Trading Cards
Monday, March 8th, 2010 — No Comments
All 48 series 1 monsters were made into trading cards in 1991, with illustrations by Jan Sheets and Jenice Heo on the front and statistics and a short description of each monster on the back.
The illustrations are straight-forward renditions of monsters, for the most part, with a few exceptions: while most of the art featured on the cards shows a colored, finely-detailed depiction of each monster in its “natural habitat,” the Winged Panther card, for instance, resembles the actual figure very little, in both its stance and its overall appearance. The depiction of Gremlin, too, is similar to the figure, but not as exact a representation as that seen on the other cards. It’s not clear why; the assumption that the cards are based on prototypes seems possible, though the the Triton card does not feature the “bident” that can be seen in the figure’s hand on the series 1 list of figures. On the other hand, the illustration on the Medusa card does feature the dramatically torn shirt and prominent chest which was later toned down for the finished monster–the same design can be seen on the figure in the series 1 list. So anything is possible.
The back of each card features four bullet points, describing details such as the monster’s approximate birthdate, its region of origin, size, species and so on. Beneath that is a short description of the monster, its origins, disposition and powers, if any. The writing takes a very lighthearted approach to the creatures, as with most MIMP items. Additionally, the monster’s number and point value are labeled on the back.
The back of the card also featured a border which varied depending on the monster’s point value: 25 point monsters had a bat-themed border, for instance, 20 point monsters had a demon and scroll, 15 point monsters had snakes and trees, 10 point monsters had leaves and a fairy and five point monsters had a rabbit-like creature on its border. The Ogre card is misprinted; Ogre is worth 10 points, but the card labels it as a 15 point monster–the mistake is made more evident when looking at the backs of the cards in an organizer, as its border is the standard 15 point “snakes” border and all the surrounding cards have the correct 10 point “fairy” border.
Series 2 and 3 trading cards occasionally show up on eBay, usually from Mexican or Argentine sellers. It is uncertain whether or not anything besides the series 1 deck was sold in North America and Europe, and any cards from the second or third series are extremely rare.
Series 1 cards could be purchased in individual packets of eight (six cards and two stickers) at stores or through the Collectors Club for $0.50 a piece. The entire set of 48 could also be purchased through the Collectors Club for $11.50, which came with a bonus poster instead of the individual stickers.
Series 1 cards were also given away in clear packs of three with the purchase of a Slurpee at 7-11.
In Italy, cards and a single monster, both from series 1, were packaged together and sold in “fun packs”.
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