Dinosaurs Attack! blew my little mind. I turned seven the year they came out, and like many kids in America I was all about dinosaurs. Anything related to the "terrible lizards " fascinated me. Little did I know how terrible they could be. I probably only got a pack or two of the trading cards when I was a kid, but everything about them was captivating. The art, the colors, the story, the guts. This card series is at least as gory as any horror film you can imagine, and it amazes me that Topps ever released it. I'm not mad. I love it, but considering the the climate of censorship at the time, I'm surprised this slipped through. Dinosaurs Attack! was released by Topps in 1988 and consists of 55 cards and 11 stickers. The series was designed by Art Spiegelman, Len Brown, and Gary Gerani. Len Brown had designed and did artwork for Mars Attacks. The final paintings for the trading cards were done by Earl Norem. The series pays homage to the old B monster movies, but delivers scenes of horror that put them all to shame.
The Dinosaurs Attack! series was meant as a follow up to Mars Attacks, released in 1962. Mars Attacks had similar violent themes, although Dinosaurs Attack! did not have the success of its predecessor. Image from Flickr.
The cards tell the story of Dr.Thorne, a scientist working aboard the Prometheus, a space station conducting experiments with time travel. Dr. Thorne is accompanied by his wife/assistant, Helen Thorne. Their experiment takes a horrifying turn when billions of prehistoric beasts from different epochs in Earth's history are thrust into the present and begin a gluttonous feast on humanity.
The story is primarily told on the backs of each card which describe the scene taking place. There are also subplots that take place on the card backs. Many of the cards are made to look like the front page of various newspapers, Prometheus Log entries from Dr. Thorne, as well other as several other devices. Some backs have photographs of actual people with comic book-style captions. There is a title card and a synopsis card with a checklist.
The fronts of the other 53 cards depict the carnage unleashed by the flesh-starved behemoths as the mindless army of blood-thirsty beasts march across the globe, tearing down every sacred institution of humanity in their wake. From the the Heartland to the Beltway, from London to Tokyo, all serve an equal purpose, to fill the bottomless guts of their new dinosaur overlords.
Dinosaurs Attack! is darkly comical throughout the series, and gives the humans a few chances to strike back, as seen in Card 32: "Cat Lady's Revenge." While some cards are very silly, such as card 40: "Wrestling Riot," most display scenes of extreme gore. Dismemberment, beheading, devoured children, nothing is too extreme for Dinosaurs Attack!
As the story progresses, Dr. Throne is visited in a dream by a humanoid dinosaur of advanced intellect. The "Saurian" tells Dr.Thorne of a being of pure evil that serves as demonic god to the dinosaurs, The Supreme Monstrosity. This evil being used the time scanner to unleash the brutes on humanity, and wishes for his children to rule the modern Earth. Dr. Thorne sacrifices himself to the Supreme Monstrosity so that Helen has a chance to destroy Prometheus and reverse the time scan, sending the dinosaurs back in time, simultaneously ripping them to pieces. The story ends with Helen's return to Earth to join what remains of humanity in a post-apocalyptic landscape and a shocking realization.
Dinosaurs Attack! has a subset of eleven sticker cards by artists Paul Mavrides and Harry S. Robbins. The card backs have facts about the dinosaur pictured on the front. The stickers continue the theme of the base set by depicting various dinosaurs, eating, killing, or otherwise harassing humanity. The backs offer characteristics such as size, eating habits, and the era each creature lived.
One of three variations of the wax pack from retail boxes. Image from Wikipedia
I ended up holding on to just a few cards by my early twenties. I could remember some others, but even with physical proof, the series seemed more myth than reality. I was selling collectables on Ebay at the time and decided to see if anything came up in a search. I was pleased to learn the cards were plentiful and cheap, and bought a whole retail box of unopened packs for a little over five dollars. I ended up getting two full sets of base cards and stickers plus a bunch of doubles. What you have seen here are scans from my collection. It appears as though the price of these cards have went up a good amount and now sell in the $20-$30 range, though some poorer-quality wax boxes go for less. If you are into Science fiction, horror, B monster movies, or anything related, this is the product for you. I've only showed you a small sampling of the terror that lies in wait inside the thirty year old wax. Get a few packs and see for yourself.
this is a fun read! truly made me reminisce of the time i used to collect dinosaur cards and toys too. i really enjoyed this post! those pictures are hilarious and highly exaggerated. especially with #14 where they depict the Parasaurolophus as a carnivore even though they are herbivores and totally harmless to humans haha! my favorite dinsosaur is the Velociraptor by the way, how about yours?
Thanks. I'm happy you like this post. The artists took a lot of liberty with this series. Some the dinosaur were not even real animals! I think it only makes the cards better. I haven't really thought about which dinosaur is my favorite. I used to like them all as a kid, but the one that I remember liking the most Stegosaurus. I think I like the raptors best now though because with out them we wouldn't have birds.
This is pretty amazing stuff.
My 3D basketball cards and Ninja Turtle sticker cards were as crazy as I ever ran into. Ha.
It's still hard for me believe this ever got released. It didn't do well. Probably because parents refused to buy there kids a second pack once the say the cards.Wax boxes went up in value over past few years. I'm going to get another box or two to put up.
No doubt. Those cards are scary stuff! Ha.
I wish I could give you more steemit money, especially for this post. Pure nostalgia. I do indeed remember these. I also remember the Garbage Pail Kids. Art Spiegelman is pretty cool. He did a lot of underground comics. He was around the time of R. Crumb and Harvey Pekar. He also did a cool comic about the holocaust told with mice (Jews) and cats (Nazis), cauled Maus, you should check it out.
I've seen Maus in you T.V. stand.
Yep. It's good stuff. Not quite Dinosaurs attack, but definitely emotional.
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