What is a trading card? Well, they're usually a small card made out of thin card or thick paper. They usually contain an image of a person, place or thing along with a short description of the picture. Additional information such as statistics or trivia is may also be included. Obviously these are generic characteristics, the variation between the different types of cards with regard to their layout configuration of objects, the content on the card, and even the material used to make the card.
Trading cards are traditionally associated with sport and not surprisingly, as the US is at the forefront of the genre, baseball cards are especially well-known. In the UK, (association) football has always featured with the first cards appearing in cigarette packets. Latterly, Match Attax from Topps is the big draw in the UK, though since the late 60's companies such as A&BC Gum, Panini, Merlin and Magic Box Int. have all made and marketed cards and stickers at various times. Cards dealing with other subjects are often considered a separate category from sports cards, known as non-sports trading cards. These often feature cartoons (anime), comic book characters, television series or films.
As with playing cards, which they generally resemble, trading cards are often used to play various games. However, it wasn't until Magic: The Gathering by Wizards of The Coast (WoTC) in 1993 that cards designed specifically for playing games became popular enough to develop into a distinct category of collectable card games (CCG). These tend to use either fantasy subjects or sports as the basis for game play. Perhaps the best known examples of these are Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!
