Marvel Universe Series 1

Manufacturer: Impel 1990

Basic set: 1-162

Chase:

• Hologram
  • MH1 Cosmic Spider-Man
  • MH2 Magneto
  • MH3 Silver Surfer
  • MH4 Wolverine
  • MH5 Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin (reverse back variant also exists)

Promos:

• Diamond Previews single promos
  • 3 The Hulk
  • 6 The Thing
  • 8 Cyclops
  • 29 Spider-Man
  • 32 Silver-Surfer
  • 39 She-Hulk
  • 57 Sabretooth
  • 60 Doctor Doom
  • 62 Enchantress
  • 63 Magneto
  • 78 Mephisto
  • 82 Ghost Rider
  • 83 Deathlok
  • 87 The Thing vs. The Hulk
  • 89 Fantastic Four vs. Doctor Doom
  • 96 Silver Surfer vs. Mephisto
  • 100 X-Men vs. Magneto
  • 125 Amazing Fantasy #15
  • 136 Fantastic Four
  • 139 X-Men
• Diamond Previews 2-card sheet
  • Hulk, Silver-Surfer (card #s 3, 32)
• Diamond Previews 4-card uncut sheets
  • Cyclops, She-Hulk, Silver Surfer, The Hulk (card #s 8, 39, 32, 3)
  • X-Men, Magneto, Fantastic Four, Amazing Fantasy #15 (card #s 139, 63, 136, 125)
  • Fantastic Four, X-Men vs. Magneto, The Thing vs. The Hulk, Silver Surfer vs. Mephisto (card #s 89, 100, 87, 96)
  • The Thing, Spider-Man, Doctor Doom, Mephisto (card #s 6, 29, 60, 78)
  • Enchantress, Sabretooth, Ghost Rider, Deathlok (card #s 62, 57, 82, 83)
• Toy Biz variants
  • Apocalypse
  • Archangel
  • Colossus
  • Cyclops
  • Juggernaut
  • Magneto
  • Nightcrawler
  • Storm
  • Wolverine

Binder Case Insert:

• Large hologram card (8.5" x 11")

Comments: The following is taken directly from Comic Cards and Their Prices by Stuart Wells III, Wallace-Homestead Book Co. publishers:

Promo/sample cards for this series were issued in randomly collated 5-card cello-wrapped packs. There are only small differences in the back text copy between these cards and the final versions and a few other differences, such as "The Hulk" and "The Thing" became just "Hulk" and "Thing" on the fronts of the regular cards. The same name change appeared on card #87, where they battle, and this card, plus #89, #125, and #136 were renumberd to #88, #90, #126, and #137. The one distinguishing feature that applies to all these promo cards is the line "Produced & distributed by Impel Marketing, Inc." above the Marvel copyright information on the back of the card at the bottom. The regular issue cards say "Exclusively distributed by Impel Marketing, Inc." and this line is below the Marvel copyright information. Please note that these same early versions of the cards were used for the Diamond Previews uncut sheets...

A fifth card was renumbered from promo to final version. Promo #139 was renumbered to #140 in the regular card [final] version. The Diamond Previews promos (both singles and uncut sheets) contain the Diamond logo in light grey on the card backs.

There exists two variations for the MH5 chase card. The variant has the back reversed, or upside-down, from the regular chase card.

Toy Biz cards contain the Toy Biz logo (in red with yellow background) on the lower right corner of the card backs. These actually have 1991 dates and are considered by many to be promo cards for the upcoming Marvel Universe Series II cards (as they advertise this upcoming set on the card backs) but they are listed here just for the sake of completeness.

The case insert large card was inserted in each case of binders and is identical to the hologram on the binder itself. The card has Spider-Man crouched over the "Marvel Universe" text.