The Fanatical Review - "Fathead Tradeables 2008"

Being the curious type as well as a recovering sports card collector, I was more than intrigued by the newest offering by Fatheads aptly named Tradeables. For the uninformed (or uncaring), these Tradeables are basically mini version of the original Fathead product, which are reusable wall/window clings. When to the ordering website, here's the following product description:

Order Your FREE SAMPLE and we will send you one of the following Fathead Tradeables Authentics:

Tom Brady
LaDainian Tomlinson
Peyton Manning
Tony Romo
Eli Manning
Drew Brees
Terrell Owens
Adrian Peterson
Brian Urlacher
Champ Bailey
Ben Roethlisberger
Vince Young
Maurice Jones-Drew
Clinton Portis
Brian Westbrook
Carson Palmer
Shawne Merriman
Steve Smith
Larry Johnson
Devin Hester
Marvin Harrison
Reggie Bush
Troy Polamalu
Ray Lewis
Andre Johnson

You pay only $1.99 shipping and handling

YOU ARE NOT GUARANTEED TO GET A SPECIFIC PLAYER
NO RETURNS

After reading the list of possible names available, I decided to place an order for the max of three "free" Tradeables @ $1.99 S/H per card. In about a week, the items were delivered in a medium envelope via regular USPS shipping with each Tradeables in individually sealed, foil-lined Fathead logo envelopes.

The Good - The product itself is not bad with two player-specific clings on one "card". The vinyl seems to adhere and remvoe without much effort and does not leave any noticible residue. And the look of the card reminds me of the old oversized Topps cards of the early 80s.

The Bad - A couple of drawbacks to the Tradeable is that the back of the card is very generic Fathead background with basically nothing associated with the player on the front of the Tradeable.

Another problem that I had with this product is the lack of variety specified on their advertisement. Granted, I was not expecting Fathead spokemen Urlacher and Roethlisberger with Brady included in the three that I ordered. But I received not one, not two, but THREE Larry Johnson tradeables. Freaking ridiculous. How can you compare a product without having at least two different items to evaluate? Again, as my former collector self would have said, nothing pisses you off more than getting tripicates of any one card (other than MJ's rookie Fleer card).

The Final Word - Obviously, a judgment cannot be rendered by looking at three of the same card. But with the lack of product quality control as well as the lack of any player info on the back of the item, I can't fully recommend Tradeables without a fair comparison of the product; especially at the price point of $14.95 per pack (5 cards) or $149.95 for a box of 10 packs.

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