All right, let’s look at some more trading card packs.
Sliders
Sliders is great. I love Sliders. Is it a good show? Uh, not really. Is it a flawed show that had sparks of brilliance and could have been so much better if given the opportunity? Absolutely, and it needs to make a comeback – the show’s premise would make it easy to do, too!
Remember that Funny or Die video that came out promoting a fake Sliders movie crowdfunding campaign? Yeah. I consider it canon.
Half of these cards have artwork or have to do with comic books and I like them more than the ones with screencaps, which are too dark and unremarkable.
Dragon Ball Z
More Dragon Ball Z cards. Last time they were Cell and Androids Saga cards, these are from the Namek and Frieza Saga.
Okay, I really love these cards. By chance, they depict moments from the episodes that got me into the show: the space orphans, Fake Namek, the one where Frieza’s men capture Bulma, and of course the Ginyu Force fights.
The only bad thing about these cards is it’s the same background on all the backs, with images from the Saiyan Saga no less. I love the overly dramatic (and nonsensical) tagline, which I had never seen before: “The battle for the soldiers continue to carry out with the power of love, hatred, pity and anger.”
TekWorld
TekWorld was a Marvel comic book based on William Shatner’s TekWar series of novels. You, of course, know how much I love the ’90s TekWar show and won’t miss a chance to talk about it anywhere at anytime.
The packaging says there are randomly packed “tekchrome” and autographed cards; the odds of finding a William Shatner or Lee Sullivan (the artist) card are 1 in 1728.
Okay, well no autographed card this time. I dig the artwork on all of these, though, and it makes me want to read the comics…
…but dammit, it is SO hard to read the text on the back. It’s a small, thin comic-booky font in front of a busy, colorful background. That is not accessible design. I tried to read one but my eyes got tired about halfway through and I gave up.
At least the art is still good. Who needs words when you have good art?
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I loved the ’70s show, enjoyed the only book in the series I read, thought the game was frustrating, and the movie was okay at best. Honestly, I sometimes forget the movie exists.
No autographed Douglas Adams card in this pack but that’s fine because the cards I did get are great. I think all the artwork came from the ’90s DC Comics series; the colors are vibrant and everything looks fun.
And most importantly, you can actually read the backs of the cards! They’re made to look like encyclopedia entries on the eponymous Hitchhiker’s Guide.
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
I like Jonny Quest and I especially like the ’90s series, The Real Adventures, which was one of Hanna Barbera’s best series. No randomly inserted autographed cards here, but there are “Action Quest” pop-up cards (maybe like the pop-up cards from the Free Willy 2 trading cards?) and heat activated “Hadji’s Clues” inserts. I wonder what these clues are about and where they will take me.
Well, yet again I didn’t get any special cards. I got three vehicle cards, which have cool information on the back (though one of them used a low res screengrab for its artwork…shame on them!). The other two cards are interesting because they’re Villain cards, but they’re double-sided with different villains on the opposite sides:
It’s almost like getting two extra cards!
Bonus: Stupid Smiles
Earlier this year, my friend opened a pack of “Stupid Smiles” cards/stickers:
She also attempted to chew the old stick of gum (from 1989) that was included in the pack. “It tastes like nothing,” she said. “Very cardboardish. Very hard to chew.”
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