Gremlins is one of the first sets I remember getting cards of. Because I was still having nightmares from Star Wars, there was no chance I was going to be allowed to go to the theater and see the slimy beasties wreck havoc (I’m pretty sure I convinced my dad to take me to Care Bears instead – that’s right, I saw Care Bears in the theater). However, with packs of Gremlins cards sitting on corner store counters, I was able to get a couple of packs here and there.
Today, Gremlins is nostalgia. I eventually caught up with it on VHS and instantly fell in love. I’d gone out and bought the Topps set a few years ago and a box of Gremlins 2 before that. Yet the Canadian O-Pee Chee set eluded me. That is until I stumbled across a box on eBay for a whopping $10 plus shipping.
I ended up getting exactly what I’d hoped for: a full set plus an extra one (after I factored in a couple of wax-stained cards). I’ve still got a pile of triples and quadruples (and whatever you call five and six) as well in case anyone is looking for particular cards.
It’s a little annoying that the set is 82 cards, making it look odd in pages. Unlike the Topps set, there’s no stickers either, which made ripping packs particularly redundant.
Still, this rip was a cheap thrill and a trip back to a time when I used cards to get familiar with a movie when I couldn’t see it. For me, it’s iconic. Some of the images have stuck with me for more than 25 years. To me that’s the sign of a great set. The fact that it cost me the equivalent of a pack (or two when factoring in shipping) of 2011 Topps Heritage Baseball (my local shop is charging $10 per pack), makes the break even sweeter.
