Card game — The Simpsons Horror Edition, Europe, 2011
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
2011
Card game in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum number B.248:1,2-2011), made in Europe, dated 2011. The museum's brief description reads: Top Trumps card game in case, Winning Moves, 2011.
Museum description: 29 character cards, instruction card, advertising card, collectable card and barcode card. All with black border. Colour printed with cartoons and text, with Top Trumps and Simpsons logos and cartoon black cat. Hard plastic case with white back and sides, hinged clear front, and Top Trumps logo moulded at top. The museum records it as Colour-printed card, injection-moulded ABS, measuring Height 100 mm; Width 61 mm; Height 138 mm; Width 85 mm; Depth 18 mm.
These details come from the museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
This ‘The Simpsons Horror Edition’ of Top Trumps features 29 characters drawn from various Halloween episodes of the Simpsons cartoon series. First produced in 2003, this deck is a 2001 re-release. The characters, therefore, relate to episodes of the popular TV show that are nearly a decade old; this testifies to the popularity and endurance of both the Top Trumps format and the Simpsons TV show, a combination that has given Winning Moves their best-selling pack to date. The Simpsons family appear in many guises including vampires and witches, alongside other characters from their hometown of Springfield, including Mr Burns and Ned Flanders. Players compete in the categories Stupendous Strength, Sheer Evil, Blazing Speed, Graveyard Compatibility, Brains and Fashion Sense. The game: Top Trumps is a competitive card game which first became a craze in school playgrounds in the mid 1970s. The game developed from ‘quartets’, which had a similar objective: to beat your opponents and win all the 40 or so cards. Sold for pocket money prices, in the early days Top Trumps was marketed mainly to boys, and the military-focused subjects included cars, planes and trucks. In 1982, Waddingtons took over the brand and determined to broaden the game’s appeal, introducing decks featuring cats and dogs as well as horror characters, football teams and prehistoric monsters. In 1999 Winning Moves relaunched the brand, producing smaller decks of only 30 cards and tying the games in to popular…
Physical characteristics
- Material
- paper, ABS
- Dimensions
- Height 100 mm; Width 61 mm; Height 138 mm; Width 85 mm; Depth 18 mm
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Colour-printed card, injection-moulded ABS
- Place recorded
- Europe
Design
- Inscriptions recorded
- 'The / Simpsons TM / HORROR EDITION / MATT GROENING / TOP TRUMPS / SPECIALS / TOPTRUMPS.COM'; 'TOP / TRUMPS'
Identification
- Museum object name
- Card game
- Museum object number
- B.248:1,2-2011
- Museum system number
- O1246122
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and catalogue references against a specialist reference.