Rocks And Bones... Cool

I think that Topps has done an amazing job with the various Mars Attacks releases. After 2015 Mars Attacks Occupation came out I was on the hunt for the Woodcut Art cards because of how distinct they are compared to other inserts from the set.

What makes these Woodcut Art cards different is how they are printed and the ink that is used to print them. Instead of a modern day printing press they use a Heidelberg Windmill Platen press which literally presses the paper against the printing plates so only a couple of cards can be printed at a time instead of an entire sheet. Second the Mars Attacks cards are printed using ink that is made up of fragments from the Martian Shergotty meteorite that struck Earth in 1865, Topps misspelled the name on the back of the card. The Dinosaur Attack cards are printed using ink that is made up of fragments from a T-Rex fossil.

The insert set uses image from the base set and was made up 8 cards in the Mars Attacks woodcut cards, which are all red, and 4 Dinosaur Attack woodcut cards, which are all green. When I purchased the cards in 2015 they were about $10 each.

Upper Deck's Dinosaurs Finally Arrive

Every little boy’s dream has come to life with Upper Deck’s 2015 Dinosaurs which finally after multiple delays finally hit shelves this week. Originally set to release in May each delay led me to wonder if the set would ever get released but Upper Deck finally settled on October 28^th and actually hit that date. I do not own of these cards yet but I plan on hunting down some before long.

This year Jurassic World’s success put card companies on notice, which Upper Deck, Breygent, Monsterwax and even Topps jump on the opportunity. Sadly, each release has been delayed for various reasons and Upper Deck’s Dinosaurs is first on the block and while dinosaur cards are a niche collectible the set is doing well, specifically the inserts and hits.

Here are a couple of examples of what is available on eBay now:

Sketch cards are always a big draw no matter what company or subject and UD’s Dinosaur sketch cards are up to task. There are some beautiful sketch cards but I love the cartoonish approach artist Denver Brubaker took with his work (The first two sketch cards).

Normally I am not a fan of manufactured patches, especially in the case of a sport card release, but in relation to dinosaurs I am fine with them.

 

Now the Predators Of The Sea shadowbox cards are right up my alley. I will pick up any and all that fall within my price range. I just really like these cards and shadowbox cards are cool to start with.

 

Another Dinosaur Attack

As if on cue to further illustrate that 2015 is for the dinosaurs Breygent handed out promo cards for their 2015 Breygent Jurassic Domination release during the San Diego Comic Con. The set is scheduled for an October release. The difference from Upper Decks Dinosaurs and Monsterwax’s Dinosaur Galazy is this is an art set so like their Kris Kringle release the it will focus mainly on original art and sketch cards.

 

Dinosaur Galaxy should be shipping soon while Upper Deck’s Dinosaurs has been delayed once again, the third time for this sets delay, and pushed back to August 28^th.

So far I have seen four different SDCC promo cards from Jurassic Domination. There are two 3-cards sets that are limited to #/100 and two single card promos that are unnumbered. The artists previewed are Tim Shay and Gary Kezele, two very accomplished illustrators. The single cards are running around $5-10 while the 3-card promos, which are printed on linen board, are in the $20-25 range.

I don’t know of any other dinosaur releases that may be on the horizon and I love dinosaurs but you have to wonder if there will be a point of saturation. Currently there are three sets based on dinosaurs (Upper Deck Dinosaurs, Monsterwax Dinosaur Galaxy and Breygent’s Jurassic Domination) plus Topps is reintroduction the old Dinosaur Attacks line in with the upcoming Mars Attacks: Occupation release. I understand this is the summer of Jurassic World but people are going to stop buying at some point. I am going to stick with cherry picking the cards that I like, most likely sketch cards and Tim Shay’s 3-card promo from Jurassic Domination. I also hope to get my hands on a ROAR card and Predators of the Sea shadow box card from Upper Deck’s Dinosaurs.

Dino-tastic

Let’s face it 2015 is the year of the dinosaur. Jurassic World is raking in the big bucks on the silver screen, Upper Deck is releasing 2015 Upper Deck Dinosaurs within weeks, Topps is reprising their Dinosaur Attacks line in the upcoming Mars Attacks: Occupation release and now Monsterwax just funded their Dinosaur Galaxy release through Kickstarter. I love indie card companies, they end up creating sets that collectors want.

Like Upper Deck’s release Monsterwax is focusing on beautiful illustrations and sketch cards. They have even brought in amazing dinosaur paleartists like Luis Rey and Todd Marshall, among others, to work on the base set, and artists like Jason Brower, Daniel Gorman, Tom Keaton and Christopher West to work on the sketch cards.

 

Here is some of the art work that will make its way on to the base cards. This is a collection from artists Ricardo Garijo Jr, Todd Marshall and Luis Rey.

 

 

And it wouldn't be a beautifully rendered artistic set about dinosaurs without sketch cards

 

Upper Deck's upcoming dinosaur release, which I will be covering in the next couple of weeks, does have more to it but I think that Monsterwax has done a decent job with their set that I do plan on hunting down some of the sketch cards.