Godzilla Color Bromide Set: Part 10, Monster Zero (Invasion of Astro-Monster, 1965)

After the huge number of cards for the last film, there are only 7 for this one, which is kind of disappointing! But, they are still wonderful:

You are correct if you noticed this card was printed upside-down! Well, the text overlays were.  This is exactly how the original card was, and the makers of the set did not try to correct it, and kept it original!

Godzilla Origins Stickers (American Greetings, 2006)

Here's a cool set of stickers from the GODZILLA ORIGINS series (like the famous 2004 Valentines).  You probably recognize the design style. It would be fun sometime to make a list of everything that was included in that theme.

Godzilla Color Bromide Set: Part 9, Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster (1964)

The hands-down winner for the "most-covered film" in the Godzilla Color Bromide Set, is Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster, with a whopping 36 cards.  It's clear that the folks putting the set together really loved the film--one of my personal favorites--and also had a great supply of promotional photos.  You will notice that this group also has many pseudo-duplicates; shots that at first look repeated, but really aren't, OR are simply variants, like these first cards:

This first pair are variants, in that the main difference has to do--only--with the text and copyright information.  The makers of this set were nothing if not thorough!

Same with the above pair.

This card looks like it was made from the same photo that is often used to illustrate the original "rainbow" color scheme for Ghidrah (luckily, gold was selected).

This and the next three cards start to run together, when you are quickly flipping through them.  You can see how I originally believed there was duplication in the overall set.

 

THIS photo should be on a real Motivational poster for TEAMWORK, and should hang in everybody's office.

I have to admit that this card almost fooled me into thinking it was from INVASION OF THE ASTRO MONSTERS (MONSTER ZERO), until I realized: hey, Mothra wasn't there!

This paste-up was also used for an American lobby card, but not in gloriously-painted color.

This action shot has a cool smear effect.

 

"Green sky in morning / Japan, take warning"

This and the card above it are close, but not identical.

 

The advent of Ghidrah (with some people who weren't there).

Topps' Vintage Star Wars Books & Their Bonus Trading Cards

This week, the third book in a series covering the vintage Star Wars card sets made by Topps was released.  You have probably seen information about these books; they feature the fronts and backs of all of the vintage SW cards (including the Wonder Bread and Giant Photo Card sets).  I'm a little split on the books--the format has been highly complained about, in that a lot of page space is wasted.  A larger format could have accommodated multiple cards per page.  As it is the books are chunky and unwieldy.  The text is by Gary Gerani, who was the original writer on the card sets.  He shares some anecdotes and trivia that are very cool, but honestly, the farther you get in the series, the less there seems to say.  

But I'm not here to review the books.  Each book includes (at least) 4 exclusive Topps trading cards, and when the first book was released, I scoured the Internets to find out what the cards looked like.  I found nothing.  This subject has been so woefully under-reported, I figured it would make a good blog post.  Anyone interested in the books (and I really do recommend them) can now at least SEE what they are getting!

To me, pack and box art make perfect sense, but re-creating a card of an existing sticker card is redundant (and these are cards only, not stickers).

I mean, if they were unused sticker designs, it would make sense. 

The ESB book also comes with a 5th card--a physical card of a digital card, that looks like the cover of the book (based on original pack artwork)!  If you are into Topps' scam, I mean game, Star Wars Card Trader, then you will like this.

I hope this helps somebody. I mean, that's what the Internets are for, innit?