Card Collecting Part 3

Card Collecting Part 1

Card Collecting Part 2

When the following year came around, I collected the 1995 editions of all three sets. But I noticed something at this time – that I was doing it mostly solo, more or less. I didn’t know of anyone else personally who was collecting these sets, so I mostly had to deal with the card shop or just rely on my paycheck and lady luck. 

The 1995 Fleer Ultra X-Men cards had some new characters (the Generation X origin story had just finished in the comics) and some more history that the previous year’s set had omitted. Once again, these were painted by various artists, and had several sets of special cards. There were some plastic cards that were transparent and double sided, Sinister Observations (Mr. Sinister’s thoughts on various heroes), as well as something called Hunters and Stalkers, which came in 3 colors (like the Marvel Masterpiece set). 

 The 1995 Flair Marvel cards were similar to the previous set in terms of quality and art style, but it only covered the previous year’s worth of story developments. I felt like at least half of the set should have been devoted to other major Marvel storylines that didn’t make the cut in the original set, and have the other half be stuff from the past couple years. Like the previous set, this had Powerblast cards, as well as some new kinds called Chromium and Holoblast, and something called Duoblast, featuring 2 similar heroes with one on each side of the card. 

When the 1996 X-Men cards debuted, I was excited because they were all done by 3 of my favorite artists: Joe, Adam, and Andy Kubert (a father and his two sons), and every card was a chromium card. While I enjoyed the set, each successive collecting experience wasn’t quite as good because the information on the cards sorta covered the same ground each time (i.e., I wasn’t learning a whole lot) and it seemed like they were more focused on the recent events (which I had kept up on by actually reading comics by this point). One interesting idea for a set of special embossed cards was the set that had the "regular" version of a character, with another card showing the "Age of Apocalypse" version in the exact same pose. 

But one thing that sorta turned me off was that this set had one included card with a signature of one of the artists on it in gold foil. Neat, but it would be nearly impossible to collect a full set of 150 special cards when only 1 came in a pack. If I had perfect luck, it would have taken me 150 packs to finish that set, and I would end up with ten (10!) full sets of “normal” cards and like 3 full sets of the other special cards. Not worth it. The Hildebrandt Marvel Masterpiece set had done something similar and I didn’t appreciate the feeling of having something that was out of my budget to collect.

But by this time, I was reading more and more comics directly and sorta phasing out the card-collecting part of my hobby, so I finished the set and its special cards (none of the signature ones) and called it a day, so to speak. One special crossover X-Men event had each issue packaged with a special X-Cutioner’s Song card. I collected all 12 and added them to my collection. In order to prevent the rings from pinching the first or last pages, I used some extra card pages filled with some of the basketball cards my brother gave me (mostly low-level Portland Trailblazers cards) to be the sacrificial cards should something unfortunate happen. 

I started also buying something called Marvel Overpower cards, which was a collectible card game (think like Marvel’s version of Magic: The Gathering). I bought the starter decks and a few booster packs, but could never find anyone to play with so I just have them but don’t use them. Wizard Magazine, a publication about comic books and its related merchandise, packaged a special card for Overpower with their 50th issue. I bought one from 7-11, but it turns out that the card was either forgotten or stolen. So I surreptitiously took the card out of another issue a few days later. They also started issuing a special card with each issue and so I have a set of Wizard cards as well. 

Years later, when I discovered that some of these cards were being traded on eBay, I was able to complete my collection of the original 1994 Fleer set - the one Red Foil card I could never find. Then I found that there were a few other holes in my collections that I could fill using these online auctions, and sorta went a little overboard (as one does). But I finally completed everything and stopped the spending. The only things I don't have are the Silver X-Over cards (which I mentioned go for around $500 these days) and things like the giant cards that came as case toppers (meant for store display purposes, so I don't feel like those are "part of the set," but they often get listed with the cards).

I hung onto the full sets and have them nicely organized in binders, and any extra cards (including special cards) are safely stored in little boxes in totes in my shed. I should find something to do with them.