OK- here's a question that came to me by surprise. What card set has the most promo cards issued for it? And to further the question, what would the top 20 sets be?

I just read a post in the New Promo Card Releases section here, describing the new Space: 1999 release have an unbelievable 28 promo cards issued. Blew me away! LOL That seems to be a contender for #1. How about it?

I can't speak definitely on it, but there were a lot for a recent Bettie Page set, and I know Breygent tends to release a lot of promos for their various sets. Topps is usually just a few at most, but I know they got up to around 10 for some Star Wars sets. As for Inkworks and Rittenhouse, I think they probably topped out at about 10 for any of their sets that issued a lot of promos.
I remember occasional Skybox comic sets having between 5 and 10 promos, but not too many more than that. I'm interested to read some more specific replies to this question...

The Star Wars Trilogy set in 1997 had alot of promos: P1-P8, H1-H4, G1-G5, Nine Pepsi promos, plus three International Pepsi Promo cards. (That is 26 US promos, + 3 Internationl promos).

That widevision set is one of the ones I was thinking of, but aren't the Pepsi cards "food premium" cards as opposed to actual promos?
As I recall, there's nothing different about them from the regular base cards except for the lack of little that holographic square in the corner (and perhaps the addition of the Pepsi logo. I don't know as I don't have them).

If they are counted as promos, consider also Star Wars Galaxy 1, which had several normal promos to begin with, but also saw a set of cards (with letters in place of numbers, but otherwise identical) that were inserted in Bend-Em figurines, one per package. They went from A-Z and then started again with AA and continued for a bit longer, so there were 30 or more of those. I think most of them were for series 1 and the last few promoted series 2.

quote:

Originally posted by Komodo:

the new Space: 1999 release have an unbelievable 28 promo cards issued.

There is an argument that no promos were released for this set as none of the cards were distributed to collectors, they were all made available to dealers in order to be sold. This brings up the old chestnut of what exactly constitutes a promo card?

I was wondering about that the other day while looking at Space 1999 cards on Ebay and noticing that a dealer was selling "promos" with his company name on them. I also saw that some of the cards say "promo" but not all of them. Does Unstoppable print them and give them to dealers or do dealers pay for the privilege of getting exclusive cards?

At best it's tacky for a dealer to sell his own promos if they were given to him. If the dealer had to pay for them, I think he's within his right to sell them but then they couldn't be called promos - some other level of chase card. If I were a dealer and had to pay for them, I would have to think of my regular customers and others buying the new product from me and offer a card as a bonus "thank you" for their business. Customers appreciate it when a dealer does something extra for them. Just selling them on Ebay tells your regular customers that you're just another buyer among a bunch of strangers.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:

quote:

Originally posted by Komodo:

the new Space: 1999 release have an unbelievable 28 promo cards issued.

There is an argument that no promos were released for this set as none of the cards were distributed to collectors, they were all made available to dealers in order to be sold. This brings up the old chestnut of what exactly constitutes a promo card?

The Star Trek Women in Motion set released by Rittenhouse had 40 promo cards. They paralleled the 32 base set plus the 4 Hero cards plus the 4 Villain cards.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
That widevision set is one of the ones I was thinking of, but aren't the Pepsi cards "food premium" cards as opposed to actual promos?

Probably, because you had to purchase a pepsi can, find a sticker on it, and complete a mail-in offer.

quote:

If they are counted as promos, consider also Star Wars Galaxy 1, which had several normal promos to begin with, but also saw a set of cards (with letters in place of numbers, but otherwise identical) that were inserted in Bend-Em figurines, one per package. They went from A-Z and then started again with AA and continued for a bit longer, so there were 30 or more of those. I think most of them were for series 1 and the last few promoted series 2.

You are right. Galaxy I had many more promos. Eight promo cards, plus the Bend-ems promos, with A - W being for the Gal I set. So, a total of 31.

But, apparently not as many as the ST Women in Motion set...

Wow- a few surprises here- especially the ST motion set How were they distributed?

I guess I'll add my 2 cents on the promo definition. This is my own criteria:
1) They have been created by the company that also makes the set (this would include subsidiaries, but that starts to get a little weird too...)
2) They were not included in any way with the packaged release of the production
3) They were created to promote the set before or even during the set release time
4) The 'prototype' cards that were the promo's predecessor are similar, but are a different animal. I can only assume that prototypes are still produced, but they are rather unique in their own way. Surely they can be produced to promote a set, but don't carry the same features. I see some cards available that fall more into this category than promo's, but are called promo's nonetheless.

I can't think of any other factors at the moment...

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
At best it's tacky for a dealer to sell his own promos if they were given to him. If the dealer had to pay for them, I think he's within his right to sell them but then they couldn't be called promos - some other level of chase card. If I were a dealer and had to pay for them, I would have to think of my regular customers and others buying the new product from me and offer a card as a bonus "thank you" for their business. Customers appreciate it when a dealer does something extra for them. Just selling them on Ebay tells your regular customers that you're just another buyer among a bunch of strangers.

As a dealer who buys cards from Unstoppable and gets promos as a reward for supporting them, let me tell you my spin on this...

Anyone who buys the product from me gets one of the promos. That goes without saying.

Some customers who I think might be interested might find them in their orders of other items.

But, I do sell them on eBay. It's a way of me saying "Hey look! I carry Unstoppable's products here in the US." Thus, I use them for Promotion. Promo? Yes.

If you think it's tacky to sell them, that's OK. I think it's another way to get the word out that I am carrying that product or that company's product line.

Ed

With the exception of those manufacturers who issued a full parallel set of cards and called them promos, one license stands out a mile.

I have been trying to pin down how many exactly there are for ages but all I can say is that I currently list well over 200. And the name is (drum roll please...................BUFFY!!!!!

Oooops! I seem to have lost the plot here. The question of course is what SET had the most promos.

At a quick glance I reckon TV week must run close as I note there are at least 56 of them. Another odd-ball that scores is Mardi Gras collector cards.

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:

As a dealer who buys cards from Unstoppable and gets promos as a reward for supporting them,

Ed

This of course is important to remember. A dealer has to lay out a large amount of money when buying product so if he says can you please make me a promo card the manufacturer will probably say yes. What the dealer then does with that card is up to him.

Is it a promo card for his business that happens to have a picture of space 1999 on the front, i would say yes. Is it a promo card for the Space 1999 set, i think that is open to question. Is it worth £25, that is a question for your wallet

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:

As a dealer who buys cards from Unstoppable and gets promos as a reward for supporting them,

Ed

This of course is important to remember. A dealer has to lay out a large amount of money when buying product so if he says can you please make me a promo card the manufacturer will probably say yes. What the dealer then does with that card is up to him.

Is it a promo card for his business that happens to have a picture of space 1999 on the front, i would say yes. Is it a promo card for the Space 1999 set, i think that is open to question. Is it worth £25, that is a question for your wallet

The Unstoppable Dealer promo's are more like a "Dealers Chase Set" that is how I think of them as they are promoting the Dealer who is selling the product.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
I can't speak definitely on it, but there were a lot for a recent Bettie Page set, and I know Breygent tends to release a lot of promos for their various sets. Topps is usually just a few at most, but I know they got up to around 10 for some Star Wars sets. As for Inkworks and Rittenhouse, I think they probably topped out at about 10 for any of their sets that issued a lot of promos.
I remember occasional Skybox comic sets having between 5 and 10 promos, but not too many more than that. I'm interested to read some more specific replies to this question...

I think the Bettie Page sets had 21 in the first set and 22 in the 2nd set (roughly speaking) although the 2 part Philly promo in set 2 formed one picture it did have 2 different numbers

Valvoline 100th Anniversary set from 1994 had at least 50 promos

World War II War Machines (1993) had a promo version of each card in the set, 100 cards, I think

Those early 1990s American Vintage Cycles sets by SkyBox had dozens of promos, also

This message has been edited. Last edited by: David R,

This is my Favorite Promo Set (Limited to 500 Sets)All 24 Base cards are in the Promo set.

Star Trek™ In Motion™
Promotional Card
1 of 500

™, ® & © 1999 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
STAR TREK is a Trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Rittenhouse Archives Authorized User.

Actually, I wasn't talking about you because you have made a point of giving your promos away even to the extent of letting collectors get some of your older ones for only the cost of postage (your recent free mailaway offer). I should have made that distinction. You gave away some nice cards that collectors probably would have bid on.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
At best it's tacky for a dealer to sell his own promos if they were given to him. If the dealer had to pay for them, I think he's within his right to sell them but then they couldn't be called promos - some other level of chase card. If I were a dealer and had to pay for them, I would have to think of my regular customers and others buying the new product from me and offer a card as a bonus "thank you" for their business. Customers appreciate it when a dealer does something extra for them. Just selling them on Ebay tells your regular customers that you're just another buyer among a bunch of strangers.

As a dealer who buys cards from Unstoppable and gets promos as a reward for supporting them, let me tell you my spin on this...

Anyone who buys the product from me gets one of the promos. That goes without saying.

Some customers who I think might be interested might find them in their orders of other items.

But, I do sell them on eBay. It's a way of me saying "Hey look! I carry Unstoppable's products here in the US." Thus, I use them for Promotion. Promo? Yes.

If you think it's tacky to sell them, that's OK. I think it's another way to get the word out that I am carrying that product or that company's product line.

Ed

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
Valvoline 100th Anniversary set from 1994 had at least 50 promos

World War II War Machines (1993) had a promo version of each card in the set, 100 cards, I think

Those early 1990s American Vintage Cycles sets by SkyBox had dozens of promos, also

WOW- now there's a surprise! Very surprising that each card was made a promo. Putting a set together must be fun Actually, I had a look at Allender's site & this set looks pretty interesting. Had a look on the Bay and found a set well out of my price range :/

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

I think the WWII War Machines promo set may also have been sent to dealers as a case incentive, so it wasn't too hard to obtain that way