Not content to simply tell kids about its most popular heroes and villains, Marvel also felt it necessary to use its 1990 trading card set to inform children about the most VALUABLE comic books of the day.

This is actually kinda fascinating, if you think about it. Everything else about the card set is somewhat set “in universe” or at least revering the Marvel U as something to get sucked into – a world unto itself. This section of the card set is instead a “real world” look at the comics that started it all, and how much they’re worth in real dollars.

So it’s like… hey kids, here’s some colorful heroes and stuff, but also please realize comic books are potentially valuable and you should harass your parents to pick up new number ones JUST IN CASE.