Growing up I collected cards, be it baseball, cards based on movies like Star Wars, cards from Marvel and DC comics and more.  I had thousands of cards and spent hundreds of dollars over the years.  As I got older and my passion for collecting cards waned I stopped that particular portion of collecting.  Topps has put out a card set based on the first season of Heroes, one of my favorite shows, and when I had the opportunity to get a box of the cards, I jumped at the chance.

The box comes with 24 packs that contain seven cards each.  There are different “chase” cards (cards that are limited in number and rarer than the other cards, you search or chase down these cards, hence the name) based on which version of the cards you get.  There are two versions, the hobby version which comic book and card stores get and the retail version which you would find everywhere else.  Both versions have the 90 card base set, then broken down into four subsets, — character profiles, story recaps, cards that show artists Tim Sale’s paintings from the show and special effects cards which detail different special effects in the show from Claire’s healing to Peter’s mimicry of all other powers.

The chase cards are where the big differences are, in the hobby version the chase cards are: artist sketch cards, Topps contacted a number of artists to do original sketches to be inserted in the packs, autographs – signed character cards by a number of actors on the show, and authentic show worn memorabilia cards – they take clothes worn by the actors in their scenes cut them up and place them in a card and insert them in the packs as well.

The retail version chase cards are: Motion Lenticular Cards which show the heroes in a variety of action scenes, and foil cards which show moments from the show where the Heroes use their powers.

So I got a box of the hobby cards and I was very happy with what I got, in a box you have a maximum of 168 cards based on what chase cards you get.  So here’s what I got: 157 base cards and I was able to complete a full set, (sometimes you get so many doubles you never complete a base set from one box.  But I got a base set plus 67 doubles/triples which is good for trading if you’re looking to get more than one set.  I also got eight out of 10 foil cards which is a good number from one box and I didn’t have one double.  Then comes the big chase card, I’m always hoping for an autograph card, but I didn’t get one of those this time, I didn’t get a sketch card, what I did get was an authentic worn costume card of Hiro Nakamura's jacket worn by Masi Oka which is pretty cool the piece is about the size of a nickel, but I was very happy with this chase card.  It’s about triple the thickness of a regular card so I got 5 cards in that one pack.

All in all the Heroes: Season One trading card are a cool collectible for the Heroes Universe, and Topps will be releasing Season Two soon and I’ll be looking for those too!