Box Break and Review - 2014 Marvel Premier

Box:

Company: Upper Deck
Release: 2014
Name: Marvel Premier
Number of Packs: 1
Number of Cards per Pack: 5

Insert/ Chase Cards:

Classic Covers Shadow Box
Code Name Letter Patch
Emotion Sketch
Printing Plate
Gold Spectrum Parallel
Red Spectrum Parallel
Base Variant Sketch Card
Multi-Panel Sketch Card

Dave and Adam's Card World recently had a sale on their 2014 Marvel Premier so I jumped at the opportunity to pick up a box.  This ultra-premium product has only ONE pack in its tin box so please keep that in mind if you decide to purchase one or more boxes.

Five cards are included in each box:

2 base cards or parallel cards

1 Shadow Box, Letter Patch, or E-Motion card

1 base variant sketch card

1 multi-paneled sketch card (either a 2, 3, or 4 panel folding sketch card)

Card Design (9.5/10)

The quality of every card is definitely noticeable as each one is printed on heavy cardstock.  The colors are vibrant and the artwork is amazing.  A classy foil border design covers three of the four sides, yet it is subtle enough not to overwhelm the look of the card.  On the back, a brief character bio is included as well as the card's serial number.  Oh yes, all base cards are limited to 199 copies each.  And since the base set has 60 cards, this will be a difficult challenge for a set collector to put together.  Yikes!

Character List (9.5/10)

Most, if not all, of the mainstay Marvel characters are in this set including those made popular by recent Marvel movies.  Star-Lord, Gamora, Groot, and the furry Rocket Raccoon make an appearance, as well as Crossbones and Winter Soldier.  No B or C listers included; just the superstars and the up-and-comers.

Box Break

Here are the following cards I received from my pack...er...box break:

Base card - Black Widow and Rocket Raccoon

Letter Patch - Iron Fist (I)

Base card sketch - She-Hulk by Cris Santos

3 Panel sketch - Psylocke and Jean Grey by Ashleigh Popplewell

Scans of the base cards, front and back:

Scans of the Iron Fist letter patch card, front and back:

The She-Hulk base card variant drawn by Cris Santos:

 

And lastly, the 3 panel sketch card by Ashleigh Popplewell, front and back:

 

 

All beautiful cards, especially the 3 panel by Popplewell.

 

Entertainment Value (10/10)

 

The rush of seeing these premium sketch cards as I popped open the tin and unwrapped the pack was pretty intense.  Upper Deck enclosed the 3 panel sketch on top of the pack so it was the first thing I saw when the tin was opened.  I spent a good two minutes admiring the size of the card and appreciating the artwork.  Of course the rush fleetingly disappeared after the one and only card pack was opened but amazement with a feeling of awe continued for the artists who put their creativity, energy, and passion into these sketch cards.

 



Price/Value (8/10)

This is certainly not a cheap box by any means but Upper Deck accomplished what it set out to do; provide a product with no fillers but deliver only the big hits.  In addition, prices for 2014 Marvel Premier has come down quite substantially since boxes can be found for less than $190, from a retail price of $250.  So yes, the price is high but you do get what you pay for in terms of premium sketch cards and serial numbered base/insert cards.

Final Thoughts

This was a home run by Upper Deck.  Although the 2014 release of Marvel Premier did not seem to garner as much interest as the 2012 debut, it was a well-made product none the less.  The letter patches was a fascinating idea, mirroring what the sports card industry has done with letterman patch cards.  It allowed character collectors to more easily focus their chase for missing letter cards, adding to the thrill of the hunt.

Overall Score

9.25 out of 10

Box Break and Review - 2014 Dangerous Divas Series 2

Box:

Company: Rittenhouse Archives
Release: 2014
Name: Dangerous Divas Series 2
Number of Packs: 24
Number of Cards per Pack: 5

Insert/ Chase Cards:

Art by Milo Manara - 1:24
Artifex - 1:24
Emerald Foil Parallel Base - 1:24
Sultry Seductresses - 1:24
Sketch Card - 1:24
Cut Archives - 1:96
Marvel 75th Anniversary - 1:144
Autographed Artifex - 1:288
Diamond Foil Parallel Base - 1:288

Rittenhouse released Dangerous Divas Series 2 in December 2014 as a continuation of their highly popular Series 1, which came out a few years back.  The 90 card base set focuses on Marvel's heroines and villainesses. 

Card Design (7.0/10)

Rittenhouse moved Dangerous Divas from a borderless card design to a larger, patterned border for Series 2.  "Mighty Maidens" are showcased in a pink floral border while their counterpart, "Mistresses of Mayhem", are surrounded with a purple insidious design.  The borders give the cards a picture framed look, which is quite different from what Rittenhouse has done in the past.

On the back side of each card reveals part of a 9-card puzzle set.  Cards 1-9 form one large puzzle, cards 10-18 form another puzzle, and so on.  This replaces the traditional character bio that many card companies utilizes.

As for the inserts, Rittenhouse used different effects to separate them from the base cards.  For example, the Sultry Seductresses cards utilized a holo-flash effect while the parallel base cards have foil borders - either green in color for the Emerald Parallels or white for the rare Diamond Parallels.

Character List (8.0/10)

Although the set only included 90 cards and most of the popular female characters were already covered in Series 1, I really liked the character list in this subsequent set.  Yes, Rittenhouse included popular Marvel characters like Rogue, Mystique, and Black Widow but they also included A LOT of lesser known "divas" such as Motormouth, Ruby Thursday, Skadi, and Colleen Wing.  It's amazing how many Marvel female characters were created through out the years.

Box Break

With each box, Rittenhouse includes an entire base card set.  In addition to the base set, I received these following inserts:

Art by Milo Manara - Gamora

Artifex - Black Cat

Emerald Foil Parallel Base - Jocasta

Sultry Seductresses - She-Hulk

Artist Sketch - Dazzler by Jofel B. Cube

Here are samples of two base cards, one of Lady Deathstrike and the other of Ms. Marvel:

Scans of insert cards from this box break:

And lastly, the Dazzler colored sketch card drawn by Jofel B. Cube:

Entertainment Value (9.0/10)

It was nice to cap off 2014 with this much anticipated release from Rittenhouse.  Even after all the hits were pulled from the box, it was still enjoyable to continue opening packs and sorting through all the base cards.

Price/Value (8.5/10)

At an average price of about $50.00 per box, Dangerous Divas Series 2 is generally affordable to the masses.  Most boxes have sold for under $50.00 on EBay and most retailers are selling them for no more than $60.00. 

Final Thoughts

For a relatively inexpensive product, Dangerous Divas Series 2 is a great buy.  I liked the inserts from this set much more than from the Marvel Bronze Age box I purchased a few years ago.  This time around, I felt like the focus was on the cards and the pack-busting experience, not just solely on the sketch cards.  Having quality insert cards available in each box made the whole experience truly enjoyable.

The only thing I would change is to replace the puzzle set on the back of the cards with a character bios/profile.  The puzzle back was a cool feature but with the majority of these female characters being B and C listers, it would have been nice to learn a little more about their origins, mutant powers, and other lesser know facts.  As I opened the packs, I constantly found myself asking, "Who the heck is this?"  FYI, it'll be a good idea to have Marvel Wikia pulled up to answer some of those questions.

Overall Score

8.0 out of 10