Indiana Jones had a lot of trading cards come out the year he nuked the fridge. Some might say too many. However, for fan of pop art, the best was saved for the third and final set surrounding the release of The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. 2008 Topps Indiana Jones Masterpieces takes a different approach from Heritage and didn’t suffer from being wholly connected to the disappointing fourth film.
2008 Topps Indiana Jones Masterpieces takes a similar approach to the run of Star Wars Galaxy sets. Its focus is on art inspired by the iconic adventurer and the world of the franchise. The base set has 90 cards. It’s a mix of new art, stuff taken from other places like merchandise and unused poster art. There are plenty of different styles making it eclectic but beautiful throughout. It’s also far from the standard movie cards of not only the newer sets of Indiana Jones trading cards but the couple of early ones as well.
2008 Topps Indiana Jones Masterpieces Sketch Cards
Each box comes with a pair of sketch cards. These come in two different styles. You have your standard sketch cards. The set also introduced Panoramic Sketch Cards. These are essentially the size of two cards folded in half and make for a double-sized canvas.
The quality of sketches is extreme. As with any set, some live up to the Masterpieces name. Others are embarrassing bad doodles. Overall, the quality is better than that of Indiana Jones Heritage, but there are still some very basic drawings that look like little more than something a primary student could have done.
A bigger problem is the sheer number of Indiana Jones sketch cards that hit the market in such a short time. While popular, Indiana Jones doesn’t have the same status as something like Star Wars. Also, its world isn’t as imaginative so the possibilities are much more limited than the galaxy far, far away. When 2008 started, there were no official Indiana Jones sketch cards to speak of. By the time the year ran out, three sets used them as focal points for premium inserts. And of those, two had extremely high print runs given the subject’s popularity.
Additional Inserts
The art theme of 2008 Topps Indiana Jones Masterpieces carries over into a couple of basic insert sets. Nine Foil cards feature the work of Drew Struzan. Regular versions have a silver background. There are also Bronze, Gold (/99) and Refractor (1/1) parallels. Adam Hughes did a six-card Etched Foil set. When put together it makes a collage. The original artwork for all six cards was randomly inserted as well.
Although the product does have autographs, they’re all extremely rare. Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas all have signatures in the set. There’s also a triple autograph featuring all three of the Hollywood legends.
The 2008 Topps Indiana Jones Heritage and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull sets were both over-produced given the somewhat tepid response. Masterpieces is the opposite. Popular from the moment it was released, supply has largely dried up — especially for unopened product.
See also: 2008 Topps Indiana Jones Masterpieces review.
2008 Topps Indiana Jones Masterpieces Checklist
Click on links to shop for cards or check current market values on eBay.
Cards per pack: 8 (hobby), 7 (retail)
Packs per box: 24
Boxes per case: 8
Shop for 2008 Topps Indiana Jones Masterpieces boxes on eBay.
Base Set
90 cards.
1 Adventure Has a Name
2 Indiana Jones
3 Dr. Henry Jones Jr.
4 Young Indiana Jones
5 The Boy Scout
6 Marion Ravenwood
7 Mutt Williams
8 Dr. Henry Jones Sr.
9 Marcus Brody
10 René Belloq
11 Arnold Toht
12 Colonel Dietrich
13 Lao Che
14 Mola Ram
15 Colonel Vogel
16 Elsa Schneider
17 Irina Spalko
18 Colonel Dovchenko
19 Sallah
20 Willie Scott
21 Short Round
22 Proposed “Last Crusade” Art
23 Proposed “Indiana Jones” Art
24 Proposed “Crystal Skull” Art
25 Power of the Skull
26 The Ark Wraith
27 Nazi Meltdown
28 The Great Chase
29 Escape by Bullwhip!
30 Indy on the Run
31 Fist for a Nazi
32 Where’s Marion?
33 Back from the Black Sleep
34 Familiar Guys…?
35 Like Ike, Hate Commies
36 A Splitting Headache
37 The Man and the Idol
38 Add a Little Romance
39 Indy: The Next Generation
40 Indy the Adventurer
41 Woman Enough for Indy
42 Three the Hard Way
43 The Tank Gets Indy
44 They’ll Take Sweden
45 Spalko Power!
46 Larger than Life
47 Meet Indiana Jones
48 “Don’t Look, Marion!”
49 Of Wraiths and Wraths
50 From Belzig to Toht
51 Pursued by Mola Ram
52 Mine Car Chase
53 Adventure Runs in the Family
54 The Price of Knowledge
55 IJ1: General Relase One-Sheet
56 IJ1: Re-Issue One-Sheet
57 IJ1: 10th Anniversary
58 IJ2: Advance One-Sheet
59 IJ2: General Release One-Sheet
60 IJ3: Advance One-Sheet
61 IJ3: General Release One-Sheet
62 IJ4: Advance One-Sheet
63 IJ4: General Release One-Sheet
64 Fates of Atlantis
65 The Infernal Machine
66 The Emperor’s Tomb
67 Crystal Skull in Comics
68 Indy’s Family, Spalko’s Folly
69 Knives Against a Gun
70 Adventure’s a Family Affair
71 Captured by the Enemy
72 How Deep Is the Ocean?
73 The Spear of Destiny
74 The Flame and the Fury
75 Condemned by the Sea Witch
76 At the Mercy of Pirates
77 No Hope for Indy?
78 Tentacles of Death
79 The Temple Raider
80 A One-Man Army
81 Indy’s Last Adventure?
82 Thunder in the Orient
83 At War with an Army
84 The Covenant of Buddha
85 Grip of the Deadly Vines
86 Danger Man
87 Night of the Iron Phoenix
88 Pursuing the Golden Fleece
89 The Makeshift Rescuer
90 Checklist
Printing Plates
90 cards, each has four different 1/1 versions.
Sketch Cards
Inserted 1:12 hobby packs, 1:48 retail packs.
Panoramic Sketch Cards
Double-sized cards that are folded in the middle to provide a larger canvas.
Autographs
All are extremely rare.
Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones
George Lucas – Producer
Steven Spielberg – Director
Harrison Ford, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg
Silver Foil
9 cards, inserted 1:4 packs. Art is by Drew Struzan.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bronze Foil Parallels
9 cards, 1:24 packs.
Gold Foil Parallels
9 cards, 1:167 packs.
Cards /99.
Refractor Foil Parallels
9 cards, 1:6,500 packs.
Cards are 1/1.
Etched Foil
6 cards, 1:6 packs.
Original Art by Adam Hughes randomly inserted for all six cards.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Promo Cards
Both cards have the same art by Mark McHaley.
P1
P2
