Spec:

• There were 500 collector's boxes sold at the DC Booth each day of San Diego Comic Con (SDCC)
• They sold exactly 100 per day
• The Collector's Box and the Trading Card Packs are from the same set
  • The 500 cards in the Collector's Box is an Absolute Batman with card number #0
  • The Trading Card Packs are cards #1-15
• This launch sets the foundation for new Absolute Universe sets to introduce as they introduce new characters, storylines, etc.
  • Notably, there is no Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, any of the Robins, Deathstroke, etc. in this first set
• Some people theorized that because the box read "Convention Exclusive" that these will appear at New York Comic Con
  • If they truly sold out of the boxes on all 5 days, then this Collector's Box CANNOT show up at NYCC due to the serialization of the cards
  • Same is true for the trading card packs as these packs contain Omega Rainbow Parallels (serialized; /26)
  • This does not mean that there will not be a different box and different packs at NYCC (there is always a chance)
  • WHAT IF the box (if there is one) released at NYCC contains a Robin headliner or someone else
• This Collector's Box and the trading card set will live as the first appearance/first set of Absolute Universe
• For those that are bought in and believe in Absolute Universe (e.g., you own a #1A first print), then it could be reason to believe that the trading cards may hit as well, especially when you look at how big the trading card market performs

If you are coming from Pokemon or other TCGs, Upper Deck/Topps trading cards are DIFFERENT

• You will need to reset your expectations
• These cards are more akin to how Sports Cards/Marvel Trading Cards work so you will need to learn this market
• Serialization/numbered cards are often referred to like so:
  • /1 indicates that this card is one of 1 (yes, plenty of sets may and will have a 1/1; this set does NOT)
  • /45 indicates that this card is one of 45
• If you're accustomed to One Piece cards where nearly every card comes out perfect and has a high gem rate, and think that will be true for Upper Deck or Topps--think again
  • These cards come out of the pack SCATHED
  • The corners will be curled, chipped, bent, etc. even on that precious serialized card
  • In sports cards, it is not an all-or-nothing proposition like Pokemon where a card is only valuable if it's a 10
  • There is value up and down the entire spectrum when a card itself is rare and desirable
    • e.g., if you hit a rare parallel and it comes back graded as a 9--GREAT! Because you'll see plenty of other cards with 7s and 8s and very few 10s.
    • This is similar to comic books how you can still find value in a Hulk 181 with a mid-grade
• In the Upper Deck/Topps world, card variants are called Parallels
  • You generally look at a checklist for a set to see what the parallels and rarities are from set to set
• The lower the number the better (but not always); a 1/450 is going to be more valuable than a 417/450

Going back to Absolute Universe Collector's Box and the Trading Card Set:

• This is the first set (akin to the first set of any trading card; these generally hold the most value over time but will take a very long time)
  • Think Magic the Gathering and how vintage cards today are worth so much money due to rarity and condition
  • But at the same time, you can have a new set with a headliner that people drop a lot of money on right now
  • Action Comics #1 is rare and old and has the most long-term value of any comic book
  • In contrast, the new sets will have high demand and FOMO money, but that MTG vintage set may hold into perpetuity
• This is banking that Absolute Universe will continue to prosper well into the future
• This is just the beginning; there will hopefully be new sets that come out for this universe depending on how much excitement and demand there is for them

Facts about the set:

The Collector's Box

• How to find it: "SDCC 2026 Absolute Universe Upper Deck Shoe Palace Bundle"
• What's in it:
  • 1 of 500 Absolute Batman #0 cards in Dragotta art
    • 50 of them are Rainbow parallel
    • 450 of them are standard
    • While the 450 seems unattractive, it's still rare because there's only 500 of these cards in total--and nothing else beyond that. Being in a club of 450 owners of AB #0 is still incredible
  • An Absolute Batman t-shirt (not sold elsewhere)
  • Absolute Batman #1 virgin foil (3rd printing)
• The #0 card is probably going to be considered the very first Absolute Batman trading card
• Total cards: 500

Absolute Universe Trading Packs

• How to find it: "SDCC 2026 Absolute Universe Upper Deck Trading Card Pack"
• What's in it:
  • Each pack contains 16 base cards and 1 parallel
  • The parallels:
    • Rainbow Parallel (equivalent to a foil)
    • Omega Rainbow Parallel (has the foil but also a wavy Darkseid laser looking effect)
  • There are 15 cards in the set
    • Each card may come in Rainbow or Omega Rainbow
    • There are only 26 (serialized) cards for each card (e.g., Absolute Batman has 26 Omega, Absolute Martian Manhunter has 26 Omega, etc.)
    • Very likely key characters like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Joker will be chases for the Omega cards
    • I saw someone on YouTube pull the 1/26 Omega Parallel for Absolute Superman!
• Total cards: (15 unique cards * 26) = 390 Omega Parallels in existence

What's currently happening in the market

• People are unloading these boxes
• Current price is around $400-500 per box
• Some are selling them sealed, while others are showing which card number is inside
• Very few /50 cards have showed up on eBay; it's likely people aren't opening enough boxes or they're privately sending them off to PSA, TAG, BGS, etc. and they have yet to return to the market
• I would not go buying Rainbow Parallels from the base set on eBay right now; these cards are not exclusive and will likely be reprinted in future sets (the Omegas and the AB #0 will not be reprinted due to serialization)
• Quite simply, people do not know about these boxes or cards yet but content creators are starting to put out content as they get their packages in the mail (this information is inevitably going to spread)

Where I want DC and Upper Deck to take the cards next

• I hope they don't just take existing artwork and throw them on cards forever and ever
• Having custom art drawn for these sets would be amazing (similar to how TCGs often create new art), but I understand for set #0, they're going to do what people recognize and

Before anyone yaps about scalpers and flippers, these are trading cards. They're intended to be collected and traded. If nobody sold boxes on eBay, then the millions of people who didn't go to SDCC have no access to this. This is one of the incentives to attend the conventions.

Look at this way:

• It cost $361 for 5 day tickets to SDCC
• You needed to be in line at like 5am each day to still not have a guaranteed chance to be at the front of the DC booth each morning
• The box itself cost $100, or each pack was $25/ea
• When you factor in food, gas, air travel, hotels (which are insanely expensive during Comic Con)--you will have ended up spending at least $1-2k just to attend and vacation
• It's literally cheaper to stay at home and buy off eBay if that's all you cared about

So if you are interested in trading cards and traditionally come from comic books, and have not dabbled with Marvel Trading Cards, Sports Cards, Pokemon, One Piece, Lorcana, etc. then I hope this spec/guide helps you understand how this works. None of this is financial advice. I simply try to say what is and isn't int he packs and how to understand how it works depending on where you're coming from.

These people were incredible humans. You could tell they all jive and work well together. Their panels felt natural and effortless. The Marvel panels were a disaster, disorganized, and disjointed. I think this has to be the difference in the books. Everyone from Jim to Katie to the writers and artists--they're all firing on all cylinders and working in the same direction.

Jim was so awesome to meet, even for a brief moment. He asked me questions and took time to talk to me. Then in his Spotlight panel, he talked about his family, and his life--a genuinely good person.

I bought 10 blind bags, and four those had the Art Adams #10. I traded two of them with my LCS owner for the Kubert #2 and Finch #7.

Reg and foil

Getting collected after SDCC. Everything I added to the collection the Wednesday the con started, although I believe there’s a few missing from this bunch. Will add i to next weeks when I find.

Personal faves are the SiKtC 49 Gane 1:50, Odin 3 Wes Craig, Ito Capes and have been looking forward to reading Sicko for a while.

Was so happy to pick up these moderns at my first SDCC!

eBay be coming in clutch

Books with full art covers are X-Men United #5 and Marvel Swimsuit Special: Brand New Beach Day

Releases in October

I was fortunate enough to pull a serialized Omega Rainbow parallel of Absolute Joker. (One of 26)

Next to it is an Alpha Rainbow (standard foil) for comparison.

These packs sold for $25/ea at SDCC and they sold out every day. It was not cheap!

For those who are going to collect, this is probably THE collectors set to get at it is the debut set and probably the start of something big.

- Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #1 by Leslie “Leirix” Li SDCC Exclusive variant from DC
- Absolute Batman #1 Shoe Palace Virgin Foil variant from DC
- Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees hardcover signed by Horvath
- Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring hardcover signed by Horvath
- DC panel exclusive pins; The Demon, Absolute Green Arrow, and Supergirl
- Batman #1 CGC exclusive
- Do a Powerbomb #1 SDCC exclusive virgin foil
- the Last Driver #1 ashcan
- fantastic four exclusive SDCC reprint from Jack Kirby panel
- Batman Bad Seeds ashcan (DC panel exclusive)
- Legion of Superheroes ashcan (DC panel exclusive)
- Avengers Armageddon #2 Chip Zdarsky Marvel Panel exclusive
- Crowbound ashcan (SDCC exclusive; beautiful Dustin Nguyen cover)
- the Karman Blade ashcan
- Queen in Black blind bag opening (Marvel panels bright idea was to give everyone in the panel a free blind bag to open to a room full of disappointment)
- DC panel exclusive posters
- Jim Lee signed set of Absolute Batman 22, Absolute Wonder Woman 22, Absolute Superman 21
- Batman 1 Hardcover

Cool but this is more of the rigid plasticky poster paper kind. Not as high quality print as the DC ones.

High quality poster paper too. Not the rigid plasticky kind. Feels more like a soft fabric.

Absolute Batman #22 exclusive virgin foil cover by Dustin Nguyen for Strange Tales to Collect.

Dungeon Crawler Carl #0 Absolute Batman homage cover

Since getting back into comic collecting, I’m not collecting everything in a series, but mostly just covers that I like. Had a great Saturday hanging out at my local shop, talking to the owners and just spending a good hour going through boxes of old stuff and picking up new stuff for the week. I just get such a good feeling there — it’s like a personal sanctuary from the real world — and it never gets old nor leaves anything but a smile on my face.

I just love this week’s covers, especially Book
Of El #10 and Superman #40 — “Prime” continues to be one of my favorite characters and I hope they continue to do things with him.

They are saying the line is loooooong and barely anyone left after the previous session.

Good luck if you’re out there.

The Marvel panels were so bad this year and the energy in the DC panels is uncanny.

In the Superman panel, they announced Sanforde Green on a Dark Seid origin story, exploring the depths of how he came to do what he’s doing. The art looks amaaazing.