2013 Topps Mars Attacks Invasion trading cards

[patzee]

Originally Posted by MarsAttacks

Heritage cases were and are at $350 and presell cases here are at $500 so I'd call that increase significant. While this new product appears to have different hits, I am certainly going to be very wary of ordering a more expensive product considering the two cases I opened of Heritage were honestly crap. I still feel burned. I bought all my sketches and other hits on the secondary market and built a far better collection that way.

I paid between 318.00-$335.00 per case of Heritage. I'm sure the dealers will pay much less and kill this one as well...80 card Heritage base sets on ebay for 10 bucks!

[ALevine - Topps]

Originally Posted by patzee

pre-order case price is hovering around $499.95 about $165-$180 more per case more than Heritage.

But you're looking at it in a vacuum and not comparing the difference in content.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by alvin

But you're looking at it in a vacuum and not comparing the difference in content.

I bought 20 cases of MA Heritage from my LCS. Zero print plates. Sent in all the info to Topps customer service that they asked for. Nothing. Re-sent. Got an email 11 days later asking for me to resend the pictures of the 20 cases (yes that is what they wanted to begin with along with receipts, etc.). re-sent scans. Nothing now for many, many months.

This is a significant price increase and I have a bad taste in my mouth after MA Heritage. Even though I think the content is strong, I too am wary about plunging in.

[ALevine - Topps]

Originally Posted by Tim

This is a significant price increase and I have a bad taste in my mouth after MA Heritage. Even though I think the content is strong, I too am wary about plunging in.

Well I can't speak for CS, but did you enjoy MA: Heritage? I thought it was a fun, inexpensive set to collect. This one is a whole new animal, with all-new art and some really exciting bonus material, and for what I think is a pretty reasonable price. I hope fans have as much fun collecting as I did working on it.

[MarsAttacks]

Originally Posted by alvin

Well I can't speak for CS, but did you enjoy MA: Heritage? I thought it was a fun, inexpensive set to collect. This one is a whole new animal, with all-new art and some really exciting bonus material, and for what I think is a pretty reasonable price. I hope fans have as much fun collecting as I did working on it.

I enjoyed opening MA Heritage for the first few boxes, then it all went downhill very soon. I then bought on Ebay what I wanted for peanuts compared to the case prices. I do like the set and some of the sketches I have picked up are amazing and great talent. But minus the higher end sketches which were far and few between, the base and chase cards have very little value currently. I don't even mind that there are a ton of crummy sketches out there, as I think it makes the better ones more scarce, but from a box opening experience, it is depressing to get an $8 pencil doodle.

I have picked up what I humbly think is a great sketch collection and working on the Gold parallels too. I am currently still a collector of the set. But most of that was on Ebay early after release when the great rip by flippers occurred.

$500 for 8 boxes? That is a decent chunk of money to otherwise be selective and get the cards you really want and something I learned the first time around. So while this may be a different release, it is still a Topps product and in the same shaped box and wrapper as before. Therefore, I am vary cautious of wasting money again on unopened for this specific brand.

[ALevine - Topps]

Originally Posted by MarsAttacks

$500 for 8 boxes? That is a decent chunk of money

I understand your point of view, but there were several people here and elsewhere expecting or predicting a sale price of 75-80.

[patzee]

Originally Posted by alvin

I understand your point of view, but there were several people here and elsewhere expecting or predicting a sale price of 75-80.

NO, TOPPS was predicting the sale price of 80+...the link Topps provided on their Facebook page listed them at $83.00+ per box...so, like the price of gas I should be excited to pay $150.00-$180.00 more per case!.. Hey after all gas was over $4.00 per gallon. WOW! now we're paying $3.50+ what a bargain...no, this release is overpriced...

[patzee]

Originally Posted by MarsAttacks

I enjoyed opening MA Heritage for the first few boxes, then it all went downhill very soon. I then bought on Ebay what I wanted for peanuts compared to the case prices. I do like the set and some of the sketches I have picked up are amazing and great talent. But minus the higher end sketches which were far and few between, the base and chase cards have very little value currently. I don't even mind that there are a ton of crummy sketches out there, as I think it makes the better ones more scarce, but from a box opening experience, it is depressing to get an $8 pencil doodle.

I have picked up what I humbly think is a great sketch collection and working on the Gold parallels too. I am currently still a collector of the set. But most of that was on Ebay early after release when the great rip by flippers occurred.

$500 for 8 boxes? That is a decent chunk of money to otherwise be selective and get the cards you really want and something I learned the first time around. So while this may be a different release, it is still a Topps product and in the same shaped box and wrapper as before. Therefore, I am vary cautious of wasting money again on unopened for this specific brand.

yes, getting those pencil scribbles from Sugarfueled, Howard Shum, and the other guy Zac something? They put so many seconds in their cards...can you imagine if they took a few minutes! we'd get COLOR! Scribbles! sad, sad. How on earth can Topps with a clear conscience approve that crap?

[buckycap]

Wow. Alot of haters already. I don't think the price is too bad. This is a whole different animal from heritage. Two hits per box guaranteed and alot more bonus content in this release. I guess I'm one of the few excited about this release. I've got one case preordered and hope to add some more.

[ALevine - Topps]

Originally Posted by buckycap

Wow. Alot of haters already. I don't think the price is too bad. This is a whole different animal from heritage. Two hits per box guaranteed and alot more bonus content in this release. I guess I'm one of the few excited about this release. I've got one case preordered and hope to add some more.

Thanks, BC. I do appreciate respectfully offered constructive criticism, but everything else I try to ignore, like insinuations that we don't care. It's not easy with such a passionate fanbase, but the attacks and bitterness are matched by equally passionate excitement on the other end of the spectrum, and that's always fun. I try to talk to fans as much as I can-- a lot of people appreciate that.

Rest assured we've heard the complaints and are doing what we can to improve the quality of sketch cards, including recruiting some new talent that we think will excite a lot of people, and limiting the artists to ones we think fans will enjoy the most.

We're also putting a lot of care into crafting a series with variety and creativity that will make collecting *fun* and more than just a completist's project.

[Spider-Fan]

I'm interested to see what the impact of the IDW premium book set will have on this release. Those sketches should be showing up soon, and based on the previews should be pretty top shelf. It will be difficult to follow with a large scale production set promising thousands of sketches.

I haven't collected Mars Attacks. This is mostly due to the variety of choices I have to spend my money on. I'm surprised to see Mars Attacks as a '1 sketch per box' release. I think the potential for box hits is a lot broader (holos, buy backs, mock prop cards, comic redemptions, etc) and that decreasing sketches to 1 or 2 per case (similar to GPK releases) would really improve the overall quality of the sketches. I also think it would add to the 'fun' factor of busting packs.

I really enjoy ripping open a case of GPK. My last 2 GPK case breaks have been lacking in value (less hits than most cases) but its still been a blast. They are just plain fun. I enjoy the art. There are always new kinds of insert sets. I wish the price didn't keep going up, but that is a different concern. Anyway - If some of that magic could find its way into Mars Attacks, I'd be interested.

[monkeymcgee]

Mars Attacks Chrome -- mark it down

[patzee]

Originally Posted by alvin

Thanks, BC. I do appreciate respectfully offered constructive criticism, but everything else I try to ignore, like insinuations that we don't care. It's not easy with such a passionate fanbase, but the attacks and bitterness are matched by equally passionate excitement on the other end of the spectrum, and that's always fun. I try to talk to fans as much as I can-- a lot of people appreciate that.

Rest assured we've heard the complaints and are doing what we can to improve the quality of sketch cards, including recruiting some new talent that we think will excite a lot of people, and limiting the artists to ones we think fans will enjoy the most.

We're also putting a lot of care into crafting a series with variety and creativity that will make collecting *fun* and more than just a completist's project.

In all due respect Sir...SKETCH CARDS! why didn't TOPPS do that in the first place with Heritage? MARS ATTACKS! the KING of the NON-SPORT sets...Topps Pride and Joy? Yes? A very important life long set to me as I purchased the original cards back in 1962. Of course you care. It's a business to make money. This is not a labor of love. I understand that totally. In my opinion TOPPS should have made the Heritage set as good as The New Invasion Set is supposed to be.
We should be Golden by the 3rd, 4th, 5th, release...Mars Attacks: The New Garbage Pail "Wacky Packages" Kids!

[MarsAttacks]

To be clear, I didn't intend for my comments to be "hating" on the product. As I said. I do really like the Heritage release and am still actively collecting it. I am just personally weary of spending my money on a case of the new stuff as I am unsure at this time if it will really be worth it.

To Spider-Fan, I too am curious too see if once the sketches are out, how they are received by collectors. I got two blue books coming and hope to share what I get. I think the art was very well done. Costly yes, but I think the buyers are passionate about the art and I think that is a great thing.

[ALevine - Topps]

We did a lot of brainstorming on what kind of hits we could include, and the fact is, most of the options on the table became far less interesting when produced to the numbers required to hit 2 per box. How special is a patch if there's 5,000 of them?

Fans have come to expect a sketch per box; maybe not you guys-- the community of card collectors is a lot larger than the community here-- but we still feel that lower numbers of sketches is not the key to making people happy-- higher quality is.

Maybe if we do a series two will have enough experience with this set to derive a program that can hit just the right notes (we can't really use the experiences on SW to inform this, because SW is such a different animal)

Hopefully this provides some insight and clarification as to why we did what we did. We never pretend that everything is perfect, but we really are trying to make it fun, exciting, and satisfying for both casual fans and case-busting collectors. The jury is out, obviously, but as i've said, i'm excited about this one-- that's why i'm so vocal talking it up!

[ALevine - Topps]

Originally Posted by patzee

IIt's a business to make money. This is not a labor of love.
[/B]

You're dead wrong on that one, actually

This IS a labor of love for me. Again, that's why I am vocal! But the success of this set is key to allowing us to do a second series, something I desperately want to see happen!

[patzee]

Originally Posted by alvin

You're dead wrong on that one, actually

This IS a labor of love for me. Again, that's why I am vocal! But the success of this set is key to allowing us to do a second series, something I desperately want to see happen!

Alvin, please understand that I am a loyal fan of Mars Attacks since I was a young boy back in1962. I purchased cases of the 1994 reprint set. TONS of Heritage. I totally understand this may be a labor of love for you. Please accept my apologies if you took this personal as I did not intend that.
I hope you do well. I may post an opinion that you may not agree with. From what I am reading do I come to understanding that the "Mars Attacks" theme will be a continuing series released by TOPPS?

[patzee]

Originally Posted by MarsAttacks

To be clear, I didn't intend for my comments to be "hating" on the product. As I said. I do really like the Heritage release and am still actively collecting it. I am just personally weary of spending my money on a case of the new stuff as I am unsure at this time if it will really be worth it.

To Spider-Fan, I too am curious too see if once the sketches are out, how they are received by collectors. I got two blue books coming and hope to share what I get. I think the art was very well done. Costly yes, but I think the buyers are passionate about the art and I think that is a great thing.

Good luck on your Books! How can we hate Mars Attacks! With some of the ebay dealers I see no way of getting a return on this release unless you get really special inserts, autographs, etc. Top Shelf dealers like Tim add to the hobby. Can't say that for others though.

[ALevine - Topps]

Originally Posted by patzee

Alvin, please understand that I am a loyal fan of Mars Attacks since I was a young boy back in1962. I purchased cases of the 1994 reprint set. TONS of Heritage. I totally understand this may be a labor of love for you. Please accept my apologies if you took this personal as I did not intend that.
I hope you do well. I may post an opinion that you may not agree with. From what I am reading do I come to understanding that the "Mars Attacks" theme will be a continuing series released by TOPPS?

No worries, patzee (I keep thinking of Terry Gilliam in Holy Grail).

Will it be ongoing? We've definitely designed the story to allow for that possibility. And when I say "allow" it doesn't mean there's an ambiguous ending. We know exactly where this story is going. I just hope it doesn't turn out like ALF.

Again, it has to do well for a second set to be greenlit. But i'm confident it will!

There were a lot of ideas for this set we couldn't execute for various reasons (time, budget, etc.) and I really hope we get to do them in a second set. Some of the ideas for chase sets and variants were REALLY wild. Perhaps a bit too ambitious for this one.

[patzee]

Originally Posted by alvin

No worries, patzee (I keep thinking of Terry Gilliam in Holy Grail).

Will it be ongoing? We've definitely designed the story to allow for that possibility. And when I say "allow" it doesn't mean there's an ambiguous ending. We know exactly where this story is going. I just hope it doesn't turn out like ALF.

Again, it has to do well for a second set to be greenlit. But i'm confident it will!

There were a lot of ideas for this set we couldn't execute for various reasons (time, budget, etc.) and I really hope we get to do them in a second set. Some of the ideas for chase sets and variants were REALLY wild. Perhaps a bit too ambitious for this one.

I know this is probably hard to answer, but is it finally it for the original series? or will we see more reprints in the future? Also, what are the Heritage Inserts in the new set? I'm a bit confused on that one?
I too hope it does well for you guys, but I'd like to see a per case price matching Heritage. I know, I know there's more content.
A Fan of Terry too?

[ALevine - Topps]

Originally Posted by patzee

I know this is probably hard to answer, but is it finally it for the original series? or will we see more reprints in the future? Also, what are the Heritage Inserts in the new set? I'm a bit confused on that one?
I too hope it does well for you guys, but I'd like to see a per case price matching Heritage. I know, I know there's more content.
A Fan of Terry too?

I think we're done reprinting-- not a lot left we can do with them, unless fans felt they really wanted Chrome versions, but frankly i'm not a fan of constantly rehashing old material, even in a new format.

For the 50th it made sense, but to keep reprinting the old stuff over and over just becomes exploitation and borders on gouging the fans.

That said, there's still stuff we can mine from it-- and we'll be doing that in this set-- the "heritage inserts" as you call them are VINTAGE BUY-BACKS.

We purchased a hundred or more (not sure on the exact amount) of original '62 cards and are putting them randomly into packs. Probably going to foil stamp them, but i'm not clear yet on that. Don't expect mint cards; most of them are mid-range, but even mid range can command huge dollars when graded. Some select few are upper-mid grade. No tears or creases, though.

Unless you're talking about the "Heritage Parallels"… for the new cards, there's no title bar and there's an all new design, but for a set of parallels we took the new art and laid them out with the '62 design, and I think those will be insanely popular (and as such we decided to make them the most common, 1:6). EDIT: this was our way of making parallels fun, and more interesting and desirable than just a different color border.

The medallions are going to look really cool, I hope to show them off in a week or so. When you see them, you'll see how we were able to get some use out of the original set, in a unique way. While we don't want to reprint them again, we don't want to forget the heritage (there's that word again!) of mars attacks and the love people still have for the original.

I'll be away next week at SDCC promo-ing the set and helping IDW give away the exclusive card (which is card #0 in the set) but when I get back i hope to show off most of the new art, the chase inserts and some of the hits.

[patzee]

Originally Posted by alvin

I think we're done reprinting-- not a lot left we can do with them, unless fans felt they really wanted Chrome versions, but frankly i'm not a fan of constantly rehashing old material, even in a new format.

For the 50th it made sense, but to keep reprinting the old stuff over and over just becomes exploitation and borders on gouging the fans.

That said, there's still stuff we can mine from it-- and we'll be doing that in this set-- the "heritage inserts" as you call them are VINTAGE BUY-BACKS.

We purchased a hundred or more (not sure on the exact amount) of original '62 cards and are putting them randomly into packs. Probably going to foil stamp them, but i'm not clear yet on that. Don't expect mint cards; most of them are mid-range, but even mid range can command huge dollars when graded. Some select few are upper-mid grade. No tears or creases, though.

Unless you're talking about the "Heritage Parallels"… for the new cards, there's no title bar and there's an all new design, but for a set of parallels we took the new art and laid them out with the '62 design, and I think those will be insanely popular (and as such we decided to make them the most common, 1:6). EDIT: this was our way of making parallels fun, and more interesting and desirable than just a different color border.

The medallions are going to look really cool, I hope to show them off in a week or so. When you see them, you'll see how we were able to get some use out of the original set, in a unique way. While we don't want to reprint them again, we don't want to forget the heritage (there's that word again!) of mars attacks and the love people still have for the original.

I'll be away next week at SDCC promo-ing the set and helping IDW give away the exclusive card (which is card #0 in the set) but when I get back i hope to show off most of the new art, the chase inserts and some of the hits.

OK, thanks for the summary! have a great time at SDCC and I'll be looking forward to the next peek at the new set! Cool.

[webjon]

Please don't foil stamp vintage Mars Attacks cards. . . they are hard enough to find as it is. . .

[ALevine - Topps]

Originally Posted by webjon

Please don't foil stamp vintage Mars Attacks cards. . . they are hard enough to find as it is. . .

There has been some debate on this internally, with valid arguments on both sides. Not foil stamping them keeps their value at a certain price, while stamping them potentially enhances them, setting them apart as unique and letting everyone know that "I got this from MA:I". Because there's only ~125, the potential for very high value becomes very real.

At the same time, as you say, they are hard to find, and already have a decent value (keeping mind they are not high quality, and ungraded).

Is there a consensus? Or is it debatable amongst the fans as well?

[dd316]

Originally Posted by alvin

There has been some debate on this internally, with valid arguments on both sides. Not foil stamping them keeps their value at a certain price, while stamping them potentially enhances them, setting them apart as unique and letting everyone know that "I got this from MA:I". Because there's only ~125, the potential for very high value becomes very real.

At the same time, as you say, they are hard to find, and already have a decent value (keeping mind they are not high quality, and ungraded).

Is there a consensus? Or is it debatable amongst the fans as well?

I also say don't stamp them, but I would like a way to know they came from Invasion. Hmmm.... I honestly don't know what you could do that wouldn't ruin the card other than put it in some kind of frame and make it a box topper since it won't fit into a pack then.