Toy Review

Autograph Collecting/ Odd-ball Cards/ Toy Review

Star Wars Masterwork February 2015

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Star Wars Masterwork

Like any product of late, in my opinion, the February 2015 release of Topps Star Wars Masterwork disappointed me. The heavy price did not produce the quality I was expecting. I know many people might think the lack of a large hit may be the reason for my sour grapes, but I assure you it is not. The main reason is because I am a collector and not a seller! I do sell product from time to time, the main reason is for cash flow stream to purchase product that I want.

When the purchased product disappoints like the Star Wars Masterworks did for me. The cards are nice, hard to deny that but they lack the wow factor that a $250.00 should have. Sometimes as a collector, I purchase cards that I believe they may disappoint, and turn out to be a great product. Other times like (Star Wars Masterwork) the product is expensive, and they just do not pack the necessary punch.

In all the card I really wanted was the BOBA FETT autograph, and long and behold like the mighty Yoda, I willed one into my packs and was lucky enough to get the card I wanted. I am a huge BOBA FETT fan. So in that regard, I cannot claim the product was completely bad for me. But some of the 1 of 1 sketch cards were completely silly and horrible. I am going to list some of the pulls I had right here on this page, check it out:

BOBA FETT Autograph

1 of 1 Sketch Card

Darth Maul Postage Stamp

Specialty Cards/ Toy Review

Star Wars Masterwork Release Date February 2015

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Star Wars Masterwork New Date 02/11/2015!

The release for this product has been pushed back to February 2015. Most of the artist apparently were having difficulty delivering the original artwork, and thus the date has been pushed back so that no one gets a horrible redemption card. I know I hate them. Anyway here is a breakdown of the product and what you can expect to give you an idea as to whether or not you are going to plunk down about $75.00 for a mini box.

Seems like plenty of money, and at least you do not have to tie down your Christmas money on the product. Too late for me, as I was a busy purchaser some weeks back, but at least I know I have the product secured. This product will nearly double in my opinion. With a hit in every mini box, Star Wars fans will be pleasantly surprised.

The Star Wars Masterwork Breakdown:

High-end is finally feeling the Force. 2015 Topps Star Wars Masterwork brings a formula similar to the card maker’s Museum Collection line in baseball, promising a hit or premium insert in every pack. Boxes promise one autograph and a premium sketch card.

Sticking with the trend started by 2014 Topps Star Wars Chrome Perspectives, virtually all of the autographs here are on-card. Base autographs come from actors and are done on foil-stamped premium card stock. Parallels include Foil (#/25 or less), Canvas (#/10 or less) and Wood (1/1). Every case also has a Silver Framed Autograph that is numbered to 29 or less.

Five Dual Autograph Book cards are the only signed cards in the product that use stickers.

Signature Pen Autograph Relics are something new. In addition to the signature, the cards come with a piece of the pen used during the signing.

Star Wars sketch cards have been a regular feature in sets for a decade now. However, 2015 Star Wars Masterwork attempts to change things up a little. For the first time, basic sketch cards are done on 72-point card stock, giving them a much thicker feel. Sketch Card Variations have a different logo and are numbered to 10. Wood Sketch Cards use a very different stock and are numbered to 5. Sketch Card Books have a pair of panels with original art. Rare, these are numbered 1/1.

Randomly inserted are 50 mini boxes that have four sketch cards that fit together to form a puzzle.

Production-used relics are still a novelty in Star Wars sets as they’ve only been used a couple of times before this. Momentous Movie Relics include some new materials that haven’t been used in cards yet. They’re inserted at a rate of three per case.

2015 Topps Star Wars Masterwork has two additional premium inserts. Weapon Lineage Medallions come with a metal piece showcasing a famous tool from the franchise. Postage Stamp Relics have a US stamp embedded in them. These stamps feature artwork from Drew Struzan, one of the most iconic Star Wars artists.

While the premium inserts may be the focal point for many, 2015 Topps Star Wars Masterwork does have a base set. That said, it’s not a massive one. Printed on premium 72-point stock, the set has a total of 75 character-driven cards. On top of that, there are four parallels that combine to fall one per pack. Base set parallels are Blue Metallic (#/299), Silver Metallic (#/99), Green Metallic (#/50) and Gold Metallic (1/1)

The product also has a trio of ten-card basic inserts: Defining Moments, Companions and Scum & Villainy. Every pack has either an insert or one of six insert parallels: Foil (#/299), Canvas (#/99), Wood (#/50), Clear Acetate (#/25), Metal (#/10) or Golden Metal (1/1).

Each pack of 2015 Topps Star Wars Masterwork is packaged in its own mini box. Master boxes have four of these.

Estimated Release Date: 2/11/15
Product Configuration: 4 packs per box, 5 cards per pack
2015 Topps Star Wars Masterwork Box Break:

1 On-Card Autograph
1 Premium Sketch Card
2 Additional Premium Inserts
4 Inserts
4 Parallels
8 Base Cards
20 Total Cards

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More Marvel Movies Coming Your Way This Summer

Toy Review

More Marvel Movies Coming Your Way This Summer

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Marvel Comic Books Dominate Hollywood

Marvel Comic Books, dominating Hollywood and movie makers all over the place. The last time I counted, Marvel comics was taking it to DC comics, and hard. Quite frankly I do not believe that DC comics can compete. Marvel Comics had laid the foundation of their fruits many, many years ago. This did not occur overnight. Hey I paid the price too, watching those early Saturday morning Marvel comic cartoons of the Fantastic Four, Thor, Spider-man. You know the ones I am talking about the still framed comics. Who made those anyway? In one scene, the thing was taking a punch, next scene he is smoking his famous cigar, what happened in between? I know, we were young…I would always look at my brother and say, hey what gives? He would tell me something like, that is how fast he is! Whatever, I did not buy it.

Marvel Comics paid the early price of exposure and now they reap the high rewards, what I need is for the good old comics to make a rebound, not just so that my collection would be worth something again but rather so that this piece of Americana does not get lost! I said to myself, I said self, what can we do to make sure that this art does not get lost. So that Spider-man forever will swing from the highest high-rises that NY City has to offer. Superman will no longer be intimidated by kryptonite, The Fantastic Four find a way to defeat Galactus, and deal with Dr. Doom, you get the picture.

Up to now, It is hard for DC Comics to contend with the likes of those 3 Spider-man movies, I will say it, not even the last Batman movie, It was real good I will give them that, but was I the only one that left the film feeling like the makers of the film did all they could to make Batman the co-star of that movie. It seems like the Joker was the main character and Batman was just along for the ride. Spider-man movies have all been about him and his conflicts and then the villains like Venom, Sand-Man, Dr. Octopus, the Green Goblin come in to his life and just mess things up some more.

The New Superman Movie – Please No Lex Luther!

I believe that Marvel Comics must have been very instrumental in making sure that these characters/Superheroes were kept in the context of the comic books and for the most part, I left those movies feeling that way. Maybe the fact that there are so many more movies from the Marvel Comics side of the comic book world to judge, it would not really be fair to judge. I do have to declare though, that If I see another Superman movie with Lex Luther as the villain, I might hurl a piece of kryptonite at the producers. Superman needs to fight a villain with color, boldness, and some kind of flair, if we can survive another Superman movie. Please!

Marvel Comics, D.C. Comics entertaining families for so long, lets not let this piece of Americana comics history go by the wayside…Read a comic…

Multiple Star Wars Movies Coming Soon

Toy Review

Multiple Star Wars Movies Coming Soon

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Lucas Films Is Sold To Disney

With the ever changing hands of the property of the Star Wars empire (Disney’s the new owner) you can expect to see new things on the horizon for the Star Wars family of collectible toys, cards, comics, and statutes. Lucas Films sold the Star Wars family, as well as Lucas Films entertainment of items for the hefty sum of approximately 4 billion.

George Lucas will remain active in the planning and decision-making for many of the ongoing projects that are currently being designed and developed on the studio. Lucas will act as creative consultant on the new “Star Wars” film, with more feature films expected beyond Episode 7. Episode 7 will release sometime in 2015. Then there will be other films as well, as Disney will look to expand the Star Wars empire to include many more films, as well as the interactive ride and other venues that are currently a part of Hollywood studios in Orlando. That ride is called “Star Tours” the ride was upgraded in 2011 to include some hundreds of different scenarios that can unfold during the ride.

Darth Maul 12″ Figure

My favorite character of the latest movies released in 1999 was the Darth Maul 12″ figure. This figure was one of the hottest in demand when it was released. I was fortunate enough to purchase about 5 of them, and have kept a few of them over the years mint in the box. At the highest point the 12″ Darth Maul figure sold for about $80.00. With widespread popularity, and even though he was a 1 movie character, the popularity of Darth Maul was as high as any other character with the possible exception of maybe Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker.

Some of the other harder to find toys was the Luke Skywalker Jedi Knight with the tan vest, also released in the late 1990’s. There are many different variations of these Star Wars toys, and in order to find some of the pricing of these toys and action figures, resort to a toy price guide.