Does anybody know how many of these exist.
SIMPSONS DOWNUNDER RARE SAMPLE BARTARANG CARD.
It says Sample of 50.
How many known copies out there...??

The Bartarang card found withing packs was sequentially numbered to 50. You could send it in and it would be returned to you with a hole punched through it along with a unique hand painted Simpsons themed boomerang.

The sample version is the same card however in the area where the pack-pulled version would be sequentially numbered, the sample card instead reads "Sample Not For Re-sale" and is not numbered. The "out of 50" that appears on the sample version does not necessarily mean there were 50 sample cards made, and there could be more or less. However, Tempo's Sample cards really were limited edition items intended to show prospective distributors what the cards were like, as opposed to the more common promo cards which were made in greater quantity for purposes of general distribution.

I used to have 2 of the Bartarang Sample cards, but only have one left now. I also have the uncut chase card sheets which were definitely limited to 50 (they are numbered at the bottom of the sheets. I have set #12 out of 50). One of the uncut sheets includes a 3rd version of the Bartarang card. While essentially the same card as the other two, this one is different than the others in that it is neither sequentially numbered nor does it have the words "Sample Not for Resale" in the space intended for the sequential numbering.

At the time the set was current (around 1997), I was also able to buy a matched sequentially numbered set of the "Homer As" and "America's Most Nuclear Family 3 card redemption set" chase cards along with the Binder card. All of the cards have the matching serial numbers of #150, pretty cool. Unfortunately, only 50 of the actual Bartarang card were made, so it was not included in the matched number lot, which at 150 was a full one hundred numbers higher the than highest Bartarang.

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

I have 2 complete sets of the sample cards, and both contain the sample Bartarang. So in my opinion, that card isn't tougher to find than the other samples, but perhaps I just got lucky

It's been well over 10 years since I bought my sample sets, and I don't recall paying a whole lot for them.

I'm pretty sure the Sample Bartarang would now sell for over $200 by itself, given my experience with it, so you made great buys on that pair of sample sets, no doubt. The 3 card Redemption Sample set could be worth nearly as much as the Bartarang, same goes for the sample Binder card. The Homer As sample set must be worth at least $50, maybe more. It all adds up to a nice number.

I bought my sample sets way back when too, from a couple of different big time Australian dealers, but I don't remember them being cheap. I'm a Simpsons card collector first, though, so I couldn't resist them. Luckily, the quality and limited nature of the cards have kept them very popular especially with International collectors.

At this point, my entire Simpsons card collection has been less than free to me because I doubled up back then on so many of the cards that I've since sold off to luckily recoup all of my costs, and more. I knew the Simpsons were no flash in the pan, but who'd have thought they'd 20+ years with no sign of stopping? A great example of "collect what you love, and you can't go wrong".

Back to the Bartarang, ultimately, for our purposes as card collectors, the very best version has to be the a pack pulled unpunched Bartarang card numbered to 50. Although, as I understand it, most of the Bartarangs weren't redeemed, so the majority of the 50 are unpunched. I would imagine some remain in sealed packs.

Simpson Tempo provides a view of the massive production runs of the of the 1990's. When only 15,000 boxes of that set were issued back in 1997, that was a TRULY limited run, yet even so, unopened boxes of it still pop up with regularity and sell for between about $150, only about double the original retail price.

Can you imagine how many of the 200,000(+!) boxes of the 1994 Skybox DC Master Series, for instance, must still be out there in sealed cases? And how long before those sell, if ever, for anything remotely near their original retail cost? Still, those are some great looking cards! (always a bright side, see?)

About 10-12 years ago, I bought from (I believe)the same source, 1 of every single 1990s Australian sample set that they did. Off the top of my head, I have all of the Barbie sets, Pumped Up Down Under, Beatrix Potter, Simpsons, Gladiators, and whatever else Tempo did. Any of the sample sets listed in PCE, I have

The only sample set I don't have (not by Tempo) is that Australian set, Destroy All Monsters. I have never come across a set of those samples for sale

One odd thing I noticed on my Tempos, on a few of the sets, there is at least one card per set that does NOT say sample on the back. This is true for 1 of each of the cards in my Barbie sets, perhaps others. However, I don't think that someone scammed me, as the cards don't have serial #s on them, so they are not common cards from the sets. I guess some had misprints

Pretty cool to have all those sample sets! The May Gibbs and Beatrix Potter (World of Peter Rabbit) sets were especially beautiful, and both Barbie sets were pretty nice, too.

I was actually able to get the complete Gladiators sample set (in the official binder) for $10 plus $10 shipping on Ebay just a few months ago, so not too much interest in that one given the obscurity of the set. The U.S. version of that show is not particularly well remembered, let alone the Australian version which the Tempo set was based on. Still, nice cards, and you can't beat the price.

I've seen most of the other non-Simpsons Tempo sample sets go up on Ebay, usually for $100 or so (without takers, to my knowledge), so the Simpsons set has far and away the highest value, with my conservative estimate for the whole Sample set being at least $500 as I broke down above.

As for misprints, I don't remember seeing any of mine from either set lacking the "sample not for resale" line. I do have a cool pack-pulled "Homer as Dame Edna" that is not only not serial numbered, but the entire reverse side of the card is blank (white) and the front is missing both the Gold Foil lettering and the UV coating. Hard to figure how that one got into a pack. I'm thinking it was some sort of printers proof card.

If a sample set was made for the "Destroy All Monsters" set, I hope you find it. Congrats on all the others, though, I'm green with envy. Tempo was a fantastic company...

Which sets do you have samples on ?

I checked, and I have sample sets of:

Simpsons Down Under
Barbie
World of Barbie
Pumped Up Down Under
Beatrix Potter
Gladiators
May Gibbs

I also have promos for Rugrats, Rhythm of Australian Music, and Great Australian Achievers, but no samples on those--not sure if they exist

Yes, some of my Barbies definitely do not have the "sample" stamp on them, but no serial #, either

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
Which sets do you have samples on ?

I checked, and I have sample sets of:

Simpsons Down Under
Barbie
World of Barbie
Pumped Up Down Under
Beatrix Potter
Gladiators
May Gibbs

I also have promos for Rugrats, Rhythm of Australian Music, and Great Australian Achievers, but no samples on those--not sure if they exist

Yes, some of my Barbies definitely do not have the "sample" stamp on them, but no serial #, either

The Ultimate chase cards for the rugrats exist. They don't say sample, they say of 50 with no number.

Destroy All Robots didn't have any sample cards, just the promos as stated in PCE and also the uncut sheet of promos, of which there are only 5, numbered 1 of 5 to 5 of 5 and signed by the artist.
The one below is numbered 5 of 5.

A sample Bartarang card just sold on eBay for $340 US.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Simpsons-D...&hash=item19c781079e

The same seller also sold an actual Bartarang card (#3 of 50) for $871 US.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Simpsons-D...&hash=item19c7810561

That guy has an amazing collection, the stuff of legend as far as Simpsons cards go!

He listed a full set plus of Sketches from Simpsons Mania individually over the past few weeks and got the usual higher price for the Rich Moore sketch (out of the 9 contributing artists, only Moore's cards are in color), but more of note, was the realized price of $400 for a Phil Ortiz sketch. Phil's sketches are unusual for the set in that each one features unique characters, with very few repeats. He went deep to the well to do the many supporting and even guest actor voiced characters the show had accumulated in its first 10 years. Even so, I hadn't seen an Ortiz card achieve that price before ($200 or so used to be the going rate), but they now come up so seldomly, there's a lot of intere$t in them when they do. The one that sold featured Jessica, Reverend Lovejoy's wayward daughter, voiced by Meryl Streep. The one in my collection (pack pulled, thank goodness), features Karl, Homer's personal assistant in the episode where he grew hair, voiced by Harvey Fierstein.

The seller will also do very well with the Art D'Bart Skybox sketch he has now. It has a few lines of text on it below the drawing, very desirable, an $800 card at a minimum, based on recent sales of Art D'Barts.

There is also an actual Bartarang prize hand painted boomerang on currently, beautifully framed, and really sublime where Simpsons collectibles go, but pricey to say the least.

The best I can claim from Downunder is Uncut sheets of the chase cards, including the Bartatang, numbered out of 50 and set of the insert singles (binder card, Homer As 7 card set, 3 Card Redemption set) all with the same matching serial number, and a set of the sample singles including the Bartarang.

I also have an uncut sheet of the polycard (plastic) insert cards from the set (7 Duffs Beer Bottle cards & 4 card Springfield's Finest set). The sheet holds four sets of those Simpsons Inserts plus a couple of sets of the four card polycard set intended to be issued in the Tempo Rugrats set, but never issued for whatever reason.

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

Yes, I picked up one of each of the sample sets back in the mid-late 90's as well and believe at least most from the same Australian dealer (don't recall the name but the catalogue/price list was like a newspaper). I think they were in the $50-75 range at the time but the Simpsons set might have been $100, because even then, it was more in-demand. Someone sold a set for $150 about ten years ago but I haven't seen one for sale since. I think someone sold a Bartarang sample card for $200-300 in the early 2000's. As with the sales noted in this thread, it's an example of Simpsons collectors and promo collectors chasing the same rarities so the value continues to be driven higher even in slow economic times.

I agree that the Beatrix Potter samples represent one of the more beautiful promo sets - easily Top 10 in my opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
Pretty cool to have all those sample sets! The May Gibbs and Beatrix Potter (World of Peter Rabbit) sets were especially beautiful, and both Barbie sets were pretty nice, too.

I was actually able to get the complete Gladiators sample set (in the official binder) for $10 plus $10 shipping on Ebay just a few months ago, so not too much interest in that one given the obscurity of the set. The U.S. version of that show is not particularly well remembered, let alone the Australian version which the Tempo set was based on. Still, nice cards, and you can't beat the price.

I've seen most of the other non-Simpsons Tempo sample sets go up on Ebay, usually for $100 or so (without takers, to my knowledge), so the Simpsons set has far and away the highest value, with my conservative estimate for the whole Sample set being at least $500 as I broke down above.

As for misprints, I don't remember seeing any of mine from either set lacking the "sample not for resale" line. I do have a cool pack-pulled "Homer as Dame Edna" that is not only not serial numbered, but the entire reverse side of the card is blank (white) and the front is missing both the Gold Foil lettering and the UV coating. Hard to figure how that one got into a pack. I'm thinking it was some sort of printers proof card.

If a sample set was made for the "Destroy All Monsters" set, I hope you find it. Congrats on all the others, though, I'm green with envy. Tempo was a fantastic company...

Other Rare cards are the box cards found randomly when you buy a box number up to 625
Folder cards up to 500 when you ordered the card holding folder from tempo.
Carton Cards found randomly in the big box's that the little box's where in not sure how many though i have one.
woohoo card up to 200

The unfortunate thing about buying the first Barbie sample set is that the non-serial numbered BR1-BR6 subset was not included with my purchase. I didn't learn that until years later. I haven't seen the singles for sale.

There is a sample Bartarang card you know where right now

Oh yeah, the original question. I think either the dealer or another collector told me that there were 100 of the sample sets printed.

I just read through this thread. I didn't know about the different variants (blank back, no sample print/no serial number).

Edit: I should add someone else has said that there were 200 sample sets total though I don't know if that counts uncut sheets.

quote:

Originally posted by cardsparadise:
Does anybody know how many of these exist.
SIMPSONS DOWNUNDER RARE SAMPLE BARTARANG CARD.
It says Sample of 50.
How many known copies out there...??

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

I had not heard of the Rugrats 4-card polycard set and am assuming it was only available as part of that uncut sheet. That's the thing to keep in mind about uncut sheets in general. When you get a chance to look at one, look it over. Sometimes you see a card (or a version of a card) that ended up not getting distributed or was limited in some way (like a card exclusive to the official binder that might become hard-to-find later).

Sometimes I see uncut sheets for sale at flea markets/garage sales and they're usually cheap but they're water-damaged/stained past the point of desirability.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
That guy has an amazing collection, the stuff of legend as far as Simpsons cards go!

He listed a full set plus of Sketches from Simpsons Mania individually over the past few weeks and got the usual higher price for the Rich Moore sketch (out of the 9 contributing artists, only Moore's cards are in color), but more of note, was the realized price of $400 for a Phil Ortiz sketch. Phil's sketches are unusual for the set in that each one features unique characters, with very few repeats. He went deep to the well to do the many supporting and even guest actor voiced characters the show had accumulated in its first 10 years. Even so, I hadn't seen an Ortiz card achieve that price before ($200 or so used to be the going rate), but they now come up so seldomly, there's a lot of intere$t in them when they do. The one that sold featured Jessica, Reverend Lovejoy's wayward daughter, voiced by Meryl Streep. The one in my collection (pack pulled, thank goodness), features Karl, Homer's personal assistant in the episode where he grew hair, voiced by Harvey Fierstein.

I also have an uncut sheet of the polycard (plastic) insert cards from the set (7 Duffs Beer Bottle cards & 4 card Springfield's Finest set). The sheet holds four sets of those Simpsons Inserts plus a couple of sets of the four card polycard set intended to be issued in the Tempo Rugrats set, but never issued for whatever reason.

Does someone have a scan of what the actual Bartarang looks like ? Not the card.

Hi Chesspiece,

There's an auction running that says only six Bartarangs were made. I assume there was a redemption deadline and they were made based on how many redemption cards were sent in by that time. There is also an auction running for what is said to be the prototype for the Bartarangs which was owned by the creative director at Tempo.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:

Back to the Bartarang, ultimately, for our purposes as card collectors, the very best version has to be the a pack pulled unpunched Bartarang card numbered to 50. Although, as I understand it, most of the Bartarangs weren't redeemed, so the majority of the 50 are unpunched. I would imagine some remain in sealed packs.

Here's a shot from the auction. The dimensions of the box are said to be 22x9x1 inches.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Does someone have a scan of what the actual Bartarang looks like ? Not the card.