Want to know which card set to buy your kids at the end of this year? Or which ones will be all over the counters of your local newsagents and supermarkets? Well, look no further, as we now know exactly which collectible cards are going to be causing playground fisticuffs, and forcing parents to endure countless hours of whinging until that one last, essential card is found. Licensing.Biz have reported that the hit video game/toy cross-over is about to get its own tie-in trading card later this year. According to the report, Topps Skylanders Giants Collector Cards will arrive on retailers' shelves this coming September, courtesy of Esdevium Games. The series which will be available in booster and starter packs at 75p and £4.99 respectively, will feature over 160 collectable cards to collect including fan-favourite characters such as Bouncer, Tree Rex and Light Core. They will launch during the back-to-school period in September, about a month in advance of Activisions brand new Skylanders Giants video game, which is set for release in the busy October gaming window. Were delighted to be working with Topps on Skylanders, said Esdevium sales director Steve Buckmaster. Cards are the natural addition to the Skylanders offering and kids can now trade and collect their favourite characters. Skylanders has sold over 25m action figures worldwide, and has strongly been suggested as one of the next major trends to sweep the gaming market, amid criticism from some quarters that the attachment of peripheral toys in place of DLC is an openly cynical money-spinner targeting the youngest gaming audience in a way that is rather questionable. Regardless of those concerns Skylanders was a lot of fun, and Giants will likewise offer something for multiple levels of gamers, which chief focus to younger or more casual gamers, and I personally can't wait to play it. What I can wait for is having to make multiple add on purchases to get the characters I want to play with, but then it is the almighty dollar, and not a fundamental yearning to entertain that drives the industry - and cartoons have been pulling this sort of linked-merchandising deal for years.