Rittenhouse 40th Anniversary Trading Cards
I haven’t been a card collector since the age of eight, but I find my James Bond interest a good enough excuse to check out Rittenhouse’s James Bond 40th Anniversary Trading Card set.
To put it simply, Rittenhouse have excelled with the 40th Anniversary cards, especially in comparison to past James Bond trading cards which never quite appealed to me.
Throughout the complete set of cards, buyers will find a variety of formats. The standard base cards feature several pictures from a particular Bond film, with three cards dedicated to each Bond film. Overall, the card designs are quite unique and are especially effective with the additional 40th Anniversary Foil Logo.
The 40th Anniversary Trading Card set also has a series of ‘special cards’, most of which can be found randomly inserted in card packs. The randomly inserted cards consist of Game Cards (1:1) which all together spell out James Bond, Bond Tech (1:1) which feature Q-Branch gadgets, Bond Villains (1:2), Bond Girls (1:4), Autograph Cards (1:10) and Costume Cards (1:120).
The most interesting of the randomly inserted cards is definitely the Bond Girls cards which vary from the usual rectangular format of trading cards. The randomly inserted villain cards are unique and do differ from the base sets in design, however, they’re hardly exceptional. Despite some fantastic designs throughout the whole set, it’s the rarer cards that will really bring a smile to a persons face.
The set does, of course, have its faults. Most disappointing is the exclusion of any Die Another Day cards. However, the problem has been rectified with the recent announcement of a 40th Anniversary Expansion set which will include, amongst other things, cards dedicated to the latest film. Even so, it would have been better to find them in the original sets.
The James Bond 40th Anniversary Trading Card set consists of 60 Base Cards, 9 Game Cards, 19 Bond Tech, 19 Bond Villains, 19 Bond Girls, 22 Autographed Cards, and 3 Costume Cards.
Rittenhouse’s James Bond 40th Anniversary Trading Card set can be bought online from Rittenhouse directly or from SpyGuise.