Here are the two unnumbered cards (Takeshi Mori, 2000) inserted with the Vandread "Great Expectations" DVD. They promote the first season of "Vandread," a Japanese anime TV show that ran for two seasons (2000-2002). The shrinkwrap had a sticker that says "Includes Holographic Foil Cards." These cards have refractor foil (holofoil) fronts and they have the same regular card backs.

Both cards have the same tiny numbers on the front so they aren't card numbers. They might indicate that they were inserted together in the same DVD.

I don't know how many cards are in the set but I've seen at least 8 different ones.

This set, the Olympic Innovator's Collection is not listed in PCE2008. A couple of the cards are shown on Todd's new site.

I found a pack at a flea market a couple of years ago. I remember you could find singles for sale or trade back in the late 90's (Bill had some for trade) but it was hard to find a set and even singles became scarce for several years. It appears either sets and singles have re-entered the secondary market after some old collections have been bought or someone found a box of packs somewhere a couple of years ago because sets seemed to be coming out of nowhere now. It's a cool old set.

I found another pretty good deal on an unopened action figure with an exclusive card from the X-Men Classics Toy Biz set at a local comic shop.

On the left is a 1/10 "Beast" Suspended Animation chase card from the X-Men Ultra '95 set (Fleer, 1995) and the one on the right is the variant card packed with the Beast figure. The two cards have the same art and are identified as Suspended Animation cards but the chase is a cel/acetate card with the "Fleer Ultra '95" logo in gold foil and a 1994 copyright date while toy insert card is regular card stock without the logo.

Allender's site notes that there is a toy insert variant for each of the 10 Suspended Animation chase cards but Amalia Barrios' site says that there only six variants exist (Beast, Cyclops, Gambit, Magneto, Storm, and Wolverine). A check of Ebay reveals those six but no others. It's possible there are all ten but I still haven't seen them.

I should add that I've also seen what appear to be base cards from the X-Men Ultra '94 set instead of the variants packed with those action figures.

Also, cards that have been sealed for just over the past thirty years can show signs of damage from deformation of the cardboard backing of the packaging. They can be bowed or even creased, so if you want the figure mostly for the card now, you might want to buy one in person in order to get a close look at it (tough to judge in the provided photos of an Ebay listing). They are also partly taped in place to help secure them in the packaging. After all this time, the tape can just fall off but might leave a minor stain on the card.

However, with the Beast card some tape residue remains and is still a little sticky and it'll be tough to find a way to clean/peel that off without taking some ink and/or damaging the card stock. I couldn't see that through the packaging so I would advise collectors to buy loose cards rather than still-sealed toys if you're just interested in the cards. The card is a bit bowed (and slightly creased on the left side) so I might have to try putting it between two pieces of waxed paper with a weight on it to flatten it out.

I only have images for the six you list. I have blank spots on PCE for the other four, but I cannot recall ever seeing them. I may have borrowed Jeff;s list (he and I share info). I should maybe adjust PCE to reflect this. Maybe mention the other four are said to be out there but Ive not seen them.

Here's the Darkforce promo discussed in another thread. It can be found the sealed copies of the Darkforce #2 comic (Omega 7 Comics, 1993). The artwork on the card is dated but I can't make out the artist's name. Some collectors have likely seen this card but didn't know what it was nor where it came from as it is untitled and blank-backed.

This Cheese Heads dual-image lenticular card is a bit of a mystery. It's one from a set of at least 3 and maybe as many as 6. It's undated but one seller says it's from the 90's and I vagely remember that. A collector who specialized in lenticular cards of all kinds doesn't recall the set number either.

At 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches, it's a bit smaller than standard size. I don't see anything online about the cards. In one search Google told me words to the effect of "they don't exist." Uh, I'm holding one and there's the same one on Ebay right now.

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

Here are 5 promos (P1-P5) for the "Comic Book Advertising" set (RRParks, 2020). They were sent out by the company. They also promote "The Wrapper." I like the subject - the comic book ads for toys and odd little items. Who didn't want to see live Sea Monkeys? I wanted the submarine.

Four cards are oversized (3 3/8 x 3 1/2 inches), and in the set I have, the P5 is a little larger at 3 1/2 inches square.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
Here are 5 promos (P1-P5) for the "Comic Book Advertising" set (RRParks, 2020). They were sent out by the company. They also promote "The Wrapper." I like the subject - the comic book ads for toys and odd little items. Who didn't want to see live Sea Monkeys? I wanted the submarine.

Do you remember the ads for the "6 foot poster of Frankenstein"? The artwork was by Jack Davis, who worked on a lot of Topps sets in the sixties.

A couple of years ago I saw the documentary on Gilber Gottfried, and he had that poster on his apartment wall.

Isn't there a trading card with that Frankenstein art? I might be thinking of something else. A poster showing various cards with Jack Davis art would be cool.

I don't recall that specific ad. I did send away for the Sea Monkeys.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
Here are 5 promos (P1-P5) for the "Comic Book Advertising" set (RRParks, 2020). They were sent out by the company. They also promote "The Wrapper." I like the subject - the comic book ads for toys and odd little items. Who didn't want to see live Sea Monkeys? I wanted the submarine.

Do you remember the ads for the "6 foot poster of Frankenstein"? The artwork was by Jack Davis, who worked on a lot of Topps sets in the sixties.

A couple of years ago I saw the documentary on Gilber Gottfried, and he had that poster on his apartment wall.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:

Do you remember the ads for the "6 foot poster of Frankenstein"? The artwork was by Jack Davis, who worked on a lot of Topps sets in the sixties.

Here's the ad for the poster.

https://www.zomboscloset.com/z...kenstein-pin-up.html

Here's an unreleased sample variant of an HI-SJ Shirley Jones card from the Hollywood Icons chase set of the Americana Celebrity Cuts set (Donruss, 2008). It's one of several cards that were presented to Upper Deck company executives as the idea of this set was pitched to them. These cards differ from the released variants. It's hard to see in the scan but the word "Sample" is lightly stamped onto the back just above the words "doubting Shirley Jones as a." It's not stamped in ink or foil - more of an impression that's not easy to see even in person until you tilt the card under a good light source.

These samples were never released to the public. Somebody at Upper Deck might still have some. I'm not sure how many different ones there are but it's at least five.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
I'm not sure how many different ones there are but it's at least five.

I have scans of 19 different. I haven't given them the workover yet as I haven't looked into them. If the retail versions are marked of 200, how many samples did they make, I wonder.

Hang on. Shouldn't a sample card like the Jones shown above, variant or not, be in its own category. It's not a promo because it wasn't distributed to the general public.

I know no one will be making a Sample Picture Guide, but if these are design samples made to be shown to in-house employees, they fall under set development. Often times cards given to manufacturer employees or vendors, either as perks or just temporary handouts, make it out the back door and get sold. They have value and may be interesting in terms of card design, some more so than others, but there is nothing promotional about them.

Back in the day the supposed back door cards was a ready excuse to peddle fake cards stamped sample or promo, which were never legitimately made. The sample card was on even shakier ground than the promo in that it implies an unfinished product. Novice collectors thought they were getting rare cards available only to insiders.

You could call them prototypes and those have been listed in PCE. Todd likes to cover pretty much anything pre-production.

A sample can be just a freebie - a card from the set stamped "sample" or not - and "sample" has been interchangeable with promo in some sets. Sometimes a promo has been called a "promotional sample" as in that Iceman card from Marvel Masterpieces '95.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
You could call them prototypes and those have been listed in PCE. Todd likes to cover pretty much anything pre-production.

A sample can be just a freebie - a card from the set stamped "sample" or not - and "sample" has been interchangeable with promo in some sets. Sometimes a promo has been called a "promotional sample" as in that Iceman card from Marvel Masterpieces '95.

OK, I didn't know that cards meant only to be seen by insiders for pre-production qualified as promos. If that was the actual purpose, you wouldn't think there would be very many of them made.

Calling it a sample or prototype would be more believable. The problem is that these terms were not interchangeable. They were meant to be specific to the distribution and the manufacturer's process. It got muddled in large part on purpose when everything that got stamped as a promo, or a sample, or a prototype was in demand. How many of those never even had sets?

Seems like the more people try to clean up card terminology, the more confusion comes from it.