Through the 1960s, 70s and 80s the Scanlens sweets and gum company of Australia released dozens of non-sport trade card series.
Many of these were produced or distributed under licence from overseas companies such as Topps, Donruss and Philadelphia Gum in the US, and A&BC in the UK. Movies and TV show spin-offs made up the bulk of these, and eliminating them from this exercise, as well as any sticker, poster or tattoo sets, narrows the field to choose from considerably. Still, Scanlens did still manage to create their own iconic and memorable non-sport card sets purely for the Australian market – and here’s our top 5! Please share yours.
5. Animals of Australia (1966)
With a simple white-bordered design reminiscent of the cereal releases of the time, and 67 different cards, this was one out of the box. Considering it didn’t feature sports, cars, planes or other subjects children were typically interested in, it was a bold release, yet colourful and informative, like buying a pack containing several pages from an encyclopaedia, complete with a stick of gum.
4. ABBA (1976)
Australia embraced the ABBA phenomenon like no other country outside their native Sweden, and although Dutch gum company Monty also produced a series of cards, it was neither as colourful or extensive as the 72 cards series released by Scanlens in both pink and blue bordered versions. 144 cards was a lot of pocket money and gum for the ABBA fan!
3. Pop swaps (1977)
Scanlens Pop Swaps were released at the height of popularity of the TV show Countdown, and featured 72 cards of music stars framed by a simple brown and yellow border. This unique set contained only Australian-based artists such as Skyhooks, AC/DC, Sherbert, and Marcia Hines – all huge at the time – as well as lesser lights like Punkz and Supernaut, who’s window of fame closed quickly. This approach makes for a refreshing change, and would be unheard of now in the era of a globalised music industry – Taylor Swift would take up half the set.
2. Shintaro Samurai (1964)
At a time when Scanlens were seeking to expand the sales of their gum and sweet products, “The Samurai” was a surprise hit TV show in Australia, and the company quickly created and launched a card series to cash in on it’s popularity, complete with wonderful action shots from the show. With the now famous puzzle back, all but one card was produced in black and white with a red splash of colour for the title, but the “header card” was a glorious full colour portrait of the master swordsman himself, and much sought after today.
1. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1969)
A beautiful, colourful and comparatively rare series of 66 cards based on the box-office sensation of the year prior. The series features a simple white bordered front with scenes from the movie, and full-colour puzzle back, and yet somehow perfectly captures a moment in time for many collectors.
Next week – the top 5 Scanlens sports sets ranked!