Topps announces new Mars Attacks trading cards

Great news for trading card collectors because one of the most famous series of all time is returning for its 50th anniversary (although it's technically the 51st but we won't complain). Mars Attacks Invasion from Topps includes 63 new cards featuring the gruesome alien invaders and marks a return for the series after a 20 year gap. Mars Attacks became a cult classic when it was originally released in 1962 and the original cards were reprinted in the 1980s before being turned into a feature film in 1996.

Mars Attacks Invasion will be released in October and to commemorate the series' long history, packs will also include randomly inserted original 1962 cards. These won't be reprints and are in fact original cards from the 1960s, as well as "chase subsets and valuable collector-driven inserts" according to Topps. Of course, this will ensure they become popular among trading card collectors.

"It will be a fresh re-imagining of the original series and will stay faithful to Mars Attacks' pulpy, classic sci-fi roots," said Topps' Adam Levine. "This means all-new, traditionally hand-painted cards illustrated by a group of artists carefully selected to carry forward creator Norm Saunders' legacy."

The originals featured artwork by science fiction artist Wallace Wood and told the story of a cruel race of Martians and their violent invasion of Earth. The cards depicted a series of futuristic battle scenes and, although the cards were extremely popular with children of the period, their explicit gore and sexual content caused an outcry, leading Topps to halt production. However, this didn't deter fans and they quickly became collectors' items.