Marvel Masterpieces
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marvel Masterpieces was the name of several subsequent sets of trading cards depicting characters and events from Marvel Comics. Individual packs sold for around $6.95, depending on your region.[citation needed] Featuring large, vividly drawn card fronts and backs detailing trivia, each card showcased a different personality from Marvel's body of work.
The art from the first two Masterpieces sets were used, without authorization, as the artwork for the type of vinyl stickers that can found at the entrance to Pizza Huts and grocery stores throughout America.[citation needed]
There was also a set of pop-up cards, distributed in sets of six with the Marvel Activity Sets. They measured about 1 1/4" by 1 1/2".
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[edit] Series 1 - 1992
The first set, which came out in 1992, entirely consisted of portraits painted by Joe Jusko and was published by Skybox. The set included 100 standard cards, and 5 "Battle" Spectra Cards. There was a factory-tin set of the cards which also contained 5 "Lost Marvel" cards that could only be found in those tins.
The artwork from series 1 was also released by marvel as 4 collections printed at standard comic size, allowing it to be seen in greater detail.
[edit] Battle Spectra Cards
- 1-D: Thing vs. Hulk
- 2-D: Silver Surfer vs. Thanos
- 3-D: Wolverine vs. Sabretooth
- 4-D: Spider-Man vs. Venom
- 5-D: Captain America vs. Red Skull
[edit] "Lost Marvel" Cards
- LM-1: Scarlet Witch
- LM-2: Feral
- LM-3: Deathbird
- LM-4: Typhoid Mary
- LM-5: Jubilee
[edit] Series 2 - 1993
The set included 90 cards, along with 8 X-Men 2099 "Dyna-Etch" Cards randomly inserted throughout packs.
[edit] Dyna Etch cards
- S1: Meanstreak
- S2: Cerebra
- S3: Krystalin
- S4: Metalhead
- S5: Serpentina
- S6: Bloodhawk
- S7: Skullfire
- S8: Xi'an
[edit] Series 3 - 1994
This set was drawn entirely by Greg and Tim Hildebrant. It contained two subsets: 10 Holofoils which came in silver, gold and bronze variations depending on where they were purchased. And 9 PowerBlast cards. This set was also the first to introduce "parallel sets" to the series. All 140 base cards came with a parallel gold-foil "Signature" card which came 1 to a pack. This concept was also used in other Marvel card sets.
[edit] Holofoil Cards
- 1: Captain America
- 2: Carnage
- 3: Daredevil
- 4: Hulk
- 5: Iron Man
- 6: Punisher
- 7: Scarlet Witch
- 8: Spider-Man
- 9: Venom
- 10: War Machine
[edit] PowerBlast Cards
- PB1: Apocalypse
- PB2: Archangel
- PB3: Cable
- PB4: Cyclops
- PB5: Gambit
- PB6: Magneto
- PB7: Rogue
- PB8: Sabretooth
- PB9: Wolverine
[edit] Series 4 - 1995
This set consisted of 151 standard cards, 22 "Canvas" Cards, 8 "Holoflash" Cards, and 2 "Mirage" Cards. Artwork for the set was done by four artists: Dave Devries, Dimitrios Patelis, Peter Scanlan and Nelson. Continuing from the previous set, these cards came with parallel cards this time in the form of “E-Motion” signatures. Once again these were inserted one to a pack. The two mirage cards were particularly rare coming one to every three hundred sixty packs. They are highly sought after and have gone for hundreds of dollars on auction sites.
[edit] Canvas Cards
- 1: Archangel
- 2: Beast
- 3: Bishop
- 4: Cable
- 5: Daredevil
- 6: Galactus
- 7: Gambit
- 8: Ghost Rider
- 9: Human Torch
- 10: Ice Man
- 11: Invisible Woman
- 12: Jubilee
- 13: Magneto
- 14: Namor
- 15: Professor X
- 16: Psylocke
- 17: Punisher
- 18: Rogue
- 19: Silver Surfer
- 20: Spider-Man
- 21: Thing
- 22: War Machine
[edit] Holoflash Cards
- 1: Apocalypse
- 2: Carnage
- 3: Dr. Doom
- 4: Mandarin
- 5: Mr. Sinister
- 6: Sabretooth
- 7: Thanos
- 8: Venom
[edit] Mirage Cards
- 1: Classic Avengers: Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor
- 2: X-Men: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Wolverine
[edit] Series 5 - 1996
This set included 100 standard cards, 6 "Gallery" cars, 6 "Double Impact" cards, and 9 artwork redemption cards. The artwork redemption cards were extremely rare and bore the text "Congratulations! You have just won an original piece of painted art from the Marvel Masterpieces 1996 set!" This serieswas drawn entirely by Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell. It saw extremely limited distribution and therefore is one of the most expensive marvel card sets to date, with single common cards fetching around $5 on ebay, and the entire set consequently selling for hundreds of dollars.
[edit] Gallery Cards
- 1: Cyclops
- 2: Hulk
- 3: Magneto
- 4: Sabretooth
- 5: Spider-Man
- 6: Wolverine
[edit] Double Impact Cards
- 1: Bishop/Beast
- 2: Punisher/Psylocke
- 3: Rogue/Human Torch/Rogue
- 4: Silver Surfer/Captain America
- 5: Storm/Spider-Man
- 6: Wolverine/Venom
[edit] Artwork Redemption Cards
- 1: Beast
- 2: Elektra
- 3: Gambit
- 4: Human Torch
- 5: Silver Surfer
- 6: Spider-Man
- 7: Storm
- 8: Venom
- 9: Wolverine
[edit] Series 6 - Oct 2007
A new series bearing the name Marvel Masterpieces will be released by UpperDeck in October 2007. Previews have shown that much (if not all) the art will be that which UDE already owns and has used in its Vs. System TCG.
[edit] References
Series 1 Checklist
Series 2 Checklist
Series 3 Checklist
Series 4 Checklist
Series 5 Checklist
Scans from Series 5
