Solve my mystery - what are these?

[drearick]

Picked up a box with a ton of 90s cards in it today and found these three cards:



I have never seen these cards with a black border - did my due diligence with eBay, COMC, and Google searches and haven't been able to come up with any information on them (or frankly any proof that they even exist beyond the fact that I have them in my hand).

Anyone have any idea what they are, how they were distributed, etc.?

Thanks.
Dave

 

[Triple B]

That was the 5 year run of the Promo card, so this could be just about anything. What does the back look like?

 

[drearick]

That was the 5 year run of the Promo card, so this could be just about anything. What does the back look like?

 

[piper1]

That was the 5 year run of the Promo card, so this could be just about anything. What does the back look like?

Very likely as I can remember all the card shops getting plenty of Classic Promo cards

 

[drearick]

A promo of some type makes sense. What I can't wrap my head around is the fact that there are none on eBay, there have never been any on COMC (none show using the "include sold" filter), and none show up in Google image searches. Even Center Ice Collectibles doesn't show a listing for anything and they have just about every oddball set you can think of.

They may be promos, but how rare are they if there's no history of them anywhere?

Was hoping a Lindros, Forsberg, or Niedermayer collector might have one and perhaps remember how/where they got it.

 

[Triple B]

Yeah, I don't ever remember them having black borders and all three are French language cards. Hopefully you find out...what a great mystery!

 

[quincy]

This looks like a job for Burrell. Or maybe the fella who used to be the walking DB for CSC.

 

[creasecollector]

This guy is a Lindros collector (focuses on auto/mem though), but maybe he can help you?

https://www.instagram.com/blindros88/

 

[drearick]

This guy is a Lindros collector (focuses on auto/mem though), but maybe he can help you?

https://www.instagram.com/blindros88/

Thanks, but it looks like he only deals in Game Used and Autographs.

 

[Triple B]

I reached out to Bobby Burrell on Q’s recommendation and this is what he said:

Hey Ryan, I generally only go up to 1990 but they exclusively made French where were considered very rare.

I haven’t seen any French backs that are blue, so this may solve the mystery. These may be the super rare French version everyone was after back then.

 

[drearick]

I reached out to Bobby Burrell on Q’s recommendation and this is what he said:

Hey Ryan, I generally only go up to 1990 but they exclusively made French where were considered very rare.

I haven’t seen any French backs that are blue, so this may solve the mystery. These may be the super rare French version everyone was after back then.

These are the cards that normally have the green border - and there are both English and French versions already:

https://www.comc.com/Cards/Hockey/1991/Classic_Draft_Picks_-_Base/1/Eric_Lindros/150688

https://www.comc.com/Cards/Hockey/1991/Classic_Draft_Picks_-_Base_-_French/1/Eric_Lindros/17832468

These cards are identical to the French versions, with the exception of the border being black instead of green.

 

[tkmullin]

There is no mention of a black border version in either the Charlton Price Guide or the Beckett Price Guide.

 

[penguinsChief]

Just jumping on this thread a little, I saw these cards in person this weekend. Happen to be in Columbus visiting my son and family and snuck out to a card show in Xenia and guess who was setup there? Yup, Dave was there and we talked for a bit before we even knew who each other was! Funny how things happen.

BTW -- Dave I will be putting a post together with those Pens cards I was telling you about. Keep your eyes open.