Ultraverse Podcast: Prime of Your Life, Episode 07 – Trading Cards Series 1

Ultraverse Podcast: Prime of Your LifeIt’s the seventh episode of ULTRAVERSE PODCAST: PRIME OF YOUR LIFE!

This episode The Irredeemable Shag and David discuss the 1993 SkyBox Ultraverse Comic Trading Cards (Series 1 Premiere Edition)!  We tackle each trading card, including the chase cards! We wrap up with your Listener Feedback!

Thanks for listening!

Jumpstart your Collection: Angels of Destruction

aod1

aod2Angels of Destruction is a book that came out near the end of the Ultraverse. It actually has a lot going for it, notably a Hajime Sorayama cover and writing by the now-famous Brian Michael Bendis. It’s a visually interesting book and certainly had potential. Not sure where they were planning on going with this, but it is a good read. Chronologically it fits between Ultraverse Unlimited 2 and Future Shock (which was actually the final Ultraverse publication). But where should it fit in your collection?

Ultra-Collectibility Rating: 5/10

The only thing that keeps the rating down is that Angels of Destruction is extremely easy to find for a buck or two. Four recent sales on eBay were all for between $1 and $2. Mycomicshop.com has a copy for $2; Mile High Comics inexplicably wants $8.50 for theirs.

A few of these tail-ender books have some of the lowest print runs for any of the Ultraverse titles, but the number of pre-orders for Angels of Destruction was relatively high at 38,208, compared to Prime 13 which came out the same month at 12,396 (source for these numbers is http://www.comichron.com/).

The Night Man Podcast, Ep. 5: “Alone”

Night Man Podcast LogoThis episode: “Alone”

Issue 5 of The Night Man features an existential crisis for Johnny Domino: is he “alone”? Also, I get the best listener feedback ever, as someone did some detective work for me! And much, much more!

Here is the article that Derek found, scanned, and posted for me! Derek, again, thank you so much! This is the article that I read and that captured my imagination:

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Thank you so much for listening!

Ben’s other podcasts:

SkyBox Master Series: Ultraverse Edition Trading Cards – Ads from Previews

Back in 1994, the Ultraverse launched their third trading card series entitled, SkyBox Master Series: Ultraverse Edition. This was a 90 card set with a handful of chase cards. What distinguished this series from other trading cards on the market was all the artwork was painted by the amazingly talented Dave Dorman!

The cards are beautifully painted and very representative of the 1990s. If you wanted comic book painted artwork in the early 90’s, Dave Dorman was the guy to get (I still love his Dark Horse Comics Indiana Jones covers). Not all the Ultraverse likenesses were captured perfectly in this trading card series, but the trade off is gorgeously painted artwork you wouldn’t normally find for these characters. I’ve seen many of the cards on the web (you may view most of them by clicking here), and have an unopened box I ordered last summer. I’m waiting for the right occasion to rip open the box and revel in the 90’s goodness! You’ll find a complete checklist by clicking here.

Friend of the Ultraverse Network, Michael Bailey, recently sent me the following pages he scanned from an old 1994 Diamond Comics’ Previews catalog. The first two pages were printed on glossy cardstock as an insert into the catalog, while the third page was the “Gem of the Month” featured advertising. I find the selection of characters in the ad somewhat puzzling. Solitaire was a solid choice, but Book, Tyrannosaur, and Heater?!?! That’s representative of the Ultraverse? Really? Not Ultraforce, Night Man, Prime, or even Lord Pumpkin? Odd.

SkyBox Master Series: Ultraverse Edition Trading Cards advertisement Diamond Previews

SkyBox Master Series: Ultraverse Edition Trading Cards advertisement Diamond Previews

SkyBox Master Series: Ultraverse Edition Trading Cards advertisement Diamond Previews

Being a marketing guy myself, I love seeing old advertising. Our thanks to Michael Bailey for sharing this snapshot of 1990’s merchandising!

Jumpstart Your Collection: Flood Relief

Ultraverse Flood Relief

Flood Relief is a charity book that Malibu put out to help victims of the Great Flood of 1993. It was rushed to production pretty fast, and was available to anyone who sent in a coupon and donated at least $5 to the American Red Cross. Total print run for the issue was set at 15,000 (Malibu covered all of the production costs), and it featured several stories with Ultraverse characters. It also had a great Norm Breyfogle cover with Prime lifting a school bus out of the water.

Social awareness rating: 10/10
Ultra-collectibility rating: 4/10

Hey, it was for a great cause. I sent in my five bucks. I realize that’s kind of cheap of me, but I wasn’t making a lot of money then. And for now, we’re just discussing the collectibility of this book. It’s quite easy to pick up a copy now for less than the fiver I spent. This is a book that definitely belongs in the library of any Ultraverse collector.

There have not been any recent sales on eBay of this book, although there are a number of auctions priced between $2 and $21. You can buy one for $2.40 off mycomicshop.com; Mile High has a near mint copy for $8. Obviously your best bet is mycomicshop.com; you can also pick up some other Ultraverse books on the cheap while you are there.