Marvel Masterpieces 1992-2020

[BJohns015]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Did it come out of a 94MM box or 94MU box? Unknown. But my current guess is these weird 94MM wrong back errors are coming from 94MM packs. If you ever find yourself wondering why you’re pulling a 94 Marvel Universe card from a 94MM box, well here it is.

Interesting error. I just saw something similar posted on Facebook, and came to this thread to see if there was anything, and oddly enough it was the most recent post by you. Funny timing there for 30 year old errors.

On Facebook the user claims to have pulled it from a 94 MM pack, so looks like you're correct on your guess for the origin.

His card is 1994 MU Punisher 2099 #181 on the front and 94 MM White Queen #136 on the pack, which looks to line up on your uncut sheet examples as well.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by BJohns015

Interesting error. I just saw something similar posted on Facebook, and came to this thread to see if there was anything, and oddly enough it was the most recent post by you. Funny timing there for 30 year old errors.

On Facebook the user claims to have pulled it from a 94 MM pack, so looks like you're correct on your guess for the origin.

His card is 1994 MU Punisher 2099 #181 on the front and 94 MM White Queen #136 on the pack, which looks to line up on your uncut sheet examples as well.

Interesting. Those 2 do line up and quite remarkable on the timing. It’s nice to know they do probably come from 94MM packs.

The timing makes more sense if they were pulled from the same box (maybe a pack that had all of this error or something), but not sure it’d be the same person since mine came from ebay, not FB group. Could just be crazy fluke. I haven’t seen this specific error all these years up until now. I’ve also opened a LOT of these boxes, and never once pulled this error.

Valuing an error like that is interesting. Character matters a lot. But I’m convinced I’m almost solo propping up the values of these whacky errors in marvel (d’oh)….at auction they would be going far less, but the comps are there since I’ve been paying up for them. Kinda a weird situation.

[DynaEtch]

On the error note. Just picked this up, and not costing a lot for once.



The ol inverted wrong foil name 93MM base error. Just to check it against our formula…X+Y = 91, where X and Y are the card numbers of the image and the name…Iron Fist is 23, Typhoid Mary is 68, and it checks out (that formula works for almost all in the set, with just a few exceptions).

Here’s the progress of this particular error: 10 of 90, just over a tenth.



Some I pulled, some I bought. The graded is because I just wanted to test if CGC recognizes the error, and they do, denoting it Error on the label. I’ll probably crack it out for consistency. The astute eye will see there are actually 2 error genres represented here, depending on how the sheet was cut (cut based on the image or the foil). The ones cut based on the foil have a split of two images down the length of the card.

My ultimate goal is to build back the uncut sheet that was flipped around when making this error. It’s a ludicrous goal in some ways, collecting all 90 of these super scarce errors. Will it ever happen- probably not! The Hulk #1 and Checklist #90 flip flop are the 2 most interesting ones I want to see from this error genre, personally. Have not seen either.

[DynaEtch]

Most recent pickup, the original painting of the 1995 Masterpieces Mandarin card #65. By Nelson DeCastro.



Perhaps not a painting to hang over the family room couch? But I love these villain paintings. Just gotta hope it doesn’t pull a Ghostbuster II and come to life and start scheming.

This is the 95MM card and Emotion parallel that came out of it



The Emotion tagline, which can be viewed as a sort of title of the art, is “Ring Lord” for the Mandarin.

[DynaEtch]

edit: nvm

[DynaEtch]

Alright which one of you made this awesome table? Wish I was near MN area to pick up...would put it smack dab in the middle of my family room lol.

(from ebay)

[finfangfan]

Dyna… I picked up the set of 90’s MM comics off of COMC and noticed the blank box with UK price on back on one issue. Is this a variation you have identified before? Or is it common?

[DynaEtch]

Ok you got me curious because it does seem a little odd and I had to go check my own copies.

After checking mine and also ebay listings, it appears this is actually the regular Direct Edition of this comic (so it’ll be common. I guess they just put UK price on the back of the regular edition?). There is also the Newsstand version with the bar code-



My signature series of this comic is like yours, the Direct Edition


These are the only two variants that I’m aware of, at least. Direct and Newsstand

[finfangfan]

Gotcha… the other 3 in set that I bought have bar codes on back with UK price which are likely common as well. Blank back looks odd tho.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by finfangfan

Gotcha… the other 3 in set have bar codes on back with UK price.

That matches my Direct set as well. Odd, they made the Spidey one blank.

[Fenian95]

Is this what you were talking about Dyna/ Just showed up on Facebook in the Marvel Cards group.

[DynaEtch]

Yepper, the famed silver foil top checklist- Ive only seen a handful. That's a really neat card.

Same one as here:
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showpo...&postcount=170

Diamond in the rough basically

Edit- at least that's what it looks from pic- would need to examine it up close to really tell

[DynaEtch]

I want to import the info found with the 2008MM series 2 packs into this thread, so have the information in this self-contained MM thread.

The 3rd pack variant was found the other day.





The back UPCs reveal the type of pack. Top is hobby. Bottom two are what I believe are the two retail- Target and Walmart. Not 100% on which is which of those two, but my guess is bottom is Walmart.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Thought this might be interesting to do a “Top 5” of predicted errors out there.
NOTE: the below images are not actual cards, they are photoshop mock-ups of what these errors should look like. But the cards should be out there….somewhere.

1. 1993MM Hulk Base with inverted wrong foil (of checklist)



Status: Never seen.
Likelihood exists as shown: Above average.
Notes: The ‘inverted’ wrong foil name is a standard error in 93MM, some examples posted ITT. On the sheet, Hulk #1 matches up with the Checklist #90 for this error, so it should exist. The top foil of the checklist happens to be that rectangular purple outline. This would be a quite ugly error if it’s ever seen.

2. 1994MM Base Only-Foil



Status: Observed
Likelihood exists as shown: Certain
Notes: I have seen one of these ever, in fact it was of Cap that looked like the above. It was for sale on eBay years ago and I dumbly didn’t buy it at the time, not seen since. Yes....they were asking like $200 for what is basically a blank white card...which in retrospect I think is a steal (from the frame of mind of an error nut like me). It is the opposite of a no foil- it is an ‘only-foil’ where there is no printing, but there is the foil. As usual errors will affect the whole uncut sheet…in this case the Cap comes from Sheet B of 94MM (see post #363)- which only has 20 cards on it…including other notable names such as Wolverine and Venom. The error would have affected at least this sheet…maybe only this sheet. It is an exceedingly rare error considering I have seen just one to date.

3. 1992MM Spectra Etch Thing vs Hulk No Foil



Status: Never Seen
Likelihood of existing as shown: Above average
Notes: This is a standard no-foil from the 92 Spectras. I have one of the Surfer vs Thanos and Cap vs Red Skull. It will of course affect the whole uncut sheet, so why am I singling this one out vs the other remaining ones? Because unlike, say, the Wolverine vs Sabretooth, this one should be obvious. In particular since Thing in the regular version is decked out in all foil. I dont know if that's exactly how Thing looks under that foil, but I believe it's what the painting looked like (it was the cover of a Marvel comic in 2021). Compare the above to the regular insert card:



4. 1992MM Spectra Etch Silver Surfer vs Thanos wrong back (split back 2-D and 3-D)



Status: Never seen
Likelihood of existing as shown: Almost certain.
Notes: Oft talked about ITT, this would be a Silver Surfer vs Thanos front and a back that looks like the above. The error was explained above in thread and the back should look exactly like this. I have 3 of the other errors in this genre from the 92 Spectras, the Thing vs Hulk, Wolvie vs Sabretooth, and Spidey vs Venom.

5. 1994MM “White” Border Holofoil



Status: Never seen
Likelihood of existing as shown: Mild
Notes: The only evidence for this error is a passage from nslists (Jeff Allender’s site) on 94 Masterpieces stating:
“another holofoil variant has been confirmed…a “white” border version without the silver borders. This was probably a manufacturing error card”.
So I am going off nothing other than this quote, applying a little artistic license, and arriving at the above (whether it happened to the holofoil sheet with Iron Man or not I cannot say, might have been the other holofoil sheet). What probably happened here is it’s a no-foil. Without foil on the card, the border probably becomes a base white card stock- this would be a very interesting and highly desired error, problem is it must be exceedingly rare.

You may recall #2 on this list of my Most Wanted errors was found- in post #663.

#5 just came in todays mail!

A white border 1994 Marvel Masterpieces Holofoil





This of course was not an intended variant of the Holofoil, but rather a manufacturing error, without the foil. Much, much rarer than even the bronze Holofoil. Won’t see too many white Holofoils around!

And the obligatory rainbow-


With #2 and #5 now crossed off…I wonder if any of the other 3 will eventually show. I’m particularly interested in that Hulk 1993MM inverted foil error and the 1992 Masterpieces Surfer vs Thanos Spectra split back. Those are my current white whales.

[exotechktx]

You're insane!!!! Congratulations on the pickups, now that's an amazingly unique rainbow!

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by exotechktx

You're insane!!!! Congratulations on the pickups, now that's an amazingly unique rainbow!

Haha thanks man…one could probably call it an obsession with errors if there’s a MM error card lurking out there…I want to know about it!

This is not an error topic for once…but I picked up a large lot of the 92MM scratch offs, which basically can’t be found anywhere. Only thing is most are in poor to fair condition, which doesn’t bother me for something so rare. I posted about 3 I found earlier, but this haul 16x’d that.

There were 49 in the lot (out of 72 in the set). I have no idea how I’m going to complete the rest of the 23 in the set as you can’t just find them for sale. These are probably my fav promos.







Edit: looks to have come from this vintage foreign ramen noodle product (image borrowed from online)

[slyguy]

1992 Marvel Masterpieces was so original and so classic.
I remember buying packs of those... we were mostly hoping for the boobs back in the day, haha.

I was regretting not keeping my packs and cards, but surprised to find out it's worth little. I guess non-numbered and high print stuff isn't too valued - but very fun.
It's funny the whole set is so cheap 30+ years later... $50-100 bucks.
I almost want to get a set of the base cards for old time's sake.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by slyguy

1992 Marvel Masterpieces was so original and so classic.
I remember buying packs of those... we were mostly hoping for the boobs back in the day, haha.

I was regretting not keeping my packs and cards, but surprised to find out it's worth little. I guess non-numbered and high print stuff isn't too valued - but very fun.
It's funny the whole set is so cheap 30+ years later... $50-100 bucks.
I almost want to get a set of the base cards for old time's sake.

92 set was the best- still my fav to this day. Highly recommend picking up a set for cheap these days. Base sets run about $30-40, and with the 5 battle spectras maybe up to like $100 tops. 90s marvel cards are great because they were *so* mass produced that they’re cheap, even though they’re awesome.

It’s total nostalgia. I was a kid buying these by the pack at the local card shop in 92. Never saw anything like these painted cards up to that point. X-Men/Marvel in general was also at a fever pitch around that time. The Sat morning cartoon was just starting around then, and comics were going strong.

Funny you mention for the boobs…I remember more than one of us that had parents who were not pleased at all when they saw the Psylocke card. (Tame though compared to what else was going on in nonsports sets at the time! like fantasy art from Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell). Still that Psylocke was revealing and parents didn’t like it. The White Queen too. I look back at it as growing up a little through Jusko’s art. Haha

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Thought this might be interesting to do a “Top 5” of predicted errors out there.
NOTE: the below images are not actual cards, they are photoshop mock-ups of what these errors should look like. But the cards should be out there….somewhere.

1. 1993MM Hulk Base with inverted wrong foil (of checklist)



Status: Never seen.
Likelihood exists as shown: Above average.
Notes: The ‘inverted’ wrong foil name is a standard error in 93MM, some examples posted ITT. On the sheet, Hulk #1 matches up with the Checklist #90 for this error, so it should exist. The top foil of the checklist happens to be that rectangular purple outline. This would be a quite ugly error if it’s ever seen.

2. 1994MM Base Only-Foil



Status: Observed
Likelihood exists as shown: Certain
Notes: I have seen one of these ever, in fact it was of Cap that looked like the above. It was for sale on eBay years ago and I dumbly didn’t buy it at the time, not seen since. Yes....they were asking like $200 for what is basically a blank white card...which in retrospect I think is a steal (from the frame of mind of an error nut like me). It is the opposite of a no foil- it is an ‘only-foil’ where there is no printing, but there is the foil. As usual errors will affect the whole uncut sheet…in this case the Cap comes from Sheet B of 94MM (see post #363)- which only has 20 cards on it…including other notable names such as Wolverine and Venom. The error would have affected at least this sheet…maybe only this sheet. It is an exceedingly rare error considering I have seen just one to date.

3. 1992MM Spectra Etch Thing vs Hulk No Foil



Status: Never Seen
Likelihood of existing as shown: Above average
Notes: This is a standard no-foil from the 92 Spectras. I have one of the Surfer vs Thanos and Cap vs Red Skull. It will of course affect the whole uncut sheet, so why am I singling this one out vs the other remaining ones? Because unlike, say, the Wolverine vs Sabretooth, this one should be obvious. In particular since Thing in the regular version is decked out in all foil. I dont know if that's exactly how Thing looks under that foil, but I believe it's what the painting looked like (it was the cover of a Marvel comic in 2021). Compare the above to the regular insert card:



4. 1992MM Spectra Etch Silver Surfer vs Thanos wrong back (split back 2-D and 3-D)



Status: Never seen
Likelihood of existing as shown: Almost certain.
Notes: Oft talked about ITT, this would be a Silver Surfer vs Thanos front and a back that looks like the above. The error was explained above in thread and the back should look exactly like this. I have 3 of the other errors in this genre from the 92 Spectras, the Thing vs Hulk, Wolvie vs Sabretooth, and Spidey vs Venom.

5. 1994MM “White” Border Holofoil



Status: Never seen
Likelihood of existing as shown: Mild
Notes: The only evidence for this error is a passage from nslists (Jeff Allender’s site) on 94 Masterpieces stating:
“another holofoil variant has been confirmed…a “white” border version without the silver borders. This was probably a manufacturing error card”.
So I am going off nothing other than this quote, applying a little artistic license, and arriving at the above (whether it happened to the holofoil sheet with Iron Man or not I cannot say, might have been the other holofoil sheet). What probably happened here is it’s a no-foil. Without foil on the card, the border probably becomes a base white card stock- this would be a very interesting and highly desired error, problem is it must be exceedingly rare.

Never thought I’d be crossing off multiple on this list so quickly, but here we are! This one comes with an asterisk though. Above the #2 and #5 were found. I think I found #3, but there are nuances. For one, a 92MM spectra etch isn’t as simple as Foil or No-Foil. The foiling of those cards was complex with layers.

I did find this Thing vs Hulk with what I would call minimal foil. The whole body of Thing should be totally foiled. Same with elements on the ground and castle in background. While there still may be a thin “primer” foiling present, it is clearly different from the regular card.

To see differences of foil the easiest, it’s best to look at scans (instead of pics). On scans foil shows dark, so you can really see differences. The below are two cards I have, the error and regular, scanned using the exact same scanner on same settings.

Regular-


Error-


Comparison


There isn’t much dark foil coming through on the error at all, and I think it’s missing most (but not all) of the foiling layers. Note it’s not much different than the mock-up created in that post above.

So I’ll consider #3 crossed off. Although there may be even better examples of this Thing vs Hulk error out there that are truly no-foil. Still looking for #1 and #4 errors on that list. 3 of the 5 now are crossed off.

[fabiani12333]

Hmm, which looks better to you Dyna -- the full foil Thing or partial one?

[finfangfan]

Based on scan I think the error pops better.

[DynaEtch]

Yea scan-wise I’m gonna go with finfang on this one and say the no foil (or “low-foil”).
It is truer to the painting.

But the problem is that scanned regular looks way darker than it is in person, just because foil scans dark. The Thing vs Hulk is not that dark in pics or in person. The difference between the two cards is not as noticeable and that’s why I deem this a borderline-error. There is definitely something wonky going on with the card’s foil, but I bet most dont notice or differentiate it in person…maybe that’s why I picked it up for the going rate of a regular Thing vs Hulk.

No foils are cool because they are like the original painting and preserve the art the best. But if you asked me if I’d rather have these spectra etch and dyna etch’s as is, or made without the foil, I’d still choose w/ foil, as I’m big on snazzy tech in 90s marvel cards. (I think most collectors would agree). But im much more interested in the no foils because the error aspect and needle in a haystack type thing. It is something to chase and collect.

[DynaEtch]

Here is a comparison with regular cards in a pic. This is the litmus test…since the low-foil is easy to spot, it’s definitely a distinct card.

[DynaEtch]

Compilation of no-foil litmus tests (with the no-foil put in various positions…easy to tell which is it since they’re scans). My fav is the Xi’an dyna etch. That is one of the wildest errors. Still need the Wolvie vs Sabre in no foil for the 92 set.

1992:










1993:











And the 1994, recently acquired:

[Mahomie]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

My fav is the Xi’an dyna etch.

Yeah, no foil all day errday.

Unrelated, but do you still own a complete 1996 base set?