Alien hunting has never been as cool as it was was in Men in Black. And while it doesn’t have the same premium flavor the sequel’s set would have, 1997 Inkworks Men In Black trading cards do have a cool look. It’s just fairly simple by today’s standards.
The majority of the 90-card base set consists of recaps of the film’s story. Towards the end are a couple of subsets called Dossiers and Aliens that dig a little deeper into the characters, creatures and such.
1997 Inkworks Men In Black has just one autograph. And it doesn’t belong to Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones or any of the film’s other stars. Rather, it’s Lowell Cunningham, the creator of the original MIB comic. Inserted 1:1,140 packs, the card is extremely rare.
The set’s other inserts may not be fancy by today’s standards. But back when the set came out, the hobby was in a different place. Cards In Black use a matte finish to go along with the single-colored illustrations. Eleven Alien Profiles cards come die-cut. Finally, there are five Foilworks cards that are done just as they sound — with foil.
1997 Inkworks Men In Black Checklist
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Cards per pack: 8
Packs per box: 36
Shop for 1997 Inkworks Men In Black boxes on eBay.
Base Set
90 cards.
1 Title Card
2 Border Crossing
3 Illegal Alien
4 Alien Ex-Con
5 Mikey Attacks
6 Cover-Up Cavalry
7 Retirement
8 New York Chase
9 Freeze!
10 End of the Line
11 I Believe You
12 Pawn Shop
13 I’m Going to Count to Three
14 Blown Away
15 Ever See One of These?
16 Farm Encounter
17 Edgar Returns
18 Moving Crew
19 Best of the Best
20 Written Exam
21 Shooting Gallery
22 Eye Exam
23 History Lesson
24 Who Drank all the Cream?
25 In or Out
26 Exterminated
27 MIB HQ
28 Alien Immigration
29 New Technology
30 Observation
31 Initiation
32 Erasure
33 Jay
34 Zed’s Office
35 Traffic Stop
36 Congratulations! It’s a Squid!
37 The Hot Sheets
38 Edgar in Pursuit
39 Farmhouse Interview
40 Bea’s Story
41 Cover Story
42 We Have a Bug
43 Summit Meeting
44 Assassination
45 The Morgue
46 Alien Autopsy
47 Unlike Anything I’ve Ever Seen
48 Splitting Head
49 Cryptic Message
50 Neuralyzed
51 Coffee Break
52 Towed
53 The Chase is On
54 Level Four
55 Frank the Pug
56 Information Shakedown
57 Orion’s Belt
58 Bug Off?
59 Hidden Danger
60 Hostage Situation
61 Prelude to War
62 World’s Fair
63 MIB Express
64 Showdown
65 Lift Off
66 Crash Landing
67 Edgar No More
68 Face Off
69 Exterminated
70 Mission Accomplished
71 Good-Bye
72 The Newest Agent
73 Kay
74 Jay
75 Elle
76 Zed
77 Dee
78 Headquarters
79 Immigration
80 Arsenal
81 Toy Shop
82 Samarians
83 Lysians
84 The Squats
85 Vyrmidians
86 The Homarid
87 The Pug
88 Erraqnians
89 Bugs
90 Checklist
Autographs
1 card, 1:1,440.
Lowell Cunningham – MIB Creator
Alien Profiles
5 cards, 1:11 packs.
P1 Mikey
P2 Yin and Yang
P3 Skulk Brothers
P4 Rosenberg
P5 Edgar
Cards In Black
2 cards, 1:54 packs.
B1 Jay
B2 Kay
Foilworks
5 cards, 1:24 packs.
S1 Alien Technology
S2 Cover-Ups
S3 Neuralyzer
S4 Aliens
S5 Men in Black Mythos
Promo Cards
The Following Is Top Secret
The Secret Is Out
S1 – Suncoast Video
