Have you heard of Bench Warmer cards? I hadn’t, either. Basically, I listen to former “Playboy” personalities Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt on their “Girls Next Level” podcast, and they mentioned these cards.
Bench Warmer cards, according to the ladies on the show, are like baseball cards. But, with a twist.
“They are like baseball cards, but instead of being baseball players, they are girls, like models,” Marquardt explains in the episode.
“Collector cards,” Madison adds. “So, there would be cards with just a girl’s picture and some stats about her on the back. Sometimes, they would do ones where they would cut off a piece of the costume in the picture.”
“There were kiss cards,” adds Marquardt.
“The kiss cards make me gag!” Madison exclaims. She adds, “The thing about these cards is there was this company called Bench Warmer. The guy who ran it would get all these models to pose, and you would get a little bit of money, but I feel like the value in doing it was more to get the pictures and the photoshoot.”
Madison continues, “Because back then, before everybody had a front-facing camera and a ring-light stand and a remote for their phone, getting a photographer to take good picture of you cost money, or someone had to do that as a favor. So, I always wanted to do the Bench Warmer cards, because I liked Dan Peterson’s photos, the guy who took the photos. I love his pictures and how he retouched them, so I thought they were cute. So, that’s why I went and did the Bench Warmer shoots.”
What’s wild is that it appears they still make these Bench Warmer cards. I found an active website with Bench Warmer merchandise here. I wonder if they still use Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt’s cards?