2015 Cryptozoic The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trading Cards – Review Added
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$55.00 |  |
Product Details
2015 Cryptozoic The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug trading cards represent the middle of Peter Jackson's epic trilogy. Like An Unexpected Journey, autographs and Fine Art cards highlight the release.
The 72-card base set focuses on the film itself as Bilbo and company continue on their journey to reclaim Lonely Mountain. Along the way, they ride some barrels, encounter a dragon and plenty more of Middle Earth's unique (and often hairy) creatures.
Autographs come with a couple of different designs. Besides the basic version, there are Poster Autographs, which use images from the character posters, as well as Illustration Autographs that have a drawn image. There's also a rare Triple Autograph available as an over-sized redemption. All told, a huge chunk of the main cast has signed for the set.
Fine Art cards, the most popular element in Crytpozoic's set for the first film are back. More than sketch cards, these have intricate artwork done directly on the card.
A handful of other basic inserts offer a more rounded look at the movie. They include Character Biographies, Lake-Town, Smaug and Triptych Collage. Movie Posters give a lenticular 3-D look to the familiar artwork hung in thousands of theaters during the film's original run.
Product Configuration: 24 packs per box, 5 cards per pack
Price Point: Low- to Mid-End Entertainment Card
Target Audience: Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Fans, Autograph Collectors, TV Memorabilia Collectors, Set Builders
2015 Cryptozoic The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Box Break
- 1 Autograph
- 1 Dwarfie Insert
- 1 Lake-town Insert
- 2 Character Biographies Inserts
- 4 Silver Foil Parallels
- 120 Total Cards
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Set Checklist
2015 Cryptozoic The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Set Checklist
Base Set Checklist
02 Twelve Months Earlier
03 A Mysterious Guard
04 A Race to Safety
05 “That Is Our Host”
06 Elven Gate of Mirkwood
07 “This Forest Is Sick”
08 Which Way Is East
09 A Sticky Situation
10 It Stings! It Stings!
11 Mine!
12 Across the Bridge
13 The Woodland Realm
14 “Return What Is Mine”
15 No Way Out
16 “I Know You Are There”
17 “Hold Your Breath!”
18 “Welcome Master Baggins. Hold On.”
19 “Slay Them All”
20 A Poisoned Bolt
21 A Skilled Archer
22 “After Them”
23 Out of Reach
24 The High Fells
25 Dark Magic
26 “We Have Been Blind”
27 Calm Waters
28 “Make for the Shore”
29 Barge for Hire
30 “They Were Here”
31 Born on the Water
32 “Empty Your Pockets”
33 “What’s He Doing?”
34 “Anything To Declare?”
35 “Find The Troublemakers”
36 “You Didn’t See Them”
38 “Will They Bring Us Luck?”
39 Thorin Sees a Weapon
40 A City on Fire
41 “We Paid for Weapons”
42 “It Will Not End Here”
43 “There Was a Tapestry”
44 Raid on the Armory
45 “Enemies of the State!”
46 Dwarves of Erebor
47 Good Fortune To All 7
48 The Desolation of Smaug
49 The Hill of Sorcery
50 “We Must Force His Hand”
51 “Anything?” “Nothing!”
52 “What Did We Miss?”
53 “You Can’t Give Up Now”
54 “What’s the Arkenstone?”
55 “Don’t Waken the Dragon!”
56 “You Have Come Too Late!”
57 “We Are Legion!”
58 “It Is Over”
59 “Sauron!”
60 “Well, Thief, I Smell You”
61 Who Are You?
62 “I’ll Kill It First”
63 The Darkness Will Spread
64 “I’m Going To Save Him”
65 “You Will Burn!”
66 “Nowhere To Hide”
67 “Thorin Oakenshield on the Mountain”
68 “This Way, Follow Balin”
69 “You Witless Worm”
70 “I Will Show You Revenge!”
71 “I Am Fire! I Am Death!”
72 Checklist
Autographs Set Checklist
Aidan Turner as Kili the Dwarf
Andy Serkis, Second Unit Director
Ben Mitchell as Narzug
Fran Walsh as Writer
Graham McTavish as Dwalin the Dwarf
James Nesbitt as Bofur the Dwarf
Jed Brophy as Nori the Dwarf
Jeffrey Thomas as Thror, King under the Mountain
John Bell as Bain son of Bard
John Callen as Oin the Dwarf
Ken Stott as Balin the Dwarf
Lee Pace as Thranduil
Manu Bennett as Azog
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
Mary Nesbitt as Tilda
Mikael Persbrandt as Beorn
Peggy Nesbitt as Sigrid
Peter Hambleton as Gloin the Dwarf
Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield
Ryan Gage as Alfrid
Stephen Fry as Master of Lake-town
Stephen Hunter as Bombur the Dwarf
Stephen Ure as Fimbul the Hunter
Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown
William Kircher as Bifur the Dwarf
Character Biographies Set Checklist
CB-21 Thranduil
CB-22 Legolas
CB-23 Tauriel
CB-24 Bard The Bowman
CB-25 Master of Lake-Town
CB-26 Azog
CB-27 Smaug
CB-28 Necromancer of Dol Guldur
Collage Set Checklist
CP2
CP3
Dwarf Set Checklist
D02 Fili the Dwarf
D03 Kili the Dwarf
D04 Balin the Dwarf
D05 Dwalin the Dwarf
D06 Oin the Dwarf
D07 Gloin the Dwarf
D09 Nori the Dwarf
D10 Ori the Dwarf
D11 Bofur the Dwarf
D12 Bombur the Dwarf
D13 Bifur the Dwarf
Illustration Autographs Set Checklist
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
Mikael Persbrandt as Beorn
Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield
Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown
Lake-town Set Checklist
LT2
LT3
LT4
LT5
LT6
Lenticular Movie Posters Set Checklist
KA-06
KA-07
KA-08 Binder Exclusive
Poster Autographs Set Checklist
Aidan Turner as Kili the Dwarf
Graham McTavish as Dwalin the Dwarf
James Nesbitt as Bofur the Dwarf
Jed Brophy as Nori the Dwarf
John Callen as Oin the Dwarf
Ken Stott as Balin the Dwarf
Mark Hadlow as Dori the Dwarf
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
Peter Hambleton as Gloin the Dwarf
Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield
Stephen Hunter as Bombur the Dwarf
William Kircher as Bifur the Dwarf
Smaug Set Checklist
S2 The Sleeping Dragon
S3 Don’t Be Shy
S4 Nice Manners, for a Thief
S5 Stoking the Forges
S6 Gilded
Fine Art Sketch Cards Set Checklist
Andy Fry
Anne Cain
Ashleigh Popplewell
Bob Stevlic
Brad Utterstrom
Brandon Kenney
Brian Kong
Brian S. Canio
Carolyn Edwards
Chris Meeks
Clay Sayre
Damien Torres
Dan Bergren
Daniel P. Gorman
Danny Silva
David Desbois
Elfie Lebouleux
Eric Lehtonen
Fer Galicia
Francois Chartier
Gavin Hunt
Ian Yoshio Roberts
Ingrid K. V. Hardy
Jack Redd
James Henry Smith
Jason Potratz and Jack Hai
Javier Gonzalez
Joe Corroney
Ken Meyer Jr.
Keven and Nathen Reinke
Kokkinakis Achilleas
Kris Penix
Kyle Babbitt
Lee Lightfoot
Marcia Dye
Mick & Matt Glebe
Mike James
Mikey Babinski
Paul Cowan
Plinio Pinto
Rich Kunz
Rich Molinelli
Richard Cox
Richard Salvucci
Robert Hendrickson
Sarah Wilkinson
Scott Blair
Scott Houseman
Sean Pence
Seth Ismart
Shane McCormack
Ted Dastick, Jr.
Tim Proctor
Todd Aaron Smith
Oversized Triple Autograph Card Redemption Set Checklist
OM02 - OM03 William Kircher, James Nesbitt, and Stephen Hunter
OM04 - OM06 Adam Brown, Mark Hadlow, and Jed Brophy
OM07 - OM11 Richard Armitage, William Kircher, and Stephen Hunter
OM12 - OM19 Richard Armitage, Aidan Turner, and Peter Hambleton
Product Review
2015 Cryptozoic The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug Product Review
Reviewed by Trey Treutel
Good: Solid autograph lineup, clear Dwarf inserts are quite nice, Illustration and Poster Autograph designs are very impressive, Foil parallels pop.
Bad: Still missing a few of the bigger signers from the film, very tough chase sets, box price is little high for one autograph per box.
The Bottom Line: 2015 Cryptozoic The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug does a great job summarizing the LOTR-prequel film in a detailed set. The inserts and secondary autographs are beautiful and there are some huge hits to uncover. While the box price makes things a little risky, it is not quite as big of a gamble as other entertainment sets.
Card Design: 4.25/5.0
Desolation of Smaug keeps to the Cryptozoic format of full-bleed movie stills and a basic base design. This lets the movie itself be the main focus and that is a good thing. I found myself amused by the portal image on the card back. Perhaps it is the resemblance to the one ring to rule them all. I do wish that some of the images had been a little brighter and crisper but I assume that is mostly due to the film.
I am sure I am not the first to suggest it, but based on the way the foil parallels pop, I think a chromium base set is in order down the road.
Base Autographs are fairly traditional with roughly one-third saved for the on-card signature and the rest part of a tight subject profile. These are solid, but the real design standouts are the Illustration and Poster Autographs.
The inserts are another place where the design really shines. In particular, the acetate Dwarf cards are possibly the coolest cards I have seen in a while. The transparent design only features a drawing of a beard from a dwarf in the company but is still both easily identifiable and unique. The clear Lake-town inserts don’t work quite as well for me since they also incorporate an image that seems washed out on the plastic stock.
Distinguished from the base set with a bright background design and large font, the Character Biographies offer a comic look that is bathed in foil. I am a little mixed on the end result but they certainly catch the eye.
Checklist: 4.0/5.0
The 2015 Cryptozoic The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug autograph list boasts all the key dwarves as well as Lee Pace, Martin Freeman and even Andy Serkis. Sure, it would have been nice if Sir Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Cate Blanchett and Benedict Cumberbatch (the voice of Smaug and the Necromancer) had been included as signers, but it is understandable that these huge names did not make it in the set.
Other than that, the base checklist offers good coverage and the continuation inserts give An Unexpected Journey collectors something else to go along with the new inserts.
Value: 3.8/5.0
Given that the product has been out for a while, prices have settled around $70 per box. Because there is only one hit, that can still be steep, especially given that there are several weaker names in the checklist. However, rare chase inserts, autographs and sketch cards are in the mix and present collectors with some big potential hits.
Because Cryptozoic does not disclose autograph print runs or ranges like other entertainment producers, it is a little tougher to figure out how stacked the odds are against a bigger signer and this can have an effect on the perceived value. Even though the box value is good without the huge names mentioned above that were not included, one or several would have obviously pushed it much higher.
The Fun Factor: 4.25/5.0
If you like the Hobbit movies (or Lord of the Rings), 2015 Cryptozoic The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug is a very fun product. It was enjoyable to remember the story though the base card backs and I am now inspired to chase the Dwarf insert set even though they only drop one per box. While the autograph in the box was on the lower end of the spectrum, the well-done release left me hungry for more.
2015 Cryptozoic The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug Box Hit Gallery
The box used for this review was provided by Cryptozoic.
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bobbie
Hi,
I am interested in purchasing a case of the smaug cards. How long will your presale price be $955.99 and also, how much to post to Australia?
Regards,
Ryan Cracknell
That’s a link to an eBay listing. You would have to contact the seller via the listing.