 R9
Autograph cards (11, TBD): Georgina Leonidas as Katie Bell [second]
Puzzle Autograph cards (PA1-PA9, TBD): none
Cinema Film Cell cards (CFC1-CFC18, 1:40 packs): none
Silver-Etched Box-Topper (BT1-BT4): BT3 Ron Weasley
Prize Winner Card (1:240 packs): none

BOX 1967

Base cards (01-54): 1 complete set, 3 short of 2nd, 20 threes, 5 fours, 6 fives, 2 sixes
Base puzzle cards (BP1-BP9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Base clear cards (BC1-BC9, 1:2 packs): 1 complete set, 3 extras
Chase cards (R1-R9, 1:4.8 packs): R2 R3 R7 R9 R9
Autograph cards (11, TBD): Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom [second]
Puzzle Autograph cards (PA1-PA9, TBD): PA5 Rusty Goffe as Grigotts Goblin
Cinema Film cards (CFC1-CFC18, 1:40 packs): none
Silver-Etched Box-Topper (BT1-BT4): BT1 Harry
Prize Winner Card (1:240 packs): HP Cut Metal Card Set [SDCC 2010]