Picked up a set of Vertigo tall cards in binder with all chase for $4.
Ace

I can't buy a binder for $4. I remember that set. It has a lot of great art.

Nice pickup! The binder is beautifully designed and should include an oversized card.

The Death (from Sandman) Skydisc card is a really sweet card in that set and is probably worth $20 or more on its own. Found one per 5 boxes, it used to be valued at $50 or more. The price has come down significantly on it, but it is still an absolutely beautiful card. The boxes of this were wildly overproduced so they were available cheaply for a long time, although they might now be finally drying up a bit nearly 20 years down the line.

The 6 chase cards with Bronze foil frames around the main characters (Sandman, Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, etc.), also come in a silver foil version that were issued as retailer samples and were not found in packs. The was also true of the similar "Endless" chase card set in the Sandman series that preceded the Vertigo set.

Unfortunately the Vertigo set came out a year or two before the Vertigo Comic "Preacher" by Garth Ennis began, as it would've been great to have some Preacher trading cards. There actually was going to be a Vertigo Series Two, but it was cancelled after the poor sales of the first set, which they had high hopes for on the heels of a tall card set devoted to the Sandman which had been a smash hit the year before.

Regarding the Skydiscs, there were two diffent ones of Superman (from DC Masterseries and Superman Premium) and one of Batman (from Saga of the Dark Knight) so four in all for DC Comics, counting the Vertigo Death. Skybox also made one of Badrock from a WildCATS Image Comics set, so a full set is really 5 of them. Pretty cool with the WildCATS was that an actual Skydisc Hologram, the same one found on the superchase card was affixed to the top of each display box, so even if you're box didn't have one of the actual Skydisc cards within its packs, you still got the hologram right on the lid with every box purchase.

The Skydisc cards were found either 1 in 5 boxes or 1 in 10 boxes. Only the Superman Skydisc from DC Master series was issued by redemption. All of the others were found in packs, I believe. The Death and Superman Premium are "Tall Boy" format, while the other Superman, the Batman, and the Badrock are standard size.

That is a great pickup! Both Vertigo and Sandman are my among my all-time favorite sets. I still enjoy just pulling them out and looking at them - such great artwork. I remember it took me what seemed like forever to acquire the John Constantine card to complete the foil set (bronze - people still want waaay too much dough for the silver foil cards.)

I also never got a Vertigo binder, just stuffed both sets into my Sandman album (the more interesting-looking one, anyhow, IMHO.) Hey chesspieceface, isn't the over-sized Dollhouse card part of the Sandman set? Maybe I have things out-of-order in my binder. And the Death card is really cool but - not as cool as the Batman Skydisc card. Man, that is still the best hologram card, ever!

You are correct, Debi. I actually don't have the Vertigo binder either, and like you, I keep both of the sets in the Sandman binder which included the oversized card, is indeed better looking, and easily fits both sets. I may have been confused since the exact same image on the oversized Sandman binder card was used for the "S1" promo card advertising the Vertigo set.

While all 5 of the Skybox SKYDISC cards are awesome (as is the Dave McKean super chase hologram for the Sandman set), the greatest DC Comics trading card of all time is the "DC Villains Two-Face Skymotion" card, a full color lenticular motion card that for those who have not seen it has Two-Face turn towards the viewer, flip his coin, catch it, look at it, and then fire a shot as the "camera" zooms in on him. There is even the half-defaced Mona Lisa painting behind him. This is a Skymotion card since the Skydiscs are specifically named that way referring to the round disc-shaped hologram on them, but I would describe this Two-Face card also as disc-like in its way.

The DC Villains set was, like Vertigo, a very poor seller when released, but me and my collecting buddy back then were all over it and I was green with envy when he found the Redemption card for the Two-Face Skymotion in his half of the box we went in on, and never moreso than when he received the actual card (in the nifty protective and decorative Tyvek sleeve it came in). We marveled at it, but did notice that the one he'd been sent had the word "PROMO" at the top during a brief moment of the action as you rotated the card, which we thought was odd.

It is very likely only a scant few of those were actually redeemed through the mail since the Villains set didn't sell well and the odds for the redemption card were pretty high.
It could even be that all who sent in a redemption card while they were still valid received the promo version like my friend did (for whatever reason) and the regular ones weren't distributed....

...through the mail anyway. A couple of years after the set was released, there was a fellow who had them by the hundreds and was selling them fairly inexpensively, and was giving quantity discounts so I think I actually bought 100 of them. He may have had the entire run of them, which was probably a couple of thousand. Once the redemption cards expired, he's somehow got his hands on the bulk of them, and a card like that, I knew would never go out of style, and that someday, demand would exceed the supply. I was happy to find when I received the ones I'd bought, that they weren't the promo versions but instead the regular ones (essentially the same, but the word Promo never appears in the moving image).

I traded a lot of them away, gave some as gifts, but I still have some left, and will give one of them away, absolutely free of charge.

Here are the rules if you'd like to add one of these beauties to your collection:

1) You must not already have one (honor system here).
2) You must reply within this thread that you'd like to be entered into a random drawing for it that I will do on Thursday, so everyone has at least 3 days from this post to enter.
3) One entry per person, even if you have more than one NSU Card Talk ID. Everyone should have the exact same chance to win.

Good luck!

Oooooh, that Two-Face Skymotion card sounds awesome!! I would like very much to be entered into a random drawing for it. Please throw my name into the hat.

Hmmm, I've never seen the DC Villians set, which is weird because I love the villians! Must track this set down.

I'd like to be entered in the draw for the Two-face skymotion card, please.

Please enter me also. Thanks for your generous offer.

Please enter me in the draw for the skymotion card, thank you.

Add me to that list - fingers crossed

I would like to enter the contest. Thanks.

Please enter me in the drawing.

Thanks,

I have the DC Villains set but never got the Two Face card, sign me up!

Put me down for a chance to win one of these!
Ace

I'd like to be entered into a random drawing for Two-Face Skymotion card, please!

Thanks.

Pls enter me in the Two-Face drawing. On my honor, I don't have one but would luv to get one.

I do already have the awesome Gargoyles sky-motion card so I'm familiar with the technology used.

Thanks for your write-up and the nice giveaway gesture!

I would like to be in this drawing for the Two-Face card - thanks!

Know of it but I've never even seen one.
I'd like to enter the drawing please.
Cool of you to do this.

I would like to enter the drawing also. Thanks.

That is very kind and generous of you. Please enter me as well.

Jeff