Non-Sport Update's Card Talk
PROMO-NOIR as a genre..?

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July 12, 2025, 02:31 AM
cardscout182
PROMO-NOIR as a genre..?
G'day all. Not sure if this has been posted before in another thread but I heard a comment on the radio last week regarding old 50's and 60's robot movies and the comment was "Robot-Noir" and it got me thinking about is "PROMO-NOIR" a thing and I think so.
I'm thinking of promo cards or sets from generally the early 1990's, usually the images are black and white or have very little color on the cards, usually around the subject of horror, monsters, crime etc. and not very mainstream in their appeal. A sort of Cult-following.

I'm listing below (and may add more in future), promo cards that I think fit this category. Please let me know what you think and happy if you add some others that you can think of or have images of.

Thanks and hope you like.

Dark Shadows,1993 Image Inc.
Hollywood Horrors,1993 Shel-Tone Publishing
Battle Between Two Planets, 1993 Blackmore Publishing
Monster Movie Classics, 1996 Monsterwax
Monster Movie Classics series 2, 1997 Monsterwax
Creepy Classics, 2000 Good Stuff cards
The Dark, 1993 Continum Comics
Scary Monsters Scare Cards: Horror-Hosts Various Years. Dennis Truktenis Publishing
Night of the Living Dead 25th Anniv. Edition, 1993 Imagine inc.
Heroes of the Blues, Kitchen Sink Press
Goon Squad, the Art of Charles Burns, 1988 Kitchen Sink Press
Jinx 1995, Caliber Comics
Night Slasher, 2004 Mystery Playhouse Productions...Ok, this one has colour and is mid-2000's but has that throwback feel to 60-70's crime thriller tv shows and the episodes I've seen, look really cool.



quote:
Please, a little respect. For I am Costanza, lord of the idiots

July 12, 2025, 03:19 AM
wolfie
Masters of horror....1993...imagine...3 card promo set.

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July 12, 2025, 04:10 AM
cardscout182
Thanks Wolfie, just thought of that one...
July 12, 2025, 08:31 AM
cardscout182
a few more to add...

Flash Gordon, 1991 Janinski
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, 1991 Janinski
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, 1991 Janinski


quote:
Please, a little respect. For I am Costanza, lord of the idiots...

July 13, 2025, 12:52 AM
catskilleagle
Yes, black and white promos are unusual. I thought of those "Violent Cases" promos.


July 13, 2025, 02:17 AM
catskilleagle
The Booksmith cards are all in black & white. The series started in the early 90's and some featured authors who wrote about early movies and later ones shot in black & white.
July 13, 2025, 03:06 AM
catskilleagle
And then there's those other promos released by Good Stuff Cards around 2000-2001 such as:

Boris Karloff: Beyond the Monster (4-card set)
Boris Karloff: Beyond the Monster II
Henchmen of Horror
Jeremy Irons as Boris Karloff
Monster Magazine Collectibles
Monster Magazine & Fanzine Collector's Guide #2
Promo Card Encyclopedia
Women of Horror
Zombie Movie Classics

This message has been edited. Last edited by: catskilleagle,
July 13, 2025, 03:48 AM
catskilleagle
I don't know if this really fits but that blank-backed Bruce Lee set by NGP was b/w.
July 13, 2025, 04:43 AM
cardscout182
Love those Violent Cases promos Jess. Yes, the others you mentioned probably fall into that genre. All good examples, thanks mate Metal
July 13, 2025, 10:54 AM
wolfie
Good Stuff Cards....i remember getting all those sets, i have them.........somewhere.

____________________
Come, it is time for you to keep your appointment with The Wicker Man.
July 13, 2025, 02:14 PM
catskilleagle
Here's one that fits for sure: Universal Monsters of the Silver Screen (6-card set).
July 13, 2025, 05:13 PM
wolfie
wasn.t there a 6 card promo set for the Prisoner tv series many years ago, they were black & white.

____________________
Come, it is time for you to keep your appointment with The Wicker Man.
July 13, 2025, 06:04 PM
catskilleagle
A 2-card uncut promo panel for the "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" set:






quote:
Originally posted by cardscout182:
a few more to add...

Flash Gordon, 1991 Janinski
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, 1991 Janinski
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, 1991 Janinski


quote:
Please, a little respect. For I am Costanza, lord of the idiots...

July 13, 2025, 09:17 PM
catskilleagle
And here's the other 2-card promo panel for the Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" set:



July 14, 2025, 12:16 AM
catskilleagle
"The Brian Lumley Collection" promo



July 14, 2025, 02:24 AM
JOHN LEVITT
Unstoppable and Strictly Ink have issued cards in Black and White as have Cult Stuff simply because the subject matter was originally in B & W when shown on TV because colour at the time TV did not exist.

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July 14, 2025, 07:49 AM
cardscout182
loving these posts, keep them coming Bouncey Clap
July 14, 2025, 03:12 PM
catskilleagle
Adrian, I keep coming up with more the more I think about this thread. Here's a 2 x 3 5/8-inch, glow-in-the-dark, Creature from the Black Lagoon" sticker from a set of 4 inserted one-per kid's meals at Burger King in 1997.



July 14, 2025, 03:45 PM
catskilleagle
A Dark Horse signing card with art by Frank Miller:



July 14, 2025, 05:57 PM
catskilleagle
Yes, John, I try to remind myself that Adrian's idea for this thread is not simply talking about or showing cards that were printed in black and white. We're showing to some extent how that genre/style of film noir has been depicted on cards. There's a darkness/ambiguity in the subject matter sometimes expressed as degrees of monstrosity in people, law-abiding individuals turning to crime, hardened criminals, and on to true monsters. And yet we sometimes sympathized with even the monsters. Larry Talbot didn't choose to be a werewolf.

Maybe "Flash Gordon" doesn't really fit well though there's that other element that Adrian added, the slide down to niche interest within the popular culture. Flash Gordon was a big deal and Hollywood has tried hard to bring him back but he's like Tarzan and The Lone Ranger. He's another one of Grandpa's heroes who hasn't been able to catch on with later generations. It's an interesting idea for a thread


quote:
Originally posted by JOHN LEVITT:
Unstoppable and Strictly Ink have issued cards in Black and White as have Cult Stuff simply because the subject matter was originally in B & W when shown on TV because colour at the time TV did not exist.