I’ve collected these types of cards all my life - at one time simwife and I became dealers - in the course of business, I bought a collection off of a gentleman that contained many “old” cards (most of them 70/80s era) - in it was 1 Mars Attacks card - in excellent shape.
There was a non sport newlsetter that used to be published with want lists/for sale items - in it I discovered that Walter Koenig was also a collector - and was in need of that specific Mars Attacks card - at the next show we set up at (a trek convention, IIRC) Mr. Koenig was a guest there. - I was able to give the card to him, and I did it with no expectations (thankfully so, Mr. Koenig was surprised/grateful (i guess) - but there was no real conversation other than ’ here ya go, heard you were looking for this".
I think I have to add him to the List of Obscure Names that STrongly Influebnced my Childhood, along with Herbert S. Zim and Kurt Siodmak. It turns out that, besides Mars Attacks and Civil Watr News, Norm also painted
Batman Cards
Ugly Face Stickers
and Wacky Packages
Besides that, he painted the covers for the Classics Illustrated issues **a Journey to the Center of the Earth, Frankenstein, and Pirates. In addition to lots of Men Magazine covers I’ve undoubtedly seen and ignored.
Check that out: the bearded man on Card #1 of this series – real-life abolitionist John Brown – is the bearded man on some of Kansas’ album covers. I mean, the art is a dead ringer.
I didn’t have the cards when I was a kid, but someone else did, and I remember this one particularly: “Burning Flesh” http://www.marsattacksfan.com/19.htm
For some reason I have three of that particular card. Pretty gruesome. the Powers That Be had banned that sort of thing in comic books in the first half of the 1950s, but somehow missed trading cards. new technology (or at least different technology) always seems to get made that slips around the restrictions.