So… as probably everyone in the United States knows, the most important American Holiday happened on November 24th. I am of course talking about Black Friday!
(What did you think I was talking about Independence Day? Please, everyone knows shopping is far more important than the shot that was heard around the world.)
So in the spirit of the holiday, I made a purchase. I actually made a couple of purchases, but the one which is important to this blog is pictured above! Behold! There are two unopened boxes of My Little Pony: The Movie Trading Card Fun Packs by Enterplay! Yes sir, 48 packs of My Little Pony trading cards are just waiting to be opened! So, let's dive into opening those packs and see what we get after the break!
And of course the first product of any note is the pile of 48 foil packages! Just look at them all! You'd almost think these things were opened up haphazardly by a child as opposed to an adult carefully trying to make sure there is at least one intact package per completed base set.
Well, too bad. An adult did make sure there were a couple of completely intact, and still opened, foil packages to place with any of the completed base sets of 81 non foil, non sticker, and non tattoo cards.
But pictured above is the single, complete set of cards I managed to pull out of both of those boxes! So, how many packages did I have to open to get the complete set?
Believe it or not, only 46 packages. Yeah, I raised an eyebrow at that as well.
Now I'm sure you're wondering how many base sets of 81 cards I managed to pull from the two boxes. I managed to pull two complete base sets, and one nearly complete base set of cards. The nearly complete set is missing four sequential cards in the set.
It gets weirder. And you'll see why as soon as we start digging into the contents of the card packs as I show you the exact order, straight from the package, of the cards pulled in the base set.
These are cards 1 – 18 of the base set. This is the exact order I pulled this cards in from three packs.
For reference, there are 8 items in each pack of cards. Each pack breaks down into 6 trading cards, one sticker, one tattoo sheet, and the possibility of one foil card.
The 81 Base Trading Cards set is made of three different card types. Which breaks down as follows:
- 27 Character Cards
- 36 "Scene Cards"
- 18 "The Making Of" Cards
This would have increased the likely hood of multiples of the same card significantly. Heck, this would have meant that getting an ideal situation of nearly three complete base sets of trading cards (you still would have been short four cards from "The Making Of" subset) within two boxes of trading cards almost impossible to pull off.
Base Set Cards Number 19 – 36.
But the cards in this set weren't packaged like that. The cards were packaged in sequential order. Heck, if the two boxes of cards weren't slightly off of alignment, I would have had 3.5 complete base sets of trading cards. I just couldn't believe it what I was seeing. I opened up a pack, and got nothing but character cards in sequential order.
That went on for four packs. On the 5th pack, I started getting the scene cards.
For the scene cards, I did the math. The movie has a runtime of 99 minutes. There are 36 scene cards. Each card is basically one screen grab for every 2 minutes and 45 seconds of animation.
I wonder if anyone is actually going to test how accurate that timing is when the film comes out on digital home video release on December 19th.
Base Set Cards Number 37 – 54.
I mean seriously, the "Scene Cards" retell the story of the film, almost without missing a beat. Though I have a feeling you might have started to notice something about these cards as we've been progressing through them.
Or if you haven't, I'll give you a hint. Wasn't it a little strange Cheese Sandwich got a character card in this set?
Base Set Cards Number 55 – 72.
And after looking at the rest of the scene cards, you'll probably notice there's one character who didn't show up at all in this set. Which is odd considering how much Hasbro and Lionsgate pushed, pushed, and pushed the advertising efforts to spread the word of Sia's inclusion in the film.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if it turned out there was a snag in the licensing agreement between Hasbro and Enterplay which precluded Songbird Serenade's inclusion in this set of cards. (Probably had something to do with Target having the exclusive right to sell Songbird Serenade merchandise for My Little Pony: The Movie, and she was going to be included as a special promo foil card for the sets sold there but there is no way to know for sure). Which is a shame since this is the trading card set for My Little Pony: The Movie, and the set feels a little incomplete without the all characters of the stars who had top billing for the film included in it.
But you want to know what makes up for it? CONCEPT ART!
That's right! "The Making Of" cards are nothing but pieces of production and concept art which was used in the making of—OH I SEE WHAT ENTERPLAY DID HERE—My Little Pony: The Movie. For those of you wondering if these cards are worth it, especially if you have already purchased The Art of My Little Pony: The Movie (currently $23.22 on Amazon), I would have to say the answer is yes. For these cards include concept art which isn't featured in the book!
Yes there is some overlap, but surprisingly the overlapping pieces of concept art are few and are between.
Base Set Cards Number 73 – 81.
Just look at the Strom King's throne room! That definitely would have given a much different impression of "His Hilariousness" had we first saw him sitting on that that chair.
Come to thing of it, the same would have been true for Discord had we first saw him sitting on his throne as opposed to a uniquely animated pattern of stained glass. The backs of these cards are also filled with interesting tidbits about the making of the movie, and even more concept art, which I am not showing here.
So those are all the cards in the base set. Where do I go from here? How's about to the next level up in rarity.
Stickers Number 1 – 12.
Though considering I got four copies of each sticker and tattoo sheet, I probably should have started with these and then gone into the base set if basing my unboxing on the rarity of the cards. The stickers are made up of five pieces of base art, I think the four stand alone heads of are mini posters from the movie countdown, and the two remaining stickers are stock vectors used on the majority of the MLP: The Movie licensed merchandise.
Overall, not a bad set of stickers. Though it would have been a little bit more diverse if the art featured a mix of the Mane 6 and the celebrity guest stars. Still not a bad set of 12 stickers.
Tattoo Sheets Number 1 – 12.
As for the tattoo sheets, the only question I have is why Twilight's cutie mark isn't colored right. Aside from that, these look like a ton of fun, and perfect for the target audience of the show.
And with the Tattoos out of the way, it's time to take a look at the rarest cards in the set.
Foil Cards Number 1 – 15.
There's 15 foil cards in the set of My Little Pony: The Movie Trading Cards. The appearance rate of these cards is 1:3 packs. Which means for 48 Packs of Cards, you'll have 16 foil cards to try to collect.
This was the part I was most worried about. Pulling the foil cards. With 15 cards in the set, and at most 16 foil cards spread out across the two boxes, the margin for error here is extremely slim. You'll notice there's an allowance of 1 duplicate foil card you could get before you have to purchase another box from Enterplay to try your luck filling that hole. And the likelihood of getting 2 or more double of the foil cards is extremely high…
…in any other card set. Remember how I said earlier the cards I got in the base set were in sequential order? That didn't happen with these cards. These also weren't divided 1 – 8 and 9 – 15 between the two boxes, with the order of the cards randomized in the box.
The separation of the cards between the two sets was odds and evens. I am not joking. It was literally odds in one box, even in another, and the cards were mixed up in the order within the box. I got exactly one duplicate card: Seapony Twilight Sparkle (Card #F10). The last card I pulled was Fluttershy (Card #2).
So… yeah. In purchasing two boxes of My Little Pony: The Movie Trading Cards from Enterplay, I managed to get my hands on the entire set of 120 items available in the 24 pack boxes.
I am still stunned I managed to pull that off. And I wouldn't be surprised if you could pull it off as well. And with Enterplay's store still having these on sale, consider possibly picking up two boxes and trying your luck.
However, if you think for a second that's the entire set of trading cards for My Little Pony: The Movie, you'd be mistaken. For what is an Enterplay Set of Trading Cards without Promos!
Promo Foil Cards Number P1 – P3
These cards from Enterplay are bundled with the MLP Movie Poster 3-Pack (which debuted at BronyCon 2017) and Bundled with the MLP Movie Play Mat 3-Pack Bundle (which also debuted at BronyCon 2017).
The set is technically complete without these Promo Cards, but for those who like to finish their collections, it's a nice to be able to fill those three holes.
There is a but to the above statement. For even with those three promo cards, the set still isn't complete. And if you followed Equestria Daily's coverage of HASCON, you'll know exactly what those cards are.
At HASCON, Enterplay released Jumbo Sized versions of Foil Cards #10 – 15. There were 50 of each card in total. And yes, I did pick up a set of these Jumbo Sized cards while I was there.
So yeah, I have the whole set. And with the number of holes I still have in Series 3 of the Trading Cards, it feels pretty good to have a full set of the My Little Pony: The Movie Trading Cards.
Till the next unboxing review guys, this has been The Illustrious Q. Catch you later.
Twitter: The Illustrious Q
