Goonies

Name of Card Set: Goonies
Production Company:Warner Bros
Distribution Company:The Topps Company, Inc.
Year of Production: 1985
Pack Contents: 10 Cards, 1 sticker, 1 stick bubble gum

Details:

The Goonies! The end-all-be-all coolest kid-adventure flick to come out of the 80's. This movie stands the test of time better than almost any other movie from that decade. In addition to being a success in theaters, the film has enjoyed an extremely loyal cult following. Lucky for us fanatics there is a fantastic(ly cheesy) card set to wrap our hands around. Released by Topps in 1985, this set serves up some great Goonie memories.


Mom :)

Each pack of Goonies came with 10 cards, one sticker and one stick of the almighty. The cards were fairly standard for Topps' movie releases...featuring scenes from the movie on the front and explanations of the scene on the back. Perhaps one of the best little gems of this set is the kickass 'silhouette' of the characters on the back of the cards! Definitely a nice little touch that could easily be overlooked. The stickers were a fun little part of the set, focusing on specific characters from the movie (example of sticker can be found here) in a cool 80's style border.



The movie itself was great for a number of different reasons, but at the top of that list was the fact it combined memorable characters with unforgettable environments. From their house, to the Fratelli's hideout, to the pirate ship, and more...the entire movie was a crazy adventure from start to finish. The card set does a pretty good job of capturing images of the characters and scenery...therefore making it easy to sink right into the feel of the movie. Honestly, it's like you're in the room when Chunk meets Sloth ;)



Another interesting thing I noticed while flipping through the cards is just how many actors from this movie have remained relevant today. This movie helped spawn the careers of Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Martha Plimpton, Corey Feldman and more. Seriously...Frodo Baggins, Llewelyn Moss and Virginia Chance amongst others!



Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go did my "pinchers-of-power" out of my dresser and head out on an adventure of my own!

Dinosaurs Attack!

Name of Card Set: Dinosaurs Attack!
Distribution Company:The Topps Company, Inc.
Year of Production: 1988
Pack Contents: 5 Cards, 1 sticker, 1 stick bubble gum

Details:

Wow...a Topps card set that wasn't based on a movie, TV show, or popular toy? I know, it's hard to believe. Thankfully for collectors, Topps partnered with some fantastic artists and released the Dinosaurs Attack! trading card set back in 1988. This set tells the story of dinosaurs transported through time into the present day via a freak accident, and their eventual destruction of planet Earth. The set contains 55 cards and 11 sticker cards.



The best thing about this release is how little Topps held back when it came to censoring the cards. The images are graphically bloody, and shocking in some cases. They don't shy away from bloody deaths, decapitations, mutilations, etc. Man I miss the 80's when everything wasn't G-rated - and there wasn't a fear of having to please everybody. :( In addition to the chaos on the front of the cards, the backs featured newspaper-styled writeups of the destruction being caused by the dinos.



Of course this set wasn't all about guts...it was also there to help educate ;) Included in the release was a mini-set of sticker cards. These stickers featured one dinosaur on the front, and some information on said dino on the back. The artwork on these stickers is pretty impressive, and it looks like it could be put into a science book and no one would know. (Well, except for the guy being eaten!) Definitely a nice little addition to the set.



An interesting little side note...it's rumored that Tim Burton loves this card set, and he was planning on making a movie based on it until the overwhelming success of the Jurassic Park movies. He eventually made Mars Attacks!, but I can only imagine how sweet his take on these cards would have been.

ALF

Name of Card Set: ALF
Production Company: Alien Productions
Distribution Company:The Topps Company, Inc.
Year of Production: 1987
Pack Contents: 5 Cards, 1 Sticker, 1 stick bubble gum

Details:

Residing comfortably at the top of the list of "Worst Television Shows Ever" is ALF. The story was fairly simple (and ridiculous!)...centering around the title character Gordon Shumway, a friendly extraterrestrial nicknamed ALF (an acronym for Alien Life Form), who crash lands in the garage of a suburban middle class family. Sounds pretty atrocious, yet it managed to remain popular on NBC for over 4 years. I can't imagine there was a big demand...but for some reason Topps decided to make a card set featuring the TV series. Without further ado...



As you can see above, the cards featured random scenes from the television show, complete with a caption of the hilarity taking place on screen. The back featured either information about the "Life & Times" of li'l ol' Gordon...or a puzzle piece. The production value of the set is pretty much on-par with the rest of the 80's Topps releases...not great, but not bad at the same time.



There were a couple of subsets to the ALF release as each pack contained one sticker and one "Bouillabaseball" card. The baseball cards portrayed aliens as a ball players - complete with random team names and player names. The stickers were more of a 'character card'...featuring personalities from the show and a little quote.



All-in-all, this set is best used to remind everyone just how fantastic the 80's were. Honestly, what kind of drugs were people on to come up with this kind of stuff...let alone sit on the couch and watch it every week for 4 years??

HURR

Pac-Man

Name of Card Set: Pac-Man
Production Company: Midway
Distribution Company:Fleer
Year of Production: 1980
Pack Contents: 3 Stickers, 3 Cards, 1 stick bubble gum

Details:

It would be hard to argue that Pac-Man is not the most iconic video game figure of all-time. Released in 1980, Pac-Man mania swept through arcades around the globe. Widely heralded as a landmark game, Pac-Man appealed to a massive amount of players regardless of age or gender. In what comes as a bit of a shock, Topps did not secure the rights to a trading card set based on Pac-Man...rather rival company Fleer stepped in and delivered a fantastic set of cards for children (and adults!) to collect.



The release itself is a refreshing change from the often haphazard Topps releases, and features a good deal of creativity and uniqueness. Each pack contained 3 stickers, 3 cards and a stick of gum. The stickers were oddly enough smaller than the typical 2.5" x 3.5" trading cards...and came in closer to a 2.5" x 2.5" square. This shape makes them much more interesting to look at, and causes them to stick out in any card collection. The fronts of the stickers featured either black-backed character cards comprised of humorous scenes between Pac-Man and the ghosts...or clever Pac-Man facts and artwork. The card backs featured a few details about the set, as well as instructions on what to do with the stickers.



The 'Cards' mentioned on the wrapper were in fact Rub-Off cards (previously introduced on Toypedia in the Donkey Kong entry). This is without-a-doubt the best part of the release, as these cards allowed collectors to play a simulated game of Pac-Man by scratching off the circles on the card. The back of the card detailed the points-system and rules for play. I remember scratching off dozens of these growing up, and found it extremely difficult to not give it a try when scanning the cards for this post!



All-in-all this is a fantastic set to collect. It's full of cool 80's artwork, cheesy one-liners, and enough unique little twists to separate it from the hundreds of other non-sport trading cards released in the 80's. Since Fleer did such a great job, it begs the question of why they didn't get more involved in the hobby and try to give Topps a run for their money?

Smurf Supercards

Name of Card Set: Smurf Supercards
Production Company: Peyo
Distribution Company:The Topps Company, Inc.
Year of Production: 1982
Pack Contents: 7 Supercards, 1 stick bubble gum

Details:

"La, la, la-la-la-la...la, la-la, la, la..." You know the song, and no matter how hard you may try to get it out of your head, it stays. That simple little song signaled the beginning of the Smurfs attack on North American pop culture. It was 1981 (really!??!!?) when the Smurfs started invading our Saturday mornings, and they are still going strong today. Topps Inc, the king of non-sport card releases, helped Smurf-collectors out by releasing a card set based on the popular cartoon.



As a set, it's a fairly odd release by Topps. Obviously the first difference collectors will notice is that these cards are not the typical 2.5" x 3.5" release, rather these are (dun, dun, dun...) SUPERCARDS! Each card is approximately 2.5" x 5", and every card features an image in landscape mode. The front of the cards feature your favorite characters with clever little sayings with a 'Smurf-spin' to them. Sadly, the back of the cards are all the same (except for the card number).



So...of course since this is a Topps release, you can expect the typical stick of bubble gum to be included in the package. Wait....what? No pink gum??!! Hang on now - climb down from the ledge because one of the best parts of this release is that Topps not only changed the size of the cards, but also the color of the gum! Some might cry blasphemy, but to me the inclusion of blue gum is just another reason this obscure set belongs in everyone's collection.

Considering there were only 50 cards for a complete set...and 7 cards came per pack...this was a fairly easy set to complete. And although it's slightly difficult to locate these cards today, it's still possible with just a little bit of searching. Until our next post...

Masters of the Universe

Name of Card Set: Masters of the Universe
Production Company: Mattel, Inc.
Distribution Company:The Topps Company, Inc.
Year of Production: 1984
Pack Contents: 10 Cards, 1 sticker, 1 stick bubble gum

Details:

It’s barely longer than one minute, but to children who grew up in the 80’s, it is quite possibly the most recognizable one minute ever. Aside from the fact it is one of the best introductions to a show (ever!), it also captures the ‘feel’ of 80’s nostalgia better than almost any other piece of memorabilia. Just have a look:



Seriously…what kid wouldn’t get completely psyched at what was to come!!?? The show of course is He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Without a doubt, one of the best cartoons of the 80’s…based on one of the strongest and most collected toylines of the decade. Of course Topps released a card series to capitalize on the success…but sadly, it doesn’t quite hold up to the strength of the toys and television show.



At first glance, the set seems pretty strong. Topps used the familiar ‘multiple-wrappers’ strategy to draw in collectors (main image above). Also, the set was fairly large, consisting of 88 cards and 21 stickers…but once the initial ‘wow-factor’ wears off, the flaws in the production value begin to show through. The set is riddled with miscuts and lack of effort from the design team. Sure, all of the popular characters are captured in card-form, but aside from that there isn’t really anything to jump up and shout about.





The entire set tells a story…similar (if not identical) to one of the cartoon shows. The card fronts feature a picture of a particular scene, and the back contains a little synopsis…followed by a “continued on the next card…” message. The set is fairly plain – and sadly, one of the most unique features of the set is the interesting variation Topps took when it came to the checklist. Just take a look at how different it is from the typical checklist:



Don’t get me wrong…it’s still an incredibly cool set – but it just doesn’t come close to living up to how amazing the cartoon and toys were. That being said, a kick-butt non-sport card collection is NOT complete without a few samples from this undeniably-cool piece of the 80’s.

Grossville High

Name of Card Set: Grossville High
Production Company: Canew Ideas
Distribution Company:Fleer Corporation
Year of Production: 1986
Pack Contents: 5 stickers, 1 stick bubble gum

Details:

“You’ll know where to stick Grossville High” It’s not every day that you run across that type of slogan…yet that’s what the people at Canew and Fleer decided to run with for their set of Grossville High stickers. Released in 1989, it’s fairly easy to see some similarities between this set and the (immensely more popular) Garbage Pail Kids stickers. Fleer dabbled in the non-sport card lines from time to time, but sadly they never really enjoyed the same type of success that Topps, Inc. has.



This release was a fairly standard non-sport release…featuring 25cent packs containing five stickers and a stick of gum. The card fronts featured some fairly over-the-top artwork of supposed High School students. The art was in the same vein as GPK and MAD Magazine, and intended to gross out collectors. Card backs featured a combination of yearbook-styled features, love notes, stories, etc. In terms of production value, Fleer actually did a nice job with some glossy materials and bright colors, but the overall lack of effort seems to radiate throughout the release.



Still, it’s a fun set of non-sport stickers to collect – and you can pick some up for very little cash on eBay, etc.

And did you happen to catch the name of the character on the wrapper above? Norman Nerdwood? Wow...not sure what to make of that.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Name of Card Set: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Production Company: Mirage Studios
Distribution Company:The Topps Company, Inc.
Year of Production: 1989
Pack Contents: 5 cards, 1 sticker, 1 stick bubble gum

Details:

Dude! Perhaps one of the most popular and successful comic/cartoon/action franchises of all time, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have enjoyed success for over 25 years. What began back in 1984 as a comic book has exploded into multiple television series, movies, video games, merchandise and more! One of the first pieces of merchandise made available to collectors way back in 1989 was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trading cards from Topps.



The details of the release were fairly standard for the time. Scenes from the popular cartoon were captured on the front of the heavy cardboard stock, while the back contained descriptions of various scenes and plot developments. And of course the cards are loaded with (pizza) cheesy catch-phrases that just reek of 80’s nostalgia.



Available in four different wrappers (pictured above), collectors had plenty to shout “Cowabunga” about. This was not the first time Topps issued multiple wrapper variations for a card set, but it might be the best implementation of the idea to date. Having a wrapper for each turtle just seemed right…and it gave children just one more thing to collect!



Inside the packs were five cards, one sticker and one stick of pink goodness. The stickers were by far one of the best parts of the release, featuring bright colors and detailed artwork. Sadly they were not die-cut, so you had to stick the whole ‘square’ onto your Trapper Keeper, but they were still totally cool! The back of the stickers featured puzzle pieces that (when assembled) formed larger images of the individual stickers.



Hopefully you enjoyed this brief look at the first trading card set related to the heroes in a half-shell. There’s much more where this came from, so stay tuned to Toypedia for more goodies!!

Terminator 2

Name of Card Set: Terminator 2 Judgement Day
Production Company: The Topps Company, Inc.
Distribution Company: Carolco Pictures Inc
Year of Production: 1991
Pack Contents: 5 stickers

Details:

When T2 burst onto the scene in the early 90's, it forever changed how special effects were used (and received) in movies. Combining never-before-seen effects with unbelievable action sequences and a kick ass soundtrack highlighted by Guns 'n Roses, Terminator 2 went on to enjoy huge success around the world. Never wanting to miss an opportunity at cashing in on an opportunity, Topps Inc. released a set of stickers based on the movie.



To be blunt, the effort behind this release had to be nothing less than half-hearted. The packaging (above) is extremely minimal, and the contents were not much better. Each pack contained five stickers and a stick of gu...wait...what's going on? No gum?!? Come on Topps! Perhaps the lack of the familiar stick of pink 'gum' best exemplifies the utter lack of effort for the T2 sticker set. The stickers themselves are good quality, and feature scenes from the movie on both the front and back. There are no inserts or fun 'character' cards as found in other movie-based releases.

Donkey Kong

Name of Card Set: Donkey Kong
Production Company: Nintendo of America, Inc.
Distribution Company:The Topps Company, Inc.
Year of Production: 1982
Pack Contents: 3 Rub-Off Cards, 3 Stickers, 1 stick bubble gum

Details:

Serious card collectors can agree that non-sport trading cards are some of the best collectibles around, but when Topps decided to work with the almighty Nintendo – the results were pure magic. One of the first releases from this geeky power-couple was the Donkey Kong trading card set. As you can see on the package above, this was the “#1 Video Game” at the time, so this set was extremely popular.



Perhaps the most unique part of the Donkey Kong trading card set were the “Rub-Off Cards”. Honestly, the people at Topps, Inc. had to get a little chuckle about marketing “Rub-Off Cards” to 11 year old boys…but regardless, the cards were a hit. Each card featured a lottery-ticket-style scratch-off material on the front of the cards, and game instructions on the back. The collector could scratch off the circles in an effort to rescue the “Beautiful Girl” from Donkey Kong…as well as gain prizes to increase their score.



Aside from the scratch-off cards, the rest of the stickers featured cartoon likenesses of the characters of the game on the front, and puzzle pieces on the back. Thankfully for collectors, the Donkey Kong set was just the start of the relationship between Topps and Nintendo. Stay tuned to Toypedia, as we will no doubt be sharing the details on other sets in the near future!

Little Shop of Horrors

Name of Card Set: Little Shop of Horrors
Production Company: The Geffen Film Company
Distribution Company:The Topps Company, Inc.
Year of Production: 1986
Pack Contents: 5 stickers, 1 stick bubble gum

Details:

“Feed me Seymour…feed me!” Who can forget the famous line from the amazingly wonderful (and completely off-the-wall) comedy/sci-fi/horror flick from the 1980’s, Little Shop of Horrors? Combining an All Star cast of comedians, with a screenplay from 1960, Frank Oz ended up creating a cult hit that is still celebrated today. And like seemingly every other semi-successful movie from the 80’s/90’s…Topps, Inc. decided to turn Little Shop of Horrors into a non-sport trading card set.



This set was a fairly typical release from Topps, and consisted of (a somewhat small-ish) 44 cards in a complete set. The cards consisted of a sticker on the front, and the backs featured either a scene from the movie, a character profile, or a puzzle piece.



Unlike other movie trading card sets, it’s not as easy to follow along with the movie by flipping through these cards – and that’s likely due to the small base set. But still, the stickers manage to capture all of the hilarity of Bill Murray, Steve Martin, John Candy, James Belushi, Rick Moranis and more! These are definitely a must-have for any fan of the movie (or cheesy trading cards!!).

Garbage Pail Kids

Name of Card Set: Garbage Pail Kids
Production Company: The Topps Company, Inc.
Year of Production: 1985 - Present

Details:

Honestly, you knew it was coming. After all, how could a site dedicated to toys and (recently) cards not feature one of the biggest non-sport releases of all time? Garbage Pail Kids were released in 1985, and began to take the collecting world by storm less than a year later. Made ever-so-popular by boys who wanted to annoy girls that cherished their Cabbage Patch Dolls, these parody stickers made headlines around the country. During their first run, collectors were blessed with 15 series. Each series was sold in wax packs containing 5 stickers and 1 stick of gum. And perhaps best of all...each pack sold for 25 cents!! The card fronts consisted of an 'a' and 'b' version of each character, only differing by name...and the backs featured a wide variety of certificates, comics and puzzle pieces.





And wouldn't you know it...Topps decided to resurrect this series back in 2001 with the 'All-New Series'. To date, there have been 7 new series, and one 'Flashback' series. While purists have ridiculed the recent series for inconsistent and sub-par artwork, there are still a lot of great images to behold.





And don't look for any slowing down now, as artists are still lining up to work on this series, evidenced by the fact there's been over 25 different artists to work on GPK since it's inception. Flashback Series 2 has a release date of January 2011, so head out to the stores and support this amazing (and persistent) collectible.

Related Websites:

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