A FIELD GUIDE TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Humble beginnings.
Metazoo's Rarest Cards.
Before the first Kickstarter release, there were the samples. Discover the cryptids, curious details, and early stories behind MetaZoo’s original 96 cards.
Explore the 96 cards ↗Read their story ↓Your guide to the early days
The Cumberland Dragon, who loves to spend its time chasing butterflies and putting flowers in its hair 96 original cards46 holographics50 non-holosOne curious beginning
MetaZoo Origins
Every legend has a first sighting.
MetaZoo samples were released in 2020 and while many were immediately captivated by the Sugimori-like, watercolor style artwork, many were thrown away and ignored completely! With only 100 copies of each sample card printed, they went on to be the rarest and most sought after grail cards in Metazoo. They were handpacked and sent to early fans and backers.
What exactly is the rarest Metazoo card? Most collectors consider the Mothman sample card the rarest and most desired grail. Check out the price guide here, which is updated on a regular basis with latest sales and market sentiment.
Check out Metazaurus to dive into Metazoo lore and further history! Credit to Gaichu for the sketch and sample card images.
13 SEPTEMBER 2020
A questionnaire. A free pack.
Beginning on September 13th 2020, early fans of MetaZoo were able to respond to a questionnaire about their favorite cryptids and cards that had been previewed on the MetaZoo Games Instagram and Discord account and Michael Waddell, the creator of MetaZoo, would send them a free sample pack. The cards were hand packed by Mike and family/friends and came in clear cellophane packs (approximately 350 packs crated) with either 3x or 10x individual sample cards and came with at least 1 or more holographic cards. These were the first ever MetaZoo cards released!
7 NOVEMBER 2020
The Marketplace chapter.
There was a second variant of sample cards that became available on the MetaZoo Marketplace beginning on November 7th 2020. There were 500 of these packs and they contained 2 holographic cards, 1 ‘Beastie’ (Cryptid) and 1 Artifact or Spell. Interestingly, buyers had the ability to request a specific Artifact or Spell card and at this time. Only holographic cards were available and all non-holos were unavailable/sold-out.
COLLECT-A-CON · 2021
A stamp on the story.
Additionally, Mike stamped a full set of the 96 sample cards for MetaZoo’s debut at the 2021 Frisco, Texas Collect-A-Con and re-sealed them within rainbow-silver holographic packs. These are 1/1 samples that feature a MetaZoo Collect-A-Con 2021 stamp. Mike commented on discord that there may be a few exceptions to all cards being 1/1 (so there may be a couple duplicates but generally, they are 1/1.. see supporting screenshot in History Gallery).
LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER
How to spot a sample.
Black borders. Glossy cardstock. A little star-like sample symbol on the lower right. And no set number, which appeared with Kickstarter and later releases.
There were 100 of each of the 96 sample cards printed: 9,600 cards in total.
Take a closer look ↗
ODDITIES & OBSERVATIONS
Notes from the field.
Some fun facts!
01An evolving spellbook
Some samples changed before later releases. Growth originally allowed five copies per Spellbook; artwork details changed on cards including Kushtaka, Crawfordsville Monster, and Mothman.
02Different beginnings
Cumberland Dragon, Indrid Cold, Fountain of Youth, and Johnny Appleseed are among the cards having different artwork in later releases.
03Cards that stayed samples
The notes identify Aura Battery, Aura Generator, Aura Potion, and Exorcist’s Nail as cards that never received a standard release.
04An extraordinary giveaway
An uncut holographic sample sheet was given away during a Twitch livestream! Check out the videos and pics from the Twitch stream giveaway in the History gallery.
05The other side of the story
Victor Larson designed the original MetaZoo card back. The design is a pentacle and not a pentagram.
06Special deliveries
Mike sent out 2,000 stamped paper envelopes, including 500 signed and numbered examples, with special borders or gold embossing. Other shipments used protective bubble mailers.
