Dammit. RIP to a rock star.
https://twitter.com/monarchdafey/status/1833315215599144974?s=46
Hey Hasbro!
Finish. This. Team.
Dammit. RIP to a rock star.
https://twitter.com/monarchdafey/status/1833315215599144974?s=46
Man, that is a bummer. 52 is crazy young.
I can't believe how many comic book creators that I've admired over the year are passing away.
I've been seeing a ton of tribute pages in Marvel comics recently for artists and writers that have passed away - it seems like someone else every week. Really sad. Cassaday especially has drawn some of my favorite art that I've tried to recreate a bunch over the years.
Interesting news, the company that owns Topps acquired Marvel/Disney trading card rights...wonder if it means anything for Hasbro...guess we might not be seeing any Marvel trading cards or trading card packaging on ML coming up which would be a shame since the new Death's Head packaging looks astonishing (that's just speculation on my part though) https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5761692/2024/09/12/topps-disney-pixar-marvel-cards/
So - not sure a deal to make current trading cards of Marvel/Disney properties would preclude Hasbro from being able to use old trading cards - released over 20 years ago - as the trade dress for their figures. I can't read the details of the deal because I won't pay for the New York Times, so maybe there are more details about the breadth of the deal in the article, but on the face of it I wouldn't think the two things are related. It might mean Hasbro couldn't include actual trading cards in their packages without some separate deal - but I doubt that was something they were planning anyway.
Topps adds Disney, Pixar and Marvel trading card rights starting in 2025
Topps announced a significant expansion to its deal with Disney Consumer Products on Thursday, giving the Fanatics-owned company global trading card rights for Disney, Pixar and Marvel, in addition to its existing Star Wars rights. Most notably, this means Topps will be able to produce and distribute physical Marvel trading cards — one of the biggest non-sports trading card properties — in the U.S. for the first time starting in early 2025 with the release of a Topps Finest X-Men ’97 set.
Topps has produced Star Wars cards since 1977 and previously sold Disney and Marvel cards in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but this latest move could prove impactful in a variety of ways as Topps aggressively grows its sports card business, as well.
“We’re thrilled to officially expand our relationship with Topps to bring storytelling from across our brands to card collecting enthusiasts around the world,” said Disney Consumer Products executive vice president Paul Gitter in a press release.
“At Topps, we have a relentless focus on enhancing the fan experience, and this new expansion and extension will help us continue to work with Disney Consumer Products to bring the best innovation in the hobby to collectors,” added Fanatics Collectibles president of trading cards David Leiner.
Disney’s 2023 entry into the trading card game (TCG) space, Lorcana, which is produced by Ravensburger, has quickly proven popular and more traditional Disney trading cards produced overseas have also increasingly been in-demand around the world in recent years. Marvel has been one of the leading non-sports trading card properties dating back to the early 1990s. Upper Deck, which currently holds the Marvel license, recently announced a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products to produce DC Comics trading cards and other collectibles.
In addition to Topps’ longstanding MLB license, Fanatics also has the exclusive trading card rights for the Premier League, MLS, UFC, Formula 1 and more. It will have the exclusive NBA trading card rights starting next year, plus the NFL and WWE rights starting in 2026. The addition to Disney/Pixar/Marvel to that mix creates potential for cross-pollination between sports and non-sports entities.
Just this week, Topps showed one example of this by turning MLB players into Garbage Pail Kids for a 2024 Bowman Chrome insert set for the first time. Could Disney or Marvel sports mashup cards be on the horizon?
Never been into cards much. Has someone been making Marvel cards continuously, or have there been big gaps in production? Was anyone making them recently before Topps got this deal? I mostly collected comics in the 1980s, and I really don't think there were any back then, although I could have just missed them. I was born in 1971 and assume I was an adult by the time they started making them for Marvel. That was definitely true of action figures; there were NONE for Marvel when I was a kid, I used to pretend my GI Joe and COBRA figures were Marvel heroes and villains. I assume that's a big part of why I buy them now--I used to wish I could have some as a kid, but they just didn't exist.
I think the only ones I've ever seen are the ones Ryan Ting has shown during the Legends livestreams since he collects Marvel cards--that's how little I know about that market.
Never been into cards much. Has someone been making Marvel cards continuously, or have there been big gaps in production? Was anyone making them recently before Topps got this deal? I mostly collected comics in the 1980s, and I really don't think there were any back then, although I could have just missed them. I was born in 1971 and assume I was an adult by the time they started making them for Marvel. That was definitely true of action figures; there were NONE for Marvel when I was a kid, I used to pretend my GI Joe and COBRA figures were Marvel heroes and villains. I assume that's a big part of why I buy them now--I used to wish I could have some as a kid, but they just didn't exist.
I think the only ones I've ever seen are the ones Ryan Ting has shown during the Legends livestreams since he collects Marvel cards--that's how little I know about that market.
So, the first series of Marvel Trading cards I remember was published by Impel in 1990.
Series II in 1991 was a bigger hit for some reason, though and got much more traction - that's the series referenced on the Death's Head packaging.
Then they went wild in 1992 with the X-Men series of Trading cards with art by Jim Lee - that set sold like gang busters
That led to the Marvel series III coming out the same year going with much more dynamic styling and approach. I think it sold pretty well too.
Also in 1992 Marvel teamed up with Skybox to do a separate set of cards - "Masterpieces" all based on Joe Jusko paintings
Impel cranked out two more series of Marvel Universe cards in 93 and 94 with diminishing returns.
X-Men moved to Skybox for Series II in 1993. Then moved to Fleer with a painted card set in 96
Skybox cranked out Masterpieces sets yearly through 1996 as well. Masterpieces were resurrected for a new 3 year run in 2008 by Upper Deck.
But that 1991 through 1993 period was sort of the heyday for Marvel Trading Cards.
Never been into cards much. Has someone been making Marvel cards continuously, or have there been big gaps in production? Was anyone making them recently before Topps got this deal? I mostly collected comics in the 1980s, and I really don't think there were any back then, although I could have just missed them. I was born in 1971 and assume I was an adult by the time they started making them for Marvel. That was definitely true of action figures; there were NONE for Marvel when I was a kid, I used to pretend my GI Joe and COBRA figures were Marvel heroes and villains. I assume that's a big part of why I buy them now--I used to wish I could have some as a kid, but they just didn't exist.
I think the only ones I've ever seen are the ones Ryan Ting has shown during the Legends livestreams since he collects Marvel cards--that's how little I know about that market.
So, the first series of Marvel Trading cards I remember was published by Impel in 1990.
Series II in 1991 was a bigger hit for some reason, though and got much more traction - that's the series referenced on the Death's Head packaging.
Then they went wild in 1992 with the X-Men series of Trading cards with art by Jim Lee - that set sold like gang busters
That led to the Marvel series III coming out the same year going with much more dynamic styling and approach. I think it sold pretty well too.
Also in 1992 Marvel teamed up with Skybox to do a separate set of cards - "Masterpieces" all based on Joe Jusko paintings
Impel cranked out two more series of Marvel Universe cards in 93 and 94 with diminishing returns.
X-Men moved to Skybox for Series II in 1993. Then moved to Fleer with a painted card set in 96
Skybox cranked out Masterpieces sets yearly through 1996 as well. Masterpieces were resurrected for a new 3 year run in 2008 by Upper Deck.
But that 1991 through 1993 period was sort of the heyday for Marvel Trading Cards.
The cards were EXTREMELY popular (at least in my elementary school at that time). Lots of kids who weren't really into comics were collecting them. There was an entire ecosystem of small card shops opened up in those years selling those Marvel cards (and the ones DC and smaller publishers did) along with sports cards. They sold them at 7-Elevens, too.
And now there's this entire market around buying unopened pack and cases of those early '90s cards. They go for silly amounts of money.
Somewhere in the mid-90's Marvel bought Fleer and then later bought Impel/Skybox (same company, just changed names at some point) - I think that's the order of it - hence the transition to Fleer in 96 for Marvel. Someone bought the Fleer brand later in the 90's but I doubt they got any of the card designs/history? So it is likely Disney now fully owns the designs/artwork/IP for the Impel/Skybox/Fleer Marvel cards and can let Hasbro use it/reference it.
Ahh... I had forgotten about Marvel's acquisition of those card companies driving the changes but it makes total sense.
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