“Cardmaster - Jet Aircraft of the World”
The Master Vending Co. Ltd., United Kingdom

• Series Title: Cardmaster - Jet Aircraft of the World
• ACC No.: N/A
• Manufactured by: The Master Vending Co. Ltd.
• Country: United Kingdom
• Number of Cards: 100
• Card Dimensions: 67 × 95 mm
• Circa: 1958

Overview

This series of airplane cards was issued by The Master Vending Co. Ltd., London, England in 1958. The official title for the series is “Jet Aircraft of the World” and is one of their “Cardmaster” series of trading cards. The cards measure 95 mm × 67 mm and feature jet aircraft from the height of the Cold War era. The fronts of the cards feature color artwork of jet aircraft from Great Britain, United States, Israel, Italy, Germany, USSR, the Netherlands, and France. The card fronts do not have any captions. The Backs of the cards contain the set title, the card title and number, a descriptive text about the individual aircraft, and advertising copy at the bottom of the cards. It appears that there were at least two printings of this series, one with tan Backs, and the other with gray Backs. An offer for a 20 page album is contained on the bottom of each card. This set offers a colorful historical snapshot of the aircraft deployed and/or in development in the late 1950s.

Cardmaster "Jet Aircraft of the World" Image-Guide

The following Jet Aircraft of the World Image-Guide shows the fronts and Backs of all 100 cards. Behind each image is a 600-dpi card image that Skytamer Archive subscribers may access.

German Set

The Düsenflugzeuge der Welt set of airplane gum cards was issued by WATO Waren-Verkaufs-Automaten G.M.B.H., Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1958. Printed in England, this 100-card set is the German text version of Cardmaster's Jet Aircraft of the World issued in 1958 by the The Master Vending Co. Ltd. in the UK. The set shares the same color airplane artwork as the British set. The Backs of the are similar to the British issued with German text. The cards measure 95 mm x 67 mm and feature jet aircraft from the height of the Cold War era. The fronts of the cards feature color artwork of jet aircraft from Great Britain, United States, Israel, Italy, Germany, USSR, the Netherlands, and France. The card fronts to not have any captions. The Backs of the cards contain the set title, the card title and number, a descriptive text about the individual aircraft, and advertising copy at the bottom of the cards. The cards do not contain an album offer as with the British set.

Album

As noted earlier, there was a 20 page album issued for the set. This album is physically one of the largest that we have ever seen for airplane trading cards. When opened, the album measures approximately 13-2/3" x 19-1/3". It is so large that it reminds us of a typical British tabloid type newspaper. Scans of the album, with the cards included are shown below.

No Wrapper

According to John Mangion (Malta), there was no wrapper associated with the series. John recently sent us the following email ...

"I remember distinctly that these cards were bought through a vending machine in which you inserted a 3d piece and on turning a handle two or three cards would be handed out together with a chewing (spherical) gum, and there was no wrapper. These cards were still available in the mid 60s."

Checklist

The Cardmaster Jet Aircraft of the World Checklist may be downloaded by clicking the Checklist button below. This document is presented as an Adobe^® Acrobat^® PDF format document. The Cardmaster checklist presents a Checkbox listing of cards, plus the album. Skytamer Archive subscribers may access, download and print out this document by entering their Username and Password when prompted.

Special Thanks

A very special thanks to Albert B. Kramer of Roll-EZ Wheels for helping us with this series. Click on Al's card below to visit his website.

References and Credits

• Kramer, Albert. Loan of Cardmaster jet Aircraft of the World Card Collection
• Skytamer Images, Card scans from the Skytamer Images Collection