Flashback Product of the Week: 1994-95 Pro Mags

Chris Martin Enterprises, Inc. sure isn’t the first name of a company when you think of a trading card manufacturer.  To put it simply, they made very gimmicky products.  They slapped pictures of MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL players on everything from collectible dog tags to refrigerator magnets.  The 1994-95 Pro Mags set is a perfect example of one of their magnet releases.  This set consists of 141 magnets covering many of the major MLB stars of the day.  These were distributed in rack packs that each contained five player magnets, one team magnet, and a checklist.  The fronts feature an action shot and the backs as you would imagine are all black.  Even though these weren’t widely distributed, most collectors don’t put a ton of value on them.  Depending on the player, some magnets can sell for around $10.00 each.  Of all the magnets in the set, probably the most notable one are the magnets signed by Joe Carter.  The Carter autographed magnets were randomly inserted and are limited to 500 copies.

Pro Mags stayed around for a few years, but I don’t believe that collectors saw anything after 1997 or 1998.  The last Pro Mags release was 1997-98 Heroes of the Locker Room which was a 20-magnet basketball product and was released by Crown Pro.  It wasn’t long before Pro Mags folded just like a lot of short lived card companies of the 90’s.