Star Wars Trading Cards

Star Wars Trading Cards are nonsport, collectible trading cards, stickers, wrappers, and caps (pogs) based on the Star Wars movies and television shows. Both screen stills and original art are featured in the cards and other items. An avid collecting and trading community of these cards and sets exists worldwide. New cards, when released, are available from retailers and wholesalers; a thriving secondary market exists on eBay in various categories. Star Wars trading cards are different from the various Star Wars collectible card game cards.

History

The first set of Star Wars trading cards was produced and released by Topps in 1977 to coincide with first Star Wars movie, now renamed Star Wars: A New Hope. Many trading card series have been produced since, with more released every year by various manufacturers around the world. Topps is the official producer of Star Wars trading cards in the United States. [Non-Sport Update magazine, Harrisburg, PA, ISSN 10598383] [Star Wars Galaxy Magazine, #10, p. 53, Winter 1997, New York, NY, ISSN 1081-1362]

Card Series

Topps, Inc.

All series are shown ["Star Wars Super Collector's Wish Book Identification and Values", Geoffrey T. Carlton, Collector Books, Paducah, KY, ISBN 1-57432-289-3] , but not necessarily all the cards in each series. For example, not all promos and mail-away cards are listed:

Vintage Era

*Star Wars, Series 1 (1977) - Blue border with white stars. 66 cards and 11 stickers (Cards 1-66 Stickers 1-11).
*Star Wars, Series 2 (1977) - Red border. 66 cards and 11 stickers (Cards 67-132 Stickers 12-22).
*Star Wars, Series 3 (1977) - Yellow border. 66 cards and 11 stickers (Cards 133-198 Stickers 23-33).
*Star Wars, Series 4 (1977) - Green border. 66 cards and 11 stickers (Cards 199-264 Stickers 34-44).
*Star Wars, Series 5 (1977) - Orange border. 66 cards and 11 stickers (Cards 265-330 Stickers 45-55).
*Topps Sugar Free Gum Wrappers (1977) - 56 wrappers.
*Empire Strikes Back, Series 1 (1980) - Red border. 132 cards and 33 stickers.
*Empire Strikes Back, Series 2 (1980) - Blue border. 132 cards and 33 stickers.
*Empire Strikes Back, Series 3 (1980) - Yellow border. 88 cards and 22 stickers.
*Empire Strikes Back Giant Photo Cards (1980) - 30 5x7 cards.
*Return of the Jedi, Series 1 (1983) - Red border. 132 cards and 33 stickers.
*Return of the Jedi, Series 2 (1983) - Blue border. 88 cards and 22 stickers.

Modern Era

*Star Wars Galaxy, Series I (1993) - 140 base and 6 etched foil cards, plus separate 140 silver stamped base, 6 refractor foil, and one holographic card from the Millennium Falcon Factory set.
*Star Wars Galaxy, Series II (1994) - 135 base and 6 etched foil cards, plus separate 135 silver stamped base, 6 refractor foil, and one holographic card from the Factory Tin.
*Star Wars Galaxy, Series III (1995) - 90 base, 90 first-day, 12 Lucas art, 6 etched foil, and 6 clearzone cards.
*Star Wars Widevision (1995) - 120 base and 10 finest cards.
*Star Wars Widevision Metal (1995) - 6 steel cards.
*Empire Strikes Back Widevision (1995) - 144 base, 10 chromium, and 6 poster cards
*Empire Strikes Back Widevision Metal (1995) - 6 steel cards.
*Return of the Jedi Widevision (1996) - 144 base, 10 finest, 6 poster cards, plus 1 3d case-topper card.
*Topps Star Wars Caps (1995) - 70 base, 10 galaxy, and 24 slammer caps.
*Star Wars Master Visions (1995) - 36 oversized cards.
*Star Wars Finest (1996) - 90 base, 4 matrix, 6 embossed, and 90 refractor cards.
*Star Wars 3Di (1996) - 63 base and 1 motion card, all widevision.
*Star Wars Shadows of the Empire (1996) - 80 base, 6 foil, and 4 embossed cards.
*Star Wars Vehicles (1997) - 72 base, 4 cut-away, and 2 3d cards.
*Star Wars Trilogy: The Complete Story, Retail (1997) - 72 base and 6 laser cards, all widevision.
*Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition, Hobby (1997) - 72 base, 6 laser, 2 hologram, and 1 3Di cards, all widevision.
*Star Wars Chrome Archives (1999) - 90 base, 9 chrome, and 4 clear cards.

Prequel Era

*Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Widevision, Series I (1999) - 80 base, 40 expansion, 8 chrome, and 10 foil cards, and 16 stickers.
*Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Widevision, Series II (1999) - 80 base, 6 embossed (retail), 6 embossed (hobby), 4 chromium (retail), 4 chromium (hobby), and 3 box topper cards.
*Star Wars: Episode I 3D (2000) - 46 base and 2 multi-motion cards, all widevision. 1 promotional card.
*Star Wars Evolution (2001) - 93 base, 12 A, 8 B, and autograph cards. 4 promotional cards.
*Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) - 100 base, 10 silver foil, 8 prismatic, and 5 panoramic cards. 5 promotional cards.
*Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Widevision (2002) - 80 base and 24 autograph cards. 7 promotional cards.
*Star Wars: Clone Wars (2004) - 90 base, 10 battle motion, and 14 artists' sketch cards, and 10 stickers. 3 promotional cards.
*Star Wars Heritage (2004) - 120 base, 12 etched foil, autograph, and sketch cards, and 30 stickers. 6 promotional cards.
*Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005) - 90 base, 6 etched foil (hobby/retail), 4 morphing (hobby/retail), 3 holograms, 10 tattoo, 10 embossed foil, 10 stickers, and 1 morphing case-topper. 5 promotional cards.
*Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Widevision (2005) - 80 base, 10 chrome (retail), 10 chrome (hobby), 10 flix-pix, and 5 autograph cards. 2 promotional cards.

Post-Saga Era

*Star Wars Evolution Update (2006) - 92 base, 20 A, 15 B, sequentially numbered C (100 each of 1C and 2C), 1D redemption card, 10 Galaxy Crystal, autograph cards. Two promotional cards.
*Star Wars 30th Anniversary (August 2007) - 120 base, 120 red/120 blue/120 gold parallel (gold parallels numbered to 30), 27 triptych puzzle, autograph, sketch, 330 different foil stamped box loaders, 9 animation cell, 9 magnet cards, and 3 retail bonus cards. Six promotional cards.
*Clone Wars (July 2008) - 90 base, 90 gold-stamped foil parallel, 10 animation cel, 10 foil, 5 motion, 5 Target red animation cel, 5 Wal-Mart blue animation cel cards. Two promotional cards.
*Star Wars Galaxy, Series IV (announced for late 2008). Two promotional cards so far.

Other Manufacturers

*Star Wars (Panini, 1977) - 256 stickers.
*Star Wars (Panini, 1997) - 66 stickers.
*Star Wars (ADPAC for General Mills Breakfast Cereals, 1977-9)
*Star Wars (Metallic Images, 1994) - 20 metal cards
*Star Wars Art of Ralph McQuarrie (Metallic Images, 1996) - 20 metal cards
*Star Wars Bounty Hunters (Metallic Images, 1998) - 6 metal cards
*Star Wars Dark Empire (Metallic Images, 1995-6) - two 6 series of metal cards
*Star Wars Jedi Knights (Metallic Images, 1998) - 6 metal cards
*Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (Metallic Images, 1997) - 6 metal cards
*Empire Strikes Back (Metallic Images, 1995) - 20 metal cards
*Return of the Jedi (Metallic Images, 1995) - 20 metal cards
*Star Wars, Special Edition, Trilogy (Merlin, 1997) - 125 cards

ee also

*Non-sports trading card

References

External links

* [http://www.starwarscards.net www.starwarscards.net] - Popular site for checklists of, trading, and discussing Star Wars trading cards
* [http://www.starwarssketchcards.com www.starwarssketchcards.com] - Checklists and scans of most official Star Wars sketch cards
* [http://www.sketchcards.com/starwarssketchcards.shtml Star Wars Sketch Cards] page at [http://www.sketchcards.com/ SketchCards.com] - Lists Star Wars trading card sets with sketch cards, sketch card artists on those sets, artist bios and current auctions.
* [http://www.nonsportupdate.com/ Non Sport Update (NSU) magazine] - Magazine with card price estimates and stories
* [http://www.topps.com/ Topps, Inc.] - Often has information about their new card series
* [http://www.transparentrecords.com/starwarscards/Starwars.htm Paul's Lists] - Checklists and scans of many global vintage Star Wars cards and wrappers
* [http://www.bubblegum-cards.com/Star-Wars-1/index.html 1st, 2nd, & 3rd original series card scans]