The Good: Good image, Inexpensive enough, Necessary for collectors
The Bad: Not terribly informative, It's just one card and fairly uninspired.
The Basics: Another disappointing promotional card, the less-inspired P3 Family Guy promotional card is more rare than the P1, making it a little more valuable to collectors.
The annoying thing about reviewing single trading cards some times is that some of them are so very close as to be almost pointless to bother with reviewing them both. A while back, I reviewed the 2005 Family Guy P1 promotional card (here!). I panned it for being uninformative about the forthcoming product. Alas and alack, the P3 card has the exact same back of the card, so it is equally uninformative about the first Family Guy trading card release.
The P3, however, illustrates a strong principle in collecting: if something is a little more rare, it has inherent value greater than the more common releases. So, while the P3 is a one-joke trading card, it often sells for a little bit more than the P1, simply because it is rarer. And fans of trading cards and Family Guy (season one reviewed here) are likely to like it for that reason. Even so, Inkworks bet poorly on the popularity of Family Guy when it came to merchandising. Inkworks, which is pretty ambitious about what it produces for non-sports trading card, had been banking on the die-hard fans coming out for the trading card set. Even with minimal merchandising surrounding Family Guy in 2005 when these were first released, few fans were interested in the trading cards. The P3 promotional card was more than enough for most fans, even those who helped get the series resurrected by purchasing the DVD sets.
To prepare collectors for the release of the Family Guy trading cards, Inkworks produced a few promotional cards. Promotional cards are designed to give collectors a tease of the new set and generate enthusiasm for forthcoming card releases. Inkworks gave away thousands of Family Guy P3 promotional cards to collectors (who simply asked for one and sent a self addressed, stamped envelope) and to dealers to freely distribute to potential customers.
Numbered P3 (on the back) the Family Guy promotional card prepares fans for the style of the common card set for the first set of Family Guy trading cards. As such, this is a standard trading card size and there is no gimmick to it. It has the Inkworks UV protective coating to prevent fading and after half a decade, mine shows no wear (though mine is nicely protected in a binder's poly pages!).
The front of the trading card features Stewie (the baby) sitting on the floor holding a telephone. There is a caption, which reads “Put me through to the Pentagon. . .” Unlike most comics, the caption is not separated out in a bubble, but rather it is on the side, in block letters off-center, as if it is an excited utterance. It's not terribly funny or a memorable quote, but It's cute. The photography on the front is very clear and the color contrast is fine, which prepares collectors well for the actual set. The card set has very vivid coloring and the artwork looks like each card is an original piece, as opposed to looking like screen captures.
The back of the card features a picture of Stewie (yelling at the consumer) and it includes very basic sales points for the Family Guy trading card set. Here, the consumer learns that there will be autographs, that it would have 72 common cards, there would be sketch cards and indicating that it would be available in April 2005 (and it was)! But outside the most expensive cards in the set, the card does not tease potential buyers with much information and it is only insinuation and retrospect which lead those looking at the P3 to know that the common card set followed this style of card. As well, details are unclear from the outset: who would be doing the sketch cards? How many would they be? How about autographs? Who is signing? What does the format look like? The promotional card is annoyingly vague and many fans, like me, were turned off by this.
In the end, this card did not get me to invest, mostly because it did not do what promotional cards are supposed to do. The Family Guy P3 card inadequately prepares the consumer for the actual full trading card set. Inkworks gave a slew of these away and it is not very collectible at all. As a result, those looking to purchase one of these ought to avoid overpaying. Many dealers throw promotional cards in for free (usually with a purchase) and this card only has a guide value of $5.00. Be sure not to pay more than that; it's one card and it is not truly worth more!
For other promotional card reviews, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Spider-Man Archives SD09 Promo Card
Spider-Man 3 P1
Revenge Of The Sith P1
4/10
For other card reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!
© 2011, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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