Well, it was the set we were all expecting to flop!
What can I say? I am totally blown away by this set! I didn't want to like it, I did my best not to like it, I saw the promos at Memorabilia in August and they seemed a tad naff; chrome looked like just a gimmick to sell the same set back to us... the chrome was raised a little on certain parts of the picture, not all but just bits of outlines... although the P3 promo was cool with the sword! But I had pretty much ruled out the base set from that day on!
However the new odds of one clothing and 2 auto cards per box certainly grabbed everyone's eye and rescued the set from a certain doom, (presumably they had only had one third of the orders they had been expecting and so decided to pack it full with 3 interesting items per box).
Would this set have done so well if it had remained with just one interesting item per box? No, I don't think so - in daylight (not artificial light) I like the base set very much indeed; the artifical light is not flattering to these cards in my opinion. There are some base cards that I am not impressed with; for example what on earth is card number 12?? It's almost completely blank silver with prints of the witchking on! Yesterday I decided I hated this card but now as I look at it in the right light it's great - it's just a question of catching it in the right light!
In fact I think the very best light to view these under is early morning sunshine, with the curtains closed in the room but with enough natural light seeping through for you too see them clearly! That is the PERFECT way to view them. At this time they look awesome, so many of the cards in this set are worth picking out in particular; number 10 with a Wraith on a steed is particularly good, number 25 of the Balrog (shown here but obviously not with it's chrome twist)
The one with the WitchKing's Helm on (number 90 is pretty awesome, but the prize for the most amazing card has to go to numbe 100; the ring floating on top of the molten lava in Mount (volcano?) Doom! All the elvish lettering glows in the chrome and then the title of the set is at the bottom. This is the check list card but I think I personally would have had it at the front of the set. At conventions and fairs this card would sell the set no problems if it was at the top.
The autos look great. It's rather difficult to know how they will sell on ebay before people have seen the set in the flesh since it looks like the actors signed in blue pens on black backgrounds! The problem with scanning (and to a certain but lesser extent) photographing these cards is that the autos are rather like little mirrors.
There must be a relatively high metal content in this set, the cards feel cool to the touch and they are very heavy - I think they are heavier than previous boxes despite the fact there are only 5 cards a pack.
From the point of view of cherry picking, I don't like to condone it particularly, but I also don't like to think of you buying packs in hope of getting an auto when you haven't a chance. I believe all the costumes are in Frodo packs, they are still as thick as the last costumes so it's obvious which pack they are in. Then all the autos are in the Gandalf packs, so if you buy individual packs - go with the White Wizard (unless you can find "the Frodo" that you want - although I suspect that will have gone before you get to it).
The was one slight dissappointment with this set. Although the Chrome has been an exciting twist, in essence there is very little new about this set. None of the costumes are from characters that we have not had costumes from before. what about Eomer? Legolas? Gimli? Some of the Orcs? Eowyn has been rather over done these few sets; four memorabilia cards in two sets! And of course Noel Appleby (Proudfoot who's single word in the Trilogy is "Proudfeet") was a fun new signer but it would have been nice to have others. Fans would have welcomed another auto from Elrond or Gimli (or JRD as Treebeard) and in fact artwork was prepared for Gimli but unfortunately he did not sign for the set.
All in all I have enjoyed the set. I have liked the chrome gimmick (after all, I really didn't expect to!) and since I haven't collected autographs from Eomer, Theoden, Gorbag, Gamling etc before I will enjoy collecting them at the reduced prices that this set have settled to (because of the high humber on inserts a case yields). Although I would be interested especially in the opinions of those who have already collected these autographs before!!!
