Ron Paul is Topps!

Katherine Mangu-Ward | January 30, 2008

People talk politics like they talk sports, especially during the primary season. They bet, they yammer about the "horserace," they yell at the TV, etc. And now the metaphor will be complete.

The Wednesday after Super Tuesday, just a little too late to be relevant, trading card maker Topps is introducing Campaign 2008 cards of all 12 candidates "including Senator John Edwards, Rudolph Giuliani, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Joseph Biden and former Senator Fred Thompson--who," according to their press release, "have already exited the race."

“Many people will want the frontrunner cards, but the Edwards card or the Thompson mini-campaign card may turn out to be true collectibles."

Among some of the insights found on the backs of the cards:

• John Edwards was the first member of his family to attend college

• John McCain was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart

• Hillary Clinton was the first First Lady to hold a postgraduate degree

• Mike Huckabee has supported Middle East peace efforts, taking several trips to Israel

• Dennis Kucinich is a vegan

• Ron Paul, a physician by training, has delivered more than 4,000 babies

No one would buy them, of course, so Topps will be sneaking one candidate card in to every nine packs of baseball cards.

Via The Worldwide Standard, which supplies a little inflationary humor to go with your tradeable politicians:

"A warning to all the little gold bugs on the playground: the company's just going to print more Ron Paul cards."

Those bastards.

Comments

Joe Allen|1.30.08 @ 6:02PM|#

Trading cards have been historically a much better store of value than U.S. dollars, if not as liquid.

|1.30.08 @ 6:13PM|#

Tulips were once a primo investment as well.

Franklin Harris|1.30.08 @ 6:19PM|#

No one would buy them, of course, so Topps will be sneaking one candidate card in to every nine packs of baseball cards.

Which will then appear on eBay because the secondary market will more efficiently allocate them.

I have very bad luck when it comes to pulling decent cards from packs. Like the time I was buying James Bond trading cards from a set that featured Bond girl autographs. I said to everyone in the store, "I bet I get a lame Bond girl like Lois Chiles." Sure enough, I opened a pack containing an autographed card. And, sure enough, it was Lois Chiles. Sometimes, you can't win for losing.

Brandybuck|1.30.08 @ 6:20PM|#

Any way to get these cards without having to go through the obligatory stack of bubblegum?

|1.30.08 @ 6:21PM|#

I am waiting for the digital version to arrive so I can spread the wealth with minimal barriers.

|1.30.08 @ 6:27PM|#

I have very bad luck when it comes to pulling decent cards from packs.

I hear ya. I swear for about three years in a row I got a Zane Smith card in EVERY pack of cards I bought.

|1.30.08 @ 6:42PM|#

And people complain about sample randomization in government surveys...

Oh wait. I guess they don't. Really, though, it's the same sort of problem.

robc|1.30.08 @ 6:42PM|#

Brandybuck,

I think the bubblegum went away about 1990.

ClubMedSux,

I will trade you a stack of Bud Harrelsons for a stack of Zane Smiths.

Episiarch|1.30.08 @ 6:45PM|#

I'd rather get a holographic Dragonite, personally. It'd be worth more.

|1.30.08 @ 6:51PM|#

I'd pay a premium, just for the cards.

|1.30.08 @ 6:54PM|#

Dennis Kucinich is a vegan.

That's not right. Kucinich isn't from Venus. He's from a planet in a different solar system.

(BTW, he has better position on the Iraq war than any of the other's, save Ron Paul.)

|1.30.08 @ 6:56PM|#

I got Santa Claus in a pack of baseball cards once. Apparently its a common gimmick, but I was 12 at the time, and I realized I was too old for baseball cards.

Russ 2000|1.30.08 @ 7:02PM|#

"A warning to all the little gold bugs on the playground: the company's just going to print more Ron Paul cards."

Nah, even the trading card companies know better than to fuck with the value. They learned that lesson in the 80's, so most people don't want the shit if they know the print run is going to be high.

(What they do is instead of printing 8 billion Ron Paul Cards in one set, they come out with 50 different sets with smaller runs. Then the market decides which sets have value and which ones don't.)

|1.30.08 @ 7:18PM|#

It couldn't hurt to print a few "Ron Raul" cards then recall the set after they leak the news.

|1.30.08 @ 7:28PM|#

My cards peaked in the mid 80s and have fallen or plateaued since.

But it'd not a financial investment for me. Or I would have "turned my goods" like Mr. Mint told me.

|1.30.08 @ 7:30PM|#

No one would buy them, of course, so Topps will be sneaking one candidate card in to every nine packs of baseball cards.

This is fucking bullshit...in the age of the internet i should not have wade through cards of steroid junkies to get my McCain* card.

*The following political endorsement has been fully disclosed and filed with the FEC in accordance with the McCain/Fingold act.

|1.30.08 @ 7:35PM|#

The Only gentleman that makes sense. You have my vote Sir!

Libertarian Librarian|1.30.08 @ 7:42PM|#

"Dennis Kucinich is a vegan."

I can understand why someone might become a vegan or vegetarian if they actually think it is more healthy. What I DON'T understand is why someone would think it is more ethical. Wolves, racoons and anteaters don't seem to have a problem with this. We are animals and to forget this is to invite insanity into our lives.

|1.30.08 @ 7:46PM|#

"Dennis Kucinich is a vegan.

That's not right. Kucinich isn't from Venus. He's from a planet in a different solar system."

No he's not. He's from this solar system. He's from URANUS!!!!

CB

|1.30.08 @ 7:49PM|#

What about the Nick Gillespie card?

Franklin Harris|1.30.08 @ 7:57PM|#

Any way to get these cards without having to go through the obligatory stack of bubblegum?

I have an unopened box of Space: 1999 trading cards from 1976 that was given to me as a Christmas present several years ago. The sticks of gum in those packs could probably cut through lead by now.

|1.30.08 @ 8:01PM|#

The internet and particularly Ebay really killed the "value" of baseball cards. It is amazing how those books of card values had things rising nicely, but once a transparent secondary market opened, values cratered. Of course, real values never changed.

Libertarian Librarian, you are correct but you'd be amazed how many PETA sympathizers there are out there. Check out Megan McCardle's comment threads and join in the mayhem.

Is Megan a Libertarian? Hard to figure out these days with Cato guys pro-PAA and Reason guys shilling for tobacco. Wish every blogger would take the okcupid quiz and put there results on the front of their blog ;-)

http://journals.aol.com/pkeeler/killing-bambi/entries/2008/01/30/political-typecasting/1299

|1.30.08 @ 9:01PM|#

I'll have to bootleg Gravel cards.

Chris L|1.31.08 @ 12:33PM|#

Figures. After years of focusing on primaries, caucuses, and poll statistics, discussing the "prospects" of each candidate rather than the issues, we've finally reached the point where sports and politics are indistinguishable.