2016 Cryptozoic Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies Trading Cards

By Ryan Cracknell | Hobby Editor

One book, three (long) movies. Peter Jackson’s epic take on The Hobbit has long since wrapped. 2016 Cryptozoic Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies trading cards bring a sense of closure to the trilogy from a hobby perspective. Like the sets for the previous two films, the product offers a rounded look at the Middle Earth adventure.

Autographs and Fine Art cards highlight the chase elements.

Get a fully sortable 2016 Cryptozoic Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies checklist and price guide access.

Base Set

The base set has 90 cards. All come with movie images. Because the trading cards are coming out well after the film’s release, it covers the entire story and uses effects shots that might not have been available if they came out while The Battle of the Five Armies was in theaters.

Base cards and Weapons inserts have a couple of parallels. Foil are the most common, landing 1:6 packs. Canvas cards are one per box. Arkenstone Foil are one-of-ones inserted 1:1,745 packs. Printing Plates (1:398) are also randomly included.

Autographs

Autographs are inserted one per box. 2016 Cryptozoic Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies does have multiple designs for signed cards. This is in line with The Desolation of Smaug. Signers include Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins), director Peter Jackson, Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel), Lee Pace (Thranduil) and composer Howard Shore.

Basic autographs come with a design similar to the previous two Cryptozoic Hobbit sets. Jackson and Shore have Creator Autographs, which use a Middle Earth map as its backdrop.

Rarer signed cards come in the form of Poster Design (/75) and Illustration (/25). These are only available for a small number of signers.

In addition to these are a very limited number of redemptions for signed over-sized cards. One has five signatures while the other has 13.

Autographs Checklist

Basic Autographs

Creator Autographs

CA-1 Peter Jackson, Director
CA-5 Howard Shore, Composer

Poster Autographs – /75

AT-P Aidan Turner as Kili the Dwarf
GM-P Graham McTavish as Dwalin the Dwarf
KS-P Ken Stott as Balin the Dwarf
LP-P Lee Pace as Thranduil
MF-P Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins

Illustration Autographs – /25

AT-I Aidan Turner as Kili the Dwarf
GM-I Graham McTavish as Dwalin the Dwarf
KS-I Ken Stott as Balin the Dwarf
LP-I Lee Pace as Thranduil
MF-I Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins

Over-Sized Autograph Redemptions – 1:7,280

R5 Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman, Lee Pace, Sylvester McCoy, Manu Bennett
R13 Richard Armitage, Graham McTavish, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter

Fine Art Cards

Fine Art cards feature original artwork. While a lot of sets, including many of Cryptozoic’s own, opt for the sketch card label, the distinction here is the level of the art work. They’re more than a quick doodle or simple drawing. Fine Art cards are inserted approximately 1:3 boxes.

Artists

Here’s a list of the artists working on the product:

Inserts

Some of the basic inserts make themselves distinct with how they’re produced. A Smaug Puzzle (three cards, 1:24 packs) uses Cryptomium, the card maker’s spin on chromium. Portraits (six cards, 1:48) offer close-up looks at key characters. Lenticular Poster (five cards, 1:144) cards can also be found in the product. Other inserts include Weapons (nine cards, 1:4) and foil Character Biographies (six cards, 1:12).

2016 Cryptozoic Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies trading cards at a glance:

Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 5
Set size: 90 cards
Release date: February 3, 2016

What to expect in a box:

• Autographs – 1
• Smaug Puzzle Inserts – 1
• Character Biography Inserts – 2
• Weapons Inserts – 6
• Canvas Parallels – 1
• Foil Parallels – 4