I just purchased a large collection of cards and came across 2 factory sets from Skybox. These sets are Marvel Onslaught and DC Versus Marvel. The sets are shrink wrapped and contain all of the chase cards as well (as far as I can tell). These do not appear to be packaged for retail sale. Were these sets given away as incentives by Skybox to dealers/publishers? Obviously I do not want to open them, but I do want to know what I have.

Does the shrinkwrap have the Skybox logo?

If not, anyone could have packaged these up. I shrink all my base sets.

Ed

Those could well be giveaway retailer samplers (or perhaps even contest prizes). If so, they should have a white topper card that says "Congratulations From Skybox" or "Thank You From Skybox" or something to that effect.
I had the one for Batman Master Series and it included all chase cards and even the parallel gold signature base set along with the regular one.
Congrats on your find. The DC vs. Marvel should have the pair of Mirage chase cards and those are highly valued. The Onslaught set should have its own 3 Mirage cards, and while those were found one per box and subsequently aren't nearly as rare as the ones from "DC Vs. Marvel" or "Marvel Masterpieces 1995", they are still superb looking and have recently sold for $100 for the set of three. There is also a third, very rare DC Vs. Marvel Promo Mirage card. If it has that in it, you've really hit the jackpot!
The Onslaught set actually had 4 autographs limited to 100 of each of them: 2 different from Stan Lee, 1 from Jim Lee, and 1 from Rob Liefeld. It would be pretty incredible if those were in there!
One warning, though: The UV coating-drenched Fleer/Skybox cards of that era can stick together if they are shrinkwrapped too tightly, and I have seen that effect on both DC vs. Marvel and Onslaught cards, so you may consider unwrapping them for that reason. I would certainly store them in cool temperatures if leaving them wrapped, since the heat tends to exacerbate the front of one card adhering to the back of the one on top of it.

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

The sets do not have the Skybox logo. I can trace the source of the collection I purchased to 1999, when Tuff Stuff magazine was purchased by Krause Publishing (Scrye Magazine). The cards I purchased were part of the buy out of Tuff Stuff. Since Krause was not a card company the cards were made available to employees, and I purchased the cards from a former employee. I have pictures but I do not see how to upload photos here.

The Mirage cards are there from DC Versus Marvel, I can see them through the shrink wrap. I have no idea about the autographs in Onslaught, that is part of the reason why I am posting here. I do fear the the base cards are all stuck together, I tried to move them through the shrink wrap and they seem 'fused' together. There is also some kind of Iron Man folded promo sheet on the bottom of the Onslaught set. The DC versus Marvel set also came in a white cardboard box labeled "DC VS MAVEEL"

Well, the upside is that the Mirage cards should be OK, and likewise most of the other insert cards, some of which were embossed which prevents the "sticky" effect from happening to them usually. It's the base cards that tend to suffer the most.
It's funny, when they first invented UV coating on both sides of the card, it was another modern whistle and bell, but in the long run, it was bad for the long-term storage of the cards. Had the backs of cards been left with a flat finish, it would've saved thousands and thousands of cards from becoming bricks. By the time of the Onslaught set, prints runs were down, but even the mammothly overproduced DC Vs. Marvel set's production has been somewhat limited after the fact as soon many of those cards have stuck together in the years since. Many of the cards in the packs that remain sealed will also be ruined. Some cards that I've seen suffer this fate include:

DC Vs. Marvel
X-Men Ultra 94 and 96
Marvel Silver Age
Marvel Onslaught
Simpsons Skybox II

...but there are many more.

Bricks? I remember when some of my cards would stick to each other, but
I had no problems separating them. I
Would hold the cards on the sides and use my other hand to hold the cards on the long side and move the hands/fingers on the long end up and down. While it does that, the cards bend kind of like playing cards, and the start separating. Keep doing it with separated bricks until all the cards are separated.

David

You can do that, certainly, but check the surfaces of the cards under a nice light, front and back, and you will see that often the gloss, and sometimes even flecks of color, from any given card, but especially those in the middle of the pile, will have transferred to the card in front or behind it. If you hear an actual sound when you pull them apart, that tends to be bad news.
High gloss cards from the 1990's are where this is usually found, but I've seen it on more recent Topps sets including "Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones" (the regular series, not the widevision).

It varies from series to series among those that this can happen to, but when it does happen, very few of the cards can be regarded as "mint" anymore.

The other choice is to throw away the brick without trying to save anything? I'll take my chances.

David

True, and even when this happens, sometimes it's not all of the cards that get damaged. A lot of the times, the ones at the top and bottom of the pile aren't as bad. This is a good time to remind those who collect 90's cards to not keep them too tightly packed together if you keep them in those white cardboard storage boxes or plastic cases.

I agree. The times I got blocks was when I bought factory sets for another reason. Back then I didn't know better. I would buy a box, make a set and finish the chase set at shows, stores or online on bulletin boards and eventually eBay. Later on I would find out about a factory set with a bonus card or an album sold in a set like qvc.

David

Speaking of 90s cards - I bought a couple of Ace Ventura packs a while ago and half of them were only fit for the trash because they stuck together so bad than when I separated [read it: forced] them half the pictures came off either side of both cards. Lesson learnt.