Desert Storm Trading Cards Are Wild

Not too long ago, I came across two boxes of Desert Storm trading cards printed back in 1991. I remember as a kid seeing them for sale at the gas station and thinking they were neat, but never could get my hands on any. Partly out of nostalgia and partly out of curiosity, I bought a box of Pro Set and Topps’ Coalition for Peace release, both of which I recorded opening if you’re curious to see what that was like.

Learn about famous tank rampages.

Both sets featured a fair number of military vehicles, with a heavy emphasis on the airplanes. Some armor and ship cards were also thrown in the mix. While the Topps set had more vehicles compared to the total number of cards, it’s a much smaller set at 88 cards versus 250 for Top Set, which overall has more vehicles featured.

Among the shining stars was the Bradley, a vehicle we’ve profiled in the past, plus the Chinook, Apache, Warthog, Stealth Fighter, M1, Humvee, M1A1, several of the aircraft carriers, etc. Military equipment is also featured, including a set of night vision goggles which look so very low-tech today but were cutting edge at the time.

I also pulled the sought-after Saddam Hussein card from Pro Set as well as other leaders like George HW Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, and Norman Schwarzkopf.

Back in the day, some people dismissed these card releases as blatant government propaganda aimed at brainwashing the masses into supporting the war and glamorizing military conflict in general.

The fact they were trading cards, something which kids would obviously think is interesting (I did) disturbed some even more. Some people even went so far as to claim these cards were really covert government military recruitment tools.

There does seem to be a degree of propaganda in the sets, although not everyone will agree with how much or whether that propaganda is positive or negative. Particularly curious are the Pro Set cars featuring topics like patriotism, Christianity, donating blood, Islam, conserving energy, Judaism, and journalism.

Perhaps some of the propaganda can be explained as the price for access. To gain access to exclusive photos and information, the Department of Defense usually demands it has editorial authority for books, movies, and other entertainment products.  

Even with that influence, many of the cards were printed with inaccuracies, including at least one ship that never participated in the war getting its own card. The companies were scrambling to get these card sets out while the short-lived war lasted, so that might have been a contributing factor.

However, the profits from some of these sets were used to support the families of Desert Storm veterans, Sadly, some returned from the war changed, as is always the case. Exactly how much the money donated helped isn’t apparent.

There were several other card companies which released their own Desert Storm card sets, each with their own unique flavor. Perhaps the most interesting one is from Crown Sports which featured caricatures in the style of political cartoons. Those depict the events of the war as it unfolded, in particular the lopsided nature of the conflict.

It seems many have forgotten about these different Desert Storm trading card releases, but they’re an interesting view back into a war that was widely celebrated.

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