I bought these, one of the last ‘nonessential’ amazon purchases I made:
Two packs each of Duran Duran and Tron trading cards. Let’s open them, starting with Duran…
These were released by Topps back in 1985 as part of the marketing Blitz for the Arena album. At the time both KLS and myself (and Bernard, and most of the world) were big Duran fans but I can’t remember ever seeing these cards. Naturally having found packs on Amazon for the low, low price of $8 each (sixteen times their 1985 price) I had to buy some!
Each pack has 3 cards and 3 stickers (from a pool of 33 of each). Here’s what I got:
Can you believe it?!?!? The two packs were almost complete duplicates, differing only in one sticker slot!! Furthermore the card images are pretty poor and the stickers have lost their adhesive.
The card backs are dull too:
But at least the sticker backs form a puzzle so they’re useful even if you use the sticker:
And here’s a closeup if the 35-year-old bubble gum:
Don’t worry, I didn’t eat it 🙂
Overall this isn’t a great card set, but I reckon in 1985 I may have liked it especially for the stickers. While it’s disappointing I got mostly duplicates, at least it takes care of Bernard’s Christmas gift this year!
Let’s move on to Tron:
Released by Donruss way back in 1981, each pack has 8 cards, a sticker and – a weakness then but a strength today – no bubblegum! The pack design is great, but the cards themselves are even better:
The images are crisp and immaculately printed and the black borders look great. In my opinion these are some of the best trading cards ever made and a wonderful showcase for the film.
In fact I already had four packs of these but I’m always looking for more since they’re hard to find now at a reasonable price (these were the only two the seller had; I paid $6 each pack).
The backs don’t tell the film story, and instead create a fantastically massive puzzle of one of the film posters:
The sticker cards are unusual since they’re based on the Tron arcade game and contain tips on the back (which I’m sure no one ever used!):
Unfortunately after 40 years they too have lost their adhesive. You can peel them off but he’ll never stick again.
Apparently this set had limited distribution since the film was an unknown quantity. I’m reasonably sure these never made their way to Australia because if they did I would have bought as many as I saw (for 25c/pack!). A wonderful card set that I’d love to complete one day.
In case you’re wondering I’m always on the lookout for other vintage pop culture card packs. Topps made loads of sets I’ve never even seen a pack of – like Masters Of The Universe, Fright Flicks or Marvel Super Heroes (from ’76, which has Conan comic cards) – but I’d also love to get my hands on more vintage Star Trek or Alien or Indiana Jones cards. If you ever see such things for cheap, please keep me in mind 🙂