A TOYHEM REVIEW: More Third Eye grooviness…
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Welcome to TOYHEM! For the fifth straight holiday season, we’re bringing you a series of features and columns celebrating the toys of our youth, which often made for the best memories this time of year. Click here to check out the complete index of stories — and have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah and Happy Holidays! — Dan
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The Mighty Marvel Calendar: A Visual History book may have been delayed up to a year, but Abrams ComicArts still has two excellent retro Marvel publications for the holiday season: the Marvel Classic Black Light Notecard Set and the Marvel Value Stamps 2024 Calendar.
We’re reviewing both for TOYHEM this year — and you can find the piece on the calendar over here.
The box is not yellow. That’s a paper wrap that’s fastened to the box with adhesive. Be careful when removing or you could rip the box itself.
The back
The Marvel Classic Black Light Notecard Set is the latest (and possibly final) part of Abrams ComicArts’ series of reissues of Third Eye Inc.’s early ’70s Marvel black-light posters and cards.
The posters, which Abrams re-released over the last few years as portfolios, are grand and among the most beloved (and expensive) collectibles of the Bronze Age. But historically, the notecards are something of a, well, footnote.
The actual box
Third Eye published 24 of them, including a number that also featured the same art as some of the posters. In this set, which features an informative booklet by Roy Thomas that tells you where each image came from, you get all 24 in their original, rather large, 6″ x 9 1/4″ size.
That really makes them more like mini-posters than notecards, so they are definitely suitable for framing — especially when you consider the art is by the likes of Jack Kirby, John Romita, Gene Colan and other giants.
Inside the booklet
I picked a handful to show off here, so you could get a taste of how good they look under a black light. To be clear: They look smashing to the naked eye and a digital camera doesn’t do them proper justice. So you’re gonna have to roll with it a bit. They are certainly an improvement over the first porfolio, which didn’t quite pop as well under a black light.
Dig these:
An original — NOT included in the set
Abrams’ version
Under a black light
Now, if you recall, Abrams’ original plan was to re-release the posters as a calendar. Now that they’ve reprinted all of the posters and notecards, maybe a calendar is in the offing? Here’s hoping for 2025.
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The Marvel Classic Black Light Notecard Set is published by Abrams ComicArts and Marvel and is available now. It lists for $49.99.
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MORE
— The Complete TOYHEM INDEX of Stories and Features. Click here.
— REVIEW: Dig These Groovy 13 PAGES From the 2024 MARVEL VALUE STAMPS Daily Calendar. Click here.
December 9, 2023
These are great. So cool they’re re-releasing these.
December 9, 2023
While I am lucky to have all of the original 24 note cards & envelopes, I still bought this beautiful reproduction boxed set (as well as having earlier gotten both of the poster portfolios). WARNING for whoever wants to preserve the beautiful John Romita paper wrap cover around the box – remove the sticky adhesive spots under it very carefully (which you must remove the wrap cover to be able to open the box). Personally, I think it should’ve been the cover printed right onto the box rather than the Thor image. The unaltered version of that Romita cover was actually 1 of the 2 store promo posters for Third Eye’s posters. Nevertheless, I love that Abrams is bringing back all this wonderful vintage Marvel art. I wish Abrams would do another note card set using and reducing those images from the large posters that were not repeated on this set. I look forward to seeing what more Abrams releases on vintage Marvel. Great stuff!
December 9, 2023
Exactly what you said — including the part of the adhesive! BE CAREFUL!