Battlestar Galactica Eats Itself With Galactica 1980

The Good: Decent characters, Interesting concept, Acting is fine.
The Bad: Predictable, Adds far too many science fiction concepts to a previously grounded universe, No DVD bonus features
The Basics: Galactica 1980 reinvents Battlestar Galactica . . . poorly.


Despite what all the Family Guy fans might have you believe, Family Guy is not the first network television series to be cancelled and then brought back after a hiatus of a few years. For sure, Family Guy had one of the most significant breaks between its third season (reviewed here!) and its fourth (reviewed here!). Now, I – who was once a champion of the show – wish they would just put it down. Lacking its edgy quality, Family Guy has fallen into a formulaic series of conceits that make it less than enjoyable to watch any longer. That is pretty much how Galactica 1980 feels.

Not long ago, I had not seen a single episode of Battlestar Galactica, though I had reviewed the Cylon ornament from Hallmark (that’s here!). But, as part of my summer on my own, I thought I might get around to watching the entire franchise of Battlestar Galactica. And when I watched and reviewed the original Battlestar Galactica (here!), I actually found I enjoyed it quite a bit more than I thought I might. So, I was pretty eager when I sat down to watch Galactica 1980.

Unfortunately, the ten-episode, two-disc Galactica 1980 is a real letdown in almost every imaginable way. Fans of Battlestar Galactica are unlikely to consider Galactica 1980 canon because it so radically diverts from the realism and principles of the original show. Fans of DVDs who enjoyed how packed with bonus features Battlestar Galactica was are likely to be disappointed by the “no frills” DVD presentation of Galactica 1980

Galactica 1980 follows the exploits of the Battlestar Galactica about twenty years after the events of Battlestar Galactica. Boxey, the child rescued by Apollo, is all grown up and is now a Viper pilot himself. Going by his proper name, Captain Troy is paired with the fairly dim Lieutenant Dillon and the fleet is led by Commander Adama. Adama is now dependent upon a child prodigy, Dr. Zee, who guides the fleet as a civilian/scientific leader. Colonel Boomer is still around and he assists Adama from time to time in the role Tigh used to occupy.

The basic premise of Galactica 1980 puts Earth into play. The Galactica and the human survivors who wandered the stars for so long have finally reached Earth. Unfortunately, they arrive in 1980 and discover that the planet is in no shape to save, or even help, the colonists. Reluctantly, Adama and Zee task the convoy to distracting the Cylons from Earth while Troy and Dillon go down to Earth and work to prepare it for a cultural integration. This puts them into frequent contact with Jamie Hamilton, an aspiring news reporter who gets enough evidence to believe Troy and Dillon while realizing the importance of not exposing them.

Galactica 1980 essentially follows three arcs with two additional episodes that loosely follow the events of the prior three groups of episodes.

The first arc has the Galactica reaching Earth. As the scouts for the Galactica discover Earth through its transmissions, Adama is crushed. So many lives have been lost trying to find Earth and the lost colony is essentially primitive. While Dr. Zee advises Adama to take the colony ships away from Earth to protect the helpless humans there, one of Adama’s other advisors, Xaviar, insists they broach the topic of time travel with Dr. Zee. Xaviar wants to progress Earth to a technological level that will allow them to be useful to the human colonists in resisting the Cylons. When Adama and Dr. Zee refuse to go along with Xaviar’s idea, Xaviar goes to Earth and takes a Viper to the past, to Nazi Germany. Captain Troy and Lieutenant Dillon, with reporter Jamie Hamilton, make the perilous trip back as well, in the attempt to thwart Xaviar and prevent the Nazis from winning World War II.

Following the escape of Xaviar, Dr. Zee becomes deeply concerned about the children aboard the Galactica. He decides to send them down to Earth, where through an inadvertent bank robbery, Lt. Dillon and Captain Troy disguise them as Boy Scouts (despite them seeming more like Cub Scout age and one of them being a girl!). When three of the super strong children fall ill, Troy, Dillon, and Hamilton quickly find themselves embroiled in a medical nightmare, hunted by the Air Force and the owner of a chemical company near where the children are camping. When the medical emergency passes, Jamie takes the children to a baseball camp where they have to try not to use their extraordinary abilities. Unfortunately, Xavier, disguised as a friendly officer, arrives to try to take the children to use as leverage to be left alone by Adama and his forces.

On Halloween, the Cylons actually make it to Earth! Fortunately, only one ship crashes on Earth and there are only two survivors. While one is Centurion, the other is a new model of Cylon that looks exactly like a human and wants to find a radio tower through which he may send a homing beacon to the rest of the Cylon fleet. With humanity’s fate hanging in the balance, Dillon and Troy track the two Cylons down to try to save Earth.

“Space Croppers,” the penultimate episode, explores racism in a small farming community. When the colonists’ food supplies are destroyed, Dillon and Troy try to become farm hands and help out a Latino farmer who is the butt of a great deal of racism from the locals. The Colonists bring the children back into play to seed the fields.

Dr. Zee’s origin story is revealed in “The Return Of Starbuck,” which explores how Starbuck was marooned on a distant planet and befriended a Cylon Centurion.

Far and away, the biggest problem with Galactica 1980 is that it takes a show that was remarkably grounded and turns it into a science fiction farce. Almost immediately, the conceit of Dr. Zee is annoying and guts the character of Adama. The only thing less sensible than Dr. Zee is how he is almost immediately, and without explanation, recast! Then there is the time travel element. It’s virtually impossible not to watch Galactica 1980 and ask, “if they have time travel, why didn’t they go back in time over Caprica to save the people and ships they lost there?!” Given a legitimate choice between wandering the stars for decades and losing countless people or activating the remarkably simple time travel device and getting out of the way of the Cylons, why would the humans choose defeat?! Better yet, the Cylons were created by a lizard race that they eventually overthrew. Why not send someone back to the distant past to say to their cyberneticists, “Look, you’re going to have to stop that!”

It’s enough to make one absolutely baffled that Glen A. Larson wrote this entire series after Battlestar Galactica!

Outside the science fiction conceits, the idea of Galactica 1980 is not a bad one. Adama and Dr. Zee do the responsible thing by avoiding letting Earth become another casualty of the Cylons. Moreover, the culture shock between Troy and Dillon and Jamie is often handled with appropriate humor. But even there the show relies upon new “invisibility” technology and wrist-mounted computers that give Troy and Dillon all the information they need.

The show is pretty light on character development, with Jamie being given the most to do in that regard as she grows from being completely ignorant to a steadfast ally of the Galactica and the colonists in pretty short order.

The acting from Kent McCord (Troy) is homogenously good. Lorne Greene is hardly given enough to do in the series, but react to Dr. Zee’s expository monologues, and Herb Jefferson Jr. is similarly underused. Barry Van Dyke and Robyn Douglass (Jamie) are fine, but are often not given much range to play.

In the end, I think I’d have to advise viewers to leap from Battlestar Galactica to one of the newer incarnations as opposed to wasting the time and emotional energy on Galactica 1980.

For other classic science fiction shows, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Star Trek
V: The Television Series
The X-Files

4/10

For other television reviews, be sure to check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series Turns Out To Be The Biggest (Good) Surprise For Me On DVD This Summer!

The Good: Surprisingly well-written, Good serialized plots, Engaging concepts, Most of the characters, DVD bonus features.
The Bad: Melodramatic aspects, Some special effects and character issues.
The Basics: A surprisingly strong franchise in its own right, Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series makes for a very cool DVD set worth the attention of anyone who loves science fiction!


There are very few programs that I watch on television (or, more recently, right on DVD) that I do not already know what I am getting in for when I start them. It has been a long time since a show surprised me. In fact, the one that I am most frequently noting as a series that I discovered for the first time on DVD that was most worthy of attention was Veronica Mars (reviewed here!). The list, however, is getting longer with Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series!

I sat down and watched the 21 episode boxed set of Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series as preparation for my desired attempt to watch the reboot of Battlestar Galactica while my wife is gone for the summer. I figured that I would put it on, watch the pilot episode and then have it on while I was doing other things in order to get the gist of the series before I watched the science fiction show that has been unanimously recommended to me the past few years that I am actually interested in. From the first episode, Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series surprised me by its depth, scope and vision. After watching the first episode (a movie that I had seen as a child and forgotten), I started the next episode and found the heavily-serialized nature of the show to be right up my alley! Far from a cheap facsimile of Star Trek (reviewed here!), Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series created a surprisingly smart show that worked to create its own distinctive style and left me utterly unsurprised that it could be viably rebooted for a franchise.

Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series is the entire 1978-79 season television series that aired on ABC. A science fiction episode, Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series follows a fleet of some 220 human ships in a convoy. Following the destruction of the main colonies, specifically Caprica, the human Council of 12 evacuates the survivors and flees from the machine Cylons. Run by a mysterious Imperial leader and aided by a human, Baltar, the last surviving humans flee to the stars in search of the mythical ancient planet, Earth.

Following Baltar’s betrayal and the subsequent realization of the next target for a Cylon ambush of the convoy, the civilian leaders put Commander Adama, a military leader and captain of the last warship – the Battlestar Galactica – in charge of the convoy. Using ancient texts and rumors as a guide, he navigates the convoy to the edge of the galaxy in the hope of finding their salvation. Along the way, the convoy discovers lost colonies of humans, godlike creatures, other vessels, and a human enemy arguably more ruthless than the Cylons!

What really works for Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series is the combination of serialized storylines and the sense of distinction the Battlestar Galactica universe possesses. Aboard the Battlestar Galactica, the crew plays its own sports – a weird combination of basketball and wrestling that requires the men who play it to wear one of the oddest outfits in science fiction history! – they have their own language differences – “frack,” “felderkarb,” etc. – and values that occasionally differ from those of the modern United States. But above all, the show is smarter than I ever would have guessed.

First, in one of the early episodes of Battlestar Galactica, women aboard the ship are enlisted as fighter pilots. With it no longer pragmatic to have any form of gender discrimination, the women aboard the ship learn new trades and are useful and equal to their male counterparts. The show is equally pragmatic in some of the plots. Exploring the complexity of something as simple as putting out a fire aboard a ship, while preserving the lives of the people in the affected area, leads to one of the best episodes in Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series!

While the show is occasionally clunky and embodies some of the late 1970’s style and philosophical conceits, Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series actually seems less issue-oriented and dated than the original Star Trek!

The characters range from a mix of “types” to real individuals and part of the strength of Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series is the diversity of the characters in the series. The primary characters in Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series include:

Commander Adama – The military leader of the surviving humans that represent the former twelve colonies, he is a wizened man who tries to lead in a way that conserves the greatest number of people and ships. He has a strong spiritual component to him and it is he who sets the ships on their route for Earth, occasionally taking risks that put them closer to their goal, based on myth, speculation and rumor. He is primarily assisted by Colonel Tigh and his son, Apollo,

Captain Apollo – The son of Adama, he falls in love almost immediately with Serina, who has a young son, Boxey. However, when she is killed after learning to pilot a Viper, he is forced to raise Boxey on his own. A Viper pilot himself, he is the occasionally dim best friend of the charismatic Starbuck. He, however, serves as a conduit for higher forms of life when they make contact with the surviving humans,

Lieutenant Starbuck – A real player and a Viper pilot, he is a gambler who focuses his affections (mostly) on Cassiopia, though he has a passing flirtation with Apollo’s sister, Athena. He frequently risks his life for the convoy,

Lieutenant Boomer – A pragmatist and very observant Viper pilot, he often aids Apollo and Starbuck. He is one of the first pilots to volunteer to go back into space after the pilots are cut down by a mysterious illness. He works to save lives when the Battlestar Galactica catches fire,

Colonel Tigh – Highly ethical and calm, he is the right hand of Adama. He occasionally overlooks transgressions when it saves lives or furthers a just cause,

Athena – Adama’s daughter, she is smart and does not put up with Starbuck’s crap. In addition to working in flight control, she is seen teaching the surviving youngsters,

Boxey – A child who provides that perspective, he is accompanied by a mechanical recreation of the daggit he lost on the attack on Caprica. He loves and respects Apollo, who keeps him as if he were his own son after Serina dies. Known to stowaway on a shuttle for a chance at adventure,

and Baltar – The human who knows the most about the Cylons because he betrayed the humans to them! Given command over a squadron and his own Base Star (Cylon vessel more powerful than the Battlestars!) after the abrupt change in power in the Cylon leadership, he hunts the humans down on behalf of the Cylons, until his fortunes turn!

Like the characters themselves, the acting is all across the spectrum on Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series. Led by Lorne Greene (Adama) with some of the best supporting performances by Terry Carter (Colonel Tigh) and John Colicos (Baltar, who is often forced to work opposite the mechanized Cylons and thus does not have a lot to act off of!), Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series goes not give the women as much to play with, though Maren Jensen as Athena and Anne Lockhart as Sheba do a decent job with what they are given. Richard Hatch’s Apollo never truly pops, though, and Dirk Benedict plays the same one-note the entire time, the same type performance that he would later become famous for on The A-Team.

On DVD, Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series is impressive with a wide array of bonus features. Virtually every episode has deleted scenes. There are also commentary tracks and featurettes that make this a pretty incredible value. The special effects and picture quality have also been cleaned up for the boxed set, making Battlestar Galactica The Complete Epic Series a solid addition to the collection of anyone who loves science fiction!

For other television series' that made their debut on ABC, please check out my reviews of:
Happy Endings - Season 1
V - Season 2
Lost
Invasion
Boston Legal
Alias
Once & Again - Season 2
Once & Again - Season 1
Sports Night
Spin City - Season 1
Twin Peaks
V - The Complete Series

7.5/10

For other television reviews, be sure to visit my Index Page on the subject for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Rarity And A Snazzy Repaint Makes A Mundane Ornament Valuable With The 2012 San Diego ComicCon Battlestar Galactica Gold Cylon Centurion Special Edition Hallmark Ornament!

The Good: Good sculpt, Decent sound effect, Collector’s value
The Bad: No light effect, Very weak sound effect, Backheavy.
The Basics: With a very simple repaint, last year’s mundane Cylon Centurion ornament becomes this year’s collector’s item with the 2012 SDCC Gold Cylon Centurion Hallmark Keepsake ornament!


Between last year and this, I have managed to watch both Battlestar Galactica and its first sequel Galactica 1980 (those reviews will be posted in the next few days, check back!). So, unlike last year, when I truly had no frame of reference but vague childhood memories of a toy my stepbrother had when I reviewed the Cylon Centurion ornament ( that’s here!), now I get, at least, the classic Battlestar Galactica. So, when Hallmark Keepsake announced that for the first time it would be releasing an exclusive ornament at the San Diego Comic Con that had sounds, I was initially excited that it was a Gold Cylon Centurion. This distinguishes it as a leader of the Cylons and it’s an initially cool concept. It is, however, entirely a repaint of the exact ornament that was released last year. Outside the paintjob, it is identical to the silver (common) release 2011 Cylon Centurion ornament.

For those unfamiliar with Gold Cylon Centurion, this is a gold and black mechanized warrior who is out to destroy humanity in the Battlestar Galactica franchise. Reminiscent of the Star Wars stormtroopers, save in shiny gold armor, the Gold Cylons were armed and deadly and they hounded the surviving humans in Battlestar Galactica. The Gold Cylon Centurion is seen briefly aboard the Cylon Base Star in the series finale of Battlestar Galactica.

Hallmark released the Gold Cylon Centurion ornament as an exclusive edition of 1350 ornaments only at the San Diego Comic Con and it features the Gold Cylon Centurion on a base that allows it to have a sound function.

Basics

The Gold Cylon Centurion ornament faithfully recreates the black and gold soldier on a black base. The Gold Cylon Centurion is well-molded and looks like the robot it is supposed to. The Hallmark Gold Cylon Centurion ornament is made of solid black and gold plastic that features the gold soldier with its black skirt-like cape and a blaster which the Centurion is holding in a two-handed grip. This ornament does not have the date stamped or painted on it. This ornament is powered by very small watch batteries (included!) which allow the sound effect to be activated.

The Gold Cylon Centurion is detailed very well, which makes some sense because the Gold Cylon Centurion is supposed to have a completely manufactured look to it. The robot soldier is 4 1/2” tall, 2 3/4“ wide and 2 1/16” deep. This makes it one of the bigger ornaments from Hallmark and it was originally released at $24.95, because at Comic Con, you pay for your ticket and a premium for all the premiums!

The Gold Cylon Centurion stands upon a base that has the Battlestar Galactica title in the appropriate typeface across the front. I found myself a little less impressed by this detail. Hallmark could have molded the name in and accented it with paint, but it appears to basically be silkscreened on and that seems like it might wear off much easier than other ornaments.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the Gold Cylon Centurion could have a light and sound function. Fans of the Gold Cylons are likely to be disappointed that the Gold Cylon Centurion only has a sound function. I’m not usually one to gripe about this sort of thing, but the Gold Cylon Centurion’s eyes are supposed to be lasers or something that glows red and it looks at an angle like Hallmark did get the visor red colored. Unfortunately, it does not light up.

However, a button on the front left side of the Gold Cylon Centurion’s base does activate the sound function. When pressed, the battery-operated ornament begins to speak. The voice chip plays one of four soundclips from the television show wherein the Gold Cylon menaces humanity. I’m fine with the sound clip not featuring anything about Christmas. However, the volume on this ornament was uncharacteristically low, making it less impressive than it ought to be, even with four quotes. The Gold Cylon Centurion ornament is powered by watch-sized batteries, which are included with the ornament!

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake Gold Cylon Centurion ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. For those creating the ultimate science fiction Christmas Tree, the Gold Cylon Centurion ornament is a fair addition. The ornament has the standard steel hook loop embedded into the top center of the Gold Cylon Centurion’s head, which is the most stable point on the ornament. Unfortunately, because of the way the Centurion is cast with the skirt and legs (and presumably some of the electronics for the sound clips) the ornament is a little backheavy. I found I could not adjust it in any way that did not have a fifteen to twenty degree pitch from the back up. Fortunately, this works better as a desk ornament because of the stable base, for those who want a Gold Cylon Centurion the whole year round!

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (reviewed here!). Since then, they have made ornament replicas from virtually every major franchise, including retro television shows like Battlestar Galactica, Cheers (but not Frasier!), and Star Trek. The Gold Cylon Centurion ornament is already selling at twice the original issue price and, given that it was limited to 1350 pieces and has already sold out, one might easily expect that it will continue to rise in value, at least through the current holiday season.

Overview

Fans of the Battlestar Galactica franchise, Cylons and Hallmark ornaments are going to want to get this ornament while they can; history has shown the Comic Con exclusives, even when they are lackluster repaints, explode in value after the event is over.

For other limited edition Hallmark genre ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2012 Momaw Nadon Star Wars ornament
2011 New York Comic Con U.S.S. Defiant Limited Edition Star Trek ornament
2011 Harry Potter The Golden Snitch ornament

7.5/10

For other ornament reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Not As Cool As It Ought To Be, The 2011 Cyclon Centurion Battlestar Galactica Hallmark Ornament Is A Tough Sell!

The Good: Good sculpt, Decent sound effect
The Bad: No light effect, Very weak sound effect, Backheavy, Seems expensive.
The Basics: While Battlestar Galactica fans may flock to Hallmark to buy up the Cylon Centurion ornaments, general ornament enthusiasts are likely to be a little less wowed by this one.


Right off the bat, it is worth noting that I have yet to get into the new Battlestar Galactica craze. I know that it is out there, but I am one of those people who will not buy an entire series on DVD or Blu-Ray without seeing it first. Given that I do not have cable, I doubt this will change in the foreseeable future. So, my memories of Battlestar Galactica come mostly from my childhood when the show was more campy than cool. It was, however, enough for me to recall the basics and know enough to recognize the classic Cylons. So, when Hallmark released their Cylon Centurion ornament for the 2011 holiday season, I was excited to provide a pretty objective analysis of it.

For those unfamiliar with Cylon Centurion, this is a silver and black mechanized warrior who is out to destroy humanity in the Battlestar Galactica franchise. Reminiscent of the Star Wars stormtroopers, save in silver shiny armor, the Cylons were armed and deadly and they hounded the surviving humans in Battlestar Galactica. The Cylon Centurion is the squad leader of the Cylons.

Hallmark released the Cylon Centurion ornament with little fanfare in October 2011 and features the Cylon Centurion on a base that allows it to have a sound function.

Basics

The Cylon Centurion ornament faithfully recreates the black and silver soldier on a black base. The Cylon Centurion is well-molded and looks like the robot it is supposed to. The Hallmark Cylon Centurion ornament is made of solid black and silver plastic that features the silver soldier with its black skirt-like cape and a blaster which the Centurion is holding in a two-handed grip. This ornament does not have the date stamped or painted on it. Instead, the date is faintly molded into the very bottom of the platform the Cylon Centurion is standing on as part of the copyright information. This ornament is powered by very small watch batteries (included!) which allow the sound effect to be activated.

The Cylon Centurion is detailed very well, which makes some sense because the Cylon Centurion is supposed to have a very manufactured look to it. The robot soldier is 4 1/2” tall, 2 3/4“ wide and 2 1/16” deep. This makes it one of the bigger ornaments this season from Hallmark and it is fairly reasonably priced at $19.95 (less now that the holiday has passed!).

The Cylon Centurion stands upon a base that has the Battlestar Galactica title in the appropriate typeface across the front. I found myself a little less impressed by this detail. Hallmark could have molded the name in and accented it with paint, but it appears to basically be silkscreened on and that seems like it might wear off much easier than other ornaments.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the Cylon Centurion could have a light and sound function. Fans of the Cylons are likely to be disappointed that the Cylon Centurion only has a sound function. I’m not usually one to gripe about this sort of thing, but the Cylon Centurion’s eyes are supposed to be lasers or something that glows red and it looks at an angle like Hallmark did get the visor red colored. Unfortunately, it does not light up.

However, a button on the front left side of the Cylon Centurion’s base does activate the sound function. When pressed, the battery-operated ornament begins to speak. The voice chip plays one of four soundclips from the television show wherein the Cylon menaces humanity. I’m fine with the sound clip not featuring anything about Christmas. However, the volume on this ornament was uncharacteristically low, making it less impressive than it ought to be, even with four quotes. The Cylon Centurion ornament is powered by watch-sized batteries, which are included with the ornament!

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake Cylon Centurion ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. For those creating the ultimate science fiction Christmas Tree, the Cylon Centurion ornament is a fair addition. The ornament has the standard steel hook loop embedded into the top center of the Cylon Centurion’s head, which is the most stable point on the ornament. Unfortunately, because of the way the Centurion is cast with the skirt and legs (and presumably some of the electronics for the sound clips) the ornament is a little backheavy. I found I could not adjust it in any way that did not have a fifteen to twenty degree pitch from the back up. Fortunately, this works better as a desk ornament because of the stable base, for those who want a Cylon Centurion the whole year round!

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (reviewed here!). Since then, they have made ornament replicas from virtually every major franchise, including retro television shows like Battlestar Galactica, Cheers (but not Frasier!), and Star Trek. The Cylon Centurion ornament appears to have been slightly overproduced as I have found several since the after-Christmas sales began. I suspect either demand was low because the television series has been off the air or that Battlestar Galactica fans are more discriminating about their swag. Either way, this may be found now comparatively inexpensively and I suspect it will take a while before it appreciates in value.

Overview

Fans of the Battlestar Galactica franchise, Cylons and Hallmark ornaments in general might want to get this ornament on the cheap while they can find it. It is not a bad ornament, but it feels like it could have been so much more.

For other 2011 Hallmark genre ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
CLU’s Light Cycle Tron: Legacy ornament
Green Lantern ornament
Slave I Star Wars ornament

6.5/10

For other ornament reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Not Making A Stampede Of Battlestar Galactica Fans, The Season One Promo Underwhelms!

The Good: Good image, Informative, Inexpensive enough, Necessary for collectors
The Bad: It’s just one card and can usually be found for free!
The Basics: An underwhelming single trading card, the Battlestar Galactica Premiere Edition P1 is not a card one should have to pay for, even now.


Having seen only a single episode of Battlestar Galactica, I had absolutely no attachment to the stack of promotional cards I received as a dealer. However, as I attended science fiction conventions, I watched how many people took this promotional card (and accompanying sell sheet) and I was unsurprised to discover that Battlestar Galactica has a tight core of viewers, but very few of them are actually interested in the peripheral merchandising needed to justify shelling out for the card sets and the high-end cards. As such, the P1 promotional card was more than enough for most fans (even those who would later go on to buy the DVD sets!).

To prepare collectors for the release of the Battlestar Galactica Premiere Edition trading cards, Rittenhouse Archives produced a promotional card. Promotional cards are designed to give collectors a tease of the new set and generate enthusiasm for forthcoming card releases. Rittenhouse Archives gave away tens of thousands of Battlestar Galactica Premiere Edition P1 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 P1 (on the back) the Battlestar Galactica Premiere Edition promotional card prepares fans for the style of the common card set for the Battlestar Galactica Premiere Edition trading cards. As such, this is a standard trading card size and there is no gimmick to it. It has the Rittenhouse Archives standard 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 four members of the Battlestar Galactica crew posed for a promotional shot. Against a wall looking dramatic are Admiral Adama (Edward James Almos), Captain Adama (Jamie Bamber), “Boomer” (Grace Park) and “Starbuck” (Katee Sackhoff). The quartet is staring at the card face with a hallway behind them. The side had a faint outline of other characters and across the bottom front of the card are the words “Premiere Edition Trading Cards.” This is the format of the common cards and it accurately predicts how the set would look.

The photography on the front is very clear and the color contrast is decent, which prepares collectors well for the actual set, which was able to have clear images despite the prevalence of dark colors. Those looking for something different to get signed at conventions, though, will find this is not the ideal cards for that. Having gotten a P1 card signed by Jamie Bamber at a show he was attending, the celebrities seem confounded by the small size of the card and the fact that there are multiple characters on it; none seem to want to be the person who signs over the other two characters. Because no one character on the card is dominant, it is a tough sell for autograph hunters.

The back of the card simply announces the Battlestar Galactica Premiere Edition trading card set, illustrating that it will be a set that includes two autograph and two costume cards per box, and indicating that it would be available in Spring of 2005 (and it was)! The back features images of the two high-level chase cards, as well as an image of the very popular Number Six (Tricia Helfer). 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 P1 to know that the common card set followed this style of card.

In the end, this card did not get me to invest, despite the fact that it did what promotional cards are supposed to do. The Battlestar Galactica Premiere Edition P1 card prepares the consumer for the actual full trading card set. Rittenhouse Archives 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 $2.00. Be sure not to pay more than that; it's one card and it is not truly worth more!

For other reviews of single cards, please check out my reviews of:
Family Guy 2005 P1
Twilight P1
Twilight PW-7 Taylor Lautner costume card

5/10

For other card reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


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