I had forgotten about the promo article in the August/September issue of NSU (Vol. 12, No. 4) which is a checklist of sorts of the most wanted promos as of that year. It was written by the late Bill DeFranzo and a certain David Rosciszewski. It's a similar list to the one we talked about in a 1996 Collect magazine article but some Card Talk members might not have read it the first time, or as in my case, have no recollection of it. The cards are shown with their approximate values at the time but don't appear to be in any particular order.

The Avengers (1993) Cornerstone: Promos A0, $200; A7, $130
The Avengers in Color (1993) Cornerstone: B8, speculative; B9 $100
Note: Yes, most of the first set of Avengers promos by Cornerstone are still in demand particularly those numbers. For some reason A3, A8, and A9 are easier to find. About 15 years ago, I saw an A0 (non-serial numbered sample) sell for $60.

Star Wars Vehicles (1997) Topps: P1, P2 refractor versions of both which were rarer than the regular versions (P1, $60, P2, $200).
Note: These are even harder to find now.

101 Dalmatians (1996) Skybox: SW1, speculative
Note: I recall this card immediately selling for $15 which was a lot at the time. It wasn't too long before you stopped seeing them for sale. The last one I saw went for $60 in 2005.

Vargas Pin-Up Girls 2 (1993) 21st Century Archives: unnumbered "prism" version, $10.
Note: This one was uncommon for a while but is easy to find now, selling in the $6-10 range.

Superman The Man of Steel Premium Edition (1994) Skybox: SW1, $30
Note: It was certainly scarce for a while but then a number of copies started appearing on Ebay about 10 years ago. You can find it in the $30-50 range.

Bone (1994) Cards Illustrated: unnumbered "The Hooded One," no price listed.
Note: It was the one in the set you couldn't get inserted with the magazine. It remains hard to find. One sold for $175 last year.

Betty Page Illustrated (1995) Topps: unnumbered, $15.
Note: You could find it back then but it was uncommon. I see sellers trying to get $50 or more but haven't seen one sell in years. I would say it's still in the $15-20 range but it might go for $30 now. A dealer told me this one was a Glamourcon exclusive.

Amish Life and Heritage (1993) GNM: unnumbered, $5.
Note: It was elusive and it went for more than $5 for a while. I haven't seen a sale in years.

Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) Cornerstone: P8, $10.
Note: This was an unreleased card that appeared for sale after the company went out of business. You might find it for less than that these days.

Biohazard (1998) Wildstorm/JPP Amada: unnumbered, not priced.
Note: You can find this one in the $5-10 range.

I'll have to get back to this list later. Feel free to comment on what's already here.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: catskilleagle,

continuing the list...

Chinese Shar-Pei Collection (1992) GNM: unnumbered, $10.
Note: This was one of those cards we didn't see in the 90's on the west coast. I always had the feeling it was given out at an east coast show. Glenn had a couple of these, I think. I saw one for sale maybe last year but don't know what it sold for.

Joe Jusko's Edgar Rice Burroughs Collection (1995) FPG: P5, $225.
Note: That's a crazy price now because a number of these showed up in the mid-2000's after FPG stopped making cards. I saw one sell for $25 in 2005 and would be surprised if it goes for more than that now.

Lion King (1994) Skybox: SB1, $25.
Note: Still one of the holy grails.

Coca-Cola Sign of Good Taste (1996) Collect-A-card: unnummbered, $150.
Note: At first someone said maybe 10 were in existence. I got suspicious when a guy was wandering a Santa Clara, CA show with at least 15 for sale and I got one of the ones he sold to a friend for $20-25. The high end price went down to $100 or less by 2008. It's still an uncommon card. The last time I saw one sell, it went for about $30-35.

Congo (1995) Upper Deck: unnumbered: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund" card, $5.
Note: This card was actually an insert in the regular packs. One sold recently for $10.

Cowboys and Indians (1994) Dart Flipcards: unnumbered, $10.
Note: It was hard-to-find until you found out you could get one in factory sets of "Colorado Comics Future Stars."

DC Cosmic Teams (1993) Skybox: P1, $2.
Edit: This one was once hard-to-find as well until a number of them started appearing for sale maybe 7-8 years ago. Someone said it was inserted in a magazine but another well-informed collector didn't think so. The going-rate has been up, down, and back up selling for about $8 now.

Godzilla (1998) Inkworks: P1 regular size, $500.
Note: It was unreleased but some appeared on the market. I haven't seen one sell but assume it's a maybe $400 card.
Edit: one sold for $289 in August 2021.

Hammer Horror 2 (1997) Cornerstone: P2 variant, no price
Note: It appeared on the market after the company went out of business. I know one sold in the mid-2000's for about $100 but haven't seen one sell since then.

Little Mermaid (1991) Pro Set: unnumbered pop-out promo, speculative.
Note: A few of these have appeared in recent years. I saw one sell for $75.

Norma Jeane Marilyn (1993) Private Collection: Proto 1, not priced.
Note: I've seen this one sell for $75-100 by itself but it's been a few years. This one is usually offered as part of a small lot of prototypes of the same color combination.

Portfolio 1993 (1993) Portfolio: 5 of 5 (Steffi Graf), $25.
Note: This one was actually just a rare insert in the regular packs. You can find it for less now.

Star Trek Generations (1995) Skybox: #0, $30.
Note: It's not always easy-to-find but you can still get it for about $30.

Star Trek Voyager Season 1, Series 2 (1995) Skybox: #0, $75.
Note: I haven't seen one of these sell recently.

Star Wars Galaxy Series 2 (1994) Topps: P3, speculative
Note: It went for hundreds but has come down to about $300-350. It's been said to be extremely rare but there always seems to be one for sale.

Lois & Clark (1995) Skybox: LC2 (prototype), $25.
Note: I haven't seen one sell recently. It's still hard-to-find and I would guess it would sell for a lot more than that..

Speed Racer (1993) Prime Time Productions: P3, speculative.
Note: One of the holy grails, of course. You don't see it for sale.

Terminator 2 (1991) Impel: unnumbered, $50.
Note: I saw one sell for just $25 last year but it can go for more than that.

Three Stooges (1997) Market Square Productions: unnumbered, $10.
Note: It's probably the rarest of all the Three Stooges promos. It might be one of those $35-50 cards - maybe more with all the interest in the recent sets by RRParks.

Star Trek Thirty Years Phase Three (1996) Fleer/Skybox: unnumbered, $20.
Note: No recent sales known. I see sellers try to get $40 for it with no takers.

It's an interesting list. I think the one that would go for the most in an auction would be the Speed Racer P3. That might go for well over $500. The Lion King SB1 might go for that. The Hammer Horror 2 P2 variant could go for more than $300. The Star Wars Vehicles P2 refractor would be my pick for a surprise contender. There are likely a lot of Star Wars collectors who still want that one and it's rare for a Star Wars promo (160 print run).

Jess

This message has been edited. Last edited by: catskilleagle,

Well certainly there are two cards on that list that are on my wants list.

Avengers A7

Hammer Horror P2 variant.

I'll offer a few comments on the NSU list, which I helped compile many years ago.

The DC Cosmic Teams P1 was definitely not in Wizard magazine. No one is sure how it was distributed. Odd looking picture of the Legion of Superheroes

Yes, I believe that Bill DeFranzo told me later that the Congo was a common pack insert. Oops.

We included the Bone "Hooded One" Cards Illustrated promo, but for some reason we did not put in the other 3 CI cards which are ultra impossible to find, and which you never see. Going from memory they are Wetworks #10, Extreme # 10, and Cyberforce #9, I think. I'd have to check PCE.

Also, the "Hooded One" card is not unnumbered. Isn't it card # 6 ?

Hi David,

Yes, my mistake, it is #6.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
Also, the "Hooded One" card is not unnumbered. Isn't it card # 6 ?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: catskilleagle,

I would swear someone told me the DC Cosmic Teams P1 came out of a magazine. There are a number of "source n.k." notations in PCE2008 and I have determined a few of those. In some cases a shorter-lived magazine like Comic Book Collector was the source, or one of them, for a promo. I might have an old note on that and will check.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
I'll offer a few comments on the NSU list, which I helped compile many years ago.

The DC Cosmic Teams P1 was definitely not in Wizard magazine. No one is sure how it was distributed. Odd looking picture of the Legion of Superheroes

Yes, I believe that Bill DeFranzo told me later that the Congo was a common pack insert. Oops.

We included the Bone "Hooded One" Cards Illustrated promo, but for some reason we did not put in the other 3 CI cards which are ultra impossible to find, and which you never see. Going from memory they are Wetworks #10, Extreme # 10, and Cyberforce #9, I think. I'd have to check PCE.

Also, Bill DeFranzo told me that the Portfolio 93 # 5 was a case card

So I don't know, did that come 1 per case in the packs, or was it given separately to dealers somehow ? Anyone know ?

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
Also, Bill DeFranzo told me that the Portfolio 93 # 5 was a case card

So I don't know, did that come 1 per case in the packs, or was it given separately to dealers somehow ? Anyone know ?

The Steffi Graf 5/5 was definatly a case card however it has always been a bit vague on how many cases you had to buy to get one.

I just noticed in another thread that Promoking reported a $275 sale of a 101 Dalmatians SW1 in 2017.

quote:

Portfolio 93 # 5 was a case card

From what I can find in my Father's notes Portfolio 93 # 5 was a case card, but it turns out as we know it was not in all cases. He was never sure how many 1:1 cases were supposed to have the card. It could have been an after-the-fact dealer card, but that is pure speculation.

quote:

Originally posted by David DeFranzo:

quote:

Portfolio 93 # 5 was a case card

From what I can find in my Father's notes Portfolio 93 # 5 was a case card, but it turns out as we know it was not in all cases. He was never sure how many 1:1 cases were supposed to have the card. It could have been an after-the-fact dealer card, but that is pure speculation.

Thanks for that David. Last time i spoke about this with anyone we sort of decided on 1 for every 5 cases purchased but as usual we could not prove it.

Nice to see your post David DeFranzo. Have you had a chance to go over your father’s non promo card collection ? As best as I remember it too was quite extensive. Are you continuing to collect?
Hope to see more posts from you on this forum!

Mr. DeFranzo,

Thanks for the notes. As you know, your dad wasn't just a collector, which can be work on its own, he was a card historian and he always relayed information that he picked up along the road. I still have a couple of his late 90's price lists which also had his want list at the time. I've used them for reference. Some of the cards I hadn't seen nor even recalled other collectors talk about but I knew to look for them because they were on the list. This year, I found a G.I. Joe promo pack from Impel that way. It's maybe my favorite find of the year. Thanks, Bill.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by David DeFranzo:

quote:

Portfolio 93 # 5 was a case card

From what I can find in my Father's notes Portfolio 93 # 5 was a case card, but it turns out as we know it was not in all cases. He was never sure how many 1:1 cases were supposed to have the card. It could have been an after-the-fact dealer card, but that is pure speculation.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: catskilleagle,

Mr. Promo King! Yes, I have managed to get some of the older sets into great collectors' hands. I wanted the '50s and 60's sets to be enjoyed by my Father's generation. Still have a while to go. His Non-Sport collection was vast.

quote:

Originally posted by promoking:
Nice to see your post David DeFranzo. Have you had a chance to go over your father’s non promo card collection ? As best as I remember it too was quite extensive. Are you continuing to collect?
Hope to see more posts from you on this forum!

Jess - Many thanks! My father loved the hobby and he loved to help other collectors enjoy the Hobby. Great score on the GI Joe!!

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
Mr. DeFranzo,

Thanks for the notes. As you know, our dad wasn't just a collector, which can be work on its own, he was a card historian and he always relayed information that he picked up along the road. I still have a couple of his late 90's price lists which also had his want list at the time. I've used them for reference. Some of the cards I hadn't seen nor even recalled other collectors talk about but I knew to look for them because they were on the list. This year, I found a G.I. Joe promo pack from Impel that way. It's maybe my favorite find of the year. Thanks, Bill.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by David DeFranzo:

quote:

Portfolio 93 # 5 was a case card

From what I can find in my Father's notes Portfolio 93 # 5 was a case card, but it turns out as we know it was not in all cases. He was never sure how many 1:1 cases were supposed to have the card. It could have been an after-the-fact dealer card, but that is pure speculation.