Lays/Tazo Crisps Cards

Lays/Tazo Crisps

  • Introduction
  • FOTR Promo Cards
  • FOTR Heroes and Villains
  • TTT Heroes and Villains

Introduction

The Lays/Tazo company (manufacturer of crisps and other snacks) issued two series of small trading/game cards (4cm x 5.5cm; about 1.5″ x 2.125″), and they were printed on very heavy cardstock (1mm; nearly 1/32nd of an inch thick). One series was for Fellowship of the Ring and the other for The Two Towers. Each set was produced in both Polish and Hungarian. So far, I only have cards from the Polish sets, but am assuming that the Hungarian version is identical except for the language. (Can anyone out there confirm or correct this?)

  • The FOTR set includes 9 hero promo cards, 40 hero cards (often creating 2 to 4 cards of one hero by using different photographs), and 40 villain cards (ditto). Each character appears in an iconic photo moment, with name underneath the photo, a heat-sensitive dot under that (hiding a small icon that goes with game play categories), and strength statistics showing in the red and blue circles. To make it more complex, a hero picture on the green side is matched with a villain picture on the other (blue) side, and each hero may appear on the opposite side of anywhere from 1 to 4 villains, and vice versa. This means it may take as much as 120 cards to create a complete set of all variations!
  • The TTT set includes 20 heroes on burgundy cards and 20 villains on blue cards. The character pictured on the main side with strength statistics and the heat-sensitive dot also appears on the reverse side, with a different photograph and a specific number of copies of The One Ring (related to game play).

Both the individual cards and any complete subsets have been rare and difficult to find outside of European eBay markets. Some of the cards are apparently much more difficult to collect. For instance, in a very large lot of at least 300 TTT cards, I had only 1 copy of a specific Warg Rider.

Fellowship of the Ring Promo Cards

Lays Crisps FOTR Promo Cards

General Description

The FOTR promo cards are the same color of green as the regular set of FOTR heroes. There are 9 cards in the promo series. Each card shows a different character, and there is a unique sentence about that character at the bottom of the card. The only characters featured are heroes:

  1. Aragorn
  2. Boromir
  3. Frodo
  4. Gandalf
  5. Gimli
  6. Legolas
  7. Merry
  8. Pippin
  9. Sam

The front of the card reads:

WŁADCA PIERŚCIENI

DRUŻYNA PIERŚCIENIA

POSZUKIWANY

[[Character Name]]

ZDECYDOWANY NA WYPRAWĘ

DO NOWEJ ZELANDI

[[Sentence about the specific character.]]

[Lay’s logo]

The back of the card reads:

WŁADCA PIERŚCIENI

DRUŻYNA PIERŚCIENIA

Słuchaj [RMF FM wordmark]

wyślij SMS na numer 7271

o treści [[Character Name]]

Do wygrania

Dwouosobowe wycieczki

do NOWEJ ZELANDII

oraz zestawy kina domowego [JVC wordmark]

wraz z premierowymi płytami DVD

z filmem:

Władca Pierścieni: Drużyna Pierścienia”

Konkurs w RMF FM

od 4 XI do 6 XII 2002, w godz. 16-18

koszi wysłania SMS: 2zł + VAT

[Lay’s logo]

Character Description Sentences

English translations forthcoming.

ARAGORN

Polish: Jego przeznaczeniem jest tron – Iecz nie jako Król, a jako prosty rycerz przysiega chronić Frodo.

BOROMIR

Polish: Dźwięk rogu tego śmiałego rycerza nie wróży dobrze wojownikom Zła.

FRODO

Polish: Dość spokojny I niewysoki jak na bohatera. Lecz na piersi przyszło mu dźwigać ogromny ciężar.

GANDALF

Polish: Spowity w szarość, prawy I mądry mag. Potęzny opiekun łudzi … I Hobbitów.

GIMLI

Polish: Ten potężny wojownik bez namysłu dobywa toporów. Choć zakuty w zbroję, swych uczuć nie skrywa przed nikim.

LEGOLAS

Polish: Ostry wzrok, ostry słuch, łuk zawsze gotowy. Jego strzały nieraz ocaliły Drużynę.

MERRY

Polish: Ze spokojnego Shire wprost na niebezpieczną wyprawę – temu Hobbitowi los płata figle.

PIPPIN

Polish: Kuzyn Merry I towarzysz Frodo. Przez te koligacje wpada w sam środek Wojny o Pierścień.

SAM

Polish: Przysiqgi nie opuszczać Frodo I swojq misję wypełnia bez względu na okoliczności.

Fellowship of the Ring Heroes and Villains

Lays Crisps FOTR Heroes 01-20

Lays Crisps FOTR Heroes 21-40

Lays Crisps FOTR Villains 01-20

Lays Crisps FOTR Villains 21-40

On the regular hero and villain cards, each character appears in an iconic moment from the movie, with his/her/its name underneath the photo, a heat-sensitive dot below that (hiding a small icon of either a red flame, a blue water drop, or a green tree that goes with game play categories), and strength statistic numbers inside the red and the blue circles.

There are often multiple cards for the same character or cultural group, using anywhere from 1 to 14 different photographs.  So, there are 15 heroes, shown in a total of 40 different poses; and 8 types of villains, shown in a total of 40 different poses.

Heroes (15 different characters, 40 different poses):

    1. Aragorn – 4 versions
    2. Arwen – 3 versions
    3. Bilbo Baggins – 3 versions
    4. Boromir – 3 versions
    5. Elendil – 1 version
    6. Elf – 1 version
    7. Elrond – 3 versions
    8. Frodo – 4 versions
    9. Galadriel – 3 versions
    10. Gandalf – 3 versions
    11. Gimli – 3 versions
    12. Legolas – 3 versions
    13. Merry – 2 versions
    14. Pippin – 2 versions
    15. Sam – 2 versions

      Villains (8 different characters, 40 different poses):

        1. Balrog – 2 versions
        2. Nazgul – 7 versions
        3. The Eye of Sauron – 1 version
        4. Orcs – 14 versions
        5. Saruman – 4 versions
        6. Sauron – 1 version
        7. Troll – 3 versions
        8. Uruk-hai – 8 versions

        To make it even more complex, a hero picture (green side) is matched with a villain picture on the other (blue) side, and each hero may appear on the opposite side of anywhere from 1 to 4 villains, and vice versa. This means it would take as much as 120 cards to create a complete set of all hero+villain variations!

          The Two Towers Heroes and Villains

          Lays Crisps TTT Heroes 01-20

          Lays Crisps TTT Villains 01-20

          (Note: I will replace the cards of Villains with a photo of a complete set as soon as possible. The missing card features a rare photo of a Warg Rider.)

          The Two Towers set includes 20 heroes on burgundy cards and 20 villains on blue cards. The same character pictured on the front side also appears on the reverse side, with a different photograph and a specific number of copies of The One Ring (related to game play). The front also includes strength statistic numbers and the heat-sensitive dot with one of three game play icons hidden beneath (red flame, blue water drop, or green tree). Burgundy hero cards show an entwined leaf border on front and back. (In a small number of variations, the border is intertwined spiked wire instead.) There are a number of rings on the back at the bottom. This number does not always match the strength number on the front.

          The front reads:

          WŁADCA PIERŚCIENI

          DWIE WIEŻE

          [[Character Name]]

          [[# - #]]

          (heat-sensitive dot)

          ODKRYJ ŻYWIOŁ

          [Lay’s logo]

          English translations forthcoming.

          Villains cards are very similar to the hero cards. The only difference is the color (blue), and the borders (intertwined spiked wire instead of a leaf motif).

          Heroes (13 different characters, 20 different poses):

          1. Aragorn – 3 versions
          2. Arwen – 1 version
          3. Éomir – 1 version
          4. Éowyn- 1 version
          5. Faramir- 1 version
          6. Frodo – 2 versions
          7. Gandalf – 3 versions
          8. Gimli – 2 versions
          9. Legolas – 2 versions
          10. Merry – 1 version
          11. Pippin – 1 version
          12. Sam – 1 version
          13. Théoden – 1 version

          Villains (10 different characters, 20 different poses):

          1. Berserker Uruk-hai – 1 version
          2. Easterling – 2 versions
          3. The Eye of Sauron – 1 version
          4. Grima Wormtongue – 2 versions
          5. Grishnak – 2 versions
          6. Orc – 4 versions
          7. Saruman – 3 versions
          8. Sharku – 1 version
          9. Ugluk – 1 version
          10. Uruk-hai – 3 versions
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