The Simpsons Trading Cards
1990 / Collectible cards + puzzle / USA
***
I don't think of Bartmania as being among my big childhood crazes (no doubt mainly because we didn't have Sky), but I was there for the peak hype, and the most nostalgic Simpsons products have always been those that were clearly rushed out prematurely to capitalise on it. That normally means a disproportionate emphasis on short-lived season one characters like Marvin Monroe, but the Topps trading cards went even more primordial by sourcing all of their distinctly off-model, off-colour screencaps from the Tracey Ullman Show shorts. Cowabunga!
As a kid, this unexplained uncannyness would have been so intriguing, on par with the red-bandana Turtles (I'll solve it for you: cheaper licensing). As a grown-up coming across some Gen-Xer's once-prized collection in a charity shop, I couldn't resist the indulgence, especially for 50p.
The back of the cards handily make an (incomplete) jigsaw that it turned out my daughter did actually want to do, so I got away with it, and we watched some prime retro Simpsons after that it turned out she's way too young for.
