Weekly Sets - Some Early Thoughts

The concept of 'Weekly Sets' - or Marathons for those who are familiar with the other digital card apps that Topps produces - are a staple part of the collecting scene, and Marvel Collect! was quick out of the blocks with its first foray into this arena.

Collecting a Marathon requires a lot of dedication and patience, as we wait for the weeks to pass by, watching our collection grow over time. Completing a Marathon, and gaining all the relevant awards, can be a fulfilling experience, one not to be taken lightly given the amount of time and coins you'll be investing in it.

Given the lack of sets in the early days the arrival of Marathons was an eagerly waited addition. Now this was something for collectors to really start getting their teeth into.

So far the sets have fallen as follows -

• Monday - Wield the Shield

• Tuesday - Vintage Panels

• Wednesday - Topps Archives

• Thursday - Thorsday

• Friday - Faces of Evil

• Saturday - Heroic Silhouettes

• Sunday - No Weekly Set release

It's worth noting at this point that the above schedule has already been thrown into confusion as the second week has already seen Faces of Evil replacing Vintage Panels on Tuesday. Nothing from Topps as to why this has happened yet, although my guess would be to avoid having two similar sets released back-to-back in the form of Vintage Panels and Archives.

Wield the Shield

A set featuring Captain America's shield rendered in a variety of different designs? Mmmm...

Not a huge fan of this particular set for two reasons:

1. Cap's shield is an iconic and symbolic image in the Marvel Universe and, in my honest opinion, shouldn't really be messed with

2. I don't really like die-cut cards

Although I picked up Week 1 I've decided not to chase this one. Overall, an easy pass.

Vintage Panels & Topps Archives

Anything showcasing old school images is a big win for me, and these types of set are right up my street. Archives triumphs in terms of the design, but both score BIG points for the retro style.

Thorsday

This is the big value card and the very first Super Rare card to hit the app. The 'Motion' tech on the card is a bit too gimmicky for my tastes, but it does look a great set and if my budget allows it's one I'll try and chase til the very end...

Or until I run out of cash, whichever is first.

Thorsday is also the first Limited card in the app, with only 750 copes available to collect.

Faces of Evil

A bit of a bland, generic set this one in terms of the design, although the checklist is chock full of some great characters so that may well be its saving grace.

Making Faces of Evil a bit more interesting is the addition of a Motion variant, using a similar lightning effect that's found on the Thorsday card, which is limited to 500 copies.

I'll chase the Static set but will leave the more popular Motion set alone on this occasion.

Heroic Silhouettes

When I first spotted this set it was a resounding 'Meh', but I have to confess that I've slowly warmed to it over the last few days and it's become one of my favourites in the whole Marathon range so far.

With a minimalist approach to the design I have a feeling that this will look really striking when viewed as a complete collection.

Again we have a variant, this time in the form of a die-cut card that's limited in terms of its 48 hour availability rather than its card count. I'll pass on the variant but will be putting together the regular set without a doubt.

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So there we have it. If I was to rank these sets in order I think I'd go with the following:

1. Topps Archives

2. Heroic Silhouettes

3. Vintage Panels

4. Thorsday

5. Faces of Evil

6. Wield the Shield

Complete subjective of course, but Topps Archives just pips it due to the retro look of the set.

Overall, not a bad selection of sets to get the Marathon train out of the station.