As I discussed in the earlier trading card posts, during the 1990s, (before the speculator-driven comic book crash of course) comic book properties were showing up in all manner of unusual places. One of those places was in the 90s trend known as "POGS" (named for a juice brand that popularized the caps) or "milkcaps."
POGS/milkcaps was an old Hawaiian children's' game, which utilized small cardboard disks that used to come with glass milk and juice bottles. Each player would chip in an equal number of decorated milkcaps to be stacked art-side down form a small tower-like structure. Each player would take turns tossing a thicker disc, made of plastic or rubber, known as a "slammer," which would topple the stack. Any milkcap that landed art-side-up could then be claimed by that player, while all milkcaps that landed art-side-down were re-stacked for the next player's turn. This procedure continued until there were no more milkcaps left in the stack, at which point the player who had accumulated the most milkcaps was declared the winner. Games could be played "for keeps" in which everyone kept all of the caps that they won and give up the ones won by other players, or "not for keeps" in which everyone's original milkcaps were returned to them when the game was over.
POGS/milkcaps was an old Hawaiian children's' game, which utilized small cardboard disks that used to come with glass milk and juice bottles. Each player would chip in an equal number of decorated milkcaps to be stacked art-side down form a small tower-like structure. Each player would take turns tossing a thicker disc, made of plastic or rubber, known as a "slammer," which would topple the stack. Any milkcap that landed art-side-up could then be claimed by that player, while all milkcaps that landed art-side-down were re-stacked for the next player's turn. This procedure continued until there were no more milkcaps left in the stack, at which point the player who had accumulated the most milkcaps was declared the winner. Games could be played "for keeps" in which everyone kept all of the caps that they won and give up the ones won by other players, or "not for keeps" in which everyone's original milkcaps were returned to them when the game was over.
The POGS/Milkcaps craze hit the U.S. in the early 1990s with all manner of licensed properties being featured on the tiny cardboard discs. Not to be left behind, in 1993 Skybox, the manufacturer of DC Comics trading cards at the time, capitalized on the fad by releasing a set of 54 "Skycaps" featuring characters from DC Comics. Skycap #37 showcased everyone's favorite mercenary/assassin, Deathstroke. The art side and back side of Deathstroke's Skycap are pictured below.
A prototype Skycaps Slammer and a normal DC Slammer are pictured below.
In an effort differentiate themselves from the rest of the Milkcaps crowd, Skycaps changed the game's rules a bit so that instead of the player claiming the art-side-up caps, the Skycaps player would claim the art-side-down caps as explained in the official rules/checklist card pictured below.
