LORD OF THE RINGS: Masterpieces!

Topps Inc. has just released the new LORD OF THE RINGS Masterpieces 2 series of Trading Cards, which features a collection of today’s top industry artists, including Matt Busch. When given the opportunity to recreate a vision from one of the movies, Busch chose to depict Balrog, the fiery demon that battles Gandolf in Fellowship of the Ring.

While the specific card is found in the regular series sets, Busch also illustrated 56 one-of-a-kind sketch cards, which are randomly inserted into packs. While these original sketch cards are intended to be a loose, unfinished sketch, Busch took the time to hand paint each and every card. A few of them are already popping up on Ebay.

Sketch cards have become a new hot commodity in the industry, and Busch has a few more projects in the works, including the upcoming INDIANA JONES Heritage set, as well as a new set from the highly anticipated INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL! More info coming soon.

(Archived from March 4th, 2008.)