The 1993 Skybox Series 1 Simpsons Trading Card Set is one of the favorites amongst collectors. There are several reasons for this including the fact that it was such an improvement over the Topps set and the fact that this set included a super chase card (The Art d'Bart Card). Let's look at some of the interesting points regarding this series.
Each pack contained 8 cards and 1 tattoo. In addition to the chase cards, the base set had a special Itchy & Scratchy subset and 10 Radioactive Man Cards. Some of the cards contained "newly created original art and covers from the new line of Simpsons Comics from Bongo Comics". The bottom back of each card had a "Flip-o-matic scene. This time, it was Itchy and Scratchy fighting. When the cards were all held together and flipped, it looked like a motion scene. To see the scene in action click the picture below:
Now, here are the details:
The Promo Cards: The promo cards from this set are puzzling to say
the least.
The 4X6 card: This is rare and hard to find and I have
only ever seen one. I am not sure where it came from.
The 4 Card promo sheet: This was found in the
October 1993 -Vol. 3, No. 10 of Previews Magazine. However, I have found
at least 3 different versions and not sure where each different version was
found. Some may have been given away as promos. There may be more
versions.
P1-P4: These are the 4 cards that were part of the 4
Card Previews Sheet. I bought them as single cards from a guy that claimed
they were stand alone cards and not part of the 4 Card Sheet.
Additionally, I took them to a card shop here in Philly and had the owner look
at them under a scope. He said it looked like they were not part of the
sheet and if they were, then it was a very clean cut. Regardless, I have
been unable to find anyone who ever heard of these cards being released as stand
alone cards.
There were 2
versions of the Otto Promo Card. There was the "P1" version and
there was an "18" version. The
cards were similar but not identical. I have scanned them in below. Again,
there is some debate as to whether the "P1" card was ever actually issued as a
stand alone card or it was simply cut from the 4 Card Sheet.
As you can see from looking at
the cards, the front of the cards are nearly identical with the exception of the
border. The "18" card has a white border while the "P1" card has a blue
border (same color as the rest of the card). The back of the cards
are quite different as you can see.
1993
Skybox Series 1
Otto #P1
Otto #18
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There are also 2 versions of the P3 - "Itchy & Scratchy" Card. But unlike the Otto Card, these are both numbered "P3". The cards are identical on the front and look similar on the back but if you look carefully, you can see that one version has a light pink background and the other version has a dark pink background. The version with the light pink background is similar to the card found on the black 4 card promo sheets while the version with the dark pink background is similar to the card found on the pink 4 card promo sheet. Again, there is some debate as to whether or not the light pink card was ever released as a stand alone card. I am fairly certain the dark pink card was released as a stand alone card. See the scans below for comparison.
1993 Skybox Series 1
P3 - Light Pink
P3-Dark Pink
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One final note about the promo cards. B1 and C1 were part of a 2 card set and when they were placed on top of each other they formed a picture of the family sitting on top of Homer. See scan below.
1993 Skybox Series 1
B1/C1 Overlay
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The Tattoo Cards are a set of 10 Cards that look to be actual (temporary) tattoos though I must confess, I have never tried applying one. All of the pictures are stand alone with the exception of #3 which is Itchy with a fire gun and #9 which is Scratchy in flames. According to those two cards, they go together.
The Wiggle Cards are a set of 9 Lenticular Cards that look like an action scene when you "wiggle" them in your hands. That is part of the reason why the scans look blurry. The back of the cards form a picture that looks like the 4X6 promo card - see below.
1993 Skybox Series 1
Wiggle Cards (Back Picture)
Seperated
Together
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The Cel Cards were a set of 6 cards. There were 2 sets of three cards each. One card was a base card and the other two cards were "Cel" Cards. When you placed the two Cel Cards on top of the Base Card, it formed a scene. Below is a picture of all 3 cards from each set
1993 Skybox Series 1
Cel Cards Overlay
C1/C2/C3
C4/C5/C6
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The
Art d'Bart Card (or Art de Bart Card) is the next card worth mentioning. This is one of the rarest Simpsons cards. It is a hand
drawn sketch of Bart by Matt Groening. Each card is numbered up to 400.
(There are rumors that Matt was tired of drawing Bart so many times and he did a
few of Homer and a few of Marge. I have never seen any of these but I
suppose they might exist.) There were only 400 Art d'Bart Cards made but
it is possible that less than 400 are in existence because not all of the "Lucky
Day" Cards were turned in. Other interesting facts about the Art d'Bart
Card include: some of them have a "Skybox" emboss on the card and some do
not. It is thought that the cards that are embossed were released as a
result of redeemed Lucky Day Cards and those without the emboss were simply
released into circulation; the other interesting fact was that according
to the packs of cards,
"NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. For a chance to
receive an "Art d'Bart" Autographed Card without purchase, clearly print your
name and address on a postcard and mail to: Art de Bart Card Offer, PO Box 234A,
Church Hill, MD 21690. Only one entry per postcard. Each postcard
must be mailed separately. Employees of Skybox International, Twentieth
Century Fox, Bongo Comics and USA Fulfillment and their families are ineligible.
Winners will be drawn on or about July 15, 1994. Each winner will receive
one Art de Bart Autographed Card by certified mail. Please allow six to
eight weeks for delivery..."
It is very possible that the cards not embossed were those given
away and the ones that were embossed were the ones redeemed by Lucky Day Cards
or vice versa. Of course, this is all speculation on my part and the
emboss may be random.
The "Lucky Day Card" is the final card I want to mention from this series.
It was the card that Skybox inserted into packs of cards and if you received it,
you could sent it in and redeem it for the Art d'Bart Card. The only catch
was Skybox did not send the Lucky Day Card back to you with your Art d'Bart Card
and as a result, this card has become EXTREMELY RARE since most people who
pulled one sent it in to Skybox. There are very few known to exist.
There are various rumors out there as to how many are around (ie. 140) but there
really is no way to substantiate a count. I know of only 2 cards that
exist including the one I have. There are however, a few
unopened boxes of these cards around and any of them may contain a Lucky Day
Card...you never know. I would say this is one of the rarest and hardest
to find (and valuable) of all the Simpsons Cards. It is much harder to
find than the Art d'Bart Card.
Other
Items: There was a mail away card storage tin that was available
during series 1 as well as series 2.
Finally, a few set of uncut sheets have been found from this set. These
were obtained from former Fox executive and he led me to believe that there were
only a few that survived (less than 10). It is very difficult to put a
price on these and being so large are expensive to frame. I know of a
total of five sheets:
1) Uncut sheet of Wiggle Cards #1: Consists of W4, W5, W6, W7 and W8.
There are four of each card on the sheet for a total of 20 cards.
2) Uncut sheet of Wiggle Cards #2: Consists of W1, W2, W3 and W9. There were six of each card with the exception of W9 which had seven cards on the sheet for a total of 25 cards.
3) Uncut sheet of Glow-In-The-Dark Cards: There are 10 of each card on the sheet for a total of 40 cards.
4) Uncut sheet of Art d'Bart Cards. For security reasons, only one card per sheet. Not drawn in either (just the gold border).
5) Uncut sheet of Lucky Day Cards. For security reasons, only one card per sheet.
VALUES:
Promo Cards:
4X6 Promo Card ($35)
#18 Card ($2-3)
P1-P4 Cards ($???)...since
I am not sure if these exist, I can't put a value on them with the exception of
P3
P3 Card($2-3)
Large 4 Card Black Sheet ($3-5)
Small 4 Card Black Sheet ($7-10)
Large 4 Card Pink Sheet (Limited Edition) ($10-15)
B1 Card($2-3)
C1 Card($2-3)
Base Set of 80 cards ($15
- $20)
Chase Cards
Set of 10 Tatoo Cards ($5)
Wiggles Card (9 total) ($2-3 each)
Cel Cards (6 total) ($10-12 each)
Glow-In-The-Dark Cards (4 total) ($15-20
each)
Art d'Bart Card (1 Card) ($400-$800)
Lucky Day Card (1 Card) ($1000-$1500)
Uncut Sheets
Uncut sheet of wiggle cards #1 ($100
unframed)
Uncut sheet of wiggle cards #2 ($100
unframed)
Uncut sheet of Glow-In-The-Dark Cards ($150
unframed)
Uncut sheet of Art d'Bart Cards ($500
unframed)
Uncut sheet of Lucky Day Cards ($500
unframed)
Other Items
Collector Tin ($50)
Sealed Box ($85-125)...the
reason these boxes go for so much is the chance (even thought it is rare) of
finding a Lucky Day Card.
Sealed Pack ($5)
Empty Display Box ($3-$5)
Empty Wrapper ($1)
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