Marvel Masterpieces 1994 Edition Trading Cards by The Hildebrandt Brothers, cards #51-75

Marvel Masterpieces 1994 Edition was a trading card collection that featured paintings of Marvel Comics superheroes and villains by fantasy artists Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, also known as the Brothers Hildebrandt. This third batch features cards #51-75.

Released by Fleer the set comprised of 140 trading cards that measured 2½ x 3½ inches and shipped in blind gold foil packs of ten cards per pack. Each card featured a full-colour painting on one side, along with a gold foil logo. On the reverse was a biography of that character and a short caption by the brothers. As was standard practice for trading cards at that time the set also shipped with several chase cards that were inserted randomly into packs — these included gold, silver, bronze and red holofoils.

As I discussed in the last post Greg and Tim Hildebrandt were twin brothers who in the 1970’s collaborated on paintings that made them hugely popular in the field of fantasy art. Their artwork for three calendars based on the work of J.R.R Tolkien (published in 1976, 1977 and 1978) propelled them to international fame, as did their work on an early Star Wars one-sheet poster. In the early Eighties the brothers split to pursue separate careers in commercial art but reunited to work on this trading card set — Greg was originally commissioned to undertake the job but when the deadline was brought forward he asked Tim to pitch in. The project reignited their passion for working together and over the next decade they continued to collaborate until Tim’s death in 2006.

There’s some great artwork in this batch of cards. Juggernaut (card #59) looks suitably imposing, as does Iron Man (#56). I’m a big fan of Jack of Hearts (#57) so seeing him included here was a treat. And while I love the colour work on the Human Torch (#57) and Medusa (#73) my favourite from this batch has to be the wonderfully malicious Mandarin (#71) — now that’s a super-villain!

Here are cards #51-75 of the Marvel Masterpieces 1994 Edition by the Hildebrandt Brothers, both front and back. I’ll post the next 25 cards in a week or so.