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RIP Greg Martin - Seminal box artist of flintstones 2 and dozens more new pics will be added in the coming days

Jan 4, 2014 at 2:19:57 AM
Bronty (65)
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(Dan M) < Bonk >
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Thanks everyone. Please check back on this thread later - in the coming days I will post more of his illustrations as they come to me.   It's an incredible body of work and even with my best efforts to catalog his work the odd thing may slip between the cracks.

Sonic 1 &2 game gear







Sega Visions covers








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WTB Cdn sealed black boxes, sealed Cdn first party titles.    I.e. the "mattel" Cdn boxes with both french and english.   Mainly black boxes, zelda, link, and tyson, but let me know what you have.    I am interested in anything I don't already have!



Edited: 01/04/2014 at 04:09 AM by Bronty

Jan 4, 2014 at 3:41:36 AM
Bronty (65)
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(Dan M) < Bonk >
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amazing penguin - game boy




toxic crusaders genesis






aladdin




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WTB Cdn sealed black boxes, sealed Cdn first party titles.    I.e. the "mattel" Cdn boxes with both french and english.   Mainly black boxes, zelda, link, and tyson, but let me know what you have.    I am interested in anything I don't already have!



Edited: 01/04/2014 at 03:52 AM by Bronty

Jan 4, 2014 at 6:51:00 AM
DarkTone (2)
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(GameCube Boss) < Bowser >
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Sorry to hear this. Really am.

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Jan 4, 2014 at 7:18:31 AM
Trj22487 (25)
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< Bowser >
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Never in a million years would I have thought one person did all these! No wonder I never cared for Sonic's art style and slimmer body in the late 90's and onward, it was no longer Greg doing the illustrations! But now that you've pointed this out you can just see it in all the faces that it was one man doing all of that work. Wow. R.I.P. You'd think someone that did all that artwork would deserve all the credit in the world they same way photographers like Henry Grossman or Debra Rothenberg are legendary for their photography of celebrities.

Jan 4, 2014 at 7:24:44 AM
Krunch (146)
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(My name's Krunch) < King Solomon >
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Excellent post Bronty...I have been watching Hanna-Barbera since I was a young kid, particularly some of the franchises he was involved with, so it's neat to know that you've had that connection for so long (and also not really surprising for some reason, actually).

That is definitely an impressive gallery...in fact, I consider some of those NES covers as being among my favorites, specifically Little Nemo which is a game and franchise I was until recently unfamiliar with. (another NA member suggested I try it and what a fantastic game it was! I actually beat it). Funnily enough, after I completed the game I remember admiring the box art for how well it captured the essence of the game, but like others, never bothered to search who made it. That game delivers on the promises printed on the box for sure, no hype was necessary, it just feels right as others have echoed in here.

I also enjoy the Adventure Island series like any red-blooded NA'er does...and I suspect he was not involved with the first two? Because those games have god-awful artwork if you ask me. AI3 has always been my favorite of the 3 NES installments, but honestly I don't think I can actually tell 2/3 apart gameplay wise if you didn't show me what cartridge was in the NES. I'm gonna guess he wasn't involved with Super Adv. Island 2 though, that one seems a lot different?

On the topic of Hudson, I've noticed the common art style between AI3/Felix/BM2 before (whatchoo lookin at? I sometimes just stand by my shelf and check out random CIBs, what of it...) but always chalked it up to all of them belonging to the late-release B/Y Hudson set and conflating them in my brain. Never considered that it's actually just one dude.

It's just funny and also kind of a shame how we'll see a great design somewhere but never consider or track down even the name of great designer behind it.

I have to ask...did the fact that he designed the art for many of the "rares" ever come up between you two? I felt like I was looking at a racketboy list for a second there

This thread rules so I bookmarked it. Keep those shiny pictures coming!!!

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https://www.ebay.com/sch/bestpric...=
^^discounts for NA members^^


Edited: 01/04/2014 at 07:29 AM by Krunch

Jan 4, 2014 at 7:26:45 AM
geddon_jt (18)

(John T) < Eggplant Wizard >
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That guy had serious talent, some total classic covers on there. Sorry to hear about his passing and thanks for sharing, Bronty.

Jan 4, 2014 at 8:33:40 AM
NintendoKid (0)
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(Nick C.) < Eggplant Wizard >
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Thanks for sharing this.
What was the cause of death? How old was he?

Jan 4, 2014 at 8:46:35 AM
Trj22487 (25)
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< Bowser >
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Wow I've always loved his work and never realized it. Here is an ad from a 1993 issue of EGM that I still have and have always liked this ad



Edited: 01/04/2014 at 09:03 AM by Trj22487

Jan 4, 2014 at 10:40:05 AM
Bronty (65)
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(Dan M) < Bonk >
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Ha! Great ad. Nice to see an ad with several boxes that are all or almost all his as well

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WTB Cdn sealed black boxes, sealed Cdn first party titles.    I.e. the "mattel" Cdn boxes with both french and english.   Mainly black boxes, zelda, link, and tyson, but let me know what you have.    I am interested in anything I don't already have!


Jan 4, 2014 at 10:44:08 AM
Bronty (65)
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(Dan M) < Bonk >
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Originally posted by: Trj22487

Never in a million years would I have thought one person did all these! No wonder I never cared for Sonic's art style and slimmer body in the late 90's and onward, it was no longer Greg doing the illustrations! But now that you've pointed this out you can just see it in all the faces that it was one man doing all of that work. Wow. R.I.P. You'd think someone that did all that artwork would deserve all the credit in the world they same way photographers like Henry Grossman or Debra Rothenberg are legendary for their photography of celebrities.





Yes, you and krunch are right. There are a lot of other commonalities too besides the faces. He did wood grain a certain way. Orbs (Bomberman bombs/ Milton's bubbles / pacman pellets) a certain way. Volcanos (bonks/f2). Vegetation (bonks/ sonic 3). It's all there we just had to look.

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WTB Cdn sealed black boxes, sealed Cdn first party titles.    I.e. the "mattel" Cdn boxes with both french and english.   Mainly black boxes, zelda, link, and tyson, but let me know what you have.    I am interested in anything I don't already have!


Jan 4, 2014 at 10:45:17 AM
Bronty (65)
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(Dan M) < Bonk >
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Originally posted by: NintendoKid

Thanks for sharing this.
What was the cause of death? How old was he?





He was in his mid 50s - not young but much too young to pass.

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WTB Cdn sealed black boxes, sealed Cdn first party titles.    I.e. the "mattel" Cdn boxes with both french and english.   Mainly black boxes, zelda, link, and tyson, but let me know what you have.    I am interested in anything I don't already have!


Jan 4, 2014 at 11:17:54 AM
Krunch (146)
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And to think I sold off my 20th Anniversary Pac-Man CIB in favor of keeping only the licensed Tengen version....

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https://www.ebay.com/sch/bestpric...=
^^discounts for NA members^^

Jan 4, 2014 at 11:23:16 AM
Bronty (65)
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(Dan M) < Bonk >
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I presume this one was around the time mega man first went onto sega hardware



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WTB Cdn sealed black boxes, sealed Cdn first party titles.    I.e. the "mattel" Cdn boxes with both french and english.   Mainly black boxes, zelda, link, and tyson, but let me know what you have.    I am interested in anything I don't already have!


Jan 4, 2014 at 11:26:41 AM
Penguin (239)
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(Justin AKA Penguin) < Wiz's Mom >
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Wow he did a lot of my favorite artwork on the NES, so sad to hear that he passed away. R.I.P.

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Looking for Black cartridge Color Dreams games, last 3 I need:  Metal Fighter, Moon Ranger, Baby Boomer.  Please contact me if you have any of these!



 

Jan 4, 2014 at 11:27:04 AM
Bronty (65)
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(Dan M) < Bonk >
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-------------------------

WTB Cdn sealed black boxes, sealed Cdn first party titles.    I.e. the "mattel" Cdn boxes with both french and english.   Mainly black boxes, zelda, link, and tyson, but let me know what you have.    I am interested in anything I don't already have!


Jan 4, 2014 at 11:32:48 AM
Rengozu (54)
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Good stuff. Shining in the Darkness was always one of my fav boxarts.

Jan 4, 2014 at 12:38:30 PM
ScooterD03 (23)
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So sorry to hear this, he for sure made his impact. God bless and rip.

Jan 4, 2014 at 12:52:13 PM
Bronty (65)
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Curtis (Maximus clean) had a coworker whose son was really into sonic and I talked Greg into doing a little drawing for his 12th? Birthday. Greg delivered a beautiful little sketch for the boy and even had a big Canadian flag in the background hanging in the background to personalize it for him. I wonder if Curtis has a picture of it.

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WTB Cdn sealed black boxes, sealed Cdn first party titles.    I.e. the "mattel" Cdn boxes with both french and english.   Mainly black boxes, zelda, link, and tyson, but let me know what you have.    I am interested in anything I don't already have!


Jan 4, 2014 at 1:05:58 PM
UncleTusk (234)
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He will definitely be missed. Thanks for posting and sharing.

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Jan 4, 2014 at 1:34:55 PM
wrk (69)
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Do you own any of his original art?

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https://www.prodigydisc.com/...



 

Jan 4, 2014 at 1:41:45 PM
buyatari2 (30)

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Originally posted by: Bronty

Curtis (Maximus clean) had a coworker whose son was really into sonic and I talked Greg into doing a little drawing for his 12th? Birthday. Greg delivered a beautiful little sketch for the boy and even had a big Canadian flag in the background hanging in the background to personalize it for him. I wonder if Curtis has a picture of it.

Never knew that. That is really cool. 


Jan 4, 2014 at 1:58:27 PM
Vectrex28 (130)
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RIP! He made some kickass cover arts! However, I prefer the European counterparts to his Adventure Island art (except for AI on the GameBoy)

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"Energy Tanks, Missiles, Power Bombs... You want it? It's yours my friend! As long as you have enough credits!"



Edited: 01/04/2014 at 01:58 PM by Vectrex28

Jan 4, 2014 at 2:37:55 PM
KAMIKAWA (25)
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(Keith Kamikawa) < Kraid Killer >
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Wow, I guess our hobby is going to start seeing greats like Greg start passing. What an exceptional career. His Little Nemo The Dream Master and his Namco Pac-Man NES cover are my favorite amongst the many other awesome covers he created. What a wonderful legacy he left us!

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Jan 4, 2014 at 4:30:38 PM
Guntz (115)
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Jan 4, 2014 at 6:13:09 PM
Bronty (65)
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(Dan M) < Bonk >
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Originally posted by: wrk

Do you own any of his original art?





Adam and I own some of his drawings. They are the originals that were used to rough out the covers back in the day. I will post some later.

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WTB Cdn sealed black boxes, sealed Cdn first party titles.    I.e. the "mattel" Cdn boxes with both french and english.   Mainly black boxes, zelda, link, and tyson, but let me know what you have.    I am interested in anything I don't already have!



Edited: 01/04/2014 at 06:35 PM by Bronty