Among my collecting indulgences can be found trading cards. I caught the bug when the first set of Batman cards was released by Topps. My friends and I were big fans of the show and one day several entire boxes of the cards appeared on the counter at a local pharmacy. We lamented having to buy individual packs, until I thought to ask the store clerk if we could purchase an entire box.
This was affirmed, so we all raced home on our bicycles , where I liberated every penny from my piggy bank. That, plus contributions from my friends got us that box of wax packs, and we spent an entire afternoon opening the packs, sorting the cards and assembling complete sets for each of us. (When I’m flush, I’m magnanimous.)
My parents did not entirely approve of those spendthrift ways, but that didn’t diminish the enjoyment I got from reading each of the cards (while watching the TV show, of course) and putting together the “posters” of main characters like Cat Woman that were printed on the backs of multiple cards.
Trading cards = fun was thus firmly entrenched in my brain.
Fast forward many decades (past the acquisition of a set of original The Outer Limits cards, Planet of the Apes cards, a handful of Mars Attack Cards….) and arrive in the modern era, when “fun” is more often derived from “work”, including the (haha) happy work of tracking down those infringing on the Amazing Stories trademark and issuing DMCA notices.
(That’s a never-ending task, so I’m pretty much forced to check at least once a month.)
There on the screen – a set of Classic Pulp Trading Cards covers, many prominently featuring the Amazing Stories (trademarked) name. GRRRRRR.
Sleuthing turned up a contact, who was promptly reached out to and asked to remove these items owing to infringement.
As is often the case, this was met with protest.
Including assurances the the individual had “acquired the rights” to sell these items. Of course I knew that wasn’t true as I’d not licensed anyone to use the trademark for trading cards.
Now truth to tell, two things were in operation here. One was the fact that the copy surrounding this sale made claims that appeared to me to be saying “New”. As in published during the time frame in which I own the rights.
The other operating tape running in my head was the standard “most people don’t know how trademarks work and confuse them with copyrights and other things.”
Several rounds of angry back and forth were engaged in, until I finally understood that this was inventory from 1992 that was being sold by someone who’d acquired a bunch of sets that had been in storage.
My rights to the Amazing Stories name begins in 2008. Well after 1992.
So I had no claim. I let the seller know and apologized for my confusion…and then I purchased two sets from them.
These cards were produced by a company named Sperry; a company that apparently had a lot of different irons in the fire, including making tablecloths. The company was owned by Steve Perry (S. Perry – Sperry) who was inspired by the artwork, and, of the belief that copyright had lapsed (not true in all cases so far as I’m aware at this point in time…though the copyright for the “magazine” issues most likely has lapsed) went about the daunting task of acquiring copies of the magazines and photographing them (very well) to produce the cards.
Other sets were planned, but about the same time as Sperry was releasing their inaugural sets (western and sports pulps apparently had their own sets) there was a growing glut on the trading card market and they did not sell that well. Plans for follow-on sets were cancelled and about 1,000 full sets, plus I don’t know how many full, uncut sheets passed into storage and were eventually picked up for resale.
The cards themselves are excellently made. Crisply cut with sharp corners and printed in vibrant colors, they offer up some of the most iconic SF Pulp magazine covers ever seen, with art by Frank R. Paul, Margaret Brundage, Virgil Finlay, Brown, Bergey, Freas, Fuqua, Wesso, Schomburg, Coggins and more.
The backs are a delight, carrying the magazine’s issue date, the title of the lead story, the names of the lead story author and cover artist, as well as the teaser and blurb for that story as they appeared in the magazine, or a black and white rendition of the cover art.
Unfortunately I can’t find a link to the original Facebook page I saw these on…but do a search on the web and you’ll find them.
You can find a checklist for the set online here.
