Random Trading Cards

Everybody loves a good set of trading cards, they cover every topic of general interest, films, sports, videogames, cartoons & TV shows, becoming the obsession of millions for decades

Their origin can be traced back to the late 1800's where companies in Britain and America used to insert cards in foil packets of cigarettes, firstly featuring advertisements, and later a variety of topics including sports and nature. By 1900 over three hundred companies produced cigarette cards, but WWII and a paper shortage put an end to their mass production, never reaching the same level of popularity post-war.

The most famous type of Trading Cards are Baseball Cards which were also first seen in the late 1800, appearing inTobacco products, and later packaged with chewing gum by companies like Bowman Gum and The Topps Company.

Since then trading cards have been available in newsagents everywhere, and used for cross-promotions in cereal packets, crisp multipacks and even given away by supermarkets.

But enough preamble, let’s take a look at some random examples…

Star Wars cards released to promote The Force Awakens predominately featuring images from the original trilogy, and character cards for new characters introduced in TFA, as little was known about the new movie when the series was released.

In 2017 British supermarket chain Sainsbury's ran a promotion with Lego featuring their minifigures, the cards also included images on the front which enabled you to play rock, paper, scissors, while the back included coloured bricks which allowed you to play a dominoes style game. Customers received a packet of four cards for every ten pounds spent in store. A second series/promotion is currently running.

The first series of X-Files cards depicted illustrations for each episode of the first series, as well as behind-the-scenes images such as storyboards, concept art and props. There were follow up sets for season two and three of the show, but by this time the TV show wasn't quite the cultural phenomenon it had previously been.

These cards for Super nintendo fighting game Killer Instinct were given away in a UK gaming magazine and featured a complete set of moves for each character, including boss/secret character Eyedol.

NBA basketball cards for '95-'96 season, this was around the time basketball was given major coverage on British TV courtesy of Channel 4. They included cards featuring each team's logo and main line-up, rookie cards, and cards featuring the line-ups for each of that years all-star teams.

These NBA and Space Jam cards from Upper Deck were given away in crisp multipackets.

...and now some randoms...

What trading cards have you collected over the years? Let me know in the comments below