Classic Heroes and Villains Card Sets
Release Date: November 16, 2011
9 Cards Per Pack
15 Packs Per Box
Production Run-375 Boxes
Set Composition
| Base Set-54 | Tribute Cards-12 | 1:1 | |
| Autographs-21 | 2:1 | Gold Die Cut Cards-14 | 1:1 |
Base Set
Heroes and Villians was released November 16, 2011 and was the first Trek product in Rittenhouse’s premium product format. With this, packs are similar to boxes and boxes similar to to cases.
Rittenhouse opted to release this as a Premium Product at the outset as although they had some great signature cards. they didn’t feel they had enough product to sustain a full release. Another concern was that Trek Movie Quotable, Movies and Motion and Complete Movies may have already saturated this theme. A premium product has all the inserts and autos found in a full release. It has a base set as well, but they’re smaller and more limited. For the Trek product, the box was a standard cardboard box and not the full graphic boxes we’re used to. The pack is a cardboard fold-over, sealed with a numbered sticker. Inside is a cello-wrapped set of cards. There were 54 cards in the common set, numbered x/550.
A great deal of passion can be triggered during a discussion of Premium Packs. One of the bigger issues is the loss of an easily obtainable common set. For all of our love of bells and whistles, many of us hold a fond spot for the common set. Although pack buyer customers aren’t as frequent in at the beginning of the hobby, they feel left out with the format.
On the positive side, there is less waste and shipping is much less costly. Visit Non Sport Updates website here for a video filmed at the Philly Show that focused heavily on questions asked to Steve Charendoff about the premium packs:
http://www.nsu-magazine.com/manufacturers-panel-at-the-55th-philly-non-sports-card-show/
He also had this to say on his forums: “If you study the contents of this collection, and what it is likely to cost you to collect it, I think you will find that it is actually a lot less expensive to collect this series than if we had made it in a tradition, foil-pack format. Typically, you would be lucky to find a Shatner or Nimoy autograph in every 3 to 5 cases of a traditional series of cards, and a traditional case sells for much more than a box of the premium packs. With this new Star Trek set, you still have what amounts to a very substantial “base” set, with 54 cards, plus other bonus cards, all of which are far more limited (scarcer) than what you would typically find in traditional boxes of cards. I will share with you that at least part of the motivation for issuing this new series in premium pack format is the fact that there simply are not enough new autograph signers to create a traditional series of cards. We have about 20 signers for this new collection, and while Shatner, Nimoy and Nichols have obviously signed for us in the past, these new autograph cards depict them in their newer, more modern uniforms. All of the other signers are first-time movie card signers with us, including Christian Slater, Donna Murphy and Anthony Zerbe. Building a roster of 30 to 40 autograph signers for yet another Star Trek movie card set was highly unlikely, and if we did, it would have meant several repeat signers, which I don’t believe would be appealing. It was never my intention to create a 4th classic movie card set, but then we suddenly found ourselves with a small, but solid grouping of new signers, as well as an enormous assortment of all-new, extremely hi-res photos that have never before appeared on cards. The 54 Heroes & Villains character cards will simply blow you away. The quality of the photos of these cards surpasses anything you’ve seen before. We’ve made very high quality cards for a very affordable price. And we’ve taken the unprecedented step of guaranteeing a Shatner or Nimoy autograph in every box! If that’s not a “fascinating”, if not extremely “logical” selling point, I don’t know what is. Plus, we have added the 2 patch card box toppers that continue what we started with the last series of movie cards, and we all know that these patch cards have been highly desirable and valuable to collectors. We’re only making 375 boxes of this collection, which also makes it the most limited series of Star Trek cards we’ve made to date. Rest assured that we have every intention to continue creating more Star Trek cards in the traditional format that all of us have come to love. Our next full series of Star Trek cards will be The Complete Star Trek: The Next Generation Series 2 (1991-1994) in early 2012, and that will be in the traditional format. We are also working on other new Star Trek card sets in traditional format, including one based on the first J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movie from 2009 — we’ve already had a new signing with Chris Pine (Captain Kirk), along with several other actors who were not part of the 2009 movie card set. I can’t promise that we won’t use the premium pack format for Star Trek again, but it will only be done selectively.”
Beckett has an article about Christian Slater, a big Trek fan, requesting cards in lieu of payment here: http://www.beckett.com/news/2011/11/actor-christian-slater-signs-for-rittenhouse-but-doesnt-take-cash/
Inserts
- A 12 card Tribute set.
- 14 die-cut gold cards (numbered x/425).
- 21 autograph cards. Each box included either a Shatner or a Nimoy autograph.
Promos
- P1-general distribution.
- P2- NSU exclusive Issue Volume 22 • No. 6 Dec 2011-Jan 2012.
- P3-binder card.
- P4-Philly Show promo.
Misc. Items
- Album
- Two Bridge crew Patch card box toppers (found one per box) (same format as the patch cards in Trek Movies Quotable)
- The 4-box incentive card is a Nichelle Nichols autograph card
- Card #55 Kirk Rewards card (numbered to 550)