Thanks for the info but arn't these Gold cards (500 each) from the current Masterpiece set? The one I pulled is from the original release and has an edition size of only 99.

Sorry to be jumping on the bandwagon late concerning this product but I was wondering why they had 2 series of this product. For those who have purchased cases from both releases have you noticed differences with respect to collation of sketches. Is one more desireable over the other or are they both equal?

Any advice would be appreciated.

CardFan - Yes, the gold foils were limited to 99 from the original Masterpieces release.

Cheers - Peter

quote:

Originally posted by slackjawedyokel:
I was wondering why they had 2 series of this product.

Solely to make money. The first series sold out, so a second series was made. If that sells out quickly, there will be a third series. and so on.

quote:

Originally posted by slackjawedyokel:
Sorry to be jumping on the bandwagon late concerning this product but I was wondering why they had 2 series of this product. For those who have purchased cases from both releases have you noticed differences with respect to collation of sketches. Is one more desireable over the other or are they both equal?

The first series sold out and was a big hit with 2 sketches per box and, together with LOTR Evolution, helped establish sketch cards as a modern "major Hobby insert."

So it seems that Topps noticed quite well how many cases they sold for Masterpieces I and the generally high marks it got.

But they seem to have guessed that there was a bottomless pool of interest and artist availability. Masterpieces II was more than a 50% higher print run, with sketches still the primary draw. They needed about 22,500 individual sketches for Masterpieces I and 36,000 individual sketches for Masterpieces II.

For a variety of reasons, they had difficulty getting that many quality sketches for the 36,000 goal. Some artists already had exposure and were supporting a half dozen other card sets, and didn't draw as many this time as they did before. Even with a batch of new artists, they still had to commission thousands of "cookie cutter" sketches, judged to be quick products where you could have 1000 of some images that were essentially identical.

That wouldn't have been as annoying as the fact that sometimes you would find 5-7 of a single type of "identical" sketch in one case and none of the others. There wouldn't have been as much of an uproar if they had managed to include only one of each sketch style per case, or certainly no more than one of each per box (or adjacent boxes in a case).

Except for the semi-identical cards, the collation of high-end versus low-end sketches wasn't too bad.

There seemed to be a bit lower percentage of very detailed and/or color sketches this time around. But my personal impression is that the sketch quality for two cases felt about like the sketch quality for a single case of the earlier release, partly because of the "dupes".

But not all of it was the dupes. Why else? Beyond some of those other issues, just how much new inspiration do you expect when you add 36,000 sketches on top of 20,000 done for Evolution and 22,500 done for Masterpieces I?

Some artists put so much personality into their sketches that each one seems genuinely unique. But for other art, like realistic portraits of major characters, I tended to think "that's very nice, but I already have one that's quite similar."

I also think the public assumed that with 50-100 artists, you wouldn't expect to find half a dozen by a single artists among the 16 sketches in a case.

I think that Masterpieces II would have satisfied a lot more people who post in these forums, if Topps had limited the series to about 1250 cases (20,000 sketches). If the market still wanted more, they could start working on Masterpieces III. But when they set their target at 36,000, they were plowing new ground. Many dealers and collectors weren't delighted with the furrows.
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This message has been edited. Last edited by: allender,

I am sorry but I think I did not clearly explain my question. I will try again to explain.

I understand that, yes, there is Masterpieces I and Masterpieces II as I purchased 4 cases from the LOTR:M1 and I pre-ordered 6 cases from LOTR:M2 and had to cancel because of immigration issues but I got the impression from reading some of the posts on this thread that masterpieces II was released in two waves, similar to SW:Heritage. Where Topps asked artists for additional sketches to be drawn again. Was this what happened or was this product still released in one "wave"?

Sorry for the mixup and thanks to Allender for his thorough explanation.

Cheers - Peter

Certainly from what artists seem to be saying it appears that extra cards were asked for and created for a 'second wave' of this. I've also noticed that certain sellers who had sold a lot of boxes, have acquired more to sell. Now this may just bebecause that they have decided to sell boxes that they might have otherwise held onto as prices are still high, but it could also be because more boxes were available to them from Topps. I've ordered a couple more boxes, I'll see what it says on them. Of course it could be that they won't be identified as 'second wave' even if they are. I think only Topps know the answer to that one, and so far they're not telling.

It wasn't an abrupt second wave like Topps has done before, it was more like a slow tail-end ripple on a single wave. Topps did ask for some additional sketches late in the game, but the overall distribution of major artists was supposed to be consistent. The artists report that Topps told them that there will not be a separate second wave.

There were plenty of Waterhouse sketches in the earliest cases, so I speculate that the later shipments were delayed truly because Topps was trying to keep things approximately equal in collation.

On the official ship date, some buyers and distributors were allocated only part of their pre-orders. The rest were fulfilled over the next month unless the buyers cancelled.
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quote:

Originally posted by allender:

There were plenty of Waterhouse sketches in the earliest cases.

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That's absolutely right! I got so many crummy Waterhouse Sketch Cards that I hated opening more boxes. I'm done with buying releases with Sketch Cards. Thanks Waterhouse!

It looks to me as if Topps is trying an experiment. It didn't have enough sketches for Masterpieces 2, so it commissioned a great number of additional, lesser-quality sketches that could be produced quickly, thereby maintaining the stated odds of two sketches per box. For Indy, it didn't have enough sketches and autos to insert one per box, but instead of changing the release date and acquiring more premium inserts, it put out the product with dud boxes. I think Topps did this all on purpose to see, for future reference, which way yielded fewer complaints.

quote:

Originally posted by kbmum:
It looks to me as if Topps is trying an experiment...For Indy, it didn't have enough sketches and autos to insert one per box, but instead of changing the release date and acquiring more premium inserts, it put out the product with dud boxes. I think Topps did this all on purpose to see, for future reference, which way yielded fewer complaints.

Yes, there are dud boxes but there also seems to be just as many boxes with two premium inserts. I think that there were just problems with pack-out. No conspiracy.

-Bob-

quote:

quote:
Originally posted by allender:

There were plenty of Waterhouse sketches in the earliest cases.

Posted by TWS

That's absolutely right! I got so many crummy Waterhouse Sketch Cards that I hated opening more boxes. I'm done with buying releases with Sketch Cards. Thanks Waterhouse!

Well at least Waterhouse is not doing Women of Marvel Thank God, If I had the choice of a Len Billinger sketch or 100 Waterhouse Sketches...... We all know who the winner is.... and I don't need to say lol

KADRAN00157

thats funny, you got me thinking, for most sets, id want between 500-1300 waterhouse sketchs for one bellinger of that set. its weird, i bet 4 of Lens sketchs in one LOTR product would sell for more then the collected total of waterhouse sketchs from that same set...that really should be a sign that you shouldnt have him in any more sets, not if he is gonna turn out this.

Hey all...thanks for all the kind words that have been thrown my way in some recent posts...there are really so many talented artists on this set and some spectacular sketch cards by everyone! I'm truly proud to be part of this set as some artists I've grown to love and respect did such powerful artwork for everyone to pull...

I just posted my pulls for Open That Box Day...my best case to date...you can see the 16 sketch cards I pulled and read more here...

But I posting something here I'm really curious about...

I've opened 5 cases and a few boxes in search of sketch card euphoria...and have been quite lucky here and there pulling 3 GOLD cards, a really RARE 1/1 Galadriel REFRACTOR PARALLEL...and this...




This "boxtopper" was sitting on top of the LOTRM2 poster that comes in every box...I've yet to see anything like it on Ebay or in anyone's posts and just want to know if anyone has seen this yet...

What a brilliant oddity you pulled - you'd think sombody would have heard of this card before know. Actually looks nice as well.

You could try e-mailing Topps - see if they can shed any light.

...I think maybe it's from the mysterious "second wave" of LOTRM2 cards and perhaps every box has them...

...hopefully someone else that may have pulled this boxtopper will let me...and us...know soon enough...

John Alvin passed away on February 10th. That was a classy thing for Topps to do, to put the card together in time for the final surge of boxes.
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quote:

Originally posted by ocdlotr:
This "boxtopper" was sitting on top of the LOTRM2 poster that comes in every box...I've yet to see anything like it on Ebay or in anyone's posts and just want to know if anyone has seen this yet...

Opened a box yesterday with this card in plastic wrap on top. This was my 7th LOTR 2 box bought all different times and it wasn't in any of the others, so yes I guess this was produced for the final group shipped.

I've shown some of these, but not all...my 9 returned cards for two waves of LOTR:MII.

Very nice Cynthia.

Wow they are great CC,love the 4 panel sketch.