Marvel 1990 Vending Prism Sticker Cards (Impel-style)

[DynaEtch]

I agree with exo, the Marvel prism cards above are recent customs that someone made, they started popping up on ebay I'd like to say around the pandemic boom when 1990 Marvel Universe started going crazy. If it wasnt then, it was definitely within the last 5-10 years.

They seem to be good quality custom cards, although I've never had one in person.

Just like the prism vending stickers from the 90s they are unauthorized. There are levels of unauthorized though. The popular prism vending stickers from the 90s I call "officially unofficial", since while they were unlicensed, they were still part of well-defined sets that were issued publicly nationally near-contemporary to the time of the sets (early to mid 90s), which tons of people collected. In other words they were wide-scale, so those I call a legit sort of unlicensed.

Homemade modern custom creations are different in that they seem more localized, random creations, and you wont find them in checklists of sets online etc. A lot of people wont consider them 'official' to collect. They can still look great though.

[PurplesaurusRex]

The back of the full card stickers should give you a clue about the age. Most vintage bootlegs have Kodak printed on the back.

[finfangfan]

Bumping an old thread but found these in a box of older stuff. All have KODAK on back in 2 different styles (one with KODAK in big print and the other style is Kodak and a boatload of other text in a much smaller font).

Any value to these? Can these be sold via COMC or would they get returned if I included them in my next shipment? Does any company slab this stuff?

[exotechktx]

Originally Posted by finfangfan

Bumping an old thread but found these in a box of older stuff. All have KODAK on back in 2 different styles (one with KODAK in big print and the other style is Kodak and a boatload of other text in a much smaller font).

Any value to these? Can these be sold via COMC or would they get returned if I included them in my next shipment? Does any company slab this stuff?

I've not seen any of the 90s stickers graded but I can't say I've actively sought them out either.

As for raw worth, they range anywhere between $5 on the low end and $15 on the higher end. Specifically these silver ones tend to be sold in lots or sets so the average value is usually on the lower end.

[PurplesaurusRex]

Originally Posted by finfangfan

Any value to these? Can these be sold via COMC or would they get returned if I included them in my next shipment? Does any company slab this stuff?

The odd thing is I've seen vending machine stickers for TMNT, DC, Disney and other properties on COMC, but I haven't seen any Marvel stickers. I wonder if anyone has even tried to submit?

[exotechktx]

I want to clarify that the $5-$15 is with the context of these silver stickers shown. There are other stickers that are worth more, with the rarest ones going up to the $120-$150 range.

[Talyn]

What would we consider the rarest stickers? Cant say I've ever seen one go for $150.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by PurplesaurusRex

The odd thing is I've seen vending machine stickers for TMNT, DC, Disney and other properties on COMC, but I haven't seen any Marvel stickers. I wonder if anyone has even tried to submit?

I wonder if maybe those other branded stickers were licensed. I dont really see any of the classic marvel prism stickers on COMC, which is odd and makes me think they dont list them since are unlicensed.

Originally Posted by Talyn

What would we consider the rarest stickers? Cant say I've ever seen one go for $150.

Exo will know more about the wider prism sticker market than me. I can say that individually, the normal Marvel Masterpieces ones (1992-1993) do not go for a lot individually...maybe $10 to $40 tops for like Spidey or Venom..most $10-15 though.

The ones that I see on the market from marvel that go for the higher amounts are ones like the 1993 Marvel universe, or ones from this set (below on ebay for $99 asking price. Edit there's another one for 40 obo, so even this not that much).



Another rarer sticker set is the Star set mentioned above in thread, which has the Wolverine vs Sabretooth (probably most I paid for a single sticker, was like $70).



Some sticker sets are just rarer than others, even though they're mostly all unauthorized vending stickers. I would be hard-pressed to find a sticker going for $150, that would have to be very top of the spectrum. I think it's because the unauthorized aspect...it's just not likely for them to be super valuable, as cool as they are. They sell better as complete sets than individuals, as mentioned. I have also not seen a prism sticker in any graded slab.

[finfangfan]

Has anyone (Jeff Allender?) attempted to compile a checklist for the bootleg stickers?

In my scan it looks like a couple stickers at least attribute copyright. But I find the 2 different Storms in upper left corner of my photo to be weird. Were there bootlegs made of other bootlegs? Kind of funny how the same base design can end up being used in a modified form. If it’s bootlegs you’d think it would be easiest to just copy exactly rather than trouble yourself with any modifications.

[DynaEtch]

Abs-cards has one of the most comprehensive checklists for marvel vending stickers (you click on vending stickers on left side menu, or unauthorized vending stickers). Not all variations are listed, and for those, my checklist is ebay. The issue is locating your sticker in the sets listed, like on abs-cards. The stickers dont have a set listed on them so have to figure it out. They have the Cyclops and Jean under the Regular Vending Sticker section, so that suggests to me it's a licensed sticker. What probably happened with the Storm is the one with the copyright was official, and the other was unauthorized vending. Just using same art. The difference in text of the Storm name is a giveaway it's a different set and not just a variation. One thing in common in a certain prism vending sticker set is the design of the name, etc.

I will say, the amount of work that went into some of these bootleg vending stickers is impressive. They didnt tend to just copy cards or other stickers, they converted the art, as we've seen in masterpieces stickers where painted art was converted to line art and then colored, to even recent examples like Talyn's work and all the effort that went into those.

[exotechktx]

Most of the asking prices on eBay tend to not sell, but during the craze, the series I stickers outrageously went as much as $5-600 for the set of 15 - the normalized price is closer to $10/ea.

The $150 was for the Spider-man sticker from the rarest of sets - they were die-cut and took images from various comics. Funnily enough, this old screenshot doesn't even have the Spider-man listed But it went to auction and fetched in that range.



Aside from the Spider-man, the others probably range closer to $30-$60 (I have seen Cable and Magneto and regrettably skipped BINing them at $40).

As for other less-rare sticker sets, the orange X Dyna linked above, the pink star Comic Images/Marvel ones, and some from the Universe Series III and Series IV tend to linger closer to the $30-50 region.

I've used both Amalia Barrios (abs-cards) and Collectible Chris as resources. Neither place has the die-cut cards mentioned above, so you can see how rare they are

[DynaEtch]

Ah that’s right, I thought I remember those diecuts from before. I agree, those have to be among the more expensive stickers out there. You just don’t see them much. They look awesome too

[Talyn]

Wolverine vs Sabretooth wrong has been righted.
https://plasticgeek.bigcartel.com/pr...ism-battle-set

[DynaEtch]

I'd say it's a huge improvement over the Wolvie Sabretooth sticker of the time!



Spectra prism set looking awesome together, amazing stuff

[DynaEtch]

Want to update with my most current list of 93 Masterpieces prism stickers. There is no official checklist of this out there anywhere with all the variations, so I have no idea if complete, and if anyone knows of anything not shown, please let me know. The two *’d ones are ones I don’t have but I believe exist. Every other one listed I physically have so are confirmed.

Four variations are: wave, circle(rays), checkered, cracked ice

93MM base prism stickers (60 different)
Archangel: wave, circle
Beast: wave, circle
Bishop: wave,checker
Cable: wave,checker*
Captain America: circle,cracked ice
Carnage: cracked ice,checker,wave*
Colossus: wave, circle
Cyclops: wave, checker, cracked ice
Darkhawk: cracked ice, circle
Doom 2099: wave, cracked ice, checker
Gambit: wave, circle
Ghost Rider: wave, cracked ice, checker
Havok: wave, circle
Hawkeye: cracked ice, circle
Hulk: wave, checker, cracked ice
Jean Grey: wave, checker
Magneto: wave, checker,cracked ice
Punisher: wave, checker, cracked ice
Rogue: wave, checker
Sabretooth: wave, checker
Shatterstar: cracked ice, circle
Silver Surfer: circle, cracked ice
Spider-Man 2099: checker, wave,cracked ice
Thanos: wave, checker, cracked ice
Venom: checker, wave, cracked ice

93MM Die-Cut prism 5 sticker set
Whole set exists in both wave and checker. Just the Wolverine exists in a 3rd variant with prism covering the whole card (“psychedelic variant”).

I have never once seen another variant of those die-cuts beyond just rumor, so that’s all I’m listing. Please let me know if I’m missing anything (with evidence preferably).