Torchwood Cards

The Torchwood Trading Card Collection (2008)

Following the immense profitability of the main Battles in Time series, GE Fabbri decided to adapt its signature stat-based battling engine for a more mature audience. On Wednesday, 16th April 2008, they officially launched a standalone trading card collection based entirely on the adult Doctor Who spin-off, Torchwood.

Covering the television episodes from the premiere episode "Everything Changes" straight through to the dramatic Series 2 finale "Exit Wounds", this collection was a strictly premium affair. Packs retailed for a much higher price point of £2.99 each (containing 9 randomized cards), but they offered a significantly thicker, more luxurious card stock and high-end printing finishes compared to their Doctor Who predecessors.

Unlike Battles in Time, there was no accompanying fortnightly magazine. Furthermore, distribution was completely pulled from standard grocery lanes and restricted primarily to specialist comic shops and hobby storefronts like Forbidden Planet.

160 (C) Common cards (8 in every pack)

25 (R) Rare cards (1 in every pack)

10 (SR) Super-Rare cards (1 in every 6 packs)

5 (UR) Ultra-Rare cards (1 in every 24 packs)

The Lost Companion Website

To support the launch, GE Fabbri deployed a dedicated digital portal at www.torchwoodcards.com. While digital preservationists can find the domain index cataloged via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, the original Adobe Flash architecture of the era means the interactive features, online card checklists, and digital battle simulators are unfortunately unrenderable and lost to time.

The Official 2008 Launch Statement

To preserve the contemporary history of the launch, here is the official press release distributed by GE Fabbri and Group Editor Claire Lister on launch day:

"GE Fabbri is proud to introduce the new Torchwood Trading Card Collection aimed at the adult collector. With amazing new images of aliens and monsters from both series of the TV show, 200 exciting brand-new trading cards will be launched in shops across the UK on Wednesday 16th April 2008, priced £2.99 per pack.

Each pack contains 9 randomised cards, plus there are rare foil, holographic, bumpy, glow in the dark and lenticular cards to look out for.

'The Torchwood Trading Cards are a special collection for all Torchwood fans,' says group editor Claire Lister. 'The show is rich with fantastic characters and monsters, and ever since the first series aired we’ve wanted to bring out a card set based on them.'  

Prepare to do battle with deadly alien sleeper assassins bent on destroying the world, alien entities that feed on memories, monstrous parasites that incubate inside human bodies and a demon that could cause the end of life on Earth..."