
ACE TRUMPS AND TOP TRUMPS
VINTAGE CARD GAMES
by Mark Nobes, chief editor
I was never particularly excited by the prospect of playing a card game as a child. However, Top Trumps was one card game that I always played with enthusiasm. In fact, I could hardly contain my excitement when I saw a new pack of Top Trumps in the local toy shop that I hadn't seen before!

What I certainly remember is the thrill of someone bringing in a new pack to school which none of us had seen before.
The geeky game was very popular in school playtime, and groups of lads would sit in a circle on the grass playing until the prefect rang the dreaded school bell. One or two girls also joined us occasionally, but they never really showed much interest in the game, although, this may not have been the case in every school, of course.
Dubreq were bought out by Waddingtons in 1982, who continued to publish the game until the early 90s. They produced their own version called Star Trumps before this. Top Trumps was relaunched in 1999 by Winning Moves Games.

Super Top Trumps Dinosaurs by Waddingtons.

All of these Ace Trumps and Top Trumps packs (the latter by Dubreq) are from the 1970s, and despite the more appealing packs around, such as Racing Cars, Fast Cars and Military Planes shown here, I was almost foaming at the mouth with excitement when I received the Ships pack for Christmas - that's geekism at its finest!
Vintage packs like these are being sold on ebay for around £12.99 each.


These are the latest packs being sold on Amazon...