I wouldn’t say that Thor is one of my favorite super heroes. In fact, I wouldn’t rank him close to the top. I like my heroes to have a human element, something I can latch onto and relate with. It’s kind of hard to do that with the Goldilock-ed version of Hercules, a legend even in a world of myths. That being said, one of the few kind things I can say about the live-action Thor movie is that it brings a human quality to the character.
Proving to be equally human rather than god-like is Upper Deck’s set based on the Marvel film. The release has many great elements and strives for excellence. But like any person, it’s not perfect. A solid base set, generous hits, limited autographs and a cool insert set make Thor the best Marvel movie set Upper Deck has put out thus far.
The base set is a total of 81 cards broken up into a header card, story cards and character cards. Like most movie sets released to coincide with a theatrical run, the base set is somewhat limited in what it can reveal in both images and text. That said, the images that Upper Deck uses are very crisp. I just wish there were more of them.
Even with a limited number of pictures available, there’s still no excuse for the repetition of pictures within the base set. Similar pictures have been happening for decades, but I haven’t seen anything like this in the same set. Film flies through a project at a rate of 24 frames per second. That means that if even only a trailer was available to pick from, there’d be hundreds of potential pictures. It is possible that this was done because of permissions and licensing stuff, but it doesn’t sit well with the collector in me. Minor quibble? Perhaps, but I still value base sets and want to see the best possible products.
Like a lot of Upper Deck’s Marvel movie sets, there are some strong hits in here. Both Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki) have autographs. And while they’re pretty plentiful and don’t carry a lot of secondary market value, the costume cards are also solid.
For the basic inserts, the acetate film cells are by far my favorite. It’s a set I wouldn’t mind working on but it’d take a ton of patience due to its size and relative rarity.
2011 Upper Deck Thor Box Breakdown:
Base Set (81 cards): 81
Doubles: 33
Triples +: 10
Inserts:
Acetate Cards (1:18): 2
Autographs: 0
Comic Covers (12 cards): 12 plus 3 doubles
Concept Art (13 cards): 13 plus 3 doubles
Costume Cards: 2
Sketch Cards: 1
