It’s hard to believe that Avatar, the biggest movie of all-time, doesn’t have a set of trading cards. Even stranger is the fact that Titanic, the number two all-time box office draw, does. But it wasn’t supposed to be this way. Not long after the blockbuster finished its theatrical run and it seemed a lot less risky a license, Topps announced plans for Avatar Widevision 3D trading cards.
And it sounded great.
Just like the 3D in the movie itself, the technology has come a long way on trading cards. Still done in a lenticular style like the 1980s, they have a lot more detail today than they used to. 2010 Topps Empire Strikes Back Widevision 3D is a good example of what collectors might have expected.
The base set was to have just 48 cards. That’s typical for similar sets Topps has done for Star Wars. Packs were going to come with three cards.
Topps even got as far as announcing a preliminary autograph lineup before Avatar Widevision 3D hit the chopping block. And it’s an impressive list of what could have been:
- James Cameron – Director
- Jon Landau – Producer
- Sam Worthington – Jake Sully
- Zoe Saldana – Neytiri
- Sigourney Weaver – Dr. Grace Augustine
- Stephen Lang – Col. Miles Quaritch
- Joel Moore – Norm Spellman
- Giovanni Ribisi – Parker Selfridge
- Michelle Rodriguez – Trudy Chacon
- Laz Alonso – Tsu’ Tey
- Wes Studi – Eytukan
- CCH Pounder – Moat
- Dilpeep Rao – Dr. Max Patel
About half of them I haven’t heard of. But then you have Sigourney Weaver, Sam Worthington, James Cameron, Zoe Saldana and a few others that bring some major name recognition. Had thing come to be, this would have been the first sets with signatures from Weaver and Worthington. Weaver has since signed for a handful of Upper Deck sets for the Alien franchise, albeit all in extremely limited numbers. Worthington still does not have a certified signature card.
Besides autographs, 2010 Topps Avatar Widevision 3D was going to have sketch cards as well.
No reasons were ever given why the set was cancelled shortly after it was solicited to dealers. Low pre-orders, complications with the license or a combination of the two were the likely causes.
With more Avatar movies and a chunk of Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World on the way, the franchise is primed to comeback. Will that mean this set will one day see the light? One can only hope.
