Trading Card Q&A with the Card Talk Community

For this week's blog, I decided to open it up to the community, and I'd like to thank everyone who participated!

Bengalhawks asked, "Are there any new TV show sets in the works?"
There certainly are! We will be announcing some in the next few weeks, and I plan on having five or so new properties to talk to fans about at the Philly Non-Sports Card Show!

Otim asked, "I'd love to hear all about Cryptozoic's (I'm hoping) plans for Supernatural Trading Cards?"
Supernatural is a great show and I would love to have the chance to work on a new product for the show. Hopefully some sort of opportunity will open up in the future and we'll be able to help meet some of the consumer demand for it!

wolfie asked, "Any plans for the Memorabilia show here in the UK?"
I'd really love a trip over the pond, but my marketing budget for trading cards is most definitely finite, especially since so many of our licenses are restricted to North America. We are working on getting more licenses that allow us to sell to Europe, and hopefully within the foreseeable future we will be able to show our UK fans a bit more love! So, while we don't have any plans right now for the show, I'd love to add it to our line-up soon!

Barbobehere asked, "Is it the cost to make the cards the reason they are super thin?"
This was an interesting question that caused me to start digging around my library of cards here at work to look for other TV, movie, and comic releases. We have been printing on an 18pt cardstock, which when compared to cardstock from numerous other releases seems to be the equivalent (or thicker) to all the other cards. We recently moved to 20pt stock for DC Comics The New 52 Trading Cards, and I'll evaluate sticking with the thicker stock for the next release.

AUST asked, "What steps does Cryptozoic take to 100% authenticate their hand signed cast autograph cards?"
Providing authentic autographs to our consumers, and to fans of the stars, is something that we take very seriously, as do our studio/network partners. All autographs are accompanied with a Certificate of Authenticity when they are shipped out to the actors. The certificate is also signed by a witness to verify that the cards and certificate were both signed by the named party. When at all possible we send cards to the studio to be signed on set as an added layer of security, or we accompany the cards to verify the process in person.

Graham asked, "Just one question...Would you redeem a DC Comics New 52 redemption card from the UK? And I just thought of another. Will you have any P1 promos for the New 52 Trading Cards at the show?"
We will certainly redeem a redemption card sent to us from the UK. Just be sure to follow all of the instructions and send it with some method of tracking (as we are not responsible for cards lost in transit).

John Tirohn asked, "Just curious as how you determine if a missing card is truly missing."
Our goal is to provide the best consumer experience possible. As we have had issues with vendors and printers, we have tried to correct all errors. If you have a problem with a case, your first step should be to email our customer service reps. They will look into any issues and determine if there is anything we can do to correct the situation.

Kris Gibson asked, "Given your successful relationship with AMC, any plans for a Breaking Bad set? Pretty please. With sugar on top..."
Breaking Bad is an amazing show, and I'm a huge fan. I'm not sure if you'll be attending the Philly Non-Sports Card Show, but if you are, stop by and talk to me about how amazing the show is!

Cujobyte asked, "Also, any news if The Walking Dead Season 2 Trading Cards will have a redemption, and if so, any hints as to what it will be?"
There will be a redemption, and I'll be spoiling it at the Philly Non-Sports Card Show. Not sure if you are going or not, but the clear answer is that you should be!

Juelle Lou asked, "I'd love to hear some more info about which licenses and products you will be selling through distributors in Australia."
Austrailia is a tricky one to add to distribution to a good portion of our licenses, but we try to get our terms as global as possible. We will have a round of new license announcements soon, so look for those and then we can discuss what we are able to do outside of North America.

dough boy asked, " I am curious as to why DC Comics The New 52 Trading Cards didn't (or at least doesn't) appear to have printing plate cards either for redemption or in the packs."
Our intent was to include printing plate cards in the DC Comics The New 52 product, but we ran into some last minute legal issues and had to pull them from the pack-out. We are actively working on a solution, and hope to be able to include them in the next set.

Bond asked, "You had promo card exchanges at the Pop Art Con. Will there ever be a mail-in promo card exchange?"
We don't currently have plans to open this up to a mail-in program. The quantities that we have for the remaining promo cards are limited and might not be available. Trying to fulfill this through the mail could become a real issue and disappoint fans when cards aren't available (but they don't know that before they mail in their card). We use a lot of our promo cards to promote trading cards to fans of our licenses. "You like The Big Bang Theory? Did you know there will be a trading card set coming out with authentic autographs from the stars of the show?" is much more effective use of promotional material and helps bring new blood into our industry. "You're a fan of trading cards? Did you know we are making The Big Bang Theory trading cards?" Well, of course you did! You are a collector in this small community of a handful of manufacturers; you know when we have a new license or product. However, I can appreciate that adding the promo cards to your collection is an important part of the hobby, and while a majority of our cards may still be produced with the initial intent to distribute them at non-trading card shows or community channels, I will try to make them more easily accessible to the fans that continue to support us! With that said, we will have the DC Comics The New 52 P1, The Walking Dead SDCC1, The Vampire Diaries Season 2 P2, and a throwback to The Guild P1 all readily available at the Philly Non-Sports Card Show (not necessary to exchange).

As you can see with this round of Q&A, there will be a lot of exciting things at the Philly Non-Sports Card Show: lots of rare promo cards will be handed out, we'll be able to discuss some new licenses, we'll spoil the redemption for The Walking Dead Season 2 Trading Cards, and we'll have some recently approved Batman™ sketch cards! George will be accompanying me this time, so please stop by and see what all is happening in the exciting world of trading cards!

-Miranda