Most valuable promos/samples of the 90's?

[mchenrycards]

Well as one who owned a card shop through most of the 90's through to 2003 I know I have a huge box of promos somewhere among the million cards I have packed away. Most of these promos will still be in the cellophane wrappers that they came in because my customers never wanted these things. I used to get a ton of these things from the distributors. THis thread makes me want to dig through and find them asap!!

 

[clarkfan]

Well as one who owned a card shop through most of the 90's through to 2003 I know I have a huge box of promos somewhere among the million cards I have packed away. Most of these promos will still be in the cellophane wrappers that they came in because my customers never wanted these things. I used to get a ton of these things from the distributors. THis thread makes me want to dig through and find them asap!!

:mrgreen: Well, I can't wait to see what you have. You probably have all the ones the die hard player collectors have been searching for, for years. I'd say dig them up and make us all very happy. Umm, keep the Clarks separate . . . just kidding . . . hopefully, you have a few I can use though.

 

[mchenrycards]

Its definitly been years since I have seen them. See now you have just added to my list of things to do the next few weekends!!

cut grass
rake leaves
get the garage ready for winter
watch football
do homework (I am a 45 year old college student)
dig for promo cards

I think the cards need to be top priority!! LOL well at least they will be th emost fun thing to do!!

 

[JoshHamilton]

I admit, I'm surprised at some of the prices being discussed regarding the Ryan 93 Finest Refractor Promo. :shock:

Why is that?

I used to own one. Bought at a card shop in Midland, TX in 2000 or 2001 for $600. The guy thought it was a regular refractor. I sold it a few years later for $3k. I know at least two Nolan collectors who have a standing purchase offer of $5000 cash.

There are less than 15 in existence

 

[predatorkj]

Most likely not the rarest but the superstar samplers are a beeatch!I should have purchased the one I saw when I had a chance.

I have 5 Superstar Sampler sets coming in a couple of weeks predatorkj, including a Bagwell set. Have any rare Will Clark promos?? I will probably be tossing all of them on ebay when I get them.

PM sent!

 

[predatorkj]

Are the 1998 Diamond king samplers rare? I have a Frank Thomas

Can you scan a picture?? Now the 1992 Diamond King 5x7 Samples are a pain in the butt. I've been looking for the Clark for quite awhile.

I agree. Now that I've got my 1990 Donruss Aqueous Test card, the 1992 Donruss DK Super is probably #1 on my list.

Good luck on that.I'd probably have to take out a loan to snag one of those For Bags.But I still hold out hope that I find one in a sleezy flea market somewhere for next to nothing.

 

[matfanofold]

I remember the 1988 UD Promo cards being worth a pretty penny.


Not sure now though...

 

[HawaiianLance]

I admit, I'm surprised at some of the prices being discussed regarding the Ryan 93 Finest Refractor Promo. :shock:

Why is that?

I used to own one. Bought at a card shop in Midland, TX in 2000 or 2001 for $600. The guy thought it was a regular refractor. I sold it a few years later for $3k. I know at least two Nolan collectors who have a standing purchase offer of $5000 cash.

There are less than 15 in existence

I think you misunderstood what I meant. <g>

When you're a player specialist you tend to have tunnel vision - everything directly in front of you is in extremely sharp focus, but everything outside of that tight focus tends to get blurry and finally fade to black.

I was surprised because it's the first time I've read prices quoted for the Ryan Refractor in maybe... 15 years or so.

Lance ;-D

To All See, I did miss something: The 1992 Donruss Diamond King Supers. <g>

 

[predatorkj]

I admit, I'm surprised at some of the prices being discussed regarding the Ryan 93 Finest Refractor Promo. :shock:

Why is that?

I used to own one. Bought at a card shop in Midland, TX in 2000 or 2001 for $600. The guy thought it was a regular refractor. I sold it a few years later for $3k. I know at least two Nolan collectors who have a standing purchase offer of $5000 cash.

There are less than 15 in existence

I think you misunderstood what I meant. <g>

When you're a player specialist you tend to have tunnel vision - everything directly in front of you is in extremely sharp focus, but everything outside of that tight focus tends to get blurry and finally fade to black.

I was surprised because it's the first time I've read prices quoted for the Ryan Refractor in maybe... 15 years or so.

Lance ;-D

To All See, I did miss something: The 1992 Donruss Diamond King Supers. <g>

Yeah but I have never really gotten to the bottom of how these were distributed and I have also never seen anyone prove they were indeed numbered as low as they supposedly are(/25)So...I am not sure how to view them other than hard as hell to find.I know the resident Butler collector on here has one of his player and if I remember correctly Bunchobull says there is a guy here in Houston with a complete set.Maybe they can shed more light?

 

[HawaiianLance]

The 1992 Donruss Diamond King Supers. <g>


Yeah but I have never really gotten to the bottom of how these were distributed and I have also never seen anyone prove they were indeed numbered as low as they supposedly are(/25)So...I am not sure how to view them other than hard as hell to find.I know the resident Butler collector on here has one of his player and if I remember correctly Bunchobull says there is a guy here in Houston with a complete set.Maybe they can shed more light?

Not sure there is a "bottom". I can tell what I learned after doing many years of research.

The Supers were intended as a retail-bound blister product that would've been sold with a stack of cards, remainder product from the previous years Donruss inventory.

What you're looking at are salesman samples - created and designed to be carried to the meetings with big box retailers like K-Mart, Wal-Mart, etc. But for whatever reason, and it's unlikely to ever to be known, the retail product was never pursued beyond the sample productions.

I'm not sure there are any records of how many of these sets were produced. I can only testify to three (3) for certain, but I infer the existence of another seven or so - making an estimated total of ten, give or take.

I will say that I seriously doubt there are twenty-five. Donruss didn't have that many personnel on their sales staff in '92, that much I know for a fact. I spoke to the salesman who sold me my copies and he said there were only "a handful" of these guys given out to himself and the other salesmen, which numbered exactly three employees.

 

[clarkfan]

What about the 1996 Select Certified Interleague Preview SAMPLE cards? Anyone know if those are still holding their value? I saw a Clark/Bagwell sell on ebay fairly high a month or two ago, but haven't paid attention to anyone else in the set. I remember looking for the Clark card for awhile, so I know that aren't the easiest promo of the 90's to locate. And its one of the many samples from the 90's my most recent Beckett Almanac chooses to omit. Any help??

 

[011873]

So Doruss Collection Prized Collections samples are "rare". I have a Hideki IRobYou

 

[HawaiianLance]

What about the 1996 Select Certified Interleague Preview SAMPLE cards? Anyone know if those are still holding their value? I saw a Clark/Bagwell sell on ebay fairly high a month or two ago, but haven't paid attention to anyone else in the set. I remember looking for the Clark card for awhile, so I know that aren't the easiest promo of the 90's to locate. And its one of the many samples from the 90's my most recent Beckett Almanac chooses to omit. Any help??

Difficult to gauge. Some were tougher than others. So I'm going to borrow from the collector who sort of trailblazed these issues, from the late DonyBoy23's wantlist:

Gwynn/Johnson
Puckett/Benes
Mussina/Sheffield
Sandberg/Fielder

He pursued these issues with a vengeance, and those four were his 'most wanted'. I will presume that they remain difficult.

Lance

 

[cammy collector]

this thread is amazing.

 

[HawaiianLance]

So Doruss Collection Prized Collections samples are "rare". I have a Hideki IRobYou

No, not all of them. The controversy (and therefore the 'rarity') is that there were certain samples that may not exist. Which flies in the face of both SCD and Beckett who list the complete 200-cards as issued in Sample form.

An example would be the Frank Thomas 'Base Donruss' Prized Collection Sample, Card #12.

After more than a decade - I've never seen one. At least, no report that came from a reliable source and could be independently verified. There are too many 'sasquatch' sightings of cards like this, which more often than not, muddies the waters.

I don't have a complete list of what DonyBoy23 had been able to gather, so I'm unable to tell you which ones were "rare". But from my communications with the man (which were ... difficult, to say the least) he was convinced that some of the Prized Collection Samples were flatly not printed.

On my own checklist I have it listed under "Does it exist?".

 

[clarkfan]

Whatever happened to donyboy23? I remember asking him all kinds of questions about promos. He was definitely the one to ask when it came to rare 90's promos.

 

[ajw]

 

[Bornagaincollector]

I thought maybe a player collector here could use this,1.99 dlvd and free shipping.

[ebay:2xnriy2b]130331500818[/ebay:2xnriy2b]

 

[HawaiianLance]

Whatever happened to donyboy23? I remember asking him all kinds of questions about promos. He was definitely the one to ask when it came to rare 90's promos.

I'm sorry to say that he passed away a few years back.

No point in asking what became of his collection. It's being held in trust for his kids. When they come of age, they'll decide what to do with it. So my guess would be a minimum of 10 years-to-Never.

 

[Messier2]

Are any of the beckett "sample" promos worth anything? I have a ton with silver and gold foil stamping...