Dino-Mite: A Brief History of Jurassic Park Trading Cards

Everyone loves dinosaurs! And, if there were a real-life Jurassic Park, if you’re reading this, chances are you would be the first in line. Apparently card companies feet the same way as they continue to produce sets based on the Jurassic Park film franchise.

With the release of Jurassic World: Dominion, it’s the right time to take a look back at the various manufacturers that transformed the world of dinosaurs into fan favorite cardboard creations. Topps was the most prolific with no less than four sets based on the movie franchise, along with a number of comic adaptations and the insert cards included. As far as creativity, Inkworks provided a series of cards in 3-D, including a number of chase cards.

Classic Jurassic

One of the earliest cards in production was released by Weston Bread as a promotional item back in 1992. There was a total of 24 cards that contained scenes from the movie on the fronts, while the backs had both English and French text.

Another promotional set of trading cards was actually produced to promote the opening of Jurassic Park: The Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood, in 1996. The six-card set was distributed with Pepsi products and at Dairy Queen outlets.

Another unique product came from Bulls-i-Toys — Jurassic World Dog Tags. The entire collection consisted of 24 base dog tags, 24 foil chase tags, 24 sticker cards of which half were lenticular, and 10 movie prop dog tags featuring actors from the film including Chris Pratt and Vincent D’Onofrio.

Also produced were promo cards for Samsung/Universal Studios in 1995 to promote Jurassic World. The eight cards revolved around dinosaurs from the movie, including Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptor. The cards were handed out at select Best Buy stores throughout the United States.

The first related card collection produced by Topps, Jurassic Park, arrived in time for the first movie’s release in 1993. Consisting of 36 packs of eight cards and one sticker, the set included a standard 88-card base featuring dinosaurs, the park, characters, storyline, and the movie. It also had a 13-card subset featuring the artwork of Crash. Eleven puzzle stickers and four chase card holograms were also available.

In addition to the cards, Topps Comics produced a four-issue movie adaptation in comic book form, which was polybagged with promotional cards. Of the nine promos, two contained movie images with the balance consisting of artwork from the comics. A five-card cello promo pack was also available.

Not one to rest on their laurels, Topps followed with Jurassic Park Series 2 cards a few months later. The per pack and box configurations were the same as the first, with cards featuring more dinos and more behind the scenes. The numbering picked up from the first set and ran from #89-154. There were also 11 stickers and the same four holograms.

But Topps wasn’t finished with their Jurassic Park output for 1993, releasing the Jurassic Park Gold Series. The cards were the same as cards 1-88 in the first series but with a gold embossed JP logo on the card fronts. The series was rounded out with four Action Holograms and ten art cards by Arthur Adams, Howard Chaykin, Joe Quesada, Mark Schultz, Kent Williams, and more.

Kenner rounded out the collection of dino-related cards in late 1993 with a 67-card set based on the movie while featuring artwork on the front and dinosaur information and trivia on the backs.

Topps returned with another prehistoric romp through the Jurassic period with their Jurassic Park: Lost World cards in 1997. The 72-card set featured Artifacts, Diorama Showcase, Behind the Scenes, and Dinosuar Gallery cards along with the usual intro and checklist cards. There were 36 packs per box with six cards and one sticker per pack. One promo card of an embossed Stegosaurus rounded out the set.

Probably one of the most ambitious undertakings came along in 2001 when Inkworks unleashed Jurassic Park III 3-D to the world. Consisting of 36 packs of seven cards per box, the breakdown was as follows: 1-36 various story and character cards, 37-45 Jaw 2 Claw, 46-54 Dino Discoveries, and 55-72 Field Guide cards. This set featured chase cards that include 3-D viewer glasses (or mail in offer card), CD-ROM game cards, four Jurassic X-treme die-cut cards, and Ragin’ Refractor Prismatic Foil Cards (six), with blue backgrounds and green backgrounds. Mega Mayhem Foil Embossed and Reptile Rumble cards were also included in the chase sets.

Bulls-i-Toys also entered the playing fi eld of Jurassic Park again with their own offering—Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The series had 24 packs of seven cards and contained scenes from the movie. Although a bit of an oddity, most of the cards had no titles on them.  There were also 15 Dino chase cards, nine Heat ‘N Reveal, nine Glow in the Dark, nine 3-D Action Dino, and seven Costume cards.

Not available in the United States, but produced for Australia and New Zealand, were Jurassic Park cards based on the first movie and produced by Dynamic Forces. The cards contained images not readily seen in the U.S. and also included Prism and 3-D Pop-Up cards.

Fantastic Jurassic

With the inclusion of the latest movie, it is apparent the appeal of dinosaurs is here to stay, and the plethora of card sets makes it easy for fans to collect and relive all the excitement of the original and new Jurassic Park/World movies.

Raptor Chapter

Back in the 1990s Topps licensed properties for both trading cards as well as comic books, thanks to their Topps Comics division. Following the theatrical success of Jurassic Park back in 1993, along with Topps release of trading cards and a four-issue movie adaptation, the company expanded the story with a series of follow-up comics featuring original stories. One such comic was the two-issue Jurassic Park Raptor spin-off by Steve Englehart and Armando Gil. Topps, world famous as a confectionary and trading card company, sold their comics polybagged with trading cards inserted. One of the more memorable sets of cards was the six-set series by renowned artist William Stout. Three cards were inserted in each of the two issues.