Palin to appear on trading cards

(10-03) 18:33 PDT LOS ANGLES, CA (AP) —

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will be added to Topps’ repertoire of trading cards next week as part of its series featuring the main political players on the 2008 campaign trail.

One card will show Palin taking the oath of office as Alaska’s governor in a black suit — much like the 12 collector cards issued earlier showing Barack Obama, John McCain, Joe Biden and others.

But Palin will also be featured on a second, limited-edition card as an Alaskan beauty pageant contestant in the 1980s.

“With all the talk about her being a beauty queen, we thought it would just be fun to do a second card,” Clay Luraschi, director of product development for New York-based Topps Company Inc., said in a telephone interview Friday.

The Palin cards will be distributed in packets of Topps baseball cards starting next week.

Luraschi wouldn’t say how many cards would be issued — but said the beauty pageant card would be harder to find.

He said Topps has also issued cards of Obama playing basketball and McCain watching a game, marking new territory for a company more known for cards of the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez and the Phillies’ Ryan Howard than for those of political figures.

“We’ve commemorated pop culture events for over 50 years and this is one of the biggest pop culture events in the last three decades,” Luraschi said. “People want to have mementos and souvenirs.”

Palin will not receive compensation for appearing on the cards, he said.

Palin was scheduled to campaign in California during the weekend.