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
AB Adam Brown as Ori the Dwarf
AT Aidan Turner as Kili the Dwarf
EL Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel
GM Graham McTavish as Dwalin the Dwarf
IH Sir Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins
JN James Nesbitt as Bofur the Dwarf
JBR Jed Brophy as Nori the Dwarf
JBE John Bell as Bain son of Bard
JC John Callen as Oin the Dwarf
JT John Tui as Bolg
KS Ken Stott as Balin the Dwarf
LP Lee Pace as Thranduil
LE Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman
MB Manu Bennett as Azog
MH Mark Hadlow as Dori the Dwarf
MF Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
MN Mary Nesbitt as Tilda
PN Peggy Nesbitt as Sigrid
PH Peter Hambleton as Gloin the Dwarf
RA Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield
RG Ryan Gage as Alfrid
SH Stephen Hunter as Bombur the Dwarf
WK William Kircher as Bifur the Dwarf
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:
- Melike Acar
- Kristin Allen
- Kyle Babbitt
- Mikey Babinski
- Dan Bergren
- Scott Blair
- León Braojos
- c4nbaran
- Carlos Cabaleiro
- Scott Carola
- Francois Chartier
- Dana Condel
- Doug Cowan
- Paul Cowan
- Richard Cox
- Ted Dastick, Jr.
- David Desbois
- Louise Draper
- Marcia Dye
- Carolyn Edwards
- Gabe Farber
- Andy Fry
- Fer Galicia
- Mick & Matt Glebe
- Javier Gonzalez
- Ken Gordon
- Dan Gorman
- Charles Hall
- Patrick J. Hamill
- Ingrid Hardy
- Robert Hendrickson
- Scott Houseman
- Gavin Hunt
- Seth Ismart
- Debbie Jackson
- Mike James
- Achilleas Kokkinakis
- Eric Lehtonen
- Tim Levandoski
- Lee Lightfoot
- Shane McCormack
- Chris Meeks
- Ken Meyer Jr.
- Sol Mohamed
- Rich Molinelli
- Nathan Nelson
- Nick ‘NIK’ Neocleous
- Veronica O’Connell
- Sean Pence
- Kris Penix
- Plinio Marcos Pinto
- Ashleigh Popplewell
- Jason Potratz and Jack Hai
- Tim Proctor
- Fabian Quintero
- Jack Redd
- M. Jason Reed
- Keven Reinke
- Nathen Reinke
- Richard Salvucci
- Clay Sayre
- Danny Silva
- John Sloboda
- James Henry Smith
- Bob Stevlic
- Matias Streb
- Matthew Sutton
- Damien Torres
- Brad Utterstrom
- Helga Wojik
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