Club Pro Set Timeline
Updated On: January 27, 2014
As new information comes to light, the timeline changes. Please note that it is a work in progress and might contain incorrect information.
Description: This page will be dedicated to mapping the Club Pro Set printing timeframe and the discussion of possible decisions made during the process. Since no real information is available, most of it will be speculation based on copyrights, card dates, variations, and newspaper articles about Pro Set and their financial troubles. I believe this will help collectors theorize on unanswered questions and guide them to common, and hopefully correct, conclusions.
Club Pro Set Contest Begins (1992 Club Pro Set): A nationwide contest was created to get kids excited about these cards (and for promotion, I'm sure!). Schools were challenged to motivate their students to create a Club Pro Set card with an 'Illustrated Idiom.' They were sent phrases like "the robber held up the bank" to use as their premise. It is not known how many schools participated. The grand prize winners would receive 40 sets and a binder each to display the cards. And, in a stroke of genius, the teacher would win a free trip! How's that for motivating the educator !:-D
Transitional Packs (1992 Club Pro Set): This is why Pro Set attracts collectors to this day. And this is also why Pro Set drives Master Collectors NUTS!! In 1993, all the card backs were changed to orange. It is not clear why they did this, but maybe someone felt an upgrade to the look was needed...? So, this point should have marked the end of the 1992 copyright, right? Nope! Six sets were released with orange backs, but with 1992 copyrights. The sets include:
They must have been sent to the printers in 1993 after being created in late 1992. Then, someone must have quickly changed the back color to orange without regards for the copyright. By the trends I see in the Master list, there could be as many as three more sets (Daring Dogs, Horse Power and Save The animals). Science & Electricity is italicized as it is a supplementary set. It sticks out from the rest of the list. I would guess 1-9 was made really early in the print run and they had moved on to 10-18 before the 1993 color change.
Bank Street Renegotiation (Club Pro Set 1992?): Pro Set fell into financial problems and renegotiated their contract with Bank Street College of Education to save money. From what I was told, they got a great deal and the burden of wording these cards fell to one person, Emily. (see 1992 Club Pro Set)
The Smithsonian Institution (1992 Smithsonian Institution): Lets backtrack a little. At the same time that Club Pro Set cards were being printed, the Smithsonian Institution commissioned their own cards to give away to their patrons. In a news article made for schools, 'Art to Zoo: News for Schools from the Smithsonian Institution, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Washington, D.C. 20560' dated December 1992, the Smithsonian announced the existence of a few sets. These included:
Transitional Packs (1992 Smithsonian Institution): Again, the same thing happened with the Smithsonian sets. Orange backs were printed with the 1992 copyright. The known sets include:
The Smithsonian Institution (1993 Smithsonian Institution): Before we can get to 1993 Club Pro Set, the final run for the Smithsonian Institution cards has to be inserted into this part of the timeline. Why, you ask? All the known sets are comprised of 9 cards up to this point. 1993 Club Pro Set cards were a mix of 9- and 15-cards. It stands to reason that before the transition to 15 cards was made, the 9-card sets were already printed or being printed. The 1993 Smithsonian Institution cards include:
Club Pro Set (1993 Club Pro Set): All these sets were now exclusively printed with orange backs and their copyright was dated 1993. Two more 9-card sets were produced and then Pro Set made a change to 15-card sets (see 1993 Club Pro Set). So if the transition took place as theorized, the 9-card sets were made first, and then the 15-card sets followed:
9-card sets:
Club Pro Set Contest Ends (1993 Club Pro Set): On April 20, 1993, a Texas Resolution was made by Senator Nelson to congratulate Clint Cox of Paradise, Texas for winning the nationwide Club Pro Set contest (see Club Pro Set Contest). The students involved won 40 sets and a binder to display the cards. Which 40 sets? The more I look at the lists and this timeline, the less convinced I become about which they were. Although it might not be important to this timeline, as a collector, this question will menace me for some time!
The End Of club Pro Set: On June 25, 1993 Club Pro Set failed to respond to their trademark. This is the date that shall be known as the death of Club Pro Set (insert Bugle playing Taps).
Furthermore: There are known picture variations for Club Pro Set and Smithsonian Institution cards. I was unsure where to include them in the timeline so they remain unmentioned. They have been discussed on their corresponding pages.
Notes: This page started in my notes as "Theories, Speculations, and Bullshit!" Why tell you this? Because it is important to ME that you know the process I went through to create this blog...., and it's a plus that it sounds really funny! If you can contradict any of my theories with facts, pictures, articles, etc., please email me at 1990proset dot gmail dot com.
For Review Only (1991 Pro Set Inc.): Four prototype cards are known to exist with the words "For Review Only" printed on their backs. They were printed with the "1991 Pro Set Inc." copyright. From my brief time collecting Club Pro Set cards, I believe only a few prototypes were printed and/or still exist. This makes them extremely rare and valuable in my book!
Bankstreet College of Education(late 1991 or early 1992): A stated in the Bank Street College of Education page, they were contracted by Pro Set to author the text on the backs of the cards. From the large collection of cards Mrs. Emily had, I would guess they were there very early in the process so I placed them here at the start.
Club Pro Set Promos (1992 Pro Set Inc.): Promo cards (aka. "Fancy Backs") were printed to distribute around the industry to show Pro Set's new card concept. These cards were printed with yellow copyrights reading "1992 Pro Set Inc." and the back borders had a more prominent texture than those of the base cards. Three sets are confirmed to exist with this variation:
- Cats of the Wild
- Save The Animals
- These United States
They also share the same numbering and level: 1-9 silver. Their copyright 'Club Pro Set' was first used on July 3, 1992, according to my trademark search results. This means that all the cards printed on or after this date would have to use it to maintain the company's intellectual property rights. Three levels were used in the product: gold, silver and bronze. It would explain why only silver level variations have been found of the promos! You don't need every variation planned for production to show off a product, so using the mid-level as a sample/promo makes sense! And it also explains why I have come across many of them, but not one single 'These United States' non-fancy back. Pro Set printed huge amounts of promos for almost everything they sold. Anyone contacting them about these sets would most assuredly be sent promos!
Error? (1992 Pro Set Inc.): As of now, I can confirm that only cards #11 of the Horse Power sets use the '1992 Pro Set Inc.' copyright with an orange back. The rest of the cards in the sets use '1992 Club Pro Set' and have a yellow back. I have speculated that this card might have been produced during the 1993 orange back transition, but someone used an old template...? No 'corrected' versions have appeared. This is one of the variations that keeps me awake at night (LOL).
Pro Set Inc. aka Shelf Inc. (1992 Club Pro Set): Shelf, Inc. filed for the Club Pro Set trademark on August 7, 1992. Don't be confused by the different date stated before. July 3, 1992 was the date they declared was the first time they used the trademark even though they hadn't actually applied for it. The correspondent listed worked at a Dallas, Texas law firm (Miller, Hiersche, Martens & Hayward). I would guess that these were Pro Sets' attorneys. It doesn't make a lot of sense that lawyers would want to get into the trading card market with a brand new product Too much risk! Instead, Pro Set could have planned to sell the concept at some future point, so excluding the brand from their many others would facilitate the process. Or, applying for a trademark under a newly formed corporation would shelter Club Pro Set from any liabilities Pro Set had incurred. (Lawyers can sometimes give good advice!). What we do know for sure is that Club Pro Set would now be the only copyright they would use on their own cards.
*The following printing dates for the various sets overlap. There is no way to know exactly when each was done. So they are presented by sponsor and year.
Club Pro Set (1992 Club Pro Set): Below is the list of sets that were produced between July 3, 1992 and December 31, 1992, presumably. If the sets are not numbered, they are composed of cards 1-9. They all have three levels: gold, silver and bronze. The numbered sets have supplemental cards numbered higher, but printed in 1993, except Horse Power 10-18 (see Error?):
- 911 Emergency
- Basketball
- Bears
- Cat Nips 1-9
- Cats of the Wild 1-9
- Columbus & Explorers
- Cool Creatures
- Creepy Creatures 1-9
- Daring Dogs 1-9
- Energy
- Football Practice
- Halloween
- Heirs to the Animal Kingdom 1-9
- Horse Power 1-9
- Horse Power 10-18
- Native Americans
- Natural Disasters
- Operation Airborne
- Reptiles**
- Save the Animals 1-9
- Save the Animals 10-18
- Science & Electricity 1-9
- Science & Electricity 10-18
- Shark Sense 1-9
- Sign Languages
- Thanksgiving
- These United States 1-9
- These United States 10-18
- Weather
- What Am I
- What's Cooking
- Whirlybirds
Club Pro Set Contest Begins (1992 Club Pro Set): A nationwide contest was created to get kids excited about these cards (and for promotion, I'm sure!). Schools were challenged to motivate their students to create a Club Pro Set card with an 'Illustrated Idiom.' They were sent phrases like "the robber held up the bank" to use as their premise. It is not known how many schools participated. The grand prize winners would receive 40 sets and a binder each to display the cards. And, in a stroke of genius, the teacher would win a free trip! How's that for motivating the educator !:-D
Transitional Packs (1992 Club Pro Set): This is why Pro Set attracts collectors to this day. And this is also why Pro Set drives Master Collectors NUTS!! In 1993, all the card backs were changed to orange. It is not clear why they did this, but maybe someone felt an upgrade to the look was needed...? So, this point should have marked the end of the 1992 copyright, right? Nope! Six sets were released with orange backs, but with 1992 copyrights. The sets include:
- Cat Nips 1-9 Bronze Orange 1992
- Cats of the Wild 1-9 Bronze Orange 1992
- Creepy Creatures 1-9 Gold Orange 1992
- Natural Disasters 1-9 Gold Orange 1992
- Science & Electricity 10-18 Bronze Orange 1992
- These United States 1-9 Gold Orange 1992
Bank Street Renegotiation (Club Pro Set 1992?): Pro Set fell into financial problems and renegotiated their contract with Bank Street College of Education to save money. From what I was told, they got a great deal and the burden of wording these cards fell to one person, Emily. (see 1992 Club Pro Set)
The Smithsonian Institution (1992 Smithsonian Institution): Lets backtrack a little. At the same time that Club Pro Set cards were being printed, the Smithsonian Institution commissioned their own cards to give away to their patrons. In a news article made for schools, 'Art to Zoo: News for Schools from the Smithsonian Institution, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Washington, D.C. 20560' dated December 1992, the Smithsonian announced the existence of a few sets. These included:
- Air & Space 1-9
- Air & Space 10-18
- Air & Space 19-27
- Buried Treasures: Minerals
- Dinosaurs
- Latinos
- Leaves
- Presidents 1-9
- Presidents 10-18
- Presidents 19-27
- Save the Planet
Transitional Packs (1992 Smithsonian Institution): Again, the same thing happened with the Smithsonian sets. Orange backs were printed with the 1992 copyright. The known sets include:
- Air & Space 19-27 Bronze Orange 1992
- Presidents 1-9 Silver Orange 1992
- Presidents 1-9 Bronze Orange 1992
The Smithsonian Institution (1993 Smithsonian Institution): Before we can get to 1993 Club Pro Set, the final run for the Smithsonian Institution cards has to be inserted into this part of the timeline. Why, you ask? All the known sets are comprised of 9 cards up to this point. 1993 Club Pro Set cards were a mix of 9- and 15-cards. It stands to reason that before the transition to 15 cards was made, the 9-card sets were already printed or being printed. The 1993 Smithsonian Institution cards include:
- Air & Space 1-9
- Presidents 19-27
- Presidents 28-36
- Presidents 37-45
Club Pro Set (1993 Club Pro Set): All these sets were now exclusively printed with orange backs and their copyright was dated 1993. Two more 9-card sets were produced and then Pro Set made a change to 15-card sets (see 1993 Club Pro Set). So if the transition took place as theorized, the 9-card sets were made first, and then the 15-card sets followed:
9-card sets:
- Lets Go
- Robots
- Awesome Animals
- Baby Sitting
- Bill Clinton
- Movie Magic
- Puppy Love
- Sky Thunder
- Underwater
Club Pro Set Contest Ends (1993 Club Pro Set): On April 20, 1993, a Texas Resolution was made by Senator Nelson to congratulate Clint Cox of Paradise, Texas for winning the nationwide Club Pro Set contest (see Club Pro Set Contest). The students involved won 40 sets and a binder to display the cards. Which 40 sets? The more I look at the lists and this timeline, the less convinced I become about which they were. Although it might not be important to this timeline, as a collector, this question will menace me for some time!
The End Of club Pro Set: On June 25, 1993 Club Pro Set failed to respond to their trademark. This is the date that shall be known as the death of Club Pro Set (insert Bugle playing Taps).
Boomerang Book Club (1993 Boomerang Book Club): The Boomerang Book Club was made to mimic Club Pro Set cards in every way, except the logo's and copyrights. Its' trademark was filed on August 2, 1993, a few months after Club Pro Set became inactive. At this point, Pro Set was having major financial difficulties. Boomerang Book Club was probably one of their last efforts to produce income to keep the company open. The sets include:
9-card sets:
9-card sets:
- Animals On Safari
- Planets
- Birds Of Prey
- The Civil War
- The Land Down Under
Furthermore: There are known picture variations for Club Pro Set and Smithsonian Institution cards. I was unsure where to include them in the timeline so they remain unmentioned. They have been discussed on their corresponding pages.
Notes: This page started in my notes as "Theories, Speculations, and Bullshit!" Why tell you this? Because it is important to ME that you know the process I went through to create this blog...., and it's a plus that it sounds really funny! If you can contradict any of my theories with facts, pictures, articles, etc., please email me at 1990proset dot gmail dot com.
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