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.

Rockin It From Space

Last year Upper Deck introduced the “It Came from Outer Space” meteorite relic cards which were inserted in to packs of 2012 Goodwin Champions at an insane 1:3,986 packs insert ratio. When they started showing up for sale they were topping the $400-500 range, now that the redemptions are being filled the actual cards are going for a much higher amount. There is only one currently up for auction and it is posted with a $750 BIN price tag.

 

Like many collectors I have trouble putting up $750 for any modern card so I went a more realistic route and started looking at meteorite specimens. There are plenty of options when looking for specimens like eBay, Craigslist, Gem & Rock Shows and even swap meets. I ended up picking up this mesosiderite (a stone-iron meteorite) for $8 and that included the display case.

 

This piece came from the Vaca Muerta strike in Chili. The history was pretty difficult to track because it was initially discovered in 1861 by mining surveyors, who immediately (and incorrectly) identified the shining metallic pieces as silver and the area was picked through by the mining company and then left abandoned. It was rediscovered in 1985 and it has since been cleared of samples.

 

I finally found a NASA paper that was published in 1991 that covered the history of the meteor beyond the 1861 mining company. It is believed that Vaca Muerta (Dead cow, cool name huh) hit around 3,500 years ago, it weighed 6 tons but was only about 3-4 feet across. The strike zone was 34 feet across and 6 feet deep with some pieces found over 2 ½ miles away from impact.

 

My sample is pretty small, only about the size of a pinkie nail, but it still pretty neat to have a space rock sitting next to my computer.

Upper Deck Meteorite Cards Are Redy To Go

When 2012 Goodwin Champions came out not long ago one of the cards that really drew my attention, along with the Museum Collection, were the It Came From Outer Space meteorite relic cards. I just think this is one of the coolest relic cards ever not to mention quite original.

 

When the product went live quite a few redemption cards were showing up for auction and the prices were still reasonable, many selling in the $50-80 range, but the supply has since dried up and the prices have increased. There is currently only one available for auction and it has a BIN of $399.99. Over the last few weeks the ones that have shown up are selling for well over $100 with most in the $200-300 range.

 

Upper Deck has started to receive the completed cards and is getting ready to send them to the redemption center. There are 20 cards on the checklist; each card contains a piece from one of twenty strike sites.

 

Each card contains a short story about the location of the meteorite strike along with some basic information including date (if known) and eye witness accounts. It is like a little bit of history class on each card. There are 18 standard-sized cards and 2 minis, specific numbers have not been announced but Upper Deck has stated that there are equal quantities of each standard-sized card but the two minis are a bit scarcer.

The 20-card checklist contains meteorite relics from around the world with five of the seven continents being represented. The cards are well designed too, containing a photo of the location where the meteorite struck with a nice sized die-cut window where the relic is located. There is one thing that bothers me, two of the cards have a square die-cut window and I feel it tinkers with the flow of the card.

I would love to get a hold of the ICFS-DC Diablo Canyon Meteorite card (above). This piece is from the meteorite that struck Northern Arizona around 50,000 years ago and left a crater over a mile across and 550 feet deep. Owning a piece of local history would be a wonderful addition to my collection.

 

 
I am not sure if the mini short prints are not completed or what but Upper Deck has only shown mock-ups of the minis, which are located below: