Mythic Messenger #23 - Why do video game movies suck?
Quick superhero P.S.A: if you head over to Mythic Markets right now you can invest in a copy of the first-ever Wonder Woman comic, All-Star Comics #8, at $37 per share.
You can also learn more about Wonder Woman’s astonishing real-life inspiration. Pretty juicy stuff, even by today's standards!
Nation's attic shoeboxes ransacked as Pokemon cards hit record high
Five years after the launch of Pokemon GO! convinced millions of people to gather in large groups outdoors, the beloved franchise has once again caused global cultural hysteria! Prices for trading cards featuring early generation pocket monsters have been stratospheric over the past year, with eBay reporting market growth of 574% on their platform and the overall market cap estimated at over $425 million.
Given how many millennial fans will swear up and down that they “still have a foil Charizard in a box somewhere”, the news that certain Charizards are valued at $369,000 immediately sent public interest levels blasting off like Team Rocket!
In any other calendar year, perhaps this would have been a short-lived fad. But 2020-21 has provided a perfect storm of circumstances to maintain the startling momentum of this growing market. The economic uncertainty resulting from the pandemic has fueled a broader surge in non-traditional investments like art and collectibles, as people scurry to diversify and bolster their portfolios against potential dips.
2020-21 price data for Pokemon cards from pokemarketcap.com
Young and geeky celebrities like Logan Paul and rap artist Logic have loudly dropped sums on mint-graded original printing Pokemon cards, which further reinforces public consensus that these are now precious relics, even status symbols, for the generation that grew up with them.
And to top it all off, this month marks the official 25th anniversary of the Pokemon franchise, harkening back to the launch of Red and Blue versions on February 27, 1996. Celebrations to commemorate the mind-blowing milestone are sure to continue all through the year, driving even fiercer interest in those now-vintage foils.
A modest set of promotional cards printed for a McDonald's Happy Meal promotion has already been co-opted by internet scalpers and resellers, with whole shipments being listed on eBay still in-box for many times their suggested retail price.
Logan Paul is advertising his own massive event for the “Pokemon Day'' anniversary, claiming to have $2 million of First Edition booster boxes to put up for auction. Remember, that record Charizard price was only just set in December. It now seems more than likely that we’ll see it shattered again before the end of this year - and perhaps more than once.
Video game cast announcement borders on greatness
As avowed gamers and filmgoers, we'll be the first to admit it: video game movies suck. Hollywood bigwigs and smaller film studios alike have tried and failed many times over the years to reverse this expectation of failure.
But that will never stop producers from trying - and their latest attempt, Borderlands, has begun making moves which seriously challenge that cynicism. Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Hart have all been announced for key roles in the chaotic sci-fi shooter, which will be directed by Eli Roth.
The announcement of Black’s role was the most recent to break online, but also feels the most natural fit. His effusive energy will bring life to Claptrap, the franchise’s fast-talking and unpredictable robotic mascot. In the game, Claptrap’s dubious guidance helps to unite the “Vault Hunters” - a band of space mercenaries controlled by the players - on their quest to steal an ancient treasure vault from the clutches of a galactic weapons manufacturer.
Hart and Blanchett will also star in this merry band, whose adventures seem to still be the heart of this film adaptation. Blanchett will play Lillith, a psychic femme fatale whose rare elemental powers make her a target in her own right.
Affable comedian Hart is set to step out of his comfort zone as Roland, an ex-soldier whose discipline and military-grade gear make him a natural leader of the Vault Hunters. His agent’s announcement of the part acknowledged, “Audiences will see an aspect of Kevin we’ve never seen before on screen.”
The original game features two more main Vault Hunters players can take control of: taciturn muscle-man Brick, and Mordecai, a skilled hunter and survivalist who coordinates his sniper fire with his pet alien bird-of-prey. No names are yet attached to these roles.
Jamie Lee Curtis was instead announced as Dr. Patricia Tannis, a somewhat-unhinged archaeologist whose work sets much of the original game’s plot into motion. While her presence implies quite a close adaptation of Borderlands the game, it’s very plausible that the movie could keep the focus on Lillith and Roland as a duo instead.
After all, that dynamic worked for Mad Max: Fury Road - and just quietly between us, the chance to shoot an off-brand Fury Road is the main reason to greenlight Borderlands in the first place.
Fast fandom
As always, there is a ton going on in the interconnected world of pop culture and fan media. Here are a few of the stories that caught our eye:
Brady's big win triggers another surge in ballooning card market
Tom Brady’s seventh Super Bowl win at the head of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers marked a generational moment in sports. Brady can confidently claim to be “Greatest of All Time” in his discipline - but he doesn’t even have to, since any number of pundits, coaches and fellow players are ready to break their wrists patting him on the back.
That kind of obvious historic significance is a green light for collectibles investors, and the market for TB12 rookie cards has reacted as you would expect. A gem mint “Playoff Contenders Autograph #144” from the quarterback’s debut 2000 season, widely considered the most prestigious Brady card, already auctioned for a record $555,988 the week before Super Bowl LV. Now that same card and quality are being listed for a cool $1 million, with the lower-grade 9.0 version asking $300K. Crazy what winning can do for you, ain’t it?
Massed video game adaptations to take "mud at wall" path to success
This is just Hollywood’s new thing to do now, it seems. While the big names coming aboard Borderlands hogged the news this week, a surprising number of other video game movies, animations and episodic television series have been rumbling towards their own release dates. Most are still early enough in production that we can’t make a proper value judgement; but the star actors who have been announced to tide fans over are very exciting.
Are you Uncharted fans ready to see Tom Holland as the dashing Nathan Drake on the big screen? How about Game of Thrones scene-stealer Bella Ramsey playing Ellie in a The Last of Us TV series? Will Arnett voicing killer clown Sweet Tooth in a Twisted Metal series? From the writers of Deadpool, Zombieland and Cobra Kai? Netflix has even commissioned its audiences some game-to-anime adaptations: DOTA2: Dragon’s Blood and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. At least some of those have to be quality, right?
More tech executives pour their Gold-in to control collectibles market
Smiling in the above photo is Ken Goldin, one of the most prominent community figures in collectibles for the last several decades. Specializing in sports cards, his company Goldin Auctions is the premier platform for high-value trades - including the most valuable card sale of all time, where a one-of-a-kind rookie card of baseball star Mike Trout changed hands for $3.93 million last August.
That’s a very impressive number, but still just a speck compared to $40 million ex-Google and Twitter move-maker Ross Hoffman invested in sports cards this week - by backing Ken Goldin’s company! Hoffman’s move is just the latest in an increasing gold rush by private investors attempting to control and profit off interest in collectible assets. Just last month we reported on Steven A. Cohen and his cabal throwing $700 million into another established service hub, Collectors Universe. Which mogul will enter the arena next?