Originally tested in New York City (perhaps solely in Brooklyn) as Attack From Space (although the cards were not any different than those form the retail release), the set was rebranded and sold locally in New York City and environs before an uproar over its salacious and gory content reared its ugly green head. Yanked from the shelves before it could be fully distributed nationally, Mars Attacks is one of the most popular non-sports sets ever released.
The PSA population report shows about 12,000 cards graded, which sounds fairly high considering the prices for these cards (about $30-$35 apiece raw, in EX right now) but its immensely popular and the old supply and demand dynamics ring true. Add in some inferred short prints, a devilishly difficult checklist card and stellar, pulp-noirish artwork and you get a set that sells for north of two grand that is comprised of a mere 55 cards.
I toyed with collecting the originals but when Topps did the Heritage reissue this year, I snapped up a set and some extras. I'm not really going to post on the set as its readily available but I did want to alert everybody that faithfully reads this blog that Topps released two official binders to house the Heritage set.The first is branded as Mars Attacks:
While the second uses the test issue title of Attack From Space (there are variant retail boxes and packs as well):
I picked up my Mars Attacks binder at the National in Baltimore this year. They are not cheap ($20) but they sure are nice. Topps is selling them still on eBay although they have an $8 shipping charge tacked on for the privilege. It looks like Topps has issued similar binders for some other retro sets and given the response to these, I expect we can see more of them in the future.
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