Mr. Bean - Dart Flipcards (Canada)

Tiger Television's award winning comic creation, Mr. Bean, finally comes to trading cards courtesy of Canadian manufacturer, Dart Flipcards. The cards were originally scheduled for release towards the end of last year, after the release of Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie in US cinemas. Despite the delay, the set appears to have been an instant success amongst collectors. Dart limited production of Mr. Bean trading cards to 500 cases, each made up of twelve display boxes. At time of writing, Dart advertisements in US trading card magazines state that only twenty cases of the product are now left. Since this is not an official European release, it is likely that packs will only be found through specialist dealers.

The basic set is made of 72 premium quality regular sized trading cards and Dart Flipcards guarantees that at least one basic set can be found in each Mr. Bean display box. Dart has clearly kept the set simple, with it consisting of just two sub-sets. Cards 1-36 feature scenes from the original Mr. Bean television episodes on the front and text descriptions on the back. Cards 36-71 feature scenes and plot information from Bean: The Ultimate Diaster Movie. With the exception of the checklist card (card 72), the design and the pictures used on the card backs remain the same throughout the whole set, something that collectors have become used to with Dart Flipcards releases. The checklist card does not give any details of the card titles and simply lists the numbers 1-72 alongside tick boxes.

The inserts included in the series are six Mr. Bean lenticular cards (1:18). These cards appear to be currently selling at collectors' fairs for around £5 each. In addition to the lenticular cards, Dart has produced a limited edition Mr. Bean prismatic six card set. The prismatic cards can only be obtained via a US mail-order offer for $9.95, and so obtaining a set may be difficult for collectors living in Europe. Details of this offer, and information on the Mr. Bean Prismatic Collector's Album for storing the collection, can be found on the trading card packs. Two promo cards were produced to advertise the set. These appear to be retailing for £1-£2 at collectors fairs.

The simplicity of this series has clearly worked to Dart Flipcards' advantage and there appears to be little that can be faulted about the set. The cards represent fairly good value for money (Card Zine found packs containing six cards selling for £1 in a specialist store), especially considering that UK collectors have become used to paying around £2 a pack for most American card sets. Although the series does not contain as much variety as the average SkyBox release, the set is likely to be greatly enjoyed by collectors of entertainment related cards.