Christian Slater signs for Rittenhouse’s forthcoming Star Trek set — but not for cash
By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor
Collectors and fans could be found anywhere. From your neighbor who finds World War II antiques to a barista at your local coffee shop with an immense Star Wars collection.
Even celebrities have collections such as Christian Slater, the actor most known for his 1990s movies such as Pump Up the Volume, Gleaming the Cube, True Romance and Heathers.
Apparently, Slater is a huge Star Trek fan — and that’s from before he appeared in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in 1991.
Even with his star power and stint as a communications officer on the U.S.S. Excelsior, Slater has never signed for a card company. He did, however, have six total cut signatures in 2009 Upper Deck Spectrum.
But Rittenhouse Archives has changed all of that.
Rittenhouse – known for its non-sports products – got Slater to sign for its upcoming card product Classic Star Trek Movies: Heroes and Villains. Slater is one of 20 autographs in the set, which includes William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy – Capt. James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, in case you didn’t know.
However, Slater didn’t get cash for his signing. According to Rittenhouse President Steven M. Charendoff, the company traded him Star Trek cards for his signature.
“We gave him really good value, and I think we got really good value in return,” Charendoff said. “It was fun to make a swap with him. I can’t think of another actor we’ve ever done that with before.”
Star Trek’s release is scheduled for Nov. 16. There are two autograph cards per premium pack, which retails for $50. Each pack comes with nine cards, part of the 54-card base set along with several inserts.
“It was very cool to deal with someone, particularly of his stature, who was so appreciative of Star Trek and the Star Trek cards we make,” Charendoff said, “and who wanted to start his own collection.”
Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.
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That is awesome. I love a guy that is a fan trading his sig for cards. I bet Pat Neshek would be up for that.
so did they give him special cards that were made for him or just rare cards that where suppose to packed out and now the buying public gets hosed?
I knew that one would be coming. All companies can do what they want with whatever cards that are signed. If they chose to hold back 10 percent of a run — or whatever — they can. It’s their property that they paid for.
Or, Rittenhouse could have given him product in packaging that didn’t sell. Either way, a company can do as it pleases …
That’s awesome. Our hobby at it’s finest.
@ actual collector. Hey, who knows. Maybe you’ll be able to trade with Slater! Got any Wizard or Gleaming the Cube cards he might want?
Hey Olds,if you indeed knew it was coming,maybe you should have addressed it before hand.We cant do your job for ya!
Regardless, the point of the article is to outline Christian doing something people usually get paid for, just to get some stuff for his PC. That guys cool points just went way up, and it outlines him as a person, not just an actor.
Now you have to admit, Christian Slater is a true fan of the series if he is willing to accept cards for his signature, you have to appreciate that.
Chris Bradley: I knew it was coming because it’s predictably short-sighted. A company could have any player sign 500 cards for whatever reason it wants and do whatever it wants, wherever it wants and however it wants with them but you would still have some clamoring that they should have been able to get one in some form or fashion that suits them despite the cards being the property of the company.
Nothing was done wrong in this instance by anyone.
Man that would be a sweet auto to get..True Romance is easily one of the most underrated Tarantino movies and Slater was awesome in that as well as Heathers…
I think this is great. However to better illustrate the potential problem think about the potential for false advertising. If the card company says that there is a 1/1 or 10 dual autograph Shatner/Nimoy cards in the packs, however it gave the 1/1 or 1 of the 10 to Slater than they are false advertising what is available in packs. However I am not saying that that is what they are doing. They could have used any card(s) as incentive to Slater, and that would be fine. The only valid complaints would be if they pulled limited print cards to give to Slater that were advertised as being in packs. For all we know they had the other actors sign special cards just for Slater.
David: They typically don’t number their auto cards. (At least I haven’t seen any that I remember.) Even if a certain number is released, companies will typically hold some back — un-numbered — for various reasons.
Why do some folks automatically go to this crazy conclusions that there will be some conspiracy related to things. Truth is we don’t know what he got in return. It could have been a promise of a case of cards when they finish production. Why assume they are giving him 1/1 pulled form the production line or whatever.
Deep breaths everyone.
Kevin: Excellent question. Would love to hear some/many collectors respond…
There are other five cut signatures in 2009 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts (I have one).
If they had to pay him, they might have to charge more for the product. So I think it is better for the collector that they traded cards. Relax people. It could have been previous product holdbacks for replacements, it could have been anything. All companies hold back cards for replacements.
Geez, give them a break.
Trading cards is the fundamental idea behind “Trading Cards”.
I think it’s great!