Monster Trading Cards

[horrorhunter]

I'll start us off with the first monster trading card set from 1959- You'll Die Laughing (aka Funny Monsters) by the legendary Jack Davis. Many different sets of monster related cards followed through the years but this one was never topped in my opinion. Following are scans of the first nine cards from my set. By Bubbles, which was another name Topps used (for edgy sets, I guess).



Backs:


I have the full set of 66 cards but no wrapper or box.

The box:


http://www.cardboardconnection.com/1959-topps-youll-die-laughing-trading-cards

http://thewrapper.tripod.com/youlldie.html

http://www.lostwackys.com/monster-cards/59dielaughing.htm

[horrorhunter]

In 1973 Topps followed up with the 2nd set of You'll Die Laughing cards, known as Creature Features on the wrapper. Black & White photos were used instead of artwork on this set. The cards still had the gags at the bottom and on the backs. The photos were sometimes "doctored up" by replacing an actor's face with the face of a Topps employee and it made the image look a little skewed. Topps dropped the "Bubbles" pseudonym by now since these cards were hardly considered envelope pushing by this point. The set contains 128 cards, and there was a test set that contains 18 cards of different #s of the regular set. Following is a scan of the first nine cards of my set, front and back.





http://www.trading-cards.org/Cards-W-Z/Youll-Die-Laughing/index.php

http://www.tradingcarddb.com/Gallery.cfm/sid/82941/1973-Topps-You%27ll-Die-Laughing-(Test-Issue)

http://www.lostwackys.com/monster-cards/73dielaughing.htm

[Mike Scott]

Love seein' the cards! Keep posting!

I have only 1 '59 YDL card. Can you guess which number?

[horrorhunter]

Love seein' the cards! Keep posting!

I have only 1 '59 YDL card. Can you guess which number?

Well, I looked through my set and couldn't find a Creature, so...I'll guess #1.

[horrorhunter]

In 1980 Topps released the 3rd and final You Die Laughing set with B & W photo fronts and colored borders...and gags, nach. The set contains 88 cards and 22 color stickers. Here are scans of my first nine cards, front and back, followed by my first nine stickers, front and back. The backs of the stickers fit together to form a very cool Creature From The Black Lagoon puzzle. 









http://thewrapper.tripod.com/youlldie.html

[Mike Scott]

Well, I looked through my set and couldn't find a Creature

Look again at card #21.

[Mike Scott]

I have the whole sticker set from the 1980 set, but only select cards from the card set.

[horrorhunter]

Look again at card #21.

Yep, a Jack Davis webbed monster FOOT. 

[Mike Scott]

Yep, a Jack Davis webbed monster FOOT. 

I wish he had done the whole Creature, but I'll take it. 

[horrorhunter]

In 1988 a very similar to YDL set came from Topps called Fright Flicks. It featured '80s monsters in colored photos with gags (surprise!) on the front. On the backs are weird little accounts entitled Did It Ever Happen? The set contains 90 cards and 11 stickers. The backs of the stickers form a pic of five '80s era monsters. Here are scans of my first nine cards, front and back, and my first nine stickers, front and back.









http://www.cardboardconnection.com/1988-topps-fright-flicks-trading-cards

[Mord]

 I love how they changed the faces of the supporting cast on the B&W pix of the 2nd "You'll Die Laughing" set. I guess they had to avoid lawsuits. They look so out of place next to the classic monsters.

[geezer butler]

Great topic. I have the 1980 "Creature Feature" and "Fright Flicks" sets. I also have the 1991 "Topps Universal Monster" and 1996 "Universal Monsters of the Silver Screen" sets. Both are great. I have some Hammer Horror cards too, but not full set.

Technically not monster cards, but my favorite set is the 1978 Kiss trading cards. The 1966 Batman set is another favorite of mine.

[horrorhunter]

Horror Monsters is an excellent set from Nu-Cards, produced in 1961. There are a great variety of monsters represented in photos and a few illustrations with jokes on the card backs. Horror Monsters is divided into green bordered cards (1-66), and orange bordered cards (67-146). The backs of the Horror Monsters Green cards are either white or grey with red ink. The backs of the Horror Monsters Orange are gray with green ink. Here are cards 64-72 from my sets, front and back.





Horror Monsters Green came in 2-card panels:



Back:



http://www.monsterwax.com/horrormonstercards.html

[horrorhunter]

In the mid '60s an 84 card set appeared called simply Monster Cards. The fronts look like blue photo negatives of photos and some illustrations from the Nu-Cards Horror Monsters series. The common name for these cards among collectors is "Monster Blue". The fronts have captions in type face, and the backs have a crude title illustration and corny jokes. These cards are commonly believed to be pirated versions of the Horror Monsters cards. They usually turn up as a complete set so it is thought they were sold that way, either through mail order or vending machines, or both. As crude as they are these cards are sought after by collectors, their amateurish execution speaking to the cheap way many Monsterkid items were produced in the chaotic '60s. To many the crudeness only adds to their charm. My first nine are pictured below, front and back.





At the end of the info about Horror Monsters cards the Monster Cards are discussed. Clicky:
http://www.monsterwax.com/horrormonstercards.html

[Mike Scott]

In the mid '60s an 84 card set appeared called simply Monster Cards.

And only one Creature card in the bunch! (And it's a WALKS!)