Thursday, October 28, 2010

A Somewhat Bland Twilight Chase Set: The "In Pursuit" Cards Are Nice, But Nothing Special.



The Good: Value, Good images of James, Decent foil appearance.
The Bad: Overpriced for what they actually are.
The Basics: Overpriced, but still somewhat intriguing, the "In Pursuit" set of Twilight chase cards is a must for anyone who loves James or actor Cam Gigandet!


Inkworks is a trading card company that I have done very little business with over the years. Having primarily dealt with Rittenhouse Archives, it was truly odd for me to jump ship and go with the now-defunct Inkworks for a card set, but as they were the ones producing the Twilight cards (click here for the review of the full set!), I found myself in the position of having to. Having learned of the Twilight phenomenon only a brief time before the film came out, I picked up a promotional card for the set and was somewhat disappointed when the autograph cards promised on it were canceled. I bought two boxes and one yielded a PW7 Taylor Lautner Pieceworks card (check out my review of that by clicking here!) and between the two boxes, I was able to assemble a single set of the "In Pursuit" cards. While I am generally pleased with the "In Pursuit" set, it represents a pretty pathetic chase card set which leaves those who are savvy to card collecting unimpressed with Inkworks and its attempt to cater to a very different market (i.e. the Twilight fans).

When the film Twilight (click here for the movie review!) was released, Inkworks won the license and began producing exceptionally limited trading cards. The Twilight trading cards represent a smash success for a card company due largely to the rarity of the cards and the fact that the primary audience was the "daddy buy me!" crowd who suckered their family members with money into shelling out ridiculous amounts of money on cards which are not nearly what they are worth. One of the more ambitious chase cards, at least in terms of rarity, was the "In Pursuit" set.

The "In Pursuit" cards were three cards focusing on the primary villain of Twilight, James. James, played by Cam Gigandet, was a vampire who realizes that the vampiric Cullen clan is harboring a human, who knows their secret. A more violent vampire, James is roaming through Forks, Washington, slaying as he sees fit and he begins to hunt Bella Swan despite one of his friends promising the Cullens that they would move on.

The set of three "In Pursuit" cards are easily differentiated from the common cards by having a foil front to each card. The foil cards are numbered IP1, IP2 and IP3 as well and they are very hard to come to. The odds of pulling an "In Pursuit" card out of the packs are 1 in 23, which means this chase card was found about one per box, with the occasional box having two IP cards in the pack. I was fortunate enough to get one of those boxes and, as luck would have it, managed to assemble a set of the In Pursuit cards.

IP1 The Hunter has James running on the front and for those fans of Cam Gigandent, this is a nice card! The back describes how ruthless James was and how strong he is relative to other vampires. The second card in the set, IP2 Hunters And Lovers features James killing Victoria on the front. The back describes the relationship between James and Victoria and prepares collectors for Victoria's role in Eclipse! Finally, the set has IP3 Hunter And Prey. That card features James cornering Bella and the back describes the final showdown between James and Bella.

The "In Pursuit" cards are well-made, informative and are nicely all arranged in a landscape orientation, which is not something the common card set may boast. The foil effect is unimpressive, but at least makes the card seem passably like a bonus card. The border which features the subset's title and a headshot of James on one side - is not terribly intrusive.

The value of the card makes it a great investment for those lucky enough to pull one from a pack of Twilight cards, especially when one considers how overpriced single packs or even boxes of Twilight cards are at this point. The "In Pursuit" set is slightly overpriced given the lack of interest in James and the relative rarity. However, because of the ultra-inflated prices associated with the Inkworks Twilight cards, at least the "In Pursuit" set is a full chase set for the $50 range. One expects when the Twilight bubble bursts, the "In Pursuit" set might plummet to about $30 for the three cards, but if the fanbase is properly maintained, these cards of James might actually appreciate still.

Ultimately, there is little that is actually special about the "In Pursuit" special cards from the Twilight set. However, I give the set a weak "recommend" for the simple reason that the rest of the set is obsessed with Edward and Bella or the Cullens, to having a set that truly fleshes out the villain is welcome.

For other Twilight Saga merchandise, please check out my reviews of:
Edward Cullen Barbie Doll
2010 Edward And Bella Hallmark ornament
The Short Second Life Of Bree Tanner (novella)

4.5/10

For other toy and card reviews, please visit my index page.

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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