I have a passion for collecting vintage Star Wars merchandise from the late 70's. Action figures, comics, trading cards etc - anything related to the first Star Wars movie. But why only until 1980? It's not that I don't love The Empire Strikes Back and beyond (I really do), but there is something about that first wave of Star Wars mania that really grips me, back when it was all fresh and exciting...

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Topps Trading Cards: Series 3


I seem to be collecting these in order, however inadvertently. Series 3 had the yellow borders.


Interesting look at a Jawa here, showing the electrical set up under the hood which make the eyes glow. Not sure if this is a behind the scenes shot or not.  



Topps had dispensed with the 'Movie Facts' by this time and the backs all had 'Official Descriptions' of everything from characters to ships to lightsabers and the force.  




As usual, there were two puzzles which I have dutifully put together. One is the famous shot of the three heroes and the other a more random scene of the droids and a rebel mechanic or whatever he is in the hanger on Yavin. This image was also used on one of the cards in this set.










4 comments:

Unknown said...

http://starwarsandphilosophy.blogspot.com/2013/11/light-side-or-dark-side-which-are-you.html#.Un8ZUB9hK0w

Which side are you?

Anonymous said...

I have some of these cards! The husband of one of my cousins gave me a small stack of them cause he knew I was a star wars fan. Have no idea what they are worth, but they looked old and that has attracted my interest :P

Abe Lucas said...

The yellow series was the first one I recall finding in my local convenience store, "Top Banana", it was called. As a small child at the time (six), it's equally crazy that I actually remember the store name but it's even crazier that I was allowed to walk the considerable distance (a mile or two) to get to the place! Of course, just finding gems such as these cards was sheer dumb luck (no internet blah blah blah), but then I guess the Lucas marketing machine was too potent to not find out about Star Wars merchandise.

I have the most fondness for this yellow set, as it was my first. However, it's only been recently that I finally ordered the full set after having held off on it for so long.

Your blog always brings back great memories. Thanks as always.

Chris Thorndycroft said...

Cool. Yeah, the good old days before the Internet when stuff randomly appeared in stores and you just had to get it. Always exciting to stumble across something new you didn't know about.