Here is the list of the "Most Wanted Promos" that was printed in the September 1996 issue of Tuff Stuff's Collect! magazine with comments from the article with some comments from me:

1. Americana 7 card set. This is the set that promotes the 1991 set by Starline. The author valued the cards at $15 each with the George Bush card going for a little more. These cards haven't held that value over the years. There always seem to be a few available. They tend to go for about $3 with none of them going for more than others that I could see.

2. Avengers Series 1 (Cornerstone, 1992) A0. That's the one of which only 10 were produced. Back then, there was one known sale of $200 but it would likely go for more in an auction now. I've never seen one for sale, but after the company went out of business, sample versions of the card (not serial-numbered) did appear on the market but they were quickly bought up too. The other promos in the set are elusive as well.

3. Country Gold Series 1 promo #3 (The Judds). This was the one said to have been recalled for some reason but some did end up on the market. It was going for $10 back then because of the rarity but interest in has cooled so you could find it for less.

4. Biosphere (Acorn, 1991) promo set. 500 of each card produced with 31 different cards known at the time. More card variants have appeared since which has made some collectors suspicious but they still sell. A large number of cards were for sale earlier this year.

5. Creators Master Series (Skybox, 1994) P0 "Biohazard." It's still an almost mythical card - very few ever seen for sale.

6. DC Cosmic Teams (Skybox, 1993) P1 "Apparition." This card was hard-to-find back then but several appeared on the market maybe 5-10 years ago and you can find it for maybe $5-10 so I wouldn't say it's on a lot of want lists now.

7. Civil War Heritage Collection Series 1 (Bon Air, 1991) 20 prototype set and the Civil War Heritage Collection Series 2 (Bon Air, 1992) 12 prototype set. It was reported then that only 500 of each of those cards was produced and dealers were sent only 1 or 2 so collectors had to hunt around to complete a set. The Series 1 prototypes are definitely harder to find than the Series 2 ones but I haven't any of either set for sale in years.

8. Gone with the Wind (Duo cards, 1996) Promo #1 and #3. These were rare from the beginning because someone in the company thought the fronts were a little blurry. Only 50-60 were released before the rest of the run was destroyed. Despite the rarity, collector interest has decreased in them. A #3 promo recently sold for just $5.

9. Hollywood Walk of Fame Series 1 (Starline, 1991) 8 prototype set and the Series 2 4 prototype set. Of the Series 1 set the #77 "Ann-Margret" was a known rarity. The other cards go for about $3-5 now but the Ann-Margret card still goes for at least $15. The 4 prototypes for Series 2 (regular set cancelled) go for about $5 too though you never see any of these for sale very often.

10. Harley Davidson Series 1 (Collect-A-Card, 1992) 3 prototype set. These used to go for $10 or more but they just aren't in-demand anymore. They're more like $3-5 cards now.

11-13. Sandman (Skybox, 1994) 7 card silver foil bordered prototype set. This set was listed as in a tie with the Vertigo (Skybox, 1994) 6 card silver foil bordered prototype set and the Superman The Man of Steel Platinum Premium (Skybox, 1994) 4 card silver-bordered prototype set. It was noted that 1500 of each was produced. Of the three sets, only the Sandman prototypes would be considered among the "most wanted" today with cards going for $20 or more. A collector might spring for twice that to complete the set. The Vertigo cards can sell for $15-20 but they usually go for around $10 and the Superman Forged in Steel prototypes can be found for $3-5 each.

14. Terminator II (Impel, 1991) unnumbered promo. It's still considered rare. I saw one sell for $20-30 recently but it can go for more.

15. Superman The Man of Steel Premium promo SW1. It was said to have been given out at Wal-Mart stores but few people had one until about 10 years ago when a bunch of them appeared on the market and continue to be available.

16. Wings of Gold Series 1 (Eagle Trading Card Co., 1991) 18 prototype set. Only 500 of each card were made. Even today, these are almost never seen.

17. Star Wars Galaxy Series 2 P3 (Topps, 1993). The article says about 50 reached the market before Lucasfilm halted the release of the card. It used to sell for over $1000 but the value has slipped to more like $300-350.

18. X-Files Season 1 P1 (Topps, 1995). There was a lot of demand for this card for a while with the value peaking around $35 by the early 2000's but interest in those early Topps promos decreased in the past 10 years. It's more of a $3 card now.

That's the list.

Jess

Very interesting list. And I agree with most of it. I personally have all of these promos, although on the Avengers A0 mine is not serially numbered. On Wings of Gold, I believe that I have only about 7 of the 18.

I would add these to the list:

Lion King SB1 (SkyBox)

Ultraverse Master Series H1 (just as elusive as the Creators P0)

Blackball Comics (SkyBox) P01 and P02; I don't think these have ever shown up on ebay in the past 20 years

101 Dalmations (SkyBox) SW1 from Petsmart

Valiant Comics (Upper Deck) 1993 San Diego Comic Con cards, 1993 Thank You cards, and 1994 Thank You cards (3 sets); sets of these are impossible to find; at the most, you will sometimes see singles of the 1993 SDCC and 1994 Thank You's, but never the 1993 Thank You's.

David and Jess
Please post the numbers of your Wings of Gold cards. Perhaps NOT all of the 18 cards were made into prototypes. I will compare our lists. What if we are missing the same cards? That would make for an interesting conclusion.

On Wings of Gold, I believe that I have

2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 13 and 14

For those curious, here are what the Wings of Gold cards look like--not the promos

Nice cards !

https://www.skytamer.com/1991N01.html

I have #11 and #14 of the Wings of Gold prototypes.

From your list I would say that I've seen only a scattering of the various Valiant SDCC and "thank you" cards. I've never seen a set of any of those offered - just small lots.

The 101 Dalmatians SW1 promo was not hard to get at first. Greta had at least a few and I got one from her for $15 in trade but the available supply dried up quickly.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
Very interesting list. And I agree with most of it. I personally have all of these promos, although on the Avengers A0 mine is not serially numbered. On Wings of Gold, I believe that I have only about 7 of the 18.

I would add these to the list:

Lion King SB1 (SkyBox)

Ultraverse Master Series H1 (just as elusive as the Creators P0)

Blackball Comics (SkyBox) P01 and P02; I don't think these have ever shown up on ebay in the past 20 years

101 Dalmations (SkyBox) SW1 from Petsmart

Valiant Comics (Upper Deck) 1993 San Diego Comic Con cards, 1993 Thank You cards, and 1994 Thank You cards (3 sets); sets of these are impossible to find; at the most, you will sometimes see singles of the 1993 SDCC and 1994 Thank You's, but never the 1993 Thank You's.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:

2. Avengers Series 1 (Cornerstone, 1992) The other promos in the set are elusive as well.

Jess

I still need A7 if anyone has one just lying around.

Jess,

The 1994 Valiant Thank You's came 1 per copy of an issue of Triton Magazine, so those are the easiest to find. Off the top of my head, there are 36 in the set. 15 years ago, I picked up 50-60 copies of the magazine for $ 1 each, and was able to put a set together. Plus, singles used to be plentiful on ebay years ago.

On the 1993 San Diego set (these cards reference the show on the back), again, singles could be found on ebay years ago, and putting together a set was tough, but not impossible.

On the 1993 Thank You set--which features artwork from the Deathmate comic-- you NEVER see these anymore, not even singles. I am not sure why. I was down to missing 3-4 cards and I had to buy them out of someone's collection, over 10 years ago. These were actually very tough to find, to BEGIN with.

I have:
2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14 and 15. Even between the collections of the 3 most advanced collectors, we can't make a complete set. From the looks of it, it would also appear that the entire 18 card set was made into a prototype one. What an amazing hobby!

Another desirable 1990s promo that I would add to the list is the mysterious Disney Premium SP1 card by SkyBox.

To date, no one has been able to determine its origin...

I think both my Wings of Gold prototypes came from either Glenn or Lee. There's a pretty good number of airplane card collectors out there. It's possible a lot of prototypes got snapped by them before a lot of other collectors heard about them. There are shows just for aviation memorabilia collectors in general. Checking out one of those might be productive.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by promoking:
I have:
2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14 and 15. Even between the collections of the 3 most advanced collectors, we can't make a complete set. From the looks of it, it would also appear that the entire 18 card set was made into a prototype one. What an amazing hobby!

In case you are wondering what a serially numbered Avengers A7 looks like, see here. This person had # 81/100

He also claims to have an A0, but I do not believe it is in the scan


https://www.worthpoint.com/wor...e-avengers-720645514

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
In case you are wondering what a serially numbered Avengers A7 looks like, see here. This person had # 81/100

He also claims to have an A0, but I do not believe it is in the scan


https://www.worthpoint.com/wor...e-avengers-720645514

Thanks for that David, is this another one of these cards that come number stamped but then there are more that are not stamped?

I believe so. I haven't looked at my A7 in awhile, but I think mine is 76/100. Something in the 70s.

Also, my A0 is definitely not the serially numbered one limited to 10.

Here is what the front of an A0 looks like.


http://deadduck.theavengers.tv/cards001Promos.htm

Hi Wolfie,

I've seen an A0 not stamped but have never seen a stamped one. In fact I had never even seen a photo of a stamped version of any of the promos until just now. The A7 and A0 were the stamped ones for Series 1. The B8 and B9 were the stamped ones in Series 2. The unstamped version of B9 is occasionally available.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
In case you are wondering what a serially numbered Avengers A7 looks like, see here. This person had # 81/100

He also claims to have an A0, but I do not believe it is in the scan


https://www.worthpoint.com/wor...e-avengers-720645514

Thanks for that David, is this another one of these cards that come number stamped but then there are more that are not stamped?

Good afternoon

None of my Avengers promos A1-A9, B1-B9 and C1-C3 have been stamped with a number. I also have B1, B4 (Patrick MacNee with Aeroplane), B5 (Diana Rigg in pose), B6, B7 all with backs showing only the black and white text along with the picture i.e. no blue or red text. In addition also have B4 (Patrick Macnee portrait) with a blank back.

regards

John

My Avengers A7 definitely has a 76 stamp on the back, similar to the one in that auction photo, which shows 81.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
Hi Wolfie,

I've seen an A0 not stamped but have never seen a stamped one. In fact I had never even seen a photo of a stamped version of any of the promos until just now. The A7 and A0 were the stamped ones for Series 1. The B8 and B9 were the stamped ones in Series 2.

My A0, B8 and B9 do not have a stamp on the back which brings up the next question, how many unstamped ones are out there? Also is a stamped one worth more than an unstamped one and would you pay more for one. I don't think i would pay a lot more just for a stamp.