The Topps Company has released details concerning its Batman Begins movie cards, which are slated to go on sale on June 17.  The 90-card series will narrate the full saga of director Christopher Nolan's new blockbuster film of the Cape Crusader starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, and Katie Holmes.  In fact the Topps cards are so revealing that they won't go on sale until the film actually opens.

 

As usual Topps is producing two versions of its Batman Begins cards -- one for the mass market and another for the hobby.  The hobby version includes autograph cards from a number of key members of the Batman Begins' cast including: Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Katie Holmes, and Cillian Murphy.   In addition to autographed cards, the hobby edition will also include memorabilia cards featuring actual pieces of Batman's cape, costume and small parts of the tires from the new Batmobile.  The cards featuring bits of items actually used in the film will be inserted one per 36-pack box.  Other 'chase elements' include embossed foil covered cards (inserted one per every 8 packs), and holograms (1 per every 12 packs).

 

Batman Begins' strong visual style makes for a very striking series of trading cards -- and Batman trading cards, which date back to the 1960s and include numerous sets issued for the modern run of Batman movies, which started in 1989, have a rich and varied history, making them far more collectible than the typical movie-related trading card series.