Sunday, October 05, 2008

Card Captor

I used to collect trading cards. Yup, the non-sports kind, the mostly comics-related or fantasy-themed ones. Back in the early to mid-‘90s, I was really fascinated by them, and completed a few sets. I have two three-ring binders that contain them in plastic sleeves. I have the complete Frank Frazetta series, as well as the X-Men trading cards drawn by Jim Lee. I also have the Wildstorm chrome series, and the Sandman and Vertigo sets. I remember saving my allowance to buy multiple packs of those cards I fancied. This was some time before I got into action figures again.

(Pictured above and below: Robin Versus Jubilee by Eric Peterson, Damage by Joe Phillips, Shadowcat by Jim Lee, Animal Man by Brian Bolland, and Sandman by Teddy Kristiansen. I originally had my chrome Grail scanned, but it doesn’t translate too well because of the reflective surface.)

I got a few chase cards along the way. I got two holograms from the Jim Lee set, and a few rare cards from the Vertigo series, like the foil-bordered Morpheus above. But one of the more special ones is the Death 3-D hologram, which as the name implies, allows for different views of the character if you rotate the card.

Anyway, aside from the aforementioned sets, I also really liked Bernie Wrightson’s stuff (which had his beautiful, miniaturized Frankenstein art, both published and unused). My complete Hildebrandt Brothers-painted Marvel Masterpieces is also a pleasure to look at. I also got a few of Boris Vallejo Series I, the painted DC Master Series and DC Villains, and Alex Ross’ Kingdom Come (reprinted in card form). I remember almost completing the Bram Stoker’s Dracula movie cards back in ’93, too.

Speaking of movie photo cards, I remember slowly completing the Return of the Jedi cards back when the movie came out. Each pack had about ten cards, and a piece of gum. Too bad I was a careless kid; they eventually got scattered, lost, or thrown away. Oh well.

Aside from the mostly exclusive art on these comics and fantasy trading cards, the information at the back--concise histories, trivia, behind-the-scenes bits, power ratings, etc.--made these little collectibles even more interesting.

Ah, what geeky fun.

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