Glow-In-The-Dark Cards

I love glow-in-the dark stuff. I just get a kick out of that phosphorescent magic! Back in the early days of this blog, I posted about all the glow-in-the-dark baseball cards I was aware of at the time. Well, now it's a few years later and I think I'm overdue for an update. My original list included just a few sets, but now.. well, the list has grown! Lots of comic book cards, for one thing. And some other neat stuff too.

LIST OF KNOWN
GLOW-IN-THE-DARK TRADING CARDS

This list contains trading cards (and some stickers and "Chipz"), including non-sport cards (though comic books with glowing covers are not included). I would like to get this list as comprehensive as possible and plan to update it as needed, so please let me know of any additions I should include. I would also be interested in trading for any of these cards I don't have. Let's say that to be included in this list you've got to be a collectable flat item smaller than a postcard and at least as large as a standard mini card. It's mostly cards, but I'll make judgement calls on non-card stuff such as Chipz that feel should be included.

With each of these, I will give a "glow grade" on a scale of A to F, assessing the visual impact of the charged cards in the dark. Bold, captivating glowing will score well... while dim, uninspired glowing will score poorly. I have provided an outline of bright glow-in-the-dark tape in the photos to act as a "control" to help judge the quality of the glow from the cards. (Taking pictures in the dark isn't always easy, so there's sometimes variance.) The list is roughly in chronological order starting with oldest.


1938 Bocnal Tobacco Co. Luminous Silhouettes of Beauty & Charm tobacco minis

INFO: This 25-card set of tobacco card minis from England is likely the very first example of glowing trading cards. Each card features a black and white image of a sport (no specific people named). The backs are all identical except for the card number.

GLOW GRADE: A. Wow, are these truly from 1938?! Topps is struggling to make glow-in-the-dark cards look good a whopping 80 years after this little-known UK cigarette company was cranking out these minis that still look great in the dark even today.
MY COLLECTION: 25/25  I snagged the complete set on eBay a little while back. For a look at all 25 cards and some additional info, check out the post I did featuring this set.


1971 Kellogg's Glow In The Dark Stickers

INFO: It might be a bit of a stretch counting these as cards, but these freebies available in 1971 from Kellogg's brand cereal are stickers that glow. I think they are roughly card sized, though confirmation is needed. They featured characters including Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam, and the Rice Krispies elves, with variations in background color (red, green, and blue).
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/?. I've got none of these. (pic from eBay)


1979 Kellogg's Glow in the Dark Lightswitch Stickers

INFO: If those previously mentioned Kellogg's stickers from the early 70s didn't cut it for you, these late 70s stickers probably won't either, but still, I feel I should list them here, as they're roughly card-sized (I think), though meant to be placed on lightswitch covers. These unnumbered stickers include the likes of Tony Tiger Jr. and Toucan Sam.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/?. I've got none of these. (pic from COMC)


1992 Comic Images Ghost Rider II - Glow in the Dark inserts

INFO: Mainstream glow-in-the-dark trading cards make their modern-era debut with this 10-card insert set for the Ghost Rider comics. There were a lot of gimmicks in the early 90s, and the comic book industry always seemed to be a step ahead of the sports card industry with funky stuff like this-- refractors, die-cut, clear, glow-in-the-dark, etc.. all appeared on comic book covers before baseball cards, as far as I can tell.

GLOW GRADE: A-. You've got a glowing border and all the white/fire areas glow. Looks good for the most part, though some of the cards are a little boring in the dark.
MY COLLECTION: 10/10. I've got them all! Another eBay pickup from a few years back. For a look at all 10 cards and some additional info, check out the post I did featuring this set.


1992 Ralston Purina Batman Returns - Glow in the Dark Stickers

INFO: Close enough to trading cards to include in the list, these glowing stickers featuring characters from the film Batman Returns came as a prize in specially-marked cereal boxes. I'm not sure how many there are (likely a few), but they are not numbered.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/?. I have none of these. (pic from COMC)


1993 Upper Deck Fun Pack - Glow Stars sticker subset

INFO: The earliest glow-in-the-dark baseball cards were apparently these stickers in '93 UD Fun Pack, a set aimed at kids. This is a subset that includes 28 Glow Stars-- one star player from each MLB team at the time. The backs are blank.

GLOW GRADE: A-. Bold glowing "Glow Stars" area plus outline around the player. Could have been a bit more interesting, but not bad.
MY COLLECTION: 28/28. Took me a few years, but I've collected all of these!


1993 Farley's Glow-in-the-Dark Dinosaurs

INFO: 4-card set of dinosaur cards that came in specially marked packages of Farley's Dinosaurs fruit snacks, 1 per 10-pouch box. The cards are slightly taller than standard. Checklist is Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus), Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops.

GLOW GRADE: A. I like it! Skeleton jumps out at you in the dark, yet isn't very visible in the light. Cool effect.

MY COLLECTION: 4/4   Got 'em all.

1993 SkyBox Simpsons - Genuine Bart Simpson Glow-in-the-Dark Happy Cards inserts

INFO: The Simpsons was pretty huge back in the day, and spawned some card sets among their merchandising. There are 4 glowing insert cards in the '93 SkyBox set.

GLOW GRADE: A-. Looks pretty good.
MY COLLECTION: 4/4. I have all four of these! For more info and a look at all 4 cards, check out the post I did on these cards.


1994 Classic/Best - Glow in the Dark - Brooks Kieschnick 

INFO: Back to baseball. This is a little bizarre in that this set only includes one single glow-in-the-dark card among many other regular baseball cards. You'd think they'd make a whole glowing insert set while they were at it, but no-- only Brooks Kieschnick, a random Cubs prospect, was deemed worthy of having a glowing card.

GLOW GRADE: A+. The card material itself glows, as opposed to having glowing ink printed on it. Lights up brightly. Very cool. Wish there was more than just the one.
MY COLLECTION: 1/1. I've got it. Talked about it more and showed the back (that also glows) in a post back in 2014.


1995 Edge Street Sharks - Sharkglows inserts

INFO: Street Sharks was a popular cartoon/toy line of the mid 90s. They had trading cards released by Edge in 1995 that included a 9-card "Shark glows" glow-in-the-dark insert set with each card featuring a different character.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 1/9. I recently got Ripster. (Pic from eBay)


1995 Fleer Skeleton Warriors - Luma Bone inserts

INFO: Skeleton Warriors was a cartoon that ran for one season on CBS in 1995. Fleer released a card set that included a 5-card insert set called "Luma Bone" with glowing on the back of each card. Checklist: 1 Baron Dark, 2 Dr Cyborn, 3 Dagger and Aracula, 4 Shriek, 5 Claw.

GLOW GRADE: B. The fact that the fronts don't glow hurts the grade here, but the backs glow fine. (Do I have a misprint that accidentally put the glowing ink on the wrong side, or are they all like this, on purpose? I'm not sure.)
MY COLLECTION: 1/5. I have one of these (#3 Dagger and Aracula).


1995 Glow Zone Oddbodz - GLO

INFO: Oddbodz are weird glow-in-the-dark cards that came in bags of chips/snacks in Australia and New Zealand in the mid 90s. They are sort of in the vein of Garbage Pail Kids and Mad Magazine with a dose of Robert Crumb.. weird drawings, sometimes parodying known characters/celebrities. A guy named Andy Hook was the illustrator for all the cards. There were 61 base cards in this initial "GLO" set, easily identified by their purple borders, and they have a prefix of "GHC" before the card numbers. Every card has a heat activated parallel indicated by a "Hot" wordmark somewhere on the card; you can rub a certain black part of these cards to reveal a hidden gag. Oh, and both the base and Hot parallels have curvy borders (I believe they're supposed to link together sort of like a puzzle). The oddly shaped edges and the fact they were distributed in bags of chips means that they are hard to find in good condition, as the corners are often worn.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/61. I have none of these base cards (though I do have one from '96, further below). I also have zero of the parallels. (Pic is from an Oddbodz fansite.)


1995 Krome Evil Ernie II: Glow in the Dark Chromium

INFO: Evil Ernie is a comic book that debuted in 1991 and is apparently still being published today. This product boasts a 100-card base set plus more inserts and parallels and even a couple certified autographs, all on glow-in-the-dark chrome stock. In addition to the base set, there are "Commemorative Set" parallels for all 100 cards, autograph cards (2 cards: Brian Pullido and Steven Hughes), Necro Chase Chrome (6-card insert set), and Super Premium State of the Art (5-card insert set). There are also a couple promo cards.

GLOW GRADE: B-. Glowing is decent, but wish it was stronger. Cards with plenty of bright area (such as above) look better with the lights out than the darker cards, as you could imagine.
MY COLLECTION: 100/100  of the base set, 2/2 of the promos, 0/100 of the Commemorative Set, 0/2 of the Autographs, 0/6 of the Necro Chase Chrome inserts, and 0/5 of the Super Premium State of the Art inserts.


1995 Krome Garfield Glow-in-the-Dark inserts

INFO: This is a 3-card glowing insert set in a product based on the world's favorite lasagna-loving cartoon cat.
CHECKLIST: GLOW-1 "Dogs Contain 90% of the World's Drool Supply" (Odie), GLOW-2 "I'm Extremely Humble for Someone So Great" (Garfield), GLOW-3 "Gimmie the Sportin' Life" (Garfield).

GLOW GRADE: C-. At least on this one I've got, the glowing is like.. really? Only the eyes and nose glow at all. You'd think they could have done more than just that tiny area. (Update: the other 2 cards look better in the dark. I need to update this entry.)
MY COLLECTION:  3/3  I've got them all.


1995 WildStorm Gen13 glow-in-the-dark inserts

INFO: Gen¹³ is a comic book that debuted in 1994. It had a card set released by WildStorm in 1995 that includes a 9-card glowing insert set.

GLOW GRADE: C. Not too great.
MY COLLECTION: 2/9. I have two of these: GL4 and GL6.


1996 Comic Images Animal Mystic - Glow-in-the-Dark-Ones inserts

INFO: Animal Mystic is a comic book that debuted in 1993. It had a card set released by Comic Images in 1996 that includes a 6-card glowing insert set.

GLOW GRADE: A. Nice and bright.
MY COLLECTION: 2/6. I have #4 and #6.


1996 Frito-Lay Goosebumps
INFO: An 8-card glow-in-the-dark set that was available via specially marked packages of Frito-Lay snacks.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 1/8. I have one of these (#7).


1996 Glow Zone Oddbodz - Space Oddbodz

INFO: The weird-ass glowing cards from Down Under are back with more craziness. See the 1995 Glow Zone Oddbodz entry above for more info. Again, this series came in bags of chips/snacks in Australia and New Zealand. And again there are 61 base cards here, these having a prefix of "SO" (Space Oddbods) to the card numbers. They have blue borders and, like the purple '95 Oddbodz, are oddly shaped and prone to corner wear. There are also rare Red Glow parallels where much of the white (glowing) parts are instead reddish orange (and they glow pink instead of standard green). And apparently there are also very rare Cool parallels (instead of Hot) that were instant winner cards for a full set of Red Glow parallels.

GLOW GRADE: A. Looks good!
MY COLLECTION: 1/61. I have one Hot parallel (#SO-47 Space Surfer). I have zero of the base cards or Red Glow or Cool parallels.


1996 Glow Zone Footy Oddbodz

INFO: More crazy Oddbodz from the Australian company Glow Zone. These Footy Oddbodz feature caricatures of real Australian Football League players. I believe these were sold in packs (as opposed to earlier Oddbodz that came in bags of chips). There are 65 cards (though are all unnumbered) and they have green borders plus are oddly shaped, similar to other Oddbodz cards. There are two sets of parallels for all 65 cards: Red Glow (self-explanatory) and Magic Mystery (which are similar to the "Hot" parallels of other Oddbodz sets that have heat-activated areas that you reveal by rubbing the card). There is also a 16-card promo set of unnumbered Footy cards identifiable by having blue borders instead of green.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/65. I have none of these base cards. I also have zero of the parallels or promos. (Pic from eBay)


1996 Glow Zone Twisted Oddbodz

INFO: More Oddbodz from Glow Zone. These Twisted cards are intended to be for playing a card game.. basically a Rock/Paper/Scissors game, but with Beauty/Brains/Beast as the 3 outcomes. There are "Straight" (base) cards and "Hot Twist" parallels (with a heat activated section-- In the game, these give you a second chance to play if you had just been beaten in that round.) There are also blue parallels that each have Straight and Hot Twist versions. I'm not sure how many base cards there are in this set, but at least 30.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/?. I own none of these. (pic from eBay)


1996 Topps Goosebumps - Glow-in-the-Dark inserts

INFO: Goosebumps is a popular line of spooky children's books, later spawning a TV show and a couple films. Topps put out a card set in '96 that featured a 6-card insert set of glowing cards.
CHECKLIST: G1 - The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, G2 - Welcome to Camp Nightmare, G3 - Night of the Living Dummy, G4 - One Day at Horrorland, G5 - Ghost Beach, G6 - The Barking Ghost

GLOW GRADE: B. Simple, but not bad.
MY COLLECTION: 5/6. I only need #G3 (Night of the Living Dummy) to complete this insert set.


1996 Wildstorm Avengelyne - Glow-in-the-Dark inserts

INFO: A glowing 9-card insert set was included in this card product released for Avengelyne, a comic book series that debuted in 1995.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 1/9. I have one of these (#G9). (pic from COMC)


1997 Glow Zone Footy Oddbodz Hypervision

INFO: The Footy Oddbodz are back for another year with more caricatures of Australian rules footballers. This time they're shaped differently (still wavy edges, though) with black borders. Apparently these Hypervision cards can be "activated" when placed in "Hyperviewers" which were sold separately. A Hyperviewer was basically a little tray you put the card on with a clear lenticular screen covering that gave a motion/3D effect to the cards (..I think? Honestly these things confuse the hell out of me! lol.) Not sure how many cards are in this set or if there are parallels.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/?. I own none of these. (pic from eBay)


1997 Glow Zone The Oddbodz in Hypervision

INFO: More "Hypervision" Oddbodz from Glow Zone in Australia. There are 57 of these cards featuring wacky characters, many of which originated from the earlier Oddbodz sets. They were sold in packs of 7. They also work in the aforementioned Hyperviewer, though it's the backs of these cards that have the lentrical action. All 57 cards have parallels including Hot (one per pack) and Combo Glo (that feature both the standard white/green glow plus some orange/pink glow areas as well, such as in the above pictured card). Additionally, there is a rare "Blu Spaceglo" parallel set of all 57 cards which was only available by mailing in a few certain cards via wrapper offer.

GLOW GRADE: A-. At least with this one, not a lot of glowing real estate, but the 2 different colors of glowing is pretty sweet.

MY COLLECTION: 1/57. I only own this one Combo Glo card (#12 Tinyfoot). I own none of the base cards or other parallels.


1997 Super Fun KC's Glow in the Dark Dinosaur cards

INFO: These cards came packaged as a freebee in Kid Cuisine frozen dinners in '97. There are 8 cards in total, each featuring a dinosaur with visible bones that glow in the dark.

GLOW GRADE: B. Basically a poorly-executed copycat of the 1993 Farley's glowing dinosaur cards mentioned earlier. Kinda neat how the bones glow, though here they're very apparent in the light, so it's not like a hidden thing, which would have made them cooler.
MY COLLECTION: 3/8. I have #2 Triceratops, #3 Pachycephalosaurus, and #7 Stegosaurus.


1997 Score - The Franchise Glow-in-the-Dark insert parallels

INFO: The first glowing baseball cards since '93 Fun Pack! (--not counting that one '94 Kieschnick.) Note that there are also non-glowing versions that are slightly more plentiful, and are hard to tell apart from the glowing parallels in the light. The glowing cards have more subtly yellowish parts whereas the non-glowing are straight white.
CHECKLIST: 1 Griffey, 2 Smoltz, 3 Ripken, 4 Chipper, 5 Piazza, 6 Belle, 7 Thomas, 8 Sosa,  9 Roberto Alomar

GLOW GRADE: A. Nice silhouette around the player and some glowing text and what I'm assuming are supposed to be stitches of a baseball.
MY COLLECTION: 9/9  Took me several years, but I've rounded up them all.


1997 Pinnacle Racers Choice - High Octane - Glow-in-the-Dark inserts

INFO: These glowing NASCAR cards are somewhat rare/expensive compared to most other cards on this list. Some of these also have additional glowing parallels with different sponsors listed on the front: Die Hard (9 cards), Goody's (7 cards), Indianapolis (6 cards), Miller (8 cards), Mountain Dew (8 cards), NAPA (all 15 cards), UAW-GM Quality (7 cards).
CHECKLIST: Terry Labonte, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte, Ernie Irvan, Kyle Petty, Ricky Rudd, Johnny Benson, Ward Burton, Ted Musgrave, and Derrike Cope.

GLOW GRADE: B+. Glowing aura around the car and the inset driver picture.
MY COLLECTION: 1/75. I have just one of these (#HO14 Ted Musgrave UAW-GM Quality parallel).


1998 Inkworks Godzilla - Glowzilla inserts

INFO: This set was released for the 1998 Godzilla film (the Matthew Broderick one). All the cards in this product are "wideview" size: the shorter side is the standard 2.5 inches, though the other dimension is 4.5" (so an inch longer than standard 3.5"). The 6-card "Glowzilla" glow-in-the-dark inserts form a puzzle.

GLOW GRADE: B. Glows well. The completed puzzle looks pretty cool in the dark, but the cards aren't too interesting separately.
MY COLLECTION: 6/6. I've got all 6 cards. To get a look at the full puzzle and get some additional info, check out the post I did featuring this set.


1999 Ty Beanie Babies Series 4

INFO: The Beanie Babies toy craze of the 90s spawned a few sets of trading cards, and Series 4 includes an insert set of 25 different glowing stickers.

GLOW GRADE: A-. Looks good.
MY COLLECTION: 1/25. I have Bronty.


2001 Dynamic Forces Crimson Commemorative - Key Characters Glow-in-the-Dark inserts

INFO: Crimson is a comic book that debuted in 1998. The card set that Dynamic Forces put out in 2001 includes a glowing 6-card insert set.

GLOW GRADE: A. Looks great.
MY COLLECTION: 1/6. I have one of these (#G6).


2001 Dynamic Forces Michael Turner's Fathom - Glow-in-the-Dark inserts

INFO: Michael Turner's Fathom is a comic book that debuted in 1998. The card set that Dynamic Forces put out in 2001 includes a glowing 6-card insert set.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/6. I have none of these. (pic from eBay)


2000 Dynamic Forces Witchblade Millennium - Glow-in-the-Dark inserts

INFO: Witchblade is a comic book that debuted in 1995. The card set that Dynamic Forces put out in 2000 includes a glowing 6-card insert set.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/6. I have none of these. (pic from eBay)


2001 Topps Monsters Inc. - Glow-in-the-Dark inserts

INFO: Monsters, Inc. is a popular Disney/Pixar film from 2001. This card set from Topps includes a glowing 6-card insert set featuring cards of the main characters.

GLOW GRADE: C. Not very bright.
MY COLLECTION: 1/6. I have #1 Sulley.


2002 Topps Spider-Man: The Movie - Spider-Sense Puzzle Glow-in-the-Dark Stickers

INFO: Topps put out a set of cards for Spider-Man: The Movie in 2002. There are 10 of these glowing stickers: 5 of Spider-Man and 5 of the Green Goblin. The backs form a puzzle.

GLOW GRADE: D. Very dim glowing here.
MY COLLECTION: 1/10. I have one of these (#7).

2002 Panini Naruto: Way of the Ninja - Ninja Glow inserts

INFO: Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto that originally ran from 1999 to 2014. Panini put out a card set in 2002 that included a 3-card insert set of glowing cards. Checklist is #G1 Naruto, #G2 Sakura, #G3 Sasuke.

GLOW GRADE: ?

MY COLLECTION: 3/3  I have all of these.

2005 Dynamic Forces Army of Darkness - Glow-in-the-Dark inserts

INFO: Army of Darkness is a 1992 film that spawned multiple comic books. The card set that Dynamic Forces put out in 2005 includes a glowing 6-card insert set based on the comics. They are somewhat parallels, as the 6 glowing cards feature images also used in the base set, though numbered differently on the back.

GLOW GRADE: D- Very weak glow and in a small portion of the card (the above pic is a "good" photo of it.. looks even worse in person). Granted I've only got this one card, so perhaps some of the other cards in the set look better. A glowing skeleton warrior, for instance, would probably look neat.
MY COLLECTION: 1/6. I have card #2.


2005 Dynamic Forces Dawn 15th Anniversary - Glow-in-the-Dark inserts
INFO: Dawn is a comic book that debuted in 1989. The card set that Dynamic Forces put out in 2005 includes a glowing 6-card insert set.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/6. I have none of these. Couldn't even find a picture of one.


2005 Dynamic Forces Red Sonja - Fiery Glow-in-the-Dark inserts

INFO: Red Sonja is a comic book character that debuted in 1973. The card set that Dynamic Forces put out in 2005 includes a glowing 6-card insert set.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/6. I have none of these. (pic from eBay)


2006 Artbox Frankenstein Movie - Glow-in-the-Dark chase cards

INFO: This card set based on the Universal Studios horror classic Frankenstein includes 9 glowing inserts (with puzzle backs), plus 3 additional (unnumbered) "monster vs. fire" bonus glowing cards.

GLOW GRADE: B+. Not bad.
MY COLLECTION: 1/12. I have one of these (#R4).


2007 Topps Hollywood Zombies - Glow-in-the-Dark Mug Shots inserts

INFO: There are 10 glowing inserts in this set that's somewhat similar to Garbage Pail Kids but with artwork of gross zombie spoofs of celebrities. The glowing parts are on the back, not the front.

GLOW GRADE: D. Pretty dim and dumb.
MY COLLECTION: 1/10. I just have #8 Winona Rotter.


2008 Rittenhouse Batman: Archives - Dark Victory Glow-in-the-Dark inserts

INFO: 2008 Rittenhouse Batman Archives includes a 9-card glowing insert set called "Dark Victory" with each card featuring a character from the Batman universe.

GLOW GRADE: F. Despite these inserts listed online as being glow-in-the-dark, they do NOT glow in the dark. They are actually cards that light up under blacklight, which is a totally different thing.
MY COLLECTION: 1/9. I just have #DV7 Mr. Freeze.


2009-10 Panini Basketball - Glow-in-the-Dark Team Logo Sticker inserts

INFO: Basketball cards make their glowing debut with these 30 logo stickers for each NBA team.

GLOW GRADE: A-. Looks pretty good, but kinda strange that the actual logo doesn't glow, just the area around it.
MY COLLECTION: 1/30. I have one of these (Knicks).


2010 Topps WWE Rumble Pack - Glow-in-the-Dark inserts

INFO: This set includes 10 glowing inserts of popular WWE wrestlers of the time.
CHECKLIST: 1 John Cena, 2 Undertaker, 3 Rey Mysterio, 4 Yoshi Tatsu, 5 The Miz, 6 Big Show, 7 Shawn Michaels, 8 Triple H, 9 Carlito, 10 Jack Swagger

GLOW GRADE: C. Looks ok.
MY COLLECTION: 1/10. I own one of these (#3).


2011 Cult-Stuff Age of Sorcery - Glow-in-the-Dark inserts
INFO: This set of mystical cards from 2011 includes 4 glowing inserts.
CHECKLIST: G1 - Age of Sorcery, G2 - Dragon Fire, G3 - Unicorns, G4 - Visitors to the drowning pool
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/4. I own none of these. Couldn't even find a picture of one.


2011 Topps Opening Day - Stadium Lights inserts

INFO: Glowing cards made their triumphant return to baseball cards after a long dry spell with these inserts in 2011 Topps Opening Day. The 10-card set was originally going to be called "Under The Lights" before Topps ultimately went with "Stadium Lights", so the card numbers have a prefix of "UL". Features night photos of ten of the game's top stars at the time.
CHECKLIST: UL-1 - Joe Mauer, UL-2 - Troy Tulowitzki, UL-3 - Robinson Cano, UL-4 - Alex Rodriguez, UL-5 - Miguel Cabrera, UL-6 - Chase Utley, UL-7 - Pedro Alvarez, UL-8 - Adrian Gonzalez, UL-9 - Jason Heyward, UL-10 - Ryan Braun

GLOW GRADE: A. These are the gold stand for glowing baseball cards, if you ask me. Good detail on the glowing, though could be a bit brighter. I wish this had become a perennial insert set in Opening Day instead of just a one-and-done deal.
MY COLLECTION: 10/10. I've got 'em all! I showed off all 10 of these cards in a post back in 2013.


2012 Cardhacks The Art Hustle Series 3 - #531 Denise Vasquez (Glow in the Dark Dia de los Muertos Vader)

INFO: This is a series of art cards. Card #531 is Denise Vasquez - Glow in the Dark Dia de los Muertos Vader, which mixes the artist's love for Star Wars with her Mexican heritage.

GLOW GRADE: F. Turns out only the original art piece glows in the dark, not this mass-produced print available in the card set. Well shoot, that was a waste of $2.25 on COMC for me. They really should have clarified that if they weren't going to make the card glow in the dark. Hell, even the card back states, "Yes, it really glows in the dark." But that's a lie; it doesn't.
MY COLLECTION: 1/1. I've got it.


2012 Topps Skylanders Giants - Glow in the Dark inserts

INFO: Skylanders is a line of toys and video games (somewhat similar to Pokémon) that first appeared in 2011, and Skylanders: Giants was a 2012 video game in that series that also had a card set released by Topps (The cards are standard size despite the "Giants" in the name). The glowing insert cards were a Toys R Us exclusive (3 per "starter kit"), and while there were 5 cards, they were strangely numbered G2-G6, from the looks of it, with no G1, at least according to TCDB. There were also glow-in-the-dark toys (plastic figurines) available for Skylanders: Giants.
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 1/5. I own one of these (Trigger Happy, which I have not photographed yet). (pic from eBay)


2012 Wax Eye Cereal Killers Series 2 - Glo Flo Glow-in-the-Dark Fluorescent Stickers

INFO: These are blank-backed stickers in a set with gross/spooky artwork spoofs of popular breakfast cereals. Not sure how many of the glowing stickers there are.

GLOW GRADE: C. Just ok.
MY COLLECTION: 1/?. I've got the Froot Gloops sticker.


2013 Topps Skylanders Swap Force - Glow in the Dark inserts

INFO: Again, Skylanders is a line of toys and video games that first appeared in 2011, and Skylanders: Swap Force is a video game in that series from 2013. This corresponding release of cards from Topps includes an insert set of 6 glowing cards. Like with the 2012 Skylanders release, the glowing inserts were a Toys R Us exclusive (3 per "starter kit").
GLOW GRADE: ?
MY COLLECTION: 0/6. I own none of these. (Pic found online)


2013 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Brand-New Series 2 - Glow in the Dark inserts

INFO: Garbage Pail Kids get into the glow-in-the-dark game with this 2013 release from Topps. There are 10 glowing insert cards here. These are unique in that the glowing image is slightly different than the main image.. providing a "hidden" gag to each card.

GLOW GRADE: B+. The aspect of the hidden image is cool, though the glowing could be stronger.
MY COLLECTION:  10/10 . I've got all 10 now, plus a couple dupes.


2013 Topps MLB Chipz - Glow in the Dark parallels

INFO: Topps came out with Chipz as a new product in 2013 featuring baseball players on hard plastic pieces similar to poker chips. There are 100 different players, and each has a glowing parallel. The glow-in-the-dark parallels are not marked as such and are hard to spot in pictures, but can be identified by their gritty feel, as opposed to the smooth base versions.

GLOW GRADE: D. When these came out, I was excited to see the return of glow-in-the-dark baseball collectibles. Sadly the glowing is super weak, with only a tiny little starburst area behind the player glowing a bit. The backs glow slightly better, funny enough. I wish that the entire plastic chip material glowed in the dark, not just that tiny bit in the design.
MY COLLECTION: ?/100. I have a handful of these mixed into my player collections (4 or 5, probably).


2014 Topps MLB Chipz Glow in the Dark parallels

INFO: Topps returned with a second (and apparently final) round of Chipz in 2014. The glow-in-the-dark parallels were back for another go, plus now there were also colored parallels that had glowing versions. In addition to the base white chips, now Black, Blue, Red, Gold, and Silver are all parallels that have both glowing and non-glowing versions. Again, they're hard to spot without feeling them or getting them in the dark.

GLOW GRADE: D. Like the previous offering, the glowing Chipz disappoint in 2014 too. While it's kinda neat that there are colored parallels here, at the end of the day it's just more frustration for the collector, as there are more, harder to find items to track down. I really feel like Chipz could have been an excellent product if they would have made the Red and Blue parallels easier to pull so people could actually use these things as poker chips-- how fun would that be?! But no, Topps made the parallels very tough pulls (like maybe 1 or 2 per box), so you'd have to be a high-ranking oil company executive to be able to afford enough to get a full stack of chips for a poker game. Lame! And again, I wish the entire chips were made of glow-in-the-dark plastic instead of just a tiny little bit of glowing ink in the center. Such a bummer.
MY COLLECTION: ?/600. Again, I've got a handful of these spread out in my collection. Most of my '14 glowing Chipz are base (white), but I think I've got one or two Black and Blue, maybe a Red. The Gold and Silver are very tough pulls (whether the glowing versions or not) and I've got none of them.


2015 RRParks Chronicles of the Three Stooges - Halloween Movie Art: Glow in the Dark

INFO: Part of a huge set of cards (1000+ deep) released over a period of 4 years (2014-2017) commemorating the legendary Three Stooges, there were 6 glowing inserts, all featuring artwork by Ashlyn Larmeu (misspelled "Larmeau" on the card backs).

GLOW GRADE: C. Kinda cool, but not very bright.
MY COLLECTION: 6/6  Got 'em all.


2017 Topps Allen & Ginter Constellations mini inserts

INFO: Ginter is known for off-kilter insert sets, occasionally going outside the box with something wonderfully weird, and in 2017 they included a 10-card set of constellation minis. These cards appear to be blank on the front at first glance, but when you get them in the dark, a constellation is illuminated.

GLOW GRADE: C+. The glowing could be brighter, but it's a novel concept for a glowing card.
MY COLLECTION: 10/10. I've got 'em all! For a look at all 10 cards and some additional info, check out the post I did featuring this set.


2018 Topps Allen & Ginter glow-in-the-dark mini parallels

INFO: Like I just said, Ginter will sometimes break out of standard cardboard fare and into unorthodox inserts such as rip cards (cards you have to destroy to find a smaller card within), cards with plantable seeds built into them, and other nutty stuff. In 2018, all 350 minis in the base set featured glow-in-the-dark parallels. These were unannounced (not mentioned on the sell sheets prior to release), but were seeded one per hobby case. They're not serial-numbered, but there are probably only around 20 per card out there. The cards do not mention that they glow and so several collectors/breakers weren't sure what to make of them. Sometimes you'd see them referred to as "felt" or "embossed" parallels, as they have a bumpy/fuzzy feel to them compared to the smoother base versions.

GLOW GRADE: D-. Their heart was in the right place, but similar to the Chipz debacle of a few years prior, Topps' glowing here sucks. Just a tiny bit of glow to the border and an itsy bit elsewhere in the design. Really chintzy on the glowing. I want to be enchanted by the bright glowing, not this pathetically dim display that's barely worth flipping off the lightswitch.
MY COLLECTION: 12/350. I've got a few of these. If the glowing was better and they weren't such tough pulls (expensive), I would have loved to build this full parallel set. Oh well. I've got #9 Francisco Mejia, #96 Wil Myers, #97 Mike Piazza, #111 Brian Dozier, #220 Theo Epstein, #245 Mookie Betts, #277 Willie McCovey, #280 Clayton Kershaw, and #328 Edwin Diaz. Also Rhys Hoskins, Dave Winfield, Jackie Robinson, plus Jose Abreu on the way.


2018 RRParks Mystery Science Theater 3000 Series 2 glow-in-the-dark inserts

INFO: Indie card manufacturer RRParks (a.k.a. Richard Parks, who finances most of his releases thru Kickstarter) who also put out the aforementioned Three Stooges set returns with some glowing chase cards in this product based on the long-running tv show Mystery Science Theater 3000. There were 9 such cards packed out plus a 10th glowing card which was promo-only for Kickstarter backers.

GLOW GRADE: C. Wish it was brighter, but still cool.
MY COLLECTION: 10/10. Got 'em all! MST3K is an all-time favorite show of mine, by the way. In addition to these 10 cards, I've also got an uncut sheet with them all, plus a set of rare proof cards without the glowing ink added, scored from Mr. Parks himself.


2018 Topps Bunt Glow-in-the-Dark inserts (digital cards)

INFO: Welp, I don't know if Topps is just trolling me here or what. These digital cards make for a good hypothetical "what if?" that sure would be cool if Topps actually released them on cardboard. But nope, this card only exists in the world of smartphones screens and downloaded jpegs. I'm not sure how many are in the checklist total, but at least included are Blake Snell, Aaron Judge, Javier Baez, and Khris Davis.

GLOW GRADE: F. Relying on electricity defeats the magic of glow-in-the-dark. Wish it was real, though.
MY COLLECTION: 4/?. Technically, I've got zero of these on the Bunt app. But I have downloaded image files of 4 cards, so I guess in a way I do own them as much as anyone. LOL

2020 Topps Allen & Ginter Where Monsters Live mini inserts

INFO: Glowing cards return to Ginter with this spooky 10-card insert set.

GLOW GRADE: C+. Some of the cards look pretty cool in the dark while others don't do much.

MY COLLECTION: 10/10. I ran out and bought the full set on the release day. You can get a look at all 10 cards in action at this post of mine.

That brings us to the end of the list.


HONORABLE MENTIONS NOT IN THIS LIST:
1991 Topps Baseball has some "glow back" variations that glow under UV light. Sorry, but blacklight glowing doesn't count here.
1996 Fleer Gargoyles 2 - Static Glow Decals. Need more info-- do these glow in the dark?
1997 Fleer Baseball - Soaring Stars Glowing insert parallels. The name is a misnomer; These do not glow in the dark! They just have a ripple refractor effect.
2013 Topps Archives - Orange Day Glow. "Day Glow" doesn't cut it for this list! That just means a neon orange border.
2014 Teenymates - Little plastic figures that were packed one per bag. Separate releases for baseball, football, and hockey had tough-to-pull glow-in-the-dark versions of different positions (baseball had both a glowing batter and a pitcher). I'm not counting toys in this list, though as collectible sports toys, they almost count.
Fleer Showcase hockey "Red Glow" inserts (2013-14 thru 2016-17)-- these do not glow-in-the-dark, as far as I'm aware.
2018-19 Upper Deck Synergy - Glow Shift. I assume these are more hockey cards with "glow" in the name that don't actually glow in the dark.

And there you have it. These are the glow-in-the-dark trading cards that I'm aware of. If you have any additions or corrections for me, please leave a comment or drop me an email. And again, I'd be interested in trading for any glowing cards I'm missing. Thanks!

This list is dedicated to the memory of Annie Lou, my sweet pooch, who loved things that lit up, and passed just before this list was originally posted.

UPDATES:
11/5/2019: This page first published.
12/15/2019: I've recently completed the Simpsons and Garbage Pail Kids glowing insert sets!
12/22/2019: New glowing set discovered: 1996 Frito-Lay Goosebumps.
12/28/2019: Added a couple 70s glowing sticker sets from Kellogg's.
4/14/2020: I've now completed the glowing 2018 MST3K cards!
5/30/2020: Added a Garfield card. Also got 3 more glowing Ginter minis.

10/7/2020: Working on adding the 2020 Ginter "Where Monsters Live" cards.

10/10/2020: Pics added for 1993 Farley's Glow-in-the-Dark Dinosaurs and 1997 Glow Zone The Oddbodz in Hypervision.

6/9/2021: 2002 Panini Naruto added, and other stuff in the process of being updated.

12/3/2021: More minor updates. I probably don't need to write out updates here anymore, it's not like this page is really frequented by anyone (besides me using it as a reference, lol).