#131 HERACLIO FOURNIER vs. FX SCHMID - SUPERMAN (1979)

Superman films are very well known. They were very popular at the time they were released, and more than 30 years later, they still have many fans worldwide. They have become cult-movies. Already in 1979, when the first movie was released, merchandise was made: toys like plastic and action figures or die-cast vehicles were released, but also clothes, school equipment and party goods. These two card sets are also toys, and since I own two very similar decks of cards, I’d like to compare both in the following entry.

The first card set is made by the German company FX Schmid, a classic company in what refers to board and card games. The second one was released by the Spanish cardmaker Heraclio Fournier, the largest playing-card maker in Spain, and also one of the largest companies worldwide.

FX-Schmidt cards

Both sets are from 1979, and both depict scenes from Superman I, some scenes appear in both sets, but most are different from one set to the other. Both sets have 32 cards. The FX-Schmid deck is quartet-game, like others that we have already shown in this blog, and the cards are numbered from 1 to 8, and each number has 4 appearances (A, B, C and D). The Heraclio-Fournier set also uses that kind of numeration, but instead of letters, they use colours: yellow, green, red and blue. The rules are almost identical to another classic game named “briscola”, in which the players try to play the highest card in each draw to win the trick. In this same rule-card, it is also indicated that the card deck can be used to play the classic quartet-game.

The text in each card describes the scene and all together build a extensive synopsis to the movie. In my opinion, the German texts are slightly more complex and better written. Another point for FX-Schmid is that the back of the cards are decorated with a flying superman, instead of the standard pattern from Heraclio. If this was a boxing match, it would be a draw.

Heraclio-Fournier cards

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: SUPERMAN and SUPERMAN, DAS SUPER-QUARTETT ZUM FILM (No. 61422)
• Year: 1979
• Company: Heraclio-Fournier (Spain) and FX Schmid (West-Germany)