The Topps Company, which successfully relaunched its legendary Mars Attacks trading cards in 2013 (see “Mars Attacks: Invasion”), has announced that an all new sequel card series, Mars Attacks: Occupation, will be taken directly to fans via Kickstarter. 

Mars Attacks: Occupation will go live on Kickstarter on May 5, 2015 with a planned shipping date of December 2015.  Fans can sign up (via a link at the Topps Website) in order to get access to the Kickstarter page in April, where they can communicate with Topps and become a part of the creative process during its development phase, before the set is made available for pre-order in May.  Topps will have a retailer support pledge allowing the purchase of Mars Attacks: Occupation at a discount, though product will not be shipped to retailers until all the non-retailer pledgers have received their cards.

Mars Attacks: Occupation is planned as a 72 card series featuring 45 story cards, with art by fan-favorite illustrators including Earl Norem, Bob Larkin, Alex Horley, Greg Staples, Ed Repka, Jason Crosby and many more!   The series will include more than a dozen chase cards and special inserts, from sketch cards and autographs to metal reproductions of the classic series and handmade letter-press cards featuring unique woodcut designs.

Kickstarter has become an important way to both finance and generate interest in new products, especially games, and one of the more successful efforts was Mantic Games’ Mars Attacks Miniatures Game, which earned over 10 times in goal in late 2013 (see “Mars Attacks Game Tops $558K”).  ICv2 caught up with Adam Levine, Topps Head of Outbound Licensing, who answered questions about the Mars Attacks Kickstarter project: 

What kind of format will you have—box set, or packs or both?
Adam Levine: There will be many ways to purchase this set, from a few packs, to a box of packs, complete sets, bundles that include a la carte items and master sets, all the way up to high level pledges such as the opportunity to be painted into a card.

Can you give us any idea about potential price points?
AL: Pledges will range from a $10 digital reward level, to an $80 box, while the bundles and more unique rewards will range anywhere from a hundred dollars to a few thousand.  We’ll be releasing the pledge levels and full descriptions in the next few weeks, and fans can get an early look by signing up at the website.

Given the lead time needed to create art, how will you be able to take ideas from Kickstarter feedback and get them into the set?
AL: It is In fact for this very reason we’re going to Kickstarter now, for a December delivery.  This lead time will give us the opportunity to take customer suggestions on both story and card concepts, as well as give our sketch artists time to create their very best work, because we know sketch cards are such an important part of what collectors and fans enjoy about Mars Attacks.

What are the main benefits to Topps of a Kickstarter campaign like this?
AL: We’ve been intrigued by Kickstarter for some time, and think it is a new and different way of reaching fans directly, and can be very beneficial to a more niche brand like Mars Attacks.  With Kickstarter we can do new and innovative things that would be more difficult with the standard retail approach, such as the unique reward levels mentioned (and others as yet announced), as well as give fans the opportunity to customize how they purchase the set.  The lead time for our artists and more flexible production schedule is also a tremendous advantage, and of course, through Kickstarter we can enhance the product should fan support be strong— adding more content and bonus upgrades through a variety of stretch goals.