2024 Marvel Masterpieces - Nahuel Grego

[Mahomie]

Originally Posted by bwoodspsu

I was at my lcs picking up a psa submission and they had a box for a good price and I pulled this card.

Awesome Grego sketch, wow!

[Watchmee]

For a thread on the last MM set under UD this is a really slow action ...

[TimBuckTwo]

Originally Posted by Watchmee

For a thread on the last MM set under UD this is a really slow action ...

Believe it is driven by the fact that all product is out in the wild, is expensive per box and hard to build sets.

It not having the epack presence hurt this product.

[DynaEtch]

Agree with everything TimBuck said…particularly about not having epack. Epack seemed to drive a lot of the marvel threads on here. Also couple that with there are maybe 20 regular active posters tops in this sub.

And yes to being an exclusive and expensive release- 92MM platinum was a little more accessible with hobby boxes a third of the cost and blaster boxes a fraction of the cost of one MM Grego hobby box. Which is a shame because this set has truly outstanding art, some of the best I’ve seen in recent memory

[orion9578]

I'll go with option C. Personally, I have the Grego set at the bottom of my favorite MM sets. Of the modern sets, I'd go 16MM > 22MM > 18MM > 20MM=24MM. I tend to think the market agrees based off sales of 24MM vs the other modern MM's.

Option A, cost, is a factor as well. Hardly any has been opened. You'd think that'd translate into higher singles sales...but I digress...

Option B 100% hurt it. The mass appeal of a ePack MM set vs a non-ePack MM set does hurt it too. If it'd gone to ePack, 100% of that allocation would have been opened and the market would likely be better...since IMO more people would be attempting the set.

PS. This is in NO WAY a beat down of Grego as an artist. It is just my opinion on it's place among modern MM sets. It is better than almost any other non MM set, save an Ultra set or two, again, IMO.

[newhobbygeek]

Originally Posted by bwoodspsu

I was at my lcs picking up a psa submission and they had a box for a good price and I pulled this card.

Nice Sketch! WOW! We need bigger picture

[DynaEtch]

Art being subjective we’ll all have our own tastes there are some pieces I really like, such as the Moon Knight, Iceman, Spider-Man, Miles, Ghost Spider, Wolverine, and some others. The one thing I’m not a fan of is the sheer amount of characters in shadow. But that’s nothing new..I’d argue every MM release after MM16 has been like this to an extent with characters often in dark shadow. It’s quite noticeable if you go onto comc and just scroll down the base cards of this set.

That is one reason (besides price) why I gravitated towards MM92 Plat- every one of those cards has bright ol superheroes in adequate lighting. I like that 90s vibe. Again just a preference…it’s not like one’s right or wrong. But I do wish MM would have went more toward the comic-bright vibe over the darker tone it took on ever since MM16. (MM16 itself was bright toned by Jusko).

As for prices…I think MM24 prices are actually pretty strong, and it’s gotta be partly because the no epack/comc flood. I have been chasing tier 4 base in all of these modern MM sets and I distinctly remember some MM18 and MM20 tier 4 base selling as low as $100-180 near release, whereas some of these tier 4 base have been averaging $200-450 and Spidey/Wolverine are quite high, maybe near $1k. Even lower tier base are kinda pricey for what they are and making putting together this set kinda tedious in that respect.

[Mahomie]

Still slowly picking up some framed Masterpieces from this set. It might take a lifetime, but I'm hoping to complete the entire bronze framed set.

[orion9578]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Art being subjective we’ll all have our own tastes there are some pieces I really like, such as the Moon Knight, Iceman, Spider-Man, Miles, Ghost Spider, Wolverine, and some others. The one thing I’m not a fan of is the sheer amount of characters in shadow. But that’s nothing new..I’d argue every MM release after MM16 has been like this to an extent with characters often in dark shadow. It’s quite noticeable if you go onto comc and just scroll down the base cards of this set.

That is one reason (besides price) why I gravitated towards MM92 Plat- every one of those cards has bright ol superheroes in adequate lighting. I like that 90s vibe. Again just a preference…it’s not like one’s right or wrong. But I do wish MM would have went more toward the comic-bright vibe over the darker tone it took on ever since MM16. (MM16 itself was bright toned by Jusko).

As for prices…I think MM24 prices are actually pretty strong, and it’s gotta be partly because the no epack/comc flood. I have been chasing tier 4 base in all of these modern MM sets and I distinctly remember some MM18 and MM20 tier 4 base selling as low as $100-180 near release, whereas some of these tier 4 base have been averaging $200-450 and Spidey/Wolverine are quite high, maybe near $1k. Even lower tier base are kinda pricey for what they are and making putting together this set kinda tedious in that respect.

Agreed. There are several cards I do like as well. My opinion is they just aren't as "for me" as most of the other MM sets.

You're right, as far as basically all the sets being slightly too dark since 16MM...in some cases WAY to dark. I don't mind a dark background, as long as the character doesn't blend into that super dark background, haha.

As far as this set goes, there are just too many parallels and also to many "random" characters for an MM set. Again, in my opinion.

And finally prices...You'd know better than me. I probably fall victim to my lack of interest in the set. I haven't looked at it all that closely. What I do know is that when I did, and I was looking at "expensive" cards, it seemed like it was quite a bit lower than 22MM. If I remember correctly, a Spider-Man DDS Auto /10 was running close to $4k+ and I think the only Grego Spider-Man Auto /10 was closer to $2k. That's basically as Apples to Apples as you can get. But this was months ago and I haven't really looked at the set since.

Again, I want to say, I like it better than almost ANY other non-MM set... Plenty of great images and obviously the artist is a top tier talent. It's just not my cup of tea

[PurplesaurusRex]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

The one thing I’m not a fan of is the sheer amount of characters in shadow. But that’s nothing new..I’d argue every MM release after MM16 has been like this to an extent with characters often in dark shadow. It’s quite noticeable if you go onto comc and just scroll down the base cards of this set.

I remember seeing the original art for Magneto, it looked much brighter than the card. Grego is an amazing artist, can definitely hold his own with the other MM Artists. But there's no doubt he was rushed and you can tell in the quality of some pieces.

[PurplesaurusRex]

That's a great card, Grego's style fits right in with the classic 90's Masterpiece artists.

Originally Posted by Mahomie

Still slowly picking up some framed Masterpieces from this set. It might take a lifetime, but I'm hoping to complete the entire bronze framed set.

[PurplesaurusRex]

Originally Posted by orion9578

And finally prices...You'd know better than me. I probably fall victim to my lack of interest in the set. I haven't looked at it all that closely. What I do know is that when I did, and I was looking at "expensive" cards, it seemed like it was quite a bit lower than 22MM. If I remember correctly, a Spider-Man DDS Auto /10 was running close to $4k+ and I think the only Grego Spider-Man Auto /10 was closer to $2k. That's basically as Apples to Apples as you can get. But this was months ago and I haven't really looked at the set since.

Yeah this set is still too pricey, at $600 a box it's a waste of money.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by orion9578

Agreed. There are several cards I do like as well. My opinion is they just aren't as "for me" as most of the other MM sets.

You're right, as far as basically all the sets being slightly too dark since 16MM...in some cases WAY to dark. I don't mind a dark background, as long as the character doesn't blend into that super dark background, haha.

As far as this set goes, there are just too many parallels and also to many "random" characters for an MM set. Again, in my opinion.

And finally prices...You'd know better than me. I probably fall victim to my lack of interest in the set. I haven't looked at it all that closely. What I do know is that when I did, and I was looking at "expensive" cards, it seemed like it was quite a bit lower than 22MM. If I remember correctly, a Spider-Man DDS Auto /10 was running close to $4k+ and I think the only Grego Spider-Man Auto /10 was closer to $2k. That's basically as Apples to Apples as you can get. But this was months ago and I haven't really looked at the set since.

Again, I want to say, I like it better than almost ANY other non-MM set... Plenty of great images and obviously the artist is a top tier talent. It's just not my cup of tea

Absolutely- actually I should clarify my observations on the prices- I’m mainly just paying attention to the base cards. It makes sense why base are more expensive than some previous MMs because you can’t just go onto comc and find 25 or 50 of them in a bucket, there’s like 1-5, or maybe 10-15 for the most common. Actually I have noticed for things like gallery parallels and autos, prices have been quite down in MM24 compared to MM22. It could also be the money being spread so thin now with lots of the recent stuff that came out, as well as the some of the trends in the marvel market the further we get out from the covid fallout.
I will say the tier 4 base in this are definitely costing me more than MM18 and MM20…probably around tied with what the MM22 were costing me. Btw I still need a Wolverine (d’oh!). In fairness most of the MM20 tier 4 characters besides Wolvie were obscure, so that may have factored into those being a lot cheaper.

I’m with you- a lot of this comes down to personal preference. All the last 5 MM artists are great and nothing even needs said about their accomplishments… some things just appeal or don’t appeal to me personally and heavily shadowed art is the latter to me, but doesn’t mean it’s “bad” or anything.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by Mahomie

Still slowly picking up some framed Masterpieces from this set. It might take a lifetime, but I'm hoping to complete the entire bronze framed set.

This is a great one. I really like the framed masterpiece parallel and that would be an epic set. I was bidding and missed out on a Spider-Man not long ago at auction on eBay that went for maybe like $250 which seemed not too bad. Only thing I regret was UD realized this parallel too late- they could have implemented this back in MM16! It’s a perfect parallel for a Marvel Masterpieces set, capturing the “artist gallery” aspect of the brand.

Originally Posted by PurplesaurusRex

I remember seeing the original art for Magneto, it looked much brighter than the card. Grego is an amazing artist, can definitely hold his own with the other MM Artists. But there's no doubt he was rushed and you can tell in the quality of some pieces.

Well I can’t speak to some of the actual paintings…mainly just going off what the cards are. But just pulling some from COMC at random to explain what I mean by in shadow:

















There’s a lot like this…now again doesn’t mean bad, I think that Green Goblin and Miles is great art….im just saying for an overall style for a set I personally prefer the brighter vibe of many of the 90s sets like 92MM where I don’t think one card has a character in shadow. It’s just personal preference…the Grego set is not unique in this- I think every MM post 2016 had this to an extent. Just the direction the brand went in for whatever reason.

[Mahomie]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Only thing I regret was UD realized this parallel too late- they could have implemented this back in MM16!

That would've been epic.

Jusko has said in the past that his goal with MM16 was to capture each character in their most iconic, quintessential form.

He was also very conscious of giving each card a unique color scheme:

"The palettes were just as important. While repeating color combinations may not be noticeable on a per piece basis, it becomes very evident when you place the cards side by side...I had to think and rethink these issues on a per card basis."

A complete MM16 set with Renaissance-style frames would've been perfect.

Originally Posted by PurplesaurusRex

I remember seeing the original art for Magneto, it looked much brighter than the card. Grego is an amazing artist, can definitely hold his own with the other MM Artists. But there's no doubt he was rushed and you can tell in the quality of some pieces.

Agreed.

The original art looks a bit brighter, but overall Grego definitely used more of a "moody" shadow-rich approach.

[Watchmee]

Just an illustration to lack of demand for MM'24...

[DynaEtch]

^^^
I think that art is awesome with how dynamic it is…it’s probably one of my fav in the set.

It partly comes down to people are swamped with all the options and parallels out there, probably spread very thin (I know I am). I’m not surprised to see prices on singles deflate even generally..not just for this set. I did see a framed masterpieces /99 of spidey sold for around 230 at auction, which is half the print of this, so people probably think they can get a purple /199 a bit cheaper than 200. (Heck that 230 one has since been relisted with the same serial number grading label, so first one possibly shilled to get to 230).

[orion9578]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

All the last 5 MM artists are great and nothing even needs said about their accomplishments…

Yup, all have their strengths. My opinion is you can't beat 16MM based on who the artist is. With that said, I DO like some of the 22MM cards better

Originally Posted by Watchmee

Just an illustration to lack of demand for MM'24...

That's not overly telling in and of itself. The last Spider-Man Purples from all the sets:

2024 = $88 7/27/2025
2022 = $180 Today
2020 = $41 7/3/2025
2018 = $170 4/12/2025
2016 = $176...believe it or not... 12/13/2024

I think that might illustrate my opinion being fairly close to market, but there are other factors as well, I'd imagine. Like the 2020 isn't a Tier 4, which seems to hurt Purples and sometimes Oranges...oddly enough. Plus the two newest sets also have WAY TO MANY parallels, which I suspect hurts prices somewhat as well on the /199's.