Toxic Crusaders

Name of Card Set: Toxic Crusaders
Production Company: Troma, Inc.
Distribution Company: The Topps Company, Inc.
Year of Production: 1991
Pack Contents: 8 Cards, 1 Hologram Card

Details:

Toxic Crusaders: Hideously deformed creatures of super human strength. No, this entry is not about Al Gore and his friends. (Groan.) The 88 card Toxic Crusader set is based on the short-running cartoon of the same name. The cartoon was a spin-off of a series of comedy horror "Toxic Avenger" movies about a young, wimpy man who was transformed into a mutated monster following a tumble into a vat of toxic waste.

The monster, affectionately known as Toxie, became a crime fighting vigilante. The cartoon continued this theme, but Toxie and his friends focused their efforts on stopping environmental polluters, as was the trend with many cartoons and toy lines at the time (Captain Planet, TMNT, Trash Bag Bunch).

The set consists of portrait oriented cards featuring original artwork of the show's characters, and landscape oriented cards featuring scenes from the cartoon. The original card artwork is nice, if not extremely colorful; the cartoon's animation was done by the same team that animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Ah, Yvonne, the eye candy.

The backs of the portrait oriented cards appropriately feature a detailed bio of the character, and in a stroke of pure marketing genius, feature a picture of an actual Toxic Crusader action figure. Give yourselves a pat on the back, Troma marketing division.

The backs of the cartoon scene cards feature a small blurb explaining the captured scene as well as a few fun, cheesy Toxie's Tips and other little vinettes.

Overall, this set is a pretty typical Topps card set, if not slightly above average. However, I'm not a non-sport card expert; that's just my humble opinion. However, I feel justified in the opinion based on the original card art alone, even if it's not colorful enough for my tastes.

Unfortunately, I don't currently have a Hologram card other than the one on the box lid pictured above. I'll be sure to add a hi-res picture should one ever come into my possession.

Until next time!