According to the internet the earliest Autograph Insert for Sports cards was the 1990 Reggie Jackson which was serialized to 2500.

But I can't find a consensus for Non-sports...

What's the earliest one you can think of? And how rare was it?

(No promos, mail-aways, or autos obtained in any other way. Strictly autographs inserted into circulated packs.)
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-Results-
First Published Autograph Card: 1988 Imagine 'Night of the Living Dead' (Green) #NNO George Romero, #NNO John Russo, #NNO Russ Streiner
First Published Promo Card: 1988 Imagine 'Grande Illusions: Tom Savini's GOTCHA!' #62
First Autograph Insert Card: TBD

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

I don't know but i'm guessing it is going to be an artist rather than a film star etc.

The 1988 Grande Illusions set had an autograph. And many believe it had the first modern promo, in that a card was given out at shows prior to the card set's release

Was that factory set only, or was it also issued in packs?

We've been through this before on the forum. See this thread, for example.

So this is what was arrived at then:

1988 - Imagine "Night of the Living Dead" green border
1988 - Imagine "Grande Illusions" Tom Savini
1990 - Imagine "Scream Queens"
1990 - Imagine "Night of the Living Dead" red border
1991 - Collect-A-Card "Vette Set" Mario Andretti
1991 - Comic Images "X-Men" Jim Lee
1991 - Comic Images "Boris" Boris Vallejo
1991 - Historical Images "Defenders of Freedom" Norman Schwarzkopf
1991 - ProLine "Portraits" NFL Wives
1991 - Star Pics "Soaps of ABC"
1991 - Star Pics "Twin Peaks"

Just pluck out the ones not issued in packs, and there you go. I'd also drop Mario Andretti from Corvette, since racing is sports.

Fantastic checklist of "Fans of the Game" cards in there, too. Great info, Bill.

quote:

Originally posted by PeanutsCardGuy:
According to the internet the earliest Autograph Insert for Sports cards was the 1990 Reggie Jackson which was serialized to 2500.

The "internet" is wrong here. The 1990 Upper Deck Jackson isn't even Reggie Jackson's first signed insert card. He had signed cards in the 1985 Star Reggie Jackson set, and the 1984 Renato Galasso Reggie Jackson set.

Fantastic! Thanks guys

I'm going to look into those sets individually and see if I can find out how rare the Autos were...

I wonder why Jeff Allender's very extensive website doesn't list any of those 1988-1990 NOTLD sets

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
And many believe [Grande Illusions] had the first modern promo, in that a card was given out at shows prior to the card set's release

This is dependent on when you define "modern" cards, as there clearly are cards throught the history of nonsport cards that promote trading card sets.

Example: Horrors of War https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Se...134669Advert8545.jpg

Examples: Elvis and TV Westerns Salesman's Samples
https://www.thetoppsarchives.c...slew-of-samples.html

Comic Images had a promo for their 1988 Honeymooners set.
https://www.tcdb.com/ViewCard....Cards-II?PageIndex=1
You might could find out if it predated Grande Illusion by going through old Diamond distribution catalogs and figuring out which was released first.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bill Mullins,

Update:

The Autos available for Night of the Living Dead (both Green and Red) were optionally purchased with the boxed set, so there was no random chance of pulling one. I couldn't find any information on the scarcity/availability of the Autos, but since they were a box-topper 'Promo' rather than an 'Insert,' I'm satisfied. Plus, any official number would be heavily skewed because of the blank Auto cards included in the set for promotional in-person signings.

I do think there was an element of randomness added later though because initially (again, for both Green and Red) there were only 3 Autograph Promos (George Romero, Russ Streiner, and John Russo). They added the other 7 in 1993. It seems likely to me that from then on you got 3-out-of-10 Autos in your promo pack. Can anyone confirm this? That would make them much more interesting to me, even if they're disqualified as the 'Earliest Autograph Insert.'

My purpose in this thread is to deep dive Inserts not NOTLD, so I'll leave it at that. But, it might be worth noting for posterity that the Green Keith Wayne Auto is the scarce one, as it was difficult to get in-person and/or a pseudo-random pull from 1993 onwards.

I found much of this information on this NOTLD blog.

"The first autographed chase cards came in a higher priced pack and included George Romero, Russ Streiner and John Russo. Later, Bill Hinzman, Kyra Schon, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman Judith Ridley, Judith O’Dea and Keith Wayne autographed chase cards would become available for this set..."

Update:

Since the 1988 Grande Illusions: Gotcha set was also published by Imagine, I find it easy to accept that the distribution method for the Autograph card was the same as the 1988 Night of the Living Dead set discussed in my previous reply. I.e. as a box-topper Promo, not a random Insert. This is affirmed by the language used on Jeff Allender's page:

"It was generally issued as factory sets, either with or without the autographed card 61."

The Promo that David R mentioned as being the first also appears to be listed on that page as '#62 - Demon 3.' That's super interesting to me, the first NS Promo! And it makes me question my use of the word 'Promo' to describe both types of cards. Is there a better word than 'Promo' for the Autographed cards that Imagine sold as an option with their boxed sets? Incentives? Box-Toppers?

Also noteworthy that the #62 Promo seems to be more rare than the #61 Auto, but similar in value.

Here is a picture of the promo card # 62.

Todd Jordan has confirmed that it was definitely given out at shows in 1988, thus making it a promo.

I have seen Ebay auctions with and without the card # 62. Some "sets" just have cards # 1-61.


https://nonsportupdate.infopop...267095276#3267095276

That's an awesome card! Pairs really well with the Auto too. And yeah, definitely a 'Promo.'

I agree. Yes, I was lucky to be able to pick up the set of on ebay around 2018. I think it cost me about $ 25.00. The one I found came with card # 62.

Update:

1990 Scream Queens was also published by Imagine so I think it's reasonable to assume it was distributed the same way as their other sets. I found pictures of an unopened set of 60 cards that does not include the Autos. This supports the assumption, so I think we can conclude that the Autos were an optional purchase like the Imagine sets discussed above and not inserted.





Here's the wrapper for reference:

This kicks us into 1991 with this list of contenders for 1st NS Auto Insert:

1991 - Collect-A-Card "Vette Set" Mario Andretti
1991 - Comic Images "X-Men" Jim Lee
1991 - Comic Images "Boris" Boris Vallejo
1991 - Historical Images "Defenders of Freedom" Norman Schwarzkopf
1991 - ProLine "Portraits" NFL Wives
1991 - Star Pics "Soaps of ABC"
1991 - Star Pics "Twin Peaks"
1991 - Tuff Stuff "Peanuts Preview"

I added the last one and I wouldn't be surprised if the list is even deeper, given the year. Anyone here interested enough to check their Wrapper, Gum, Becketts for monthly release dates? If not, I'll order some 1991 first quarter prints before proceeding.

I remember the Peanuts preview set. Wasn't the Charles Schulz auto very hard to find ? Does anyone have a scan of it ?

One website says that Schulz only signed 33 cards total. I wonder if he signed card # 1 from the base set, this card, or whether the auto was a unique card ? I am just guessing.


https://www.tcdb.com/ViewCard....harles-Monroe-Schulz