2024 Upper Deck Women of Marvel

[BobCollects]

This set came out of nowhere today as part of DACW's Black Friday Wave Two. It's a DACW exclusive and appears to have been planned as a retail product. The packs are in the same cardboard hangers as Walmart exclusive retail sets for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Captain America: Civil War. There are sketches but no odds available as of now. Boxes are $49.95 and cases are $589.95.

Unpack the uniqueness of the Women of Marvel within the publishing world!

The 100-card Base Set features 75 character cards and 25 Battle Time cards focused on Women characters from the publishing universe!
- Colorful Base Set parallels including: Blue Lt FX, Copper Lt FX, Red Lt FX
- Green Lt FX - numbered to 99
- Gold Lt FX - numbered to 25
- Purple Lt FX - numbered 1-of-1

Hunt for limited Metal cards and Original Sketch cards of your beloved Women from the Marvel Universe

Find Monumental Cover cards featuring iconic scenes of Women in Marvel comics!

Look back on unique Alternate Universe insert cards!
- Featuring 25 characters from various versions - numbered to 499!

Pack Hits:
- 5 Base Set cards
- 1 Insert / Chase card

Box Hits:
- 4 Blue Lt FX cards
- 4 Monumental Covers cards
- 2 Copper Lt FX cards
- 1 additional Insert / Chase hit (Red Lt FX, Connecting Links or Metal Insert card)

Chase Hits:
- Alternate Universe card - numbered to 499
- Base Set - Women of Marvel Purple - numbered 1-of-1
- Base Set - Women of Marvel Gold - numbered to 33
- Base Set - Women of Marvel Green - numbered to 99

Configuration: 12 Sleeved Packs per Box, 6 Cards per Pack

Pictures of blank sketch cards from Women of Marvel have been floating around for months, as shared by glorbgorb and others, and there was some speculation the set was either cancelled or renamed Fleer Ultra Matriarchs of Marvel. Now we know Women of Marvel is unrelated to Fleer Ultra Matriarchs of Marvel, which has its own thread here.

[glorbgorb]

I am far less enthused that they are hanger packs but I got caught up in the rush of seeing there were more Firestar cards to chase.

No mention of sketchcards, though, so were those all destroyed or is there some other format of this that we'll see? Time is ticking...

[HiltonL]

Is that not mention of "Original Art Sketch Cards" on the pack sleeve?

[glorbgorb]

Originally Posted by HiltonL

Is that not mention of "Original Art Sketch Cards" on the pack sleeve?

Yeah, I'm an idiot. It's even in the blurb pasted in above from BobCollects.

[Chrominator]

Anyone know what these cards will look like?

This is a digital card off ebay — not sure if there's any connection other than the obvious title.

[ddilts399]

almost bought a case, i like the female sets, but with zero art and it looking like a retail packaging which normally yields crap hits, I passed. Be interested to see breaks on those that did go in. Might regret it, will see!

[BobCollects]

Cases and boxes are sold out again.

I think we've reached peak Marvel trading cards if an unannounced set can sell out in less than 24 hours when nobody has seen a single card or even a sell sheet.

That said, DACW may be sitting on more of this for Cyber Monday or whenever they feel like selling more.

[HiltonL]

DA is almost certainly sitting on inventory. This 'exclusive' is not possibly such a short print run that they'd sell out completely in a few hours, plus as we all have seen many times in the past, they allocate X amount for sale, sell out, then supply miraculously is available again in time for the next sale.

[newhobbygeek]

Originally Posted by HiltonL

DA is almost certainly sitting on inventory. This 'exclusive' is not possibly such a short print run that they'd sell out completely in a few hours, plus as we all have seen many times in the past, they allocate X amount for sale, sell out, then supply miraculously is available again in time for the next sale.

Perfectly said.

[HiltonL]

Originally Posted by Chrominator

Anyone know what these cards will look like?

This is a digital card off ebay — not sure if there's any connection other than the obvious title.

That's an ugly Topps digital card

[wraph]

Y'all think the price will go up when it goes back on sale?

[BobCollects]

Originally Posted by HiltonL

DA is almost certainly sitting on inventory. This 'exclusive' is not possibly such a short print run that they'd sell out completely in a few hours, plus as we all have seen many times in the past, they allocate X amount for sale, sell out, then supply miraculously is available again in time for the next sale.

True, but I think it's still notable people are buying cases of this set with the cards themselves a complete mystery and no odds available. At one point last night I was able to add 43 cases to my shopping cart.

[HiltonL]

Given the sorry state of checklists and sell sheets these past few years, is this any different? "Degenerate gamblers" is what I think we're called now

[cmixer]

Random thought with absolutely zero proof.

Upper Deck can no longer sell Marvel cards after Jan 01;
But they can sell to a Distributer before Jan 01 (like DA),
and the Distributer can sell until they run out.

If this set was 90% assembled but the deadline was too-close-for-comfort,
it totally makes sense that Upper Deck sells to a single Distributer to get this product gone.

Is it possible that DA got to "name their own print run"?
Maybe they said, give us 200 cases, and if it sells well, we will turn on the presses and run another 200 cases before the January 01 deadline.

But of course, I'm just making this up.
Good for Upper Deck rushing to get another product finished and gone before the deadine.

[BobCollects]

Originally Posted by HiltonL

Given the sorry state of checklists and sell sheets these past few years, is this any different? "Degenerate gamblers" is what I think we're called now

At least with most sets, there's a solid idea what the cards will look like even if the sell sheets aren't 100% accurate. With this set, there is a checklist, which is something, but otherwise all we have is the set description. It wasn't enough for me to gamble on a case but clearly many others are willing to roll the dice.

Originally Posted by cmixer

Random thought with absolutely zero proof.

Upper Deck can no longer sell Marvel cards after Jan 01;
But they can sell to a Distributer before Jan 01 (like DA),
and the Distributer can sell until they run out.

If this set was 90% assembled but the deadline was too-close-for-comfort,
it totally makes sense that Upper Deck sells to a single Distributer to get this product gone.

Is it possible that DA got to "name their own print run"?
Maybe they said, give us 200 cases, and if it sells well, we will turn on the presses and run another 200 cases before the January 01 deadline.

But of course, I'm just making this up.
Good for Upper Deck rushing to get another product finished and gone before the deadine.

One of the many curious things about this set are the boxes. Assuming the hanger packs were meant for retail distribution, UD wouldn't have designed and printed boxes. I still have a box of 216 (I think) Captain America: Civil War Walmart hanger packs. That's how they shipped, not in boxes of 12. Does that mean UD had to scramble to print boxes and package the hanger packs before delivering cases to DACW?

The print run for this set is another interesting question. A retail set for Walmart or Target would require a huge print run, right? All those stores across the country. Does DACW have the capacity to handle as many packs as a big box store? Trading cards and other collectibles at Target and Walmart are shelved by a third party with infrastructure to handle a nationwide release.

I don't know why but I'm fascinated by this set, its origins, and how it ended up with DACW. This set is much larger in scale than the Walmart exclusive sets from 2016 and 2017 that shared the hanger pack configuration. Captain America: Civil War had two unnumbered base parallels, memorabilia cards, and an insert set with 1:240 odds. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had one base parallel, a #/25 base parallel, and memorabilia cards. Spider-Man: Homecoming had two unnumbered base parallels, three insert sets copied from the hobby set, and sketch cards with 1:1000 odds.

There are so many questions about Women of Marvel and I hope we get some answers in the coming weeks. And of course I'm eager to see what the cards look like.

[HiltonL]

Originally Posted by cmixer

Random thought with absolutely zero proof.

Upper Deck can no longer sell Marvel cards after Jan 01;
But they can sell to a Distributer before Jan 01 (like DA),
and the Distributer can sell until they run out.

If this set was 90% assembled but the deadline was too-close-for-comfort,
it totally makes sense that Upper Deck sells to a single Distributer to get this product gone.

Is it possible that DA got to "name their own print run"?
Maybe they said, give us 200 cases, and if it sells well, we will turn on the presses and run another 200 cases before the January 01 deadline.

But of course, I'm just making this up.
Good for Upper Deck rushing to get another product finished and gone before the deadine.

1) we don't know that Jan 1st 2025 is a hard cutoff date. This has been subject of much speculation in this license handover.
2) we know that due to "First Sale doctrine" that Disney has no control over product after it's first sold, whether to endusers, distributors, or others; look how long Marvel Gems has been occupying space in Blowout's warehouse
3) it goes without saying that UD wants to monetize everything they have inventory-wise from the license they've invested in. We on the outside don't have the actual contract to read, so anything we say about what's in UD warehouses is speculation
4) it's expensive and logistics-heavy to print-to-demand for consumer packaged goods (CPG). Remember how cards are made, in large sheets which are then cut down to card size. It's not economical to print only a few sheets for production. The printer will run a few thousand, then be done, on to the next product

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by BobCollects

I think we've reached peak Marvel trading cards if an unannounced set can sell out in less than 24 hours when nobody has seen a single card or even a sell sheet.

Remember when we had literal promo cards put in magazines a month before or the month of release to preview the set and get people excited for about it? And the magazine ads too. It seems like half a universe ago.

Those days are mostly gone in marvel. You’re right it’s incredible products can sell out and no one even knows what the cards are like. Some might argue it doesn’t even matter what they look like, it just checks off the boxes: is an UD Marvel set, will have parallels #’d to X,Y,Z, and in this case will feature female characters which are popular. Whatever the cards even look like is secondary for the gamblers. Back in the 90s with all the competition for buyers’ dollars in the mass market, including kids coming across packs at the local store, cards had to look cool for a product to do great and get them coming back dor more. Hence the great quality of cards of that era. Now with the hobby being niche with dedicated collectors that just buy whatever is new in marvel, and print runs a ton smaller, it doesn’t matter as much about promotion or even card design in some cases.

[HiltonL]

surprise surprise, more cases and boxes available for Cyber Monday sale available now

[PurplesaurusRex]

Originally Posted by HiltonL

surprise surprise, more cases and boxes available for Cyber Monday sale available now

It's weird, there is no card mockups in the advertising. Makes me think it's rehashed art?

[BobCollects]

Originally Posted by HiltonL

surprise surprise, more cases and boxes available for Cyber Monday sale available now

I noticed that too. But the price hasn’t increased. I don’t know what benefit DACW gets from having boxes and cases sell out and then be available again.

[PrinceVegeta]

Originally Posted by BobCollects

I noticed that too. But the price hasn’t increased. I don’t know what benefit DACW gets from having boxes and cases sell out and then be available again.

D/A does this a lot, its a decent strategy to move cases. FOMO

[glorbgorb]

Originally Posted by PurplesaurusRex

It's weird, there is no card mockups in the advertising. Makes me think it's rehashed art?

I would assume the same. Having original art is usually a selling point, so surely it would have been mentioned somewhere before.

I think my case is supposed to be here Tuesday. I'll know soon enough.

[Rictor]

Originally Posted by BobCollects

I noticed that too. But the price hasn’t increased. I don’t know what benefit DACW gets from having boxes and cases sell out and then be available again.

They get people to spend their money on something else and put in an order, then when stuff comes back in stock, they put in a second order. People end up ordering more than they intended.

[Scifi Cards]

Originally Posted by PurplesaurusRex

It's weird, there is no card mockups in the advertising. Makes me think it's rehashed art?

Of course it is.

IF it was all original art, they would make a point of telling you.

The real question is if they reused art from recent sets, or dug a little deeper into the comic art that Marvel lets them use.

Ed

[glorbgorb]

It is reused. Someone posted a break on YouTube and I scanned through it last night.