Obama, GOP contenders get their own trading cards

President Obama and the Republicans battling to challenge him in November are going to get shuffled in with the big leaguers this year.

Trading card company Upper Deck will be mixing in a limited "World of Politics" series into packs of sports cards beginning February 21.

“We work hard to provide topical content in our new trading card releases,” Upper Deck’s Jason Masherah said in the press release announcing the cards. “With so much attention around the 2012 election, we thought it was only fitting to produce a set of cards that would help pay tribute to all the highs and lows of this presidential race by capturing the top candidates on cardboard.”

Eight current and former Republican candidates — plus Obama — will be included in the series.

The set features current GOP hopefuls Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. Past candidates Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann are included, too. Sarah Palin, who was never a declared candidate in the 2012 race, got a card as well.

The company says the political cards will appear in one out of every 40 packs in the "World of Sports" series, and it will produce "a super-rare variation of these cards that will have collectors hungry to find more."

This is the second time Upper Deck has minted an Obama card. In 2008, it released a "Presidential Victor" tribute card.

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