In the last several months, FPG has released a series of trading card sets celebrating the work of fantasy artists associated with TSR. I've dedicated this column to sets by Clyde Caldwell, Jeff Easley, David Cherry and Gerald Brom. A note on production quality: The excellent quality of FPG cards continues to improve. Since last December, they have increased the card stock they use from 14 points to 18 points. All the sets discussed below are printed on this heavier card stock with aqueous and UV coatings on both sides. These are truly luxurious cards - the state of the art in the industry. Clyde Caldwell Red Sands © 1995 Clyde Caldwell. Courtesy of FPG. Clyde Caldwell is well known to all role playing enthusiasts for his spectacular art, appearing in a wide range of TSR products (including Forgotten Realms, Drag, onlance and Ravenloft as well as numerous calendars.) During the past 17 years he has done fantasy and science fiction covers for virtually every mass-market book publisher including Ace, Avon and Warner. His covers for Heavy Metal and Dragon are the most famous of many. In 1992 he left TSR to pursue a freelance career. Recent work includes projects for White Wolf and Palladium. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this set includes all your favorite Caldwell TSR images. Spellfire enthusiasts will recognize his paintings as the source of many cards. Caldwell does a great job of creating characters from other times and places. His meticulous oil paintings capture the intricate detail of myriad objects and creatures, making them believable. His crafty wizards and alluring sorceresses, powerful male and female warriors and ferocious beasts are all here. The card backs each include a different sketch inside a beautiful frame. Caldwell's comments give us worthwhile information on the paintings. Name: The Fantasy Art of Clyde Caldwell Publisher: FPG 4- Artwork: A + Production Values: A+ Cards in Set: 90 4- Cards Per Pack: 10, 36 packs/box. Approx. price for complete set: $12 Approx. price for box: $52 Decollation: Moderate (I got two complete sets, was nine short of a third and had parts of 3 others.) Chase Cards: 6 Metallic Storm @ $9.00 (1 got 3 metallic cards in my box.) 1,000 randomly inserted, foil-stamped and "autographed" cards. Jeff Easley Dragon Hoard © 1995 Jeff Easley, Courtesy of FPG. Like Caldwell, Easley is well known to all TSR devotees. He has done artwork for AD&D, Greyhawk Adventure's Al Quadim, Ravenloft, DragonLance, etc. A dedicated artist and lover of the fantastic since childhood, Easley has worked for TSR for over a decade. His painting style features loose brushwork which complements his dramatic, swirling color. His open brushwork helps him create intense moods, electric atmosphere and exhilarating action. Flying and fighting dragons, demonic skeleton warriors, wise wizards, handsome warriors and elegant dwarves inhabit Easley's paintings. If you're a Spellfire player or collector, you'll recgnize the style of many of the images as Easley's paintings. The back of each card sports a ornate border which surrounds a detail from a different painting.. Easley quotes provide useful information. Two complete paintings if TSR charcters, originally used as end papers, were used as the basis of two metallic chase card sets. Name: The Fantasy Art of Jeff Easley Publisher. FPG Artwork: A + Producdon Values: A+ Cards in Set: 90 Cards Per Pack: 10, 36 packs/box. Approx. price for complete set: $12 Approx. price for box: $53 Decollation: Poor (I got only 1 complete set, 4 short of another complete set, 4 other partial sets.) Chase Cards: 6 Metallic Storm @ $9.00 0 got 3 metallic cards in my box.) 1,000 randomly inserted, foil-stamped and "autographed" cards. David Cherry David Cherry Soror Marium © 1995 David Cherry. Courtesy of FPG. David Alan Cherry's work reflects his distinguished scholarly background. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1972 with a BA in Latin. In 1975 he received a JD degree and he practiced law until the early 80s, when he left law to follow a career in painting. His work has been selected for iiumerous prestigious art exhibitions, and he has been nominated repeatedly for Hugo Awards (the premier award for sci-fi and fantasy art) and won many others. His work has appeared on the covers of countless fantasy writers such as Marion Bradley Zimmer, Anne McCaffrey and Piers Anthony. I love the scholarly aspects of his work - he inclusion of specific historical details such as Assyrian reliefs in "The King Is A Fool" and "Man of Prophecy," 1st century Roman frescos in "Filia Mea" and Minoan frescoes in "Scattered Reflections." These details add a refined dimension to his paintings. Cherry enjoys historical detail in costumes, as well. This set of cards has an especially large group of attractive and positive images of women. His women exude wisdom, power and candor. And it's refreshing to see images of women attired in the types of clothing they might actually have worn. This collection also includes many science fiction paintings - most containing spaceships. Mermaids, wizards, scenes of fantasy combat and a smattering of portraits fill out this excellent collection. Highly recommended. Name: David Cherry Publisher. FPG Artwork: A Ae Production Values: A+ Cards in Set: 90 + Cards Per Pack: 10; 36 packs/box. Approx. price for complete set: $12 Approx. price for box: $52 Decollation: Moderate (I got 2 complete sets, was 1 card short of a third, and parts of three others.) Chase Cards: 6 Metallic Storm @ $9.00 (1 got 3 metallic cards in my box.) 1,000 randomly inserted, foil-stamped and "autographed" cards. Gerald Brom Brom Lonewoff © 1995 Brom. Courtesy of FPG. Gerald Brom is among the youngest of the top fantasy artists. Born in 1965, he began working as a commercial illustrator at 21. Among his clients were Coca-Cola, Columbia Pictures and IBM. Within five years, he grew frustrated with this work and moved into fantasy illustration, landing a full time position with TSR. Among his most well-known achievements are the design of the Dark Sun game line and contributions to Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft and Gamma World. Ever restless, he left TSR in 1994 to pursue independent fantasy work. This card set includes his most popular TSR works: the primary Dark Sun paintings among them. He also created about 30 just for the set. Brom's fascination with the macabre is particularly well represented here. Many wasted, skeletal, sunken-eyed figures in ragged clothes people his paintings. Brom created the distinctly macabre chase cards just for this set. The "Silent Quintet" presents a decapitated and skew- ered head against a red and metallic background on each card, which fit together as a single image. Name: Brom Publisher FPG Artwork: A Production Values: A+ Cards in Set: 60 Cards Per Pack: 6, 36 packs/box. Approx. price for complete set: $12 Approx. price for box: $52 Decollation: Moderate (I got 2 complete sets, 8 short of a third and parts of three others.) Chase Cards: 5 Metallic Storm @ $9.00 (1 got 3 metallic cards in my box.) 1,000 randomly inserted, foil-stamped and "autographed" cards. Don't Miss These Ed Beard Lithographs Ed Beard Jr.'s Destini Productions has just released a set of limited edition prints. Portfolio 1: Eternal Quest i9tcludes six lithographs in a limited edition of 2000. Each set comes with a certificate of authenticity. These include images from his Flights of Fantasy and Anarchy card series. The prints are 11 x 14 inches on 8 point stock an4 printed with excellent color and high resolution. Priced at $25.00. FPG: Colossal Cards 11 Released in May, the second collection of BIG cards. The spectacular reproduction quality of these cards makes them highly desirable. To be reviewed in my next column. FPG: Thomas Kidd Released with the Brom set is Thomas Kidd. This first-rate collection is a must. I will review it in my next column. If you need help finding any of the trading card sets mentioned in this column, please call Comics Utah, 800-927-5075. Be sure and tell them SHADIS Cardiology sent you. Back to Shadis #20 Table of Contents Back to Shadis List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1995 by Alderac Entertainment Group This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com