From around 1992 to 1995 Republic Pictures released special VHS anniversary editions of its movies from the 1940's and 50's. Some of these had a special sticker on the front to let you know one or two cards (a miniature reproduction of the movie and sometimes also one of a lobby card) were inserted with the video. The cards are blank-backed and oversized - roughly 4 x 6 but at least one is a little smaller. There doesn't appear to be a checklist anywhere so the set number is unknown. These are movies from when they were filmed in black-and-white but the posters and lobby cards were colorful so if you're into movie cards, you might want to add a few to your collection.

Here are two cards that were inserted with the specially-marked 45th Anniversary VHS edition (1995) of "Rio Grande," a movie from rather early in John Wayne's career. The top card is a miniature reproduction of the movie poster and measures 3 7/8 x 5 11/16 inches. The bottom one is the same size and is a miniature reproduction of a lobby card.



I've seen other cards. Some of the special editions have just one card inserted. All the ones I've seen are blank-backed. They're nice, colorful cards - great stuff for the movie card collector. Most of the ones I've seen are for John Wayne movies.

This one was inserted with the special 1998 VHS edition of "The Fighting Kentuckian" (Republic Pictures, 1949). It's a 3 7/8 x 5 11/16-inch miniature reproduction of an original lobby card. It's unusual for the set in that the video packaging does not mark it as a special anniversary edition but it does bear a sticker noting that a card is inside.

You can find a 40th anniversary VHS edition of "High Noon," the classic western. I haven't seen one with a sticker saying there's a card inside but have seen at least one seller offering a used video with two cards so it's possible that there are cards with unmarked videos.

There is a special collector's boxed edition celebrating the 40th anniversary. It comes with an exclusive book, one miniature poster reproduction and four miniature lobby card reproductions. I haven't run across a similar edition of any of the other movies.

This 3 7/8 x 5 1/8-inch card inserted with the specially-marked 40th Anniversary VHS edition of the "The Quiet Man" was available in 1992. It's a miniature reproduction of an original lobby card. Look for a sticker on the shrink-wrap noting that a card is inside.

These are great, thanks for the images and descriptions!

Yes, great cards and I don't mind that these and the Paramount cards are oversized either. You get a little more of the lobby card and poster impact - more of a cinematic feel with the colors and graphics closer to the size they were designed for. They fit fine in 2-pocket pages even when slipped into the sleeves made for postcards.

These movies are from my parents' time though "The Quiet Man" was actually released before they were born. I like movie cards so I picked up a few of them especially since you can still find the sealed and stickered VHS for less than $10 with shipping if you watch for them.

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Originally posted by chesspieceface:
These are great, thanks for the images and descriptions!

Here's another one but this one is different in that you get two miniature reproduction lobby cards with the specially-stickered 30th Anniversary VHS edition of "Father Goose" which was available in 1994. The additional difference here is that the cards are connected as a fold-out measuring 4 x 10 1/8 inches when folded-out. At first, I thought it was mistakenly inserted uncut but the red sticker does say "reproduction" rather than "reproductions."

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Here's the miniature lobby card reproduction that was inserted with the special 50th anniversary edition of "The Fighting Seabees" VHS. It measures 4 x 4 7/8 inches - a little smaller than the Quiet Man card. Unlike the other cards, this one is marked on the front as a 50th anniversary edition.

The video packaging bears a red sticker noting that a card is inside.

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This card measures 3 7/8 x 5 1/8 inches and was inserted with the 50th anniversary edition of "Flying Tigers." I had found a sealed video which had a gold sticker that said a card was inserted.

Very nice.

About 10 years ago, some company released most (if not all) of the Elvis Presley 1950s/60s films on DVDs, and each DVD came with its own postcard sized card included. I only saw a few, but it seems as if each of the 30 or so Elvis films had its own card.