About 100 years ago, cigarette companies like Wills put collectible cards in their packs of cigarettes just like bubblegum companies did. Only Wills did it with engineering wonders instead of baseball players.
I found the Giant Excavator at the Digital Gallery of the New York Public Library. Wills Tobacco still exists, sort of. But it’s been through some changes, and their current design brief seems to be not so science-oriented.