By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Sports Card Monthly Editor

If the first story of the Martian invasion wasn’t enough, fans of Mars Attacks should get ready for another.

Topps is producing a new set of trading cards Mars Attacks: Invasion, due out in October, the company announced on Monday.

This new set comes on the heels of the successful launch of last year’s remake of the original Mars Attacks, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic card set.

“Last year’s Heritage re-issue was a smash hit with fans,” said Topps’ Adam Levine, who has overseen the recent resurgence of Mars Attacks, “and this brand-new series is what we’ve been building to. It will be a fresh re-imagining of the original series and will stay faithful to Mars Attacks pulpy, classic sci-fi roots. This means all-new, traditionally hand-painted cards illustrated by a group of artists carefully selected to carry forward creator Norm Saunders’ legacy.”

The 63-card story will be divided into themed subsets where different artists such as Earl Norem, Joe Jusko, Ed Repka, Glen Orbik and Gregory Staples will depict the harrowing tale.

While Topps hasn’t given specific details of the set, it did announce collectors would get a chance to find original cards from 1962 set inserted randomly into packs.

Stay tuned to Beckett.com as more information becomes available on Mars Attacks: Invasion.

Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Sports Card Monthly. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow Beckett Media on Facebook and Twitter.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Sports Card Monthly Editor

New York Comic Con is headed to New York City with special guests, comic book characters and trading cards.

NYCC is scheduled to be at the Jacob Javits Centers Oct. 11-14 with panels, screenings and exclusive items you can’t get anywhere else.

Topps’ non-sport trading card team will be at the convention and will offer fans one-of-a-kind giveaways.

Several artists will stop by the Topps booth and offer free hand-drawn sketch cards to fans. Themes included are Mars Attacks, Garbage Pail Kids and Wacky Packages. The cards are exclusive to the New York Comic Con and will have a commemorative NYCC logo on the front.

Artists scheduled to appear include David Gross, Jeff Zapata, Mark Pingitore, Jacob Chabot, Joe Simko, Jason Edmiston and Jason Brower.

Artist Chris Giarrusso will also sign copies with a NYCC exclusive comic cover variant of Mars Attacks the Holidays.

Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Sports Card Monthly. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here.

Join Beckett Media’s Chris Olds as he rips into some packs of the new 2012 Mars Attacks Heritage cards from Topps in this latest episode of Ripping Retail.

What will he find inside? Will he survive the invasion? Watch and find out …

Need a checklist or OPG for the product? Click here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor

Topps is taking collectors on a tour through its history with a series of books dedicated to trading cards.

The latest book visits the 100 greatest cards in New York Yankees history. Yankee Greats by author Bob Woods features baseball cards from players such as Joe DiMaggio to Derek Jeter. Woods includes only Topps cards in this book.

“From The Topps Company’s first baseball card set, the quirky “Red and Blue” cards, to their latest series, millions of fans have been able to celebrate the game and players through the familiar photos-on-cardboard format,” a press release from the publisher said.

The book is scheduled to come out June 1 and costs about $20, depending on the retail location.

In addition to what should be stunning photos, there are four cards on 2012 Topps design included with the book. The subjects are Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson and Paul O’Neill. These cards could only be found in the book.

This isn’t Topps’ first foray into the book world. Besides doing Wacky Packages books several years ago, Topps recently put out a Garbage Pail Kids books looking at the iconic history of the cards. All cards in Series 1 through 5 are published in this book. The book was released on April 1.

And like the Yankees book, there are four previously unreleased stickers found only in the pink book.

There is a Mars Attacks book planned for October. In much of the same format, the books features a compilation of the 1962 set.

Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor

The 50th anniversary of the Mars Attacks will be here shortly. These iconic cards have spawned a movie, toys and many, many nightmares.

It’s a story that people have talked about for a generation.

The creation of Mars Attacks Heritage has already been announced, but Topps announced a surprise addition:

Autograph cards from co-creator Len Brown.

“Never would I have imagined that Mars Attacks would be so popular and its fans so passionate 50 years later,” Brown said. “I’m delighted to be lending my pen to these cards, and hope fans will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed working on the original series all those years ago.”

Brown will sign 550 total cards – 10 foil-stamped parallels of each of the re-issued 55-card base set. These will be randomly inserted into packs and will be hand-numbered.

Brown has had his hand in many Topps products throughout the years. He’s shaped Ugly Stickers, Garbage Pail Kids and Wacky Packages, according to Ira Friedman, Topps VP of Global Licensing.

“He spearheaded many legendary sets, collaborating with artists the likes of Basil Wolverton, Jack Davis, Norm Saunders and Art Spiegelman, among many others– and in his spare time created the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comic book with Wally Wood for Tower Comics,” Friedman said in a release. “We’re thrilled that Len has agreed to add his signature to our 50th Anniversary card set so that fans can have the chance to own an authentic piece of Mars Attacks history.”

Mars Attacks Heritage is scheduled to come out this summer. Along with the re-issued cards, Topps is adding 25 unseen cards to the storyline.

In addition, Topps is adding randomly-inserted 1/1 sketch cards from a number of artists. The Martians are depicted in dark, scary portraits or light and funny poses.

Check out a full gallery of sketch cards below.

Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor

Remember when the Martians invaded Earth? With their huge heads and ginormous eyes encased in a glass helmet? Fans of the Mars Attacks series remember it all too well. But it’s been 50 years since the Topps science fiction trading card set came out.

Mars Attacks spawned dozens of merchandising options from comics to re-issued sets to toys. The series was so interesting and obscure, film director Tim Burton adapted the storyline into a movie in 1996.

It’s time again to remember when the Martians attacked. In conjunction with the 50-year anniversary Topps is releasing a commemorative set.

Mars Attacks won’t be out until at least July, but the company is putting together a conclusive set for its fans. Topps will reprint the original 55 cards and adding another 25 previously unseen cards. In addition, 10 cards will be painted by Jason Edmiston and are based on the storyboard sketches by the guys who brought Mars Attacks to us first, Wally Wood and Bob Powell.

With the cards, there are also comics in the works. And because comics give us more options, 15 cards in the Mars Attacks set will feature artist John McCrea’s work, the illustrator of the upcoming comics.

Topps will include limited editions cards: multi-colored parallels, 3D lenticulars and sketch cards from various artists.

Because of the uniqueness of the product and its popularity, Topps will use its Heritage-based process in the development process, trying to give them that old time feel of when the originals came out in 1962.

“The original Mars Attacks series enjoys the distinction of being the most sought after and valuable non-sport trading card set of all time,” Topps Licensing Manager Adam Levine said in a press release. “Its legacy status has earned the new series Topps’ full ‘Heritage-style] treatment.  In order to preserve the product’s retro sensibility, all cards will be printed on thick, old fashioned card stock. Similarly, the design treatments for the display box and wrapper mimic the now-classic 1962 packaging.”

This product certainly seems to be popular with sports and non-sports fans. If social media is a gauge, the Mars Attacks’ Facebook page has more than 52,000 followers, which you can find here.

Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.