Just would like a general consensus of what collectors would consider cards printed on the bottom of a wax box. Are they chase cards or promos? Or something else?
Thank you

Something else. To me they are part of the box and nothing more.

they are part of the set, they are intended to be a card.

They are not a promo because they don't promote anything.

I like it when they print a card on the box. Monsterwax does this, and the recent Golden Age set had several diferent cards on the box bottom.
I don't think I could classify these as promos, or not as inserts, but more as an "extra". They should be considered as part of the set.

If they are on the checklist for the set they are part of it - if not they are "something else"

There's lots of things that don't make it onto the manufacturer's checklist.

I call them an "insert." My reasoning is that they are available to anybody who buys the product through normal channels, much like a box-topper (bottomer?) or a case-topper. In fact, I'd be more likely to consider them "part of the set" than a multi-case-purchase incentive. Incentives that require dealing directly with the company go into a gray area with wrapper mail-in offers. (Even grayer are redemptions or offers after their expiry date.)

You didn't ask, but I also consider "promos" that are included widely in packs to be chase cards for the set they accompany, but I'm not a fanatic about making them part of a Master Set, unless you're sure that they were distributed widely across the product run.

The 2014 Panini Golden Age box panels have 3 different 3 card strips, but even those have variation backs. There are blank back versions and at least two different color "Cocoa" backs. The only other cards in the set with that backing are one of the parallel version sets of the minicards.

The cards on those box bottom strips are different than the ones in the set, so they are a nice variation. They are perforated for easy separation. Those are a nice addition to a set, like wrappers, box topper posters, or sell sheets, but for me, they're not really part of the card set proper, just because they aren't the size of normal cards. But, as with all things of a collectible nature, it really is up to the individual to decide what is essential.

Breygent has also made very nice some box bottom cards, if I'm not mistaken. I'm thinking on one of the movie poster sets, and perhaps "Wizard of Oz".

I remember only find cards printed on the bottom of a wax box. In one of those Betty Boop cards series. I forget the name because it was a gift to my mom. I don't collect those cards.

I would consider them as a chase set. You have to buy the box to obtain the card so they are not available to just pack purchases.

These definitions can get blurry, so different collectors will answer in different ways.

If the cards are for the same product that is in the box, then they can't be promos.

In the unlikely case that the cards are for a different product, then I would consider it advertising and they would be promos.

The cards are not part of an insert set because they are not inserted in anything.

In my opinion the last option is the most appropriate and I would call cards printed on the bottom of a box a chase set.

On the original Star Wars 3D widevision set from 1996, Topps had an actual 3-D card from the set, but with a blank back, affixed to the top of the box lid, likely so customers could see what they were getting, a good idea since those cards were very expensive for the time, over $3 retail for a 3 card pack, as I recall.

The Empire 3D Set which finally followed in 2010 had the same random sample card on each box lid. As a result, the lids (and even moreso, the complete empty boxes) from those series do have more collectability than the average modern empty box. I think there were 21 different cards used (out of 63 in the set) on the Star Wars boxes and 48 different cards used (out of 48 in the set) used on the Empire boxes, so it is a collecting challenge, especially the nearly 20 year old original set. Those boxes were expensive from the start and never found the clearance table, nor the Ebay bargain bin in the years since.

One of the hottest insert cards of the 1990's just before autographs and sketches came into vogue was the Skybox Skydisc card which was a small circular hologram (mounted to a regular sized card) that could be rotated in the light for a full 360 degree view of the subject. They were usually used in Skybox's line of DC Comics cards, but for their "Youngblood" (from Image Comics) set made in 1995, they actually put one of those circular hologram discs on the top of the box itself. It was the full motion hologram you would find on the Skydisc card itself, so it wasn't unusual to see those cut from the box top and sold separately. It was and remains pretty unusual for a manufacturer to essentially affix the coolest (and rarest of the regular hits, by pack odds) to the top of the box.

Finally, the company Krome Productions made some pretty nice chromium card sets in the mid 1990's using diverse subjects the likes of Garfield the Cat, Archie Comics, Chaos Comics including Lady Death and Evil Ernie, Betty Boop, and the Bloom County comic strip set, among others. The Bloom County set had box bottom cards with the Chromium finish, since the boxes themselves were chromium. I'm not sure if any of the other Krome sets had box bottom cards, but it's a good bet they did.

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

Thanks for the info. Yes, it was Betty Boop chromium set. I have an extra card set and the card in the box somewhere in my stuff.

Bettie Boop also had a blank backed promo card attached to one box as did DC Power Chrome Legends which had a Superman card with and without a blank back. The blank back version was glued to the top of the box. Finally, there was three sets of two Dr Who cards to be cut-out from Series 1,2 & 3 boxes. They were marked as "Bonus Cards" I have all six.

X-Men Ultra All-Chromium (from 1996, I think) had a sample blank backed Wolverine card affixed to its box lid. The card has the chrome surface, but is purposely misshapen for perspective's sake. It's like a pyramid at the bottom with a flat top.

Breygent John Wayne had a card on the bottom of the box if I remember rightly and that is definatly part of my set.

hey... how about MY boxes? Chronicles of The Three Stooges series one had 32 mini cards printed on the box... and series two had 38. Okay, okay... they are more 'tobacco card' sized...but still. Thar be a lot of cards printed on a box, sez I I does :-)