1994 Fleer Ultra X-Men Silver X-Overs X-Tinction Agenda - Graded BGS 9.5 Gem Mint

Set: 1994 Fleer Ultra X-Men
Company: Fleer
Type: Insert/Chase - Silver X-Overs (Walmart Exclusive)
Character: X-Tinction Agenda
Grading Company: BGS (Beckett Grading Services)
Grade: 9.5 Gem Mint
Status: Personal Collection

Thank goodness for Wikipedia.  I would have killed it in high school if this popular "research" website was around.  So without adieu, for your reading pleasure (since I'm too lazy to write my own):

Taking place immediately after the events of the 1990 crossover "Days of Future Present", a group of Genoshan Magistrates (soldiers of the country of Genosha), backed by the cyborg Cameron Hodge, and including an amnesiac Havok (a member of the X-Men), attack the X-Mansion and kidnap Storm and the New Mutants Warlock, Boom Boom, Rictor, and Wolfsbane. They are taken to Genosha naked and weak. Warlock is killed and Storm and Wolfsbane are brainwashed, turned into mindless mutate slaves, which form the backbone of the Genoshan economy and lifestyle. Cable, the New Mutants, Gambit, Forge, and Banshee recruit X-Factor and head to Genosha to save their teammates. They are soon joined by Wolverine, Psylocke, and Jubilee, who independently head to Genosha to rescue their friends.

In the end, the X-Men defeat the forces of Genosha and Cameron Hodge's severed head is buried alive by Rictor, who uses his earthquake-inducing powers to topple the Genoshan capitol building "The Citadel" onto Hodge. Storm, whose body had been physically regressed into that of a child in an earlier story, albeit with her adult memories and personality intact, is freed of the brainwashing, and regained her adult form. Wolfsbane is also freed from her brainwashing, but is trapped in a lupine form permanently. Havok (having gotten his memories back) elects to stay in Genosha along with Wolfsbane to help rebuild the country (now without a government) and prevent civil war between its human and mutant populations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Tinction_Agenda

Box Break and Review - 1994 The Amazing Spider-Man, 1st Edition

Box:

Company: Fleer
Release: 1994
Name: The Amazing Spider-Man, 1st Edition - Hobby
Number of Packs: 36
Number of Cards per Pack: 8

Insert/ Chase Cards:

Suspended Animation - 1:4
Gold Web Foils (1-6) - Jumbo packs
Gold Web Foils (1-6) - Walmart packs
Hologram - 1:18

Spider-Man, Spider-Man

Trading cards, I'm a fan!

Made by Fleer, and it rocks;

Lots of chase cards in the box.

BOOYAH!

I pulled a hologram!

Card Design (9.0/10)

Spider-Man trading card sets were produced in numerous iterations starting with Todd McFarlane’s Trading Card Set, distributed in 1989 by Comic Images.  But it wasn’t until 1994 when Fleer’s Amazing Spider-Man – 1st Edition ushered in a “renaissance age” of Spidey cards with beautiful artwork, unique designs, and a diverse range of inserts.  

The artwork was done solely by the popular Mark Bagley, who is well known for his work on The Amazing Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man.  Fleer printed each base card on full glossy stock and the borderless design gave Mark the maximum amount of real estate to create remarkable drawings.  In addition, Fleer borrowed the concept of having 9 card “puzzle” sets from Skybox’s Marvel Universe Series 4 and implemented that design for cards 1-81.  These cards were subsets of a bigger 9 card picture so when placed in a standard 9 card sheet protector, they formed one large, contiguous image.

When including jumbo and Walmart exclusive packs in addition to the regular hobby packs, chase cards were quite abundant in this set.  In hobby packs, one may find Suspended Animation cards, which were printed on clear plastic acetate. While the transparent cards looked unusual given they were a relatively new idea, the cards were pretty popular among collectors.

Another insert set that was included were Gold Web Foil cards.  The first six cards (Spider-Man, Mary Jane, Chameleon, Venom, Carnage, Hob-Goblin) were found in jumbo packs while the last six Gold Web Foil cards (Spider-Man, Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man, Black Cat, Lizard) were found in Walmart packs and also numbered 1-6.  Fleer used the same character image as the Suspended Animation cards but instead of acetate, they printed them on gold foil card stock.

Lastly, the popular holograms made an appearance with four different 3D holograms - two of Spider-Man, one of Venom, and one of Carnage.

Character List (10/10)

I have nothing but good things to say about the checklist.  It was noticeable that Fleer put a lot of thought into it.  Some might think what checklist can be done with a character set for Spider-Man?How many cards of Spider-Man can you include in a set?  Well, apparently 150 different ones when done correctly.

There were 10 different categories: Spidey's Powers, Venom, Spidey's Strange Transformation (my favorite), Spidey's Enemies, Spidey's Allies, Spidey's Greatest Team-ups, Spidey's Greatest Battles, Spidey's Friends, Spidey's Origins, and Events.  Whew!  

Box Break

First of all, the cards were sealed in 4 different pack designs:

Here's a sample of the base cards:

 

Suspended Animation cards (remember that these are clear acetate cards):

I couldn't believe I pulled all different Suspended Animation cards.  I haven't opened too many boxes so maybe it was inserted this way but I was glad there were no doubles.

And lastly the popular 3D holograms (they look much, much better in real life):

Entertainment Value (9.0/10)

Excellent and fun pack-ripping experience!  The excitement of opening a pack that contained the 3D hologram never goes away...trust me...

Price/Value (8.0/10)

Prices on these boxes, for some reason, has risen in the last six to twelve months.  About a year ago, I was able find boxes at about $20-$25 a box on EBay.  But now, sealed boxes go for $50-$60 a box.  

Honestly, if your goal is to add the holograms and suspended animation cards to your Spidey collection, it may be better to purchase the individual cards on EBay.  Individual holograms sell anywhere from $5 to $10 so getting the whole set should run you a maximum of $40.  Even then, a lot of times you would be able to find a set at a lot less.  

Bottom line is if you want to complete your set, buy the cards on the secondary market.  If you want to bust some packs, then by all means, do it!

Final Thoughts

If you were a non-comic book reader growing up, whether it was due to a lack of nearby comic book store or it was because your parents thought they were too inappropriate and it was better to focus on homework anyways, these cards gave collectors a way to get to know the characters.  

In an age before Wikipedia, comic cards were a way we learned about the origin of Spider-Man, how he got turned into Captain Universe, and the heart-wrenching death of Gwen Stacy.  Marvel cards got us caught up with everything that happened in the comics, without needing to read them, either due to inaccessibility or strict parents.  And for that, I am grateful.

Overall Score

9.0 out of 10

1994 Fleer Ultra X-Men Silver X-Overs Mutant Massacre - Graded BGS 9.5 Gem Mint

Set: 1994 Fleer Ultra X-Men
Company: Fleer
Type: Insert/Chase - Silver X-Overs (Walmart Exclusive)
Character: Mutant Massacre
Grading Company: BGS (Beckett Grading Services)
Grade: 9.5 Gem Mint
Status: Personal Collection

Following Impel and Skybox, Fleer released the 3rd line of X-Men cards in 1994 and issued them under the Ultra brand.  In addition, they were available in hobby, jumbo, and two types of Walmart packs.  Back in the early and mid 90's, Walmart stores were not available as they are today and certain Marvel chase cards were only inserted in packs distributed by Walmart.  Since those cards saw limited release and were difficult to find, their value has increased over the last several years, as Marvel card enthusiasts are obtaining them for their collections.

Among one these insert sets was the Silver X-Overs, found only in the 1994 Fleer Ultra X-Men Walmart packs.  The set was made up of 6 cards - Mutant Massacre, Fall of the Mutants, Inferno, X-tinction Agenda, X-cutioner's Song, and Fatal Attractions. In addition, the front of every card was completely coated in foil, giving the card a fantastic silver sheen.  Depending on which Walmart distribution, each box most likely contained only one Silver X-Overs insert.

The Silver X-Overs were prone to edge wear and finding one that will grade Gem Mint is extremely hard, considering the rarity in locating an unopened Walmart box.  In addition, I have noticed most cards that are for sale either have soft corners, surface scratches, or rough edges.  At $30 to $40 a card, most people do not have the luxury of buying multiple cards, hoping to score one that's gem mint quality.

Last year, I was lucky enough to buy the first four cards of the set at an extremely good price.  Although I saw pictures, I expected some corner and edge wear, maybe even a surface dent or two.  But when the cards arrived, to my pleasant surprise, each one was in top condition - even BGS worthy.  After a BGS submission last month, Beckett graded two of the cards 9.5 Gem Mint, one as 9 Mint, and the other as 8.5 Near Mint-Mint Plus.  All I need now are the last two cards from the set and I can complete this collection...or until I decide to upgrade on the condition...

1994 Flair Marvel Annual Power Blast Thor - Graded GMA Gem Mint 10

Set: 1994 Flair Marvel Annual
Company: Flair
Type: Insert/Chase - Power Blast
Character: Thor
Grading Company: GMA (GMA Grading)
Grade: Gem Mint 10
Status: For Sale SOLD

Flair issued their inaugural Marvel card set and it was a beauty.  Each ultra-glossy card was printed on thick card stock and they were packaged in mini-boxes instead of the usual sealed packs.  The insert cards were called "Power Blast" and had foil on the back-side. 

The Thor Power Blast card below was graded Gem Mint by GMA Grading.