In 1980, Darkstar Marketing produced a limited edition (only 1200 sets) of sketch reproductions entitled the "Mars Attacks Portfolio of Roughs". The sketches were those of famed artists Wally Wood and Bob Powell. Wood was hired by Topps to do some of the early pencil sketches of the Mars Attacks card series. Due to other projects, he was replaced by Powell who did most of the "tight" pencil drawings that were subsequently painted by the renowned pulp, comic, and card artist, Norm Saunders.

The Portfolio consists of 10 sheets of heavy stock paper with 4 images per page. The images reflect the creative process involved in a card set production, from rough concepts to detailed final drawings. The portfolio contains some images that were developed into the finished cards. Other sketches were never carried through, but offer a glimpse into what might have been. Still others resemble their finished counterparts, but were modified along the way to varying degrees during the creative process.

Some of the concepts portrayed in the Roughs, but never developed in the cards were:

• Atomic bullets and cannons
• Submarine aircraft carriers
• One-man helicopters
• Artificial asteroids

Of note is the Martian with the large "third eye" on the cover of the Portfolio (page 1). Although this type of Martian does not appear in the original 1962 cards, he does later appear in the comic book series as the peaceful race of Martians known as the "Paeecs".