X-Men Trading Cards
This is a response to this and this:
Pictured here (mostly) are cards from the 1991 Jim Lee-only X-Men series. In my adult years, I've never met anyone else who's ever seen these, let alone heard of them!
I guess you could say that I'm forever searching for someone who has fond memories of them too. Along with Marvel Universe Series II, these plain X-Men cards have always been my favorites.
In the second image, you can see four of the X-Men Series 1 cards by Impel from 1992. Apparently that series is also Jim Lee-only! I never even noticed until today.
Anyway, the main difference between these being that the 1991 cards pull art from the comics and re-color it, while the 1992 series have the character names on the front and the art is unique to the cards. Also, the backs of the 1991 cards regurgitate plot info, while the 1992 cards have bios and stats.
If you couldn't already tell, the last pic is the checklist from the 1991 series. I also have cards from a similar Wolverine series. Like the 1991 set, the Wolvie cards don't have any text or borders on the front, and the art comes from the comics.
And then there's this.
Haha. Yes, so I have seen the 1991 Jim Lee cards with the re-purposed art. I had a few, but not many and I definitely don't have them anymore. My set that my brother and I used to play WAR with was definitely the "series 1" Jim Lee set - which was indeed ALL original Jim Lee art. I loved those cards so damn fiercely.
Still do...just need to find them...where could they be in my apt?!
I don't feel so alone in the universe anymore!!!!!!! Seriously, other than the people who sold them to me, you're the only other person I know who's ever seen the cards with the re-purposed art.
I wonder how expensive the 1992 X-Men trading cards are? I kinda wanna buy the entire X-Men Series 1 now!
OMG... look! http://www.ebay.com/itm/impel-X-Men-Series-1-factory-sealed-box-MINT-rare-/200675429560 Someone on eBay is selling an unopened box of them!!!
You are less alone! As am I. And we're really 3, as my brother I'm sure remembers as well. 🙂
Though the series you have is cool, I find the 1992 series to be superior, not only because it has really great original art, but also the power stats and information on the back is awesome. So fun.
That box is calling to me like a goddamn siren...even though I'm sure I still have mine somewhere around here...
The stats definitely push the 1992 Impel series to the top for me. Makes it fun on a whole new level.
I mean, I have a ridiculously huge soft spot for Lee and WIlliams' work on Uncanny X-Men 260s-270s, so I love the art on the 1991 cards like no other. But it is just art from the comics, so that makes it a little less special.
I looked at some prices online, and in general, the cards are pretty cheap. Boxes range from $35-60 bucks, and entire sets are as low as $20. That seems good to me!
Hi Nick! I stumbled upon this post in Tumblr. The card set in the first pic is called Comic Images, if i remember correctly. I have the complete set, too. 🙂
There's also a Punisher set with Jim Lee art. Have you seen those?
Right! Comic Images. I haven't seen the Punisher ones. But now that I know about them, I wonder if there's a card of Punisher riding a jet ski from that infamous Lee cover...
Here are what i found.
http://tekno-shop.com/punisher/1991%20Jim%20Lee%20Series%202.htm
http://tekno-shop.com/punisher/1990%20Jim%20Lee%20Series%201.htm
it seems they're part of the Jim Lee Trading cards series I and II from '91 and '92.
Good find! They look really nice. And they look like original art and not pulled from the books (though I could be wrong about that).
I found this googling for some record of the existence of these cards and am glad to know that they weren't a hallucination. I only had a few packs and I barely even remember where I bought them, but I remember them seeming kind of janky despite the very great Jim Lee art. It must have been something about the card stock or about the fact that I was used to the fancier Fleet Marvel Super Heroes trading cards, but these just seemed sort of low rent and disappointing. Nonetheless, the memory of them has haunted me to this day!
I think this series feels especially low rent because of the raw computer coloring that they used to recolor Lee's art. It's not bad coloring, but it's definitely not refined!
Anyway, no, you didn't dream them up!! They existed 😀 There was also a McFarlane Spidey set like this, and I think maybe a Wolverine series too.