TRADING CARDS :: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

I'm always openly appreciative that I grew up in a time - the time - when every detail of human life (and nonhuman actually) found its way onto a trading card. In the late 80s and early 90s no subject was too trivial, too taboo, too esoteric to not get its own series of glossy cardboard photos (with or without some gum) and I consumed as much as I was financially able, and I was thankful. Eventually that trend tapered off, but I'm less interested in that scenario and more concerned in its origins, and who to thank... and it's the Topps Company in the 1970s. 

Topps switched from a tobacco company to a chewing gum company in the early 20th Century, eventually becoming best known for Bazooka. It wasn't until the early 1950s that they attempted Baseball Cards which were not an immediate success, but by 1960 they were a fundamental feature of being a kid (especially for boys). Most of their subject matter was aimed at the guys: sports, the Space Race, Mars Attacks. Then in 1964 they secured The Beatles license and suddenly their market doubled. But once they got into the 70s it became a lot more gender neutral as so many popular TV shows, musicians, and movies got their own Topps trading cards - up to and including 1978's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 

This box of unopened packs of cards came into my possession about 15 years ago, back when I had an unquenchable lust for such things. Eventually space became an issue and I whittled all the way down to just this one, and because I don't own a complete set (or even any loose singles) it remained a box of mystery. Until today. 

I thought hey, let's violate this 46 year old treasure chest to squeeze out a few paragraphs for a series that no one seems to typically care about. But whatever, I embarked on a jive-ass journey of moldy paper and petrified bubblegum and it was better than all the Goofy Golf in the world. 

I opened each pack and in each pack the gum was stubbornly stuck to the top card, which was always the sticker. In most cases I surgically separated the two with only mild residue left on both parties. In a few instances the gum had melted, at some point over the past 4+ decades, leaving the entire stack encased in a flesh-colored cement tomb. 

After opening them all, I amassed the entire 66 card set but only 10 of the 11 stickers (which probably fell victim to one of the bubblegum mishaps). But if I'm to endure a Summer Heartbreak as we are all sentenced to do, then let it be the frustration of an incomplete set of Topps bubblegum cards; these are the problems we can only be so lucky to have. But going through the entire set I found that there's very little variation from card to card; 90% of the imagery is production stills of silhouetted onlookers and hero shots of the mothership, so if I'm missing one, I don't think I'm missing much. So today I'm bringing you what I consider to be 5 standouts from this series - which is what this was inevitably leading up to. That, plus I felt oddly compelled to build this shape out of whatever I could find.

- Paul

#6

I don't know. Sometimes you'd get the sense that the authors of these captions didn't actually see the film. My guess is that "Sylvia reacts to a domestic dispute" doesn't jibe with the fantasy narrative that the cards are trying to maintain. Though even still, I'd hafta assume that most people (especially those buying these trading cards) would've seen the movie already and known there weren't any "saucers" that made "ear-splitting sounds".

#23

An iconic image in a movie of iconic images from a career of iconic images. It sums up a lot, but the combination of the two biggest themes here (70s Cinema and Bubblegum Cards) makes this an extremely important piece of pop culture ephemera. 

#25

This is probably a good time to point out that Richard Dreyfuss doesn't appear anywhere on a single card or sticker - the character of Roy Neary is not even mentioned. The popular explanation is that Topps did not obtain the rights to use his likeness (same with François Truffaut) though I've heard other, more convoluted reasons (which are probably even less likely). So, the main thread of the cards involves Jillian looking for Barry (with Teri Garr inexplicably showing up here and there).

#59

Another thing about movie cards: they've never been shy about spoilers or reveals. But of course those are the most compelling pictures and they look great on a card, and as someone who collects that kinda thing I know those're the ones I wanted most. Also if they're trying to tell a story (even without its main character) then we're gonna need some kinda closure. 

#60

There he is, Mr. Ready Player One himself. I'd like to say that film directors had more fame, more celebrity in the 1970s, but that's not the case - it just seems that way in hindsight (especially to movie geeks). But even then with only a few movies under his belt, he was already a household name. Jeannot Szwarc did not get his own card for the Jaws 2 series, I assure you.