A New Hope

Almost five decades ago in a house not that far away... sat a little Japanese boy on his family room floor.  His parents had just bought him a few packs of 1977 Topps Star Wars trading cards at the grocery store in San Jose's Japantown.

That's how my card collecting journey began.  Those original cards from my early childhood are long gone.  But when I started collecting again in the late 2000's, I decided to go after stuff I enjoyed from the 70's and 80's which included that 330 card set about a galaxy far, far away.

I ended up using the cheat code known as eBay and added that dream set to my collection with a few clicks of my mouse.  The stickers were purchased a few months later.

Fast forward a decade or so when I stumbled across a small storage bin of Star Wars cards at the De Anza Flea Market.

My first instinct was to purchase these for the sake of nostalgia and a good bargain.  But after hemming and hawing, I made the decision to relive my childhood and do an old fashioned set build.

I knew that I had pretty significant stacks of 4th and 5th Series singles... and much smaller stacks from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Series.  But after compiling my list, I was pretty satisfied with my starting point:

Series 1:  27/66 (40.9% complete)

Series 2:  13/66 (19.7% complete)

Series 3:  18/66 (27.3% complete)

Series 4:  63/66 (95.5% complete)

Series 5:  59/66 (89.4% complete)

Complete Set:  180/330 (54.5%)

Although this set carries a lot of sentimental value to me, it won't be high on my priority list.  I have come across some cheap singles at the flea market over the years.  If I come across them again, I'll grab them for this set build.  I'll also look for some 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Series starter lots on eBay at some point to put a dent in my wantlists:

1977 Topps Series 1

1977 Topps Series 2

1977 Topps Series 3

1977 Topps Series 4

1977 Topps Series 5

The good news is I'm approaching this set build as if I were attempting to build the 1956 Topps baseball set.  Cards don't need to be in mint condition.  They just need to be in reasonable shape.  Honestly... this might be the first set build in my collecting history where condition doesn't matter.  It's truly like I'm five years old again... and I'm just excited to have cards of my favorite movie sitting in front of me on my family room floor.

Happy Monday and May the 4th be with you!

Post Credits Scene

Sorry that I've been away from the keyboard for such an extended time.  The end of the school year is always a little hectic (much like the start of the school year) with projects, state testing, and leadership gigs (like the final spirit rally and the 8th grade graduation dance).

That doesn't mean I have taken a break from card related activities.  I've been to a couple of flea markets in recent weeks, plus went to a private sale at this lady's house.  I'm currently sitting on bunch of material for future posts.  However I made myself a promise that I won't touch any of that stuff until I'm completely caught up with care packages from Reader X, Woody, John, and Rod.  Plus Greg over at The Collective Mind helped broker a purchase that boosted my Rickey Henderson collection.  In other words, I've got plenty of blog post fodder.  I just need some time to scan and write.

John:  As soon as I have some free time (probably the start of summer break), I will package up the Star Wars duplicates (probably around 200 to 250) and send them your way.  Like my set build, the majority will be from the 4th and 5th Series.