Just as some movies are "letterboxed," so is a spinoff of movies: the trading card.
For more than a century, trading cards have had various sizes, but for decades they've mostly been today's 3 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch standard.Now, the times they are a-changing.
Cards for hit films such as "The Lion King," "Star Wars" and "Star Trek: Generations" are arriving in new, wider form, preserving the films' original images.
No longer are substantial parts of the picture lopped off at the sides to fit smaller cards, just as movie images are cut to fit TV screens.
This month, SkyBox is releasing wider cards for "Star Trek: Generations" and for DC Comics' Vertigo line. Topps soon will issue wider cards for "Star Wars," still a hot collectible.
Most are an inch wider: 41/2-by-21/2 inches. (Topps' will be 43/4 inches.) That extra inch provides 25 percent more picture than normal cards.
For instance, a new "Trek" card with three characters in a holodeck scene would show only two characters if placed on a smaller card.
Even though the ratios are slightly different between film and cards, Topps is exercising strict quality control, taking images directly from the film's negative.
Non-purists may not see the big deal of letterboxing, whether it's on video or trading cards. But look at it this way: Our eyes are side by side, not one above the other. So our vision of the world is more wide than tall. Letterboxing is the way we see things.
Also, a wider image sets films apart from TV, helping movies be a more elaborate visual medium. Wider shots allow fuller, more ambitious presentation.
Already, larger cards are gaining steam.
"This is the first size change that's really caught on for any duration," said Ted Nelkin of HLT&T Sports. "Cards have gone to 5-by-7, to 4-by-6, to very small, but this is the only size that seems to have found its place."
Nelkin said the style began with NFL "Game Day" cards from Fleer two years ago. Larger cards then appeared for other sports and for DC's Sandman comics.
Not all the new cards are wider, though. Some are taller.
Sandman and the new Superman and Vertigo cards use vertical images, not horizontal ones. So do most sports cards with a larger look.
Either way, larger cards don't cost much more than smaller ones - with exceptions.
Letterboxed "Lion King" cards come only by the set in a limited-edition tin. Initially, the cost was $39.95, but the going rate has almost doubled due to scarcity.
The standard, smaller "Lion King" cards, which are hugely popular with kids, cost about $10 to $15 for a hand-collated set.
With larger cards, sets are usually smaller. The "Star Trek: Generations" set has 72 cards, while earlier "Trek" sets have had up to 160.