In 1988, trading card specialists, Topps released one of the greatest trading card sets ever created – the devilish, Dinosaurs Attack!. The set featured blood thirsty images of dinosaurs causing havoc.
But these dinos weren’t trampling over woodlands and riverbanks in the Jurassic era, they were causing carnage in contemporary times. And it was freakin’ awesome!
For those who don’t recall Dinosaurs Attack!, the cards were gruesome little collectibles featuring scenes usually reserved for horror movies. I’m talking gross-out situations that wiped the floor with anything seen in the average monster movie!
Comprising 55 base cards and 11 stickers, Dinosaurs Attack! featured some truly exceptional artwork. The entire run, from card #1 through to card #55, told a complete story filled with tragedy and triumph and it was thrilling (and unnerving) for young collectors.
The story saw dinosaurs unleashed in modern times. In the ‘story’, dinosaurs go on a killing spree, bumping off countless humans with careless abandon, and then lay waste to the land in the process.
Sounds cool, right?! Well, yes, it was!
The cards were similar in tone to the old Mars Attacks trading cards, i.e. they played heavy on shock value, and while the cards may not have been as popular or as well remembered as Mars Attacks, they were equally as dynamic.
While the front of each card provided terrifying scenes of deadly dinos, the back of each card offered up the story, giving a blow-by-blow account of the horror as it unfolded. This story enhanced the imagery, but boy, was the imagery good enough on its own!
And it still stands up today. If you’re lucky enough to have these cards in your possession, or you chance upon them someday, spend some time focused on the illustrations. They simply don’t make cards like this anymore, and if they did, it would no doubt cause a considerable uproar!
An uproar that maybe will still come if we ever get a TV or film adaptation of these cards. Apparently Tim Burton once considered Dinosaurs Attack! as a viable movie project (over Mars Attacks no less), so maybe he’ll swing back round to it in time.
Either way, for now, Dinosaurs Attack! remain a benchmark for trading card excellence. They are truly something exceptional and are still likely to give nightmares to those of a nervous disposition.
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