Other than a want list in the trade section, I don't see any mention of the Dark Horse signing cards on this forum. I went to the San Diego Comic-Con from 1998 to 2001 so I picked up a lot of those cards but I also missed a few. In those days you picked up what you could and found out what you missed later - sometimes not until Todd started publishing PCE. You had to stand in long line at the Dark Horse booth to get them, and every hour, a different group of cards was available because a different group of signers (comic book artists who worked on the comics shown on the cards) would come in. Some artists didn't just sign but also added a quick sketch to the back of the card - sometimes taking a few minutes which I thought was very cool/very generous because the cards were free. I couldn't get in that line every hour, because even in those days, various other signings, panel discussions, and film viewings were happening every hour and it was also easy to get distracted in the dealer and artist areas.

An artist sometimes came back to sign a different card later in the day (and/or even the same card). Signers usually came back the next day or the day after so you had an extra chance to get the card you heard about but missed the day before.

Even with me going to SDCC every year but one of the signing card years and attending a couple of other conventions where a few of the cards were also given out, I am still missing a few and assume these are either the rare ones (one given out only for one hour on just one day) or I just happened to miss them. I was able to trade for a couple in the years afterward but haven't seen many for sale over the past several years.

Anyway, I'd like to know what other collectors think of these cards and which ones appeared to be harder-to-get than others. After the first year, the rare one seemed to be "Star Wars: Protocol Offensive" but then some started appearing on Ebay some years later and occasionally in recent years.

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

I would love to see a comprehensive list of these. I have some, but not nearly as many as I'd like. They came in several different sizes, too, regular card-sized and slightly oversized. Maybe we can get a list together. Who else has some of these?

Seem to remember that Todd documented these fairly well in his last PCE edition (2008)
Three large sets from 3 diff SD Comic Cons I thought...

I have that great book, but there's been more than three sets and they've issued plenty more since 2008...

Todd documented the sets from 1997 to 2001. He listed a total of 114 cards but there were 117. The three missing ones were from 2000 - all unnumbered:
"Battle Gods"
"Space Circus"
"Star Wars Underworld"

I didn't know Dark Horse made more cards later.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
I have that great book, but there's been more than three sets and they've issued plenty more since 2008...

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

Perhaps I am mistaken about the newer ones, then, and based on your obvious and detailed knowledge, it is likely that I am. Let me check what I've got (if I can find it!), and we may find out at last just how very full of it I am.

But, regardless, 117 different? Wow! That's some collection of those, and they really are beautifully designed. Dark Horse and IDW are both superior at creating these kinds of promo items to spread the word about the projects they publish.

From what I recall, the final series were regular sized cards, not oversized like the rest

Are they among the 117 on your list ?

Hi David,

Yes, the regular-sized 2001 cards are part of the 117 total.

Some cards were more in-demand (Star Wars, Bettie Page, Buffy) than others, but even if you had to buy them in those days, most were selling for a couple of bucks each. An expensive one was $10 so the yearly sets could be assembled rather cheaply over time. It does not appear that they have increased much in value though at least some of the ones with sketches might carry more value now.

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

Didn't Martin Casas write an article in NSU about these? I thought it was later than 2001.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill DeFranzo:
Didn't Martin Casas write an article in NSU about these? I thought it was later than 2001.

Bill....

Yes, Martin did. It was a three page article in our Feb/Mar '99 issue (Vol 10, #1). I think the cards were still being distributed at that time. The article had a history of the signing cards and Martin interviewed the Dark Horse employee behind the cards who gave a lot of insight into the cards, their history, printing quantities, which ones are more rare, etc. There was a list of cards with the article as well though I am not sure if it was complete.

If the issue is sold out, is it still possible to get a copy of that article?

Thanks and Happy Holidays,

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by H_Toser:

quote:

Originally posted by Bill DeFranzo:
Didn't Martin Casas write an article in NSU about these? I thought it was later than 2001.

Bill....

Yes, Martin did. It was a three page article in our Feb/Mar '99 issue (Vol 10, #1). I think the cards were still being distributed at that time. The article had a history of the signing cards and Martin interviewed the Dark Horse employee behind the cards who gave a lot of insight into the cards, their history, printing quantities, which ones are more rare, etc. There was a list of cards with the article as well though I am not sure if it was complete.

I've picked up this back issue since the previous post (and just got another one in a lot generously supplied by Cardaddict). I read the article back then but it's great to re-read now. As it was published in early 1999 (months before that year's summer conventions like Wizard World and SDCC), it lists just the cards given out in 1997 and 1998. I have still never even seen "Black Cross: Dirty Work," "Blade of the Immortal," nor "Starship Troopers: Insect Touch" from 1997 nor "Boogeyman" from 1998.

The article noted that the print runs for the cards promoting the more popular series (Star Wars) were about 2500 with "much lower print runs" for the smaller series. "Star Wars: Protocol Offensive" was a one-shot comic (not part of a series) so it also had a smaller print run. That explains the scarcity of that one and others then and now, though like I said, some Protocol Offensive cards appeared on the market years ago (around 2008-2010) with isolated appearances since. In some cases the one card I have is the only one I've seen. What helped me pick up a few extras later was that any leftover cards were given out at other conventions like WonderCon the following year.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by H_Toser:

quote:

Originally posted by Bill DeFranzo:
Didn't Martin Casas write an article in NSU about these? I thought it was later than 2001.

Bill....

Yes, Martin did. It was a three page article in our Feb/Mar '99 issue (Vol 10, #1). I think the cards were still being distributed at that time. The article had a history of the signing cards and Martin interviewed the Dark Horse employee behind the cards who gave a lot of insight into the cards, their history, printing quantities, which ones are more rare, etc. There was a list of cards with the article as well though I am not sure if it was complete.

Great reading. I Had completely forgotten that some of the cards had been short printed. No wonder I'm still missing a few which I never see for sale. Jess, can you post that article here?

Hi Promoking,

I don't have access to a scanner nor a copier so I'm afraid the answer is "no" at the moment. We're still shelter-in-place here. I used to copy and scan at Fex Ed but they shut down their public machines (they just ship stuff for now). The libraries are closed. I can see if I can find a place to copy/scan.

Edit: Thinking about it now, I wonder if I'd need permission from NSU/Beckett and the writer to post it here.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by promoking:
Great reading. I Had completely forgotten that some of the cards had been short printed. No wonder I'm still missing a few which I never see for sale. Jess, can you post that article here?

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

Jess,
I already knew you were a scholar. But now you're a gentleman too.
I'm not worried when, take your time.

Here are scans of the three not listed in PCE:

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

Thanks for posting those. I love this hobby. 20 years later I'm seeing DH cards I never knew existed.

Here's the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" card from the second series of Dark Horse signing cards that were given out at the 1998 San Diego Comic Con. It was the first "Buffy" card in the whole set (1997-2001) and has turned out to be the one least often seen in recent years.

Here's one of the rarer Dark Horse signing cards, "Star Wars: The Protocol Offensive." It had a lower print run than other cards because it promoted a one-shot comic and might have been given out on just one day at the 1997 San Diego Comic Con. Other Star Wars signing cards had print runs of 2500 and were available at more than one signing event at the show so they are not that hard to track down. This one was impossible to find until around 2009 when a few appeared on the market and then a couple of others in more recent years.

Here's another one rarely seen in recent years. It's the "Elric Stormbringer" card from the first series in 1997.