Star Wars Trading Cards - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A Star Wars trading card is a nonsport, collectible trading card

Trading card

A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...

, sticker, wrapper, or cap (pog

POG

POG may mean:*POG, a drink *Pogs, a 1990s fad game, as well as the game pieces used in that game*One of the two title characters in Pib and Pog, an animated short film made by Aardman Animations...

) based on the Star Wars

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

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

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

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

Topps

The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...

in 1977 to coincide with the release of the first Star Wars movie

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...

and they have remained the official producer of Star Wars trading cards in the United States ever since. Various manufacturers handle the property around the rest of the world.

Topps, Inc.

All series are shown , 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.
The Empire Strikes Back, Series 1 (1980) - Red border. 132 cards and 33 stickers.
The Empire Strikes Back, Series 2 (1980) - Blue border. 132 cards and 33 stickers.
The Empire Strikes Back, Series 3 (1980) - Yellow border. 88 cards and 22 stickers.
The 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.
The Empire Strikes Back Widevision (1995) - 144 base, 10 chromium, and 6 poster cards
The 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, 10 foil cards, and 16 stickers. Also 5 oversized foil cards exist from tin sets.
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) - 90 base, 20 A, 15 B, sequentially numbered C (100 each of 1C and 2C), 1D redemption card, 10 Galaxy Crystal (retail), 6 foil, 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.
Clone Wars Trading Card Stickers (October 2008) - 90 base, 10 foil stickers, 10 die cut pop ups, 10 temporary tattoos, ~10 magnet cards.
Star Wars Galaxy, Series IV
Clone Wars Widevision (November 2009) - 80 base, 8 Series 2 Preview cards, 80 Silver Foil stamped parallel cards (500 sequentially numbered of each card), 80 Gold Foil stamped 1/1 parallel cards, 20 foil character cards, 10 animation clear cel cards, 5 flex pix cards, sketch cards, animator sketch cards, 13 autograph cards
Star Wars Galaxy, Series V
The Empire Strikes Back 3D Widevision - 48 base cards. One promotional card. Sketch Cards. 8 Autograph Cards
Star Wars Galaxy, Series VI

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
The 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

External links

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

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