Every journey has a starting point. 2001 Topps Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring marks the trading card launching point for Peter Jackson’s massively successful trilogy. Not only was it a smash at the box office, but in the hobby as well. At its most basic, this isn’t an overly complex release but it does touch on what would become a focal point of Topps’ run — autographs, and lots of them.
2001 Topps Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Checklist Overview
The base set has 90 cards. The front end is driven by the movie’s characters. After that, it’s story driven with a touch of behind-the-scenes shots.
Don’t expect to get the ins and outs of the entire film, though. Releasing to coincide with the movie’s theatrical release, some effects shots and big-time spoilers are not shown. Those come in the Update release that came a few months later.
Autographs
Autographs are the big driver of the set. And for good reason. Topps managed to secure signatures from virtually every major actor in the movie including Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler and Christopher Lee. While not every name on the 14-card checklist is a huge star but there’s not really a dud among them.
Landing 1:24 packs, each hobby box should have at least one. But many boxes came with a second signature. The John-Rhys Davies card has its own 1:280 odds, making it a short print but not by a lot compared to other hobby signers.
Complicating things somewhat are exclusives. A handful of autographs weren’t available in the main hobby release. Bloom, Lee, Dominic Monaghan and Hugo Weaving are retail exclusives. Sean Bean is only in packs sold in the UK.
Additional 2001 Topps Lord of the Rings: FOTR Inserts and Exclusives
2001 Topps Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring is fairly light on other inserts. Prismatic Foil cards are the only other chase cards available in hobby packs. The set has ten cards with one in every six packs.
Hobby boxes also come with one of two Bonus Foil Frodo cards as a box topper.
Heat Sensitive cards were originally advertised for the set but they never ended up being released.
Moving over to retail, there are ten exclusive Stickers. In the UK, there are ten Special Foil cards.
For completists, there are two different preview sets, one for the UK and another that was available in Australia and New Zealand. A UK-exclusive album has nine additional cards.
2001 Topps Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Checklist
Click on the links to shop for cards on eBay or to check current market values.
Set size: 90 cards
Cards per pack: Hobby – 8, Retail – 8
Packs per box: Hobby – 36, Retail – 24
Release date: December, 2001
Shop for 2001 Topps Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring boxes and packs on eBay.
Base Set Checklist
90 cards.
Buy on eBay:
1 Title Card
Characters
2 Gandalf
3 Bilbo
4 Frodo
5 Sam
6 Merry
7 Pippin
8 Aragorn
9 Arwen
10 Boromir
11 Elrond
12 Legolas
13 Gimli
14 Galadriel
15 Celeborn
16 Saruman
17 Lurtz
18 The Witch King
Story
19 Arriving in Hobbiton
20 A Heartfelt Reunion
21 Bag End
22 Hobbit Celebration
23 Bilbo’s Big Night
24 Trick or Treat?
25 Happy Birthday, Bilbo!
26 The Big Surprise
27 Confronting Bilbo
28 Secret of the Ring
29 Dark Legacy
30 The Quest Begins
31 The Lord of Isengard
32 Battle of the Wizards
33 Hobbit Friends Reunited
34 The Ringwraith
35 The Hobbits Take Cover
36 Escaping Death’s Clutches
37 Inn of the Prancing Pony
38 Temptation
39 Confronting Strider
40 Death of the Gatekeeper
41 Eluding the Ringwraiths
42 A Treacherous Trek
43 Facing the Dark Riders
44 Caught by the Ringwraiths
45 The Flame and the Sword
46 Strider Attacks
47 Vision of the Witch King
48 Frodo Stricken!
49 Caverns of Horror
50 Birthing of an Uruk-Hai
51 Trollshaw Forest
52 The Arrival of Arwen
53 An Angel of Mercy
54 Ringwraith Attack
55 Reunited with Bilbo
56 Elrond of Rivendell
57 Dissent in the Council
58 The Ringbearer’s Move
59 The Fellowship of Nine
60 A Hobbit’s Fate
61 The Coming of Lurtz
62 A New Breed of Orc
63 The Pass of Caradhras
64 Speak Friend and Enter
65 Remembering the Way
66 Inside Balin’s Tomb
67 Fool of a Took!
68 Drums of the Enemy
69 The Fellowship Battles
70 Frodo’s Fight for Life
71 The Balrog of Morgoth
72 Escape to Lothlorien
73 Toward New Adventure
74 Pledged to the Cause
75 The Uruk-Hai Attack
76 The Might of a Dwarf
77 The Battle of Amon-Hen
78 The Horn of Gondor
79 Army of the Damned
80 Destiny of the Hobbits
81 The Uruks Fall
Behind the Scenes
82 Of Magic and Make-up
83 On the Dark Side
84 Christopher Lee, Prince of Darkness
85 Bringing Bag End to Life
86 A Most Enchanting Subject
87 Monsters, Monsters Everywhere
88 A Rigorous Adventure
89 The Director’s Vision
90 Checklist
Autographs Checklist
14 cards.
1:24 hobby packs.
Rhys-Davies 1:280 packs. Others 1:26 packs combined.)
1:72 retail packs.
UK and retail-exclusives noted.
Check out a gallery of the entire set.
Sean Astin as Sam
Sean Bean as Boromir – UK only
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
Orlando Bloom as Legolas – retail only
Billy Boyd as Pippin
Ian Holm as Bilbo
Christopher Lee as Saruman – retail only
Ian McKellen as Gandalf
Dominic Monaghan as Merry – retail only
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn
John Rhys-Davies as Gimli
Liv Tyler as Arwen
Hugo Weaving as Elrond – retail only
Elijah Wood as Frodo
Bonus Foil Checklist
2 cards.
1 per hobby box.
Included as box toppers.
1 Frodo
2 Frodo
Bonus Foil Japan Checklist
2 cards.
Same as North American versions but have Hobby Japan logo on the back.
1 Frodo
2 Frodo
Prismatic Foil Checklist
10 cards.
1:6 North American packs.
1 Gimli
2 Saruman
3 Frodo
4 Lurtz
5 The Witch King
6 Boromir
7 Elrond
8 Lurtz
9 Ringwraiths
10 Orc Attack
Prismatic Foil Japan Checklist
10 cards.
Same as North American versions but have Hobby Japan logo on the back.
1 Gimli
2 Saruman
3 Frodo
4 Lurtz
5 The Witch King
6 Boromir
7 Elrond
8 Lurtz
9 Ringwraiths
10 Orc Attack
Special Foil Checklist
10 cards.
UK packs only.
1 Gimli
2 Saruman
3 Frodo
4 Lurtz
5 The Witch King
6 Boromir
7 Elrond
8 Lurtz
9 Ringwraiths
10 Orcs
Stickers Checklist
10 cards.
Retail packs only.
1 Bilbo
2 Boromir
3 Frodo
4 Gandalf
5 Gimli
6 Legolas
7 Aragorn
8 Gandalf
9 Arwen
10 Sam / Frodo
Preview Set Checklist – Australia and New Zealand
20 cards.
C1 Checklist
C2 Gandalf
C3 Bilbo
C4 Frodo
C5 Sam
C6 Merry
C7 Pippin
C8 Aragorn
C9 Arwen
C10 Boromir
C11 Elrond
C12 Legolas
C13 Gimli
C14 Galadriel
C15 Celeborn
C16 Saruman
C17 Lurtz
C18 Uruk-Hai
C19 Orcs
C20 Ringwraiths
Preview Set Checklist – UK
20 cards.
L1 Checklist
L2 Gandalf
L3 Bilbo
L4 Frodo
L5 Sam
L6 Merry
L7 Pippin
L8 Aragorn
L9 Arwen
L10 Boromir
L11 Elrond
L12 Legolas
L13 Gimli
L14 Galadriel
L15 Celeborn
L16 Saruman
L17 Lurtz
L18 Uruk-Hai
L19 Orcs
L20 Ringwraiths
UK Album Cards Checklist
9 cards.
A1 Frodo
A2 Gandalf
A3 Aragorn
A4 Lurtz
A5 Logo
A6 Saruman
A7 Boromir
A8 Legolas
A9 Gimli
Promo Cards Checklist
P1 The Legend Comes to Life (Frodo)
- mentions autographs, Heat Sensitive cards
- mentions Heat Sensitive cards
- UK website URL
- Frankfurt Book Fair (2,000 copies)
P2 The Legend Comes to Life (Hobbit group)
- standard
- Frankfurt Book Fair (2,000 copies)
P3 Orc Army
- standard
- Frankfurt Book Fair (2,000 copies)
