Marvel Movie Cards Ignored
 

There has been so much buzz on Marvel from the 1990 sets to the PMGs, but very little interest in the cards form the movies. This seems odd to me.

The early stuff like Topps 2000 Xmen and Topps 2001 Spiderman are great visually and kind of hard to find. Almost none of this stuff has been graded, Anyone know why this is?

Because entertainment card collectors generally don't care about grading.

And because the sports card collectors who have started collecting Marvel cards are largely chasing PMGs and similar retro inserts.

Nobody graded nonsports Marvel cards until 3 years ago. It's completely unnecessary. And in those years, bulk grading went from $6/card to $50/card, back down to $18/card. So if there was no demand for graded Marvel movie cards back when it only cost $6 to grade one, why would you think there is for cards when it now costs orders of magnitude higher to grade cards?

[QUOTE=NotSportsCards;18477502]There has been so much buzz on Marvel from the 1990 sets to the PMGs, but very little interest in the cards form the movies. This seems odd to me.

The early stuff like Topps 2000 Xmen and Topps 2001 Spiderman are great visually and kind of hard to find. Almost none of this stuff has been graded, Anyone know why this is?[/QUOTE]

Because they're not "Rookie Cards" and the people that deal with graded non-sports either want RCs, low-numbered stuff, or tough-to-grade vintage. The vast majority of non-sports collectors don't collect slabs.

It's a completely different type of card.

MCU cards the draw is the autographs, and perhaps also sketches.

Marvel art cards the draw is the base, inserts, parallels, sketches. It's about the art.

Familiar hyped inserts from sports were put into Marvel art cards and major parts of those sets, especially PMGs. Barely any of that in MCU sets.

The art cards are based off tried and true brands going back to the 90s such as Fleer Ultra, Marvel Masterpieces, Metal, etc. There is carry-over nostalgia (the cards that people in their 30s and 40s today might have collected as a kid)- not the case for MCU cards, which started appearing after 2000 in a more obscure time of cards.

I personally have been biased towards the art cards. I find a card with artwork, especially original artwork, more interesting to look at than an image from a movie. These are superheros, originally in comic form, and I think drawn and painted art is more conducive. Thats me though and others are different. Movie lovers could easily prefer MCU cards.

[QUOTE=mjohnatgt;18477531]Nobody graded nonsports Marvel cards until 3 years ago. [B]It's completely unnecessary.[/B] And in those years, bulk grading went from $6/card to $50/card, back down to $18/card. So if there was no demand for graded Marvel movie cards back when it only cost $6 to grade one, why would you think there is for cards when it now costs orders of magnitude higher to grade cards?[/QUOTE]

amen to that

There are still a few cards that remain un-pumpable, even in 2021-22. 2000 Topps X-Men base cards would certainly fall into this category. There are many reasons that non sports base sets (even Marvel and Star Wars) from this period have been easy to pick up for ~$5/set.

The people that were buying Marvel cards in the 90’s were buying them because they were into comics and were buying them for the art. Movie cards were for a different audience. The same way that not all Baseball collectors collect Basketball or Hockey, the MCU sets and the Comic art sets can be collected independently.

I like first appearance "rookie cards". Fine by me if no one else wants them. LOL.
Just figured with the value of the vintage Stars Wars and stuff like Harry Potter theses might get more love.

The 2001 Spiderman set is one of my favorites. Im grading some of these. Not for hope of profit, but probably because I migrated a few years ago from sports to non sports. So I place some silly value in having the only PSA 10 of a card.

[QUOTE=NotSportsCards;18477691]So I place some silly value in having the only PSA 10 of a card.[/QUOTE]

Nothing wrong with that - collect what you like! Probably very easy to have a lot of the only Pop 1 cards in these sets.

[QUOTE=dd316;18477697]Nothing wrong with that - collect what you like! Probably very easy to have a lot of the only Pop 1 cards in these sets.[/QUOTE]

This is me with my PSA 10 1978 Jaws 2 cards. They're worth almost nothing but SOMEONE decided to grade some at some point so any card in the set that has a PSA 10 is a pop 1. And now I want them all!!!

I ThinK I Just Like Movies
 

The more I think about it I prefer movies when there is an option. For example I prefer the 1990 TMNT movie cards vs the cartoon ones from 1989.

Its not that Im anti carton as I collect Simpsons and South Park cards, but when given the choice I prefer the movies.

Being a non sports collector in general makes you comfortable with liking what you like and not worrying about the herd. But its always fun to examine why we like what we like.

[QUOTE=NotSportsCards;18477824]Being a non sports collector in general makes you comfortable with liking what you like and not worrying about the herd. But its always fun to examine why we like what we like.[/QUOTE]

This is key. Non-sports is a very broad category. There is something for everyone. When you see something that gives you the warm and fuzzies then who cares what others think. Non-Sports was always fun before fomo.

A good point about the variety.

If you see Marvel at a major regular sports card show- at lot of times its showcases of graded PMGs and similar hype stuff, almost like clockwork.

But if you go to an actual non-sports show, like the Philly show coming up, you'll get a much different picture. Very different stuff galore. Different brands. Vintage nonsports. New nonsports. Junk wax 80s-90s nonsports. Sets, sketches, boxes, from Garbage Pail Kids to Mars Attacks, from Star Wars Marvel, from random fantasy or movie sets to US Presidential and other historical sets. And everything in between. Typically those shows are more collector-oriented vs whatever the current hype is like Spidey metal.

I only collect the marvel movie cards, not the metal, etc., so of course I got a couple replacement cards coming from UD for some damaged cards, being a couple 2015 red pmg's #'d to 100. Other than seeing a couple prices on ebay I know nothing about them.

[QUOTE=NotSportsCards;18477502]Almost none of this stuff has been graded, Anyone know why this is?[/QUOTE]

It isn't cost effective to grade them, simply. For autographs, though condition is important, most aren't collecting them for the "Gem", they want them for the autograph.

[QUOTE=Archangel1775;18477990]It isn't cost effective to grade them, simply. For autographs, though condition is important, most aren't collecting them for the "Gem", they want them for the autograph.[/QUOTE]

This is true till it isnt. Not long ago I sold a Simpsons card for over $1,000 just because it was a Pop 1. (You can buy boxes of this stuff under $100.) For quick flips I agree its not likely to yield good results.

If you like the cards and are willing to hold them and sell if the right offer comes along it can help cover the grading costs of everything.

I will also try an experiment and grade either an Xmen or Spiderman card. Then auction it off and see the results.

Movie card collector and grader here...

1989 Topps Batman is probably my favorite non-sport set of all time. I love all versions of the set: base, OPC, Italy, Regina, Glossy and so forth. I was around for the hype and fondly recall opening these packs shortly after the movie released.

Im probably one of just three or four who send these to PSA. I grade what appear to be perfect copies because I have opened an inordinate number of boxes over the last 12-15 years and most don't include a single GEM candidate and, at best, just a handful of potential 9s. A truly difficult set to grade.

My second favorite set to chase boxes/sets/packs of is the 2008 Playground Maniacs The Dark Knight Movie Stickers. Like the Panini Harry Potter stuff, it is a mix of standard album stickers and foil stickers. But these are packed pressed against plastic toys so finding mint copies is a very difficult but a fun challenge. Finding ANY wax today is an even greater challenge. Sadly, there was no Topps or any other licensed trading card set produced for this iconic film.

There were some Comic-Con factory sets of the PGM "Dark Knight Stickers".
While they include the toys along with a complete sticker set, because of the larger box packaging, there's a chance stickers from those sets might be better suited for grading. I'm not entirely sure on that, as I've never opened mine, but it might be worth a shot to run one of these down and grade some of the notable stickers, particularly the ones featuring Heath Ledger.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/6rYi5aW.jpg[/img]

As my collecting habits evolve, I am finding I much prefer the comic based Marvel cards over the MCU cards, definitely out of appreciation for the art and fun inserts. I am dabbling in grading a few non sports cards here and there to see how they look slabbed, some look really amazing in slabs and of course at this time are extremely low pop. You never know, years down the road graded Marvel and non sports cards might have a much bigger following. I know people have all sorts of reasons for grading but I do value grading certain cards just to preserve them in my collection.

[QUOTE=jdandns;18480795]There were some Comic-Con factory sets of the PGM "Dark Knight Stickers".
While they include the toys along with a complete sticker set, because of the larger box packaging, there's a chance stickers from those sets might be better suited for grading. I'm not entirely sure on that, as I've never opened mine, but it might be worth a shot to run one of these down and grade some of the notable stickers, particularly the ones featuring Heath Ledger.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/6rYi5aW.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]

Oh yeah, very familiar with sdcc sets. I have opened 20+ of these sets over the last two years and the stickers are always loose in their slot - nothing locking them in place, no lid or anything. 9/10 times the foil and pvc die-cut stickers are packed at the top of the stack and floating around the box when Ive opened them. which means severely dinged corners and edges.

Blaster boxes have proven to be the only shot at clean copies.

[QUOTE=junkwaxgems;18480453]Movie card collector and grader here...

1989 Topps Batman is probably my favorite non-sport set of all time. I love all versions of the set: base, OPC, Italy, Regina, Glossy and so forth. I was around for the hype and fondly recall opening these packs shortly after the movie released.

Im probably one of just three or four who send these to PSA. I grade what appear to be perfect copies because I have opened an inordinate number of boxes over the last 12-15 years and most don't include a single GEM candidate and, at best, just a handful of potential 9s. A truly difficult set to grade.

My second favorite set to chase boxes/sets/packs of is the 2008 Playground Maniacs The Dark Knight Movie Stickers. Like the Panini Harry Potter stuff, it is a mix of standard album stickers and foil stickers. But these are packed pressed against plastic toys so finding mint copies is a very difficult but a fun challenge. Finding ANY wax today is an even greater challenge. Sadly, there was no Topps or any other licensed trading card set produced for this iconic film.[/QUOTE]

You and I are aligned. I sent in a couple of the 89 Batman set. Recently I stumbled across the 2008 Playground Maniacs Dark Knight. Those are amazing. Think they have are super sneaky to collect.

[QUOTE=jdandns;18480795]There were some Comic-Con factory sets of the PGM "Dark Knight Stickers".
While they include the toys along with a complete sticker set, because of the larger box packaging, there's a chance stickers from those sets might be better suited for grading. I'm not entirely sure on that, as I've never opened mine, but it might be worth a shot to run one of these down and grade some of the notable stickers, particularly the ones featuring Heath Ledger.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/6rYi5aW.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]

I recently bought a few opened and unopened packs of these. Got a few good refractors. This is one of my favorite long term investments. Outside of this forum there are so few people that know these exist.

Recently stumbled across the 1985 Back to the Future Panini stickers. Love these as there is nothing else from original movie. Quite hard to find.

Got my Doc Brown in the mail yesterday, going to submit it to SGC for fun.

Black Diamond was MCU cards it is was and still is a pretty popular set. I think because it covered multiple movies it was popular. Similar to Star Wars sets. The most popular Star Wars sets are those with characters across the franchise. The individual movie sets are way less popular (outside the original 1977, 1980 and 1983 vintage sets)

[QUOTE=NotSportsCards;18481934]You and I are aligned. I sent in a couple of the 89 Batman set. Recently I stumbled across the 2008 Playground Maniacs Dark Knight. Those are amazing. Think they have are super sneaky to collect.[/QUOTE]

Sometime in 2020 I discovered that this was the only licensed set produced for the movie and I bought everything unopened that I could find online. I was very interested in finding gem copies for a raw, PC set plus anything gradeable once I saw how the stickers come out of packs. As you have seen by now, they are usually trashed: scratched, warped, crimped and dinged. Unopened has really dried up over the last year and I probably should've left some that way.

[QUOTE=NotSportsCards;18481942]I recently bought a few opened and unopened packs of these. Got a few good refractors. This is one of my favorite long term investments. Outside of this forum there are so few people that know these exist.[/QUOTE]

Early this year there were still boxes and sets to be found on occasion. Mostly from Australia. Now I can't find any. I will share that single packs and blister packs (2 packs) usually yield the most damaged cards with the factory sets a close second. And I agree, this set remains a very under the radar issue. And even once it becomes recognized, I doubt most will know how severely condition sensitive the foil and PVC stickers are.