Sunday 5 July 2015

These 1960s British 'Battle' Trading Cards Make 'Mars Attacks' Look Tame

One of the Little Shop's current eBay auctions is for a complete set of  World War 2 'Battle' bubblegum cards, produced in Britain in 1966 by A&BC. Considering they were aimed at kids, they're horrifyingly violent, especially given their age. They're the sort of vision of the war that the comics Victor and indeed Battle (no relation) presented to their hungry young readers, but turned up to 11. They are also quite evidently inspired in some cases by Topps' 'Mars Attacks' cards from 1962 (in my opinion).

If I'd been collecting these when I was 8, I would have thought they were *brilliant*.

Below is a selection of the 73 cards, including the four which were apparently 'banned' and withdrawn from circulation: 'Confession By Force', 'Death Blow', 'Fiery Death' (compare this with the Mars Attacks card 'Destroying a Dog') and 'The Torture Chamber'. Mind you, that doesn't mean that the others aren't pretty full-on. Check out 'School Bombing'!






















9 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I recently came across your blog and have been scaning along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed scaning what you all have to say forex

    ReplyDelete
  3. The most inspiring stuff commonly is probably the most dull or boring concern. a single rooster may not be in the same woody plant strip very long, and also the pets within the pine is a kind of weight, always want to consult the next stars, the particular fowl because the plants are really hesitant to facial expression an equal beautiful places day by day. free stock course

    ReplyDelete
  4. The prevalent portability of the stage has made it incredibly prominent among easygoing just as expert brokers. trading platform

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great article post. Thanks Again. Really Great.1000Pip Climber System Review

    ReplyDelete
  7. An online tarot card reader may be a complete computer software or a piece of script (program code) embedded on a website for visitors or members to use. The use of the program may be free for everyone, or the website may ask for registration for some sort of membership before the person can use the reader. Is something like this useful to the tarot reader? one card tarot

    ReplyDelete
  8. These are reprints of the cards that were made by Topps in 1965, the same company that made Mars Attacks. A&BC reprinted a lot of Topps sets a couple years after they were released in the US. A&BC also reprinted Mars Attacks in 1966 and Topps super violent Civil Wars cards too. Topps released many violent sets all painted by Norm Saunders, Civil War in 1961, Mars Attacks in 1962 and Battle in 1965.

    ReplyDelete