It's Morphin Time!

In 1995 while everyone else was running to theaters to watch Braveheart, Seven, Toy Story and Golden Eye, there was only one movie I really wanted to see....

That's right, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Movie! However, my parents weren't ones to go to the theater so I had to wait for the VHS release.

Even though sports had infiltrated more of my life now, I still didn't leave my dreams of becoming the next White Ranger to replace Tommy and kiss Kimberly. Yeah, she was a total crush. Not to mention, each Ranger Tommy played was pretty stinkin' awesome and better than the rest.

While I was waiting for it to come onto VHS, I was fortunate enough to find a pack of the 1995 Fleer Ultra movie cards at Ames. It was the last one on the shelf if that tells you how popular that show really was. I was disappointed they never brought in more.

Before I show off the cards, here is a recap of what the movie was about.

On a construction site there was a giant egg that had been uncovered. That giant egg had one of the most evilest rulers ever and one that ruled the earth before being taken down by Zordon and his group of warriors, otherwise known as the Power Rangers. Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, Goldar, and Mordant the current bad guys against the Rangers arrive at the construction site and crack open the egg, releasing Ivan Ooze after 6,000 years.

Ooze then starts to take over. He locks up Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa in a snow globe, destroys the Power Rangers command center taking the Power Rangers powers away and almost killing Zordon and he uses his ooze to hypnotize the adults to unbury his evil Ecto-Morphicon Titans that were war machines he had built before his demise to Zordon and crew.

In the meantime, the Rangers knew their powers were drained and knew they had to save Zordon before it was too late. Robot assistant Alpha 5 sends the Rangers to the distant planet Phaedos to obtain the Great Power and save Zordon and the world.

Ooze finds out that the Rangers were after the great power and sends his Tengu warriors, giant birds, to destroy the Rangers. Luckily for them they were saved by an old friend of Zordon's named Dulcea who was warrior of the planet. The Rangers explained to her the situation and she helps take them to the ancient ruined temple acquire the power of the Ninjetti. Dulcea awakens each Ranger's animal spirit and the Rangers made their way to retrieve the Great Power.

I won't tell you how it ends or anymore parts of the movie because nobody likes a spoiler. I just wanted to give you the basics.

In June 1995, the same month as the movie, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Fleer Ultra movie cards were released. The base set has 150 cards featuring scenes from the movie and up-close pictures of each character.

Here were the cards in my solo pack break.

Rocky is pictured here taking down a Tengu while Bulk figures out what was in Ivan's container.

Goldar and Mordant realize they need to work with a new boss or they will end up in the snowglobe too!

The three best Power Ranger villains of all time on this card in my opinion including Lord Zedd who was the best of all. I loved owning his action figure, wished I still had it.

 

The product had some chase cards as well.

 

There were 24 Power Pop-Ups that were inserted 1:1 packs and were literally pop-up cards. I got Mordant. Not my favorite.

 

There were also 12 Holograms that were randomly inserted 1:4 packs. I am showing the base card first as I was fortunate enough to find that as well as it's

matching Hologram. Ths was my favorite card of the pack as I loved holograms and I have already mentioned my fondness of Tommy. The only problem I have is that the card has a lot of wear and tear on it over the years and many scratches. If only I had known how to have protected the cards better back then.

 

There were also 8 Holofoils randomly inserted 1:18 regular packs that I didn't find in my one pack. I was pretty happy with my findings as it was however.

Hopefully someday down the road I can find some more packs to open or more cards from the movie to add. But, I at least have these to remember it by.

Speaking of the movie, I never gave you my thoughts on it. I really liked it and I liked how after the movie they tied in the new episodes based off from it. There are a lot of shows that don't do that. I also really liked the story line as well and some of the extra action they didn't provide in the TV episodes.

Frozen Dinners+Cards

You ever have those moments when you are in a grocery store and just want something quick to eat? Well, if you are like me, you hit up the frozen aisle for a quick meal.

Upon searching the aisle, I stumbled upon this....

Yes, it's a kids meal. But, it says some key words on the front, FREE CARD INSIDE. So being hungry and a card collector, I was sold.

 

I purchased the meal and brought it home excited like a child would be. Despite it being a kids meal and Battlecast, I was still happy that I would fill some of my hunger need and I would also get myself a FREE card. The meal also provided me the opportunity to post about it today because it got me to thinking, what would happen if Panini, Topps and Upper Deck did this?

Can you imagine the children they could reach? They may not grab the meal for the free card like us card collectors would, but, if the card companies were to put an all-star caliber player inside the box sort of like cereal boxes of the 90's, a kid might make a connection to it after they open it. If they can make a connection, you never know where that may lead.

 

For those players I mentioned to put in a product like this, I would recommend big names that you see EVERYWHERE. The ones kids see on TV, SportsCenter, product advertisements and commercials and even on Nickelodeon. You know, LeBron James, Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning, and even Russell Wilson. Players they can be excited about and maybe even brag or trade with their friends.

Of course, if the food companies started putting these free cards into Hungry Man meals, they may add to their sales as well. At least from me.

 

I have always seen food as a HUGE target combo with sports cards. Everyone has to eat and nothing is more exciting to a child then getting a special meal like one of these dinners or food from a fast food joint. It's rewarding to them and gives parents a night off from cooking. Double win. Add sport cards, triple win.

So to me, Battlecast made a great move here in promoting their product and I think sport cards would integrate just as well if done right or at least attempted.

Oh, in case you were wondering what card I pulled from the package, here it is. I am not familiar with Battlecast, but seems Pokemon-ish.

 

 

So what are your thoughts on this? Do you think card companies should try this approach? What other food products, not cereal, do you think they could target that would be popular to kids (I would recommend Lunchables)?

REVIEW:Sons Of Anarchy Seasons 6&7 (GIVEAWAY #d9/10!!)

To capture and remember the final two seasons of one of the most popular shows on television, it would take a lot of binge watching. But, if your short on time and want to just have those images bring you back, well, that's where these Cryptozoic Sons Of Anarchy Seasons 6&7 trading cards come into play.

How else can you remember Jax struggling to hold SAMCRO together, the shooting at the Catholic school and whose guns that were involved. Jax and Gemma scene in the garden and many other memorable moments of the Teller-Morrow family of Charming, California. Of course you can't forget the other members of Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original (SAMCRO), their families, various Charming townspeople, allied and rival gangs, associates, and law agencies that blends the show all together.

 

In every box of Cryptozoic's Sons Of Anarchy Seasons 6&7, you get 24 packs with 5 cards per pack. Boxes run about $65 and come with 2 hits per box. Sometimes you will find a bonus hit as well.

The base cards provide cinematic magic from the final two seasons of the show and build up to a 63-card set. The base cards are full color photography each with a short caption to sum it up.

Inserts seem to fall about one-per-pack, but there are many types of them. The top two are temporary tattoos that fall 1:16 packs. The bottom left card is Gallery and the bottom right is Mug Shots. Both of those fall 1:4 packs.

There are base card parallels to. Silver foil parallels that fall 1:12 packs and cover inserts as well. Stay tuned for the Red Foil parallel that falls 1:120 packs and are numbered to 10.

I really like this concept. These are Brawl inserts that fall 1:4 packs. Each captures a piece of the big brawl....

When you collect all 9, well, you get the full picture!

!:24 packs is where you will find authentic wardrobe cards that were worn by one of the actors. I fond Happy Lowman's in this box.

And you can also find on-card autographs that also fall 1:24 packs or one per box. I pulled one of the more "endearing" characters on the show in Venus Van Dam played by Walton Goggins.

Here are the list of signers for Seasons 6&7 including some of the big ones:

Dayton Callie as Wayne Unser
Robin Weigert as Ally Lowen
Rockmond Dunbar as Eli Roosevelt
Michael Marisi Ornstein as Chuck Marstein
Winter Ave Zoli as Lyla Winston
Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller Morrow
Kim Coates as Alex "Tig" Trager
Drea de Matteo as Wendy Case
Theo Rossi as Juan Carlos "Juice" Ortiz
Walton Goggins as Venus Van Dam
Kim Dickens as Colette Jane
David Labrava as Happy Lowman
Charlie Hunnam as Jackson "Jax" Teller
Marilyn Manson as Ron Tully

Overall, a solid product and decent price for what you can pull. Good autograph checklist as well with all of the stars. Not to mention, they are all on-card. Also, like with any Cryptozoic product, there are surprises in every pack. The product also has printing plates (1:192 packs) and cool looking replica patch cards (1:192 packs).

Now onto the aforementioned Red foil, instead of giving away an autograph or wardrobe card, I wanted to giveaway something a bit more rare, one of the red foils I acquired awhile back that are numbered to 10 and really tough to pull. There are a few listed on eBay with decent asking prices.

This one is 9/10.

Here is how the prizes break down for this one.

1st place, 1st on the random list, will win this /10 card! Boo yah!
2nd place, 2nd on the random list, will win a handful of inserts and a possible third winner would as well.

 

Now onto the small writing and how to enter.

1. MUST be a U.S. resident to enter. Shipping costs have gone haywire and I can't afford to ship everywhere. Sorry.
2. Cards will be shipped PWE
3. Random winners will be chosen after 7 randoms
4. LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW TELLING ME YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE PRODUCT. Do you like it? What would you fix about it? What's your favorite part?
5. Sport Card Collectors or it's owner (person who runs the blog), WILL NOT be held responsible for lost, stolen or damaged mail. Sorry had to add this in since someone tried to scam me once about this.
6. Contest starts today, ends on Saturday, March 12th 2016. Winner will be announced in a separate post on Wednesday March 13th along with the start of the final review/contest. Don't miss out on those as I am giving away a 1/1 in the final break.
7. Please make sure to thank Cryptozoic for their generosity and give them a follow on all social media sites. Please check out their website HERE as well for your trading card want and needs!

Good luck to everyone who enters!

Review:Cryptozoic Psych Seasons 5-8

EVERYBODY...SING!
In between the lines there's a lot of obscurity.
I'm not inclined to resign to maturity.
If it's all right, then you're all wrong,
But why bounce around to the same down song?
You'd rather run when you can't crawl.

Chorus

I know, you know, that I'm not telling the truth.
I know, you know, they just don't have any proof.
Embrace the deception, learn how to bend,
Your worst inhibitions, tend to psych you out in the end.

I would finish the rest of the theme song, but fear I would be singing it the rest of today.....and I am sure nobody wants to hear me sing.  As it is already, that theme song will forever play in my mind's music track in what was one of USA's best cable TV shows ever. I even put it ahead of my second favorite, Monk. 

Though I was a bit disappointed in the way the final season went, ended in a hurry and in a shortened season, I am hoping writers left the show the way it ended in hopes that another network would snag onto it and bring it back to life. I am still waiting by the way other networks......

If you have no idea about Psych, first, you are missing out. Second, here is a quick rundown on the show. Shawn Spencer (James Roday) who is from a family of cops was always expected to someday to follow suit, especially after his father, Henry (Corbin Bernsen). Henry schooled his son from a very young age in the finer points of detective work. Shawn was a quick learner and gained amazing powers of observation and deduction, which led Shawn and his childhood best friend Gus (Dulé Hill) to open the Psych detective agency. Upon opening the detective agency, they lent their services to the local police department, Santa Barbara, for a small fee.

Shawn and Gus went on many adventures meeting many different characters and solving many cases that the cops couldn't crack. The police department led by Chief Karen Vick, were always high on their "psychic" detectives and hired them whenever possible. They also had their doubter in the department, Carlton Lassiter, who always questioned the duo and their crazy antics to solve the cases. But, in the end, no matter the case and no matter what means it took to solve the case, Shawn used his special skills and always found a way.

The show was a great combination of comedy and drama or what some call a dramedy. And what Cryptozoic did here with the final four seasons product was capture all of those memories and fun moments.

Enough with me rambling on about the show because I can continue, let's get ripping into this box!

Chief Karen Vick

Each box of Psych Seasons 5-8 comes with 24 packs and 5 cards per pack. Boxes run basically around $80 with three ON CARD autographs per box.

The base card set consists of 90 cards and captures, as I stated above, all of the great moments. The front of the base card captions the moment while the back of the card sums up the episode that card moment is taken from along with the episode title. They also make me sad as a reminder the show ending. Guess I will be digging out the DVD series later!

As a Psych-O from Season 1, all of us were rooting on Shawn and Jules and they finally got together after all of the seasons of leading us on. Just check out the front of this base card.

 
Back Of The Base Card

Gus being Gus

Henry spending another quality teaching moment with Shawn

The inserts in Seasons 5-8 were fun. Psych The Musical cards fall 1:24 packs. I questioned the idea of adding a musical episode to the lineup. But, creator Steve Franks knocked it out of the park. It was a great episode and had a twist in it as well.

One of the other fun things about Psych was Shawn and Gus going undercover. Shawn would always have a pun name for Gus and the characters they were play could be quite funny. The Undercover inserts also fall at 1:24 packs.

Up next in the insert lineup is Character Cards. These fall 2:24 packs and are my favorite inserts of the group.

However, what I found odd was a third Character insert that I pulled that was printed on acetate. I have no info on these at this point. However, with the acetate one matching the card one I decided to lay the acetate one over the base one.....

And this happened! Pretty cool! Reminds me of something done in the late 90's. I really like this and these look even better in person.

Now onto the autographs. You get three per box, the first four seasons of Psych came with two hits with only one being an autograph, so Cyrptozoic went all out for these seasons.

I think I hit a home run with my three autographs. Now I didn't get the top characters, but some great guest star autos. This auto checklist is very deep and is loaded with stars and guest stars on the show so odds are you are going to land someone of importance.

The autos in the product as I stated above areALL ON CARD!!!! That means these famous actors actually handled these. Awesome! It's like an extra bonus!

These are just three of the great autos you can find. I am considering getting them all and trying for a set.

And if you are curious on why I am so high on these autographs, check out the rest of this checklist:

Corbin Bernsen as Henry Spencer
Curt Smith as himself
Dana Ashbrook as Robert Barker
Sage Brocklebank as Buzz McNab
Kurt Fuller as Coroner Woody Strode
Lesley Ann Warren as Leslie
Michael Weston as Adam Hornstock
Kirsten Nelson as Chief Karen Vick
Greg Grunberg as Jay Gianukos
Billy Zane as Ian Collins
Jean Smart as Gillian Tucker
Jimmi Simpson as Mary Lightly
Nestor Carbonell as Declan Rand
Ralph Macchio as Nick Conforth and Logan Phelps
Val Kilmer as Detective Dobson
Diedrich Bader as Eli
French Stewart as Whip Chatterly
Jason Priestley as Clive Noble
Anthony Anderson as Thane Woodson
Dulé Hill as Burton "Gus" Guster
Mekhi Phifer as Drake Clemon
Malcolm McDowell as Ambassador Fanshaw
Vanessa Lachey as Gina Walsh
Angus Macfadyen as Logan Paget
James Roday as Shawn Spencer

Overall, this was a fun product to open and something I highly recommend if you are a Psych fan. I believe even non-Psych fans will enjoy opening with this autograph checklist.

Another great job by Cryptozoic on this product and capturing the joy that Psych brought to many fans.

HOBBY TOPIC

Another post in our new series Hobby Topics. This is not so much a post for us to comment about or give our opinions on, this is your chance to let your voice be heard on a variety of topics in the hobby. We are leaving the floor open to you! So comment away! But please no language and keep your answer clean as we do have a younger following as well.

Today's Topic: Where do YOU trade your cards?

With LCS' rare to find and many untrustworthy traders abound how and where do you trade for stuff you need?

Let's hear your thoughts!

Review: Big Bang Theory Seasons 3-4 3 Retail Packs

Love the show...and these stare at me every time I walk by them. I finally had to get my hands onto some form of these cards. Though, I didn't hit it big, I don't regret my decision.

Here are my thoughts.....

Box Break Down:

• 5 Cards Per Pack
• $2.49 Per Retail Pack

BASE CARDS: If you love the show, like I do, You will love these cards. Scenes that you can never forget are shown and displayed on a piece of cardboard history. Such as the card above this. Who can forget when Sheldon tried to take the Lord Of The Rings necklace off from Penny with the grabby claw? She awakens punching him in the face. Every card brings you those memories and funny moments.

INSERTS: Out of three packs only one insert. And if I read it correctly, it states that they are tough pulls at 1:300 + packs. Ouch. That would be the only downfall to retail

AUTOGRAPHS: N/A The autographs though are still really hot from Series one. If you are buying this product to hit an auto..well hobby suits you better with really hard retail odds to overcome.

JERSEY/PATCH CARDS:N/A They have wardrobe cards, but once again tough pulls in retail.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I am gonna recommend this product. If you love the show, you will love the cards. If you are aiming for the big hits, don't buy retail. Stick with hobby. If you are buying the cards to have some and maybe put a set together, retail is for you. I am actually hoping to go back and try some more.

RATINGS:  Bloggers Note: Our ratings are based specifically on the blaster, box or packs we opened and do not express what the overall product could bring. Ratings based on a 1-5. 1 Being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
                Packaging: 5
                Base Design: 5
                Insert Design: 5
                Memorablila/Autographs: N/A
                Blaster, Hobby Box, or Pack Value: 3.5

Trade on Twitter...

Recently made a great trade with a great guy I found on Twitter known as mjb_cards104 ‏@Mjb_cards104. If you haven't followed him yet, you should. Loves to talk sports and the hobby. I don't normally trade and usually when approached I tell them that. But I do consider it sometimes. Its hard to know who to trust in this online world without going to specific sites such as Beckett to let you know if the person is a good trader or not.

This time with a persistent inquiry about this card I decided to take the chance. Glad I did despite some ups and downs with it. By this I mean the USPS system almost killed this trade and my reputation by almost losing my card. His cards to me got to me within 3 days, mine took over a week and the tracking for mine never showed up until the day of delivery. And because of this, I don't think I will trade again online with the risk of it almost being lost. I may reconsider again in the future, but for right now I probably won't.But it was great that mjb_cards104 ‏ understood and waited.

This is the one that he wanted desperately for his Topps Chrome auto collection and rookie QB PC. So he threw me a few offers and we were able to come to terms after I gave it much, much thought because I really did like this card. So he got the Osweiler Black refractor auto #25 and a few Topps Chrome refractor set needs and I got the following:

New Rueben Randles to increase the PC:

Another Eli relic.I only have 2. Now three :)

2 bonuses he threw in:

And one of my favorite cards from the lot despite having been released from the Giants # to 10

This was a trade I couldn't refuse. It helped both of us with our PC's. And I recommend to anyone to trade with him as well!

Let me know how you have done online trading outside of specific sites. And have you found bad traders? A bad time with USPS? And thoughts on this trade as well. Did you think this trade was even or one sided?

Recent Findings: MTV Yo Raps!

Last week, we were given 2 boxes of random cards from a relative. The boxes contained opened and unopened cards mostly non-sport from a variety of years. We thought we would break down our findings and share them with our fans!!

These are kinda unique and when busted look like this:

 

Probably not the most valuable cards in the world since most sealed boxes range in price from $10-$20 per box. But you have got a appreciate a set that is dedicated to rap singers of the 90's.