30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

The Very First

Before ripping open packs of baseball cards... there were packs of Topps Star Wars.  I know I've touched on this before, but it's important to keep certain memories alive... especially when it introduces you to a hobby that will be with you for the rest of your life.

I can still remember asking my mother for a few packs every time we visited Dobashi Market in San Jose's Japantown.  In an effort to relive a childhood dream, I purchased then entire five series 330 card set back in 2014.  A year later I added the sticker sets to the binder.

With the 1977 Topps Star Wars card collection out of the way... I can now focus on very specific collection wants.  One of them is card #53... the Battle in outer space in graded form:

1977 Topps Star Wars #53

If you were a little kid in the late 70's and a fan of Star Wars, then this image of a TIE fighter shooting at an X-Wing should remind you of something from your childhood.  If not, then this post probably doesn't interest you anyway.

Happy May the 4th and sayonara!

16 comments:

Elliptical Man said...

I would've expected them to be worth a lot by 2014.

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

I still have sets of the stuff, lol. None graded though.

Jason Presley said...

Still have that lunch box. It has seen better days, but still smells like sandwiches.

Fuji said...

elliptical man - paid $137.60 + $8 shipping for the 330 (5 series) set and $99.99 + $9.99 shipping for the 55 (5 series) sticker set, so it wasn't cheap. but both sets are pretty clean, so i can't complain

johnnys trading spot - at one point i had vader and han solo graded singles from this set too, but i sold them last year when people were paying crazy money. i think this is the only graded star wars card i still own

jason presley - i'd love to one day add that lunch pail and thermos to my collection. i found an esb lunch pail at the flea market a while back

Mark Zentkovich said...

👍

GCA said...

Still looking for a few of the orange series to finish my set, and a good price on a sticker set.
I probably would go for a Darth Vader card first and foremost. He was the coolest character to me when I was a kid. Hayden C kinda diluted his menace in the later films for me, but the black suit is still badass.

Bo said...

My only cards from this set came from you! I am a little younger - Return of the Jedi was my first card set. But I definitely remember that photo in a lot of Star Wars books/merchandise at the time.

Anonymous said...

I recall Star Wars and KISS cards before baseball.

RunForeKelloggs said...

Not only was our family split Cubs or White Sox, we also were divided on Star Wars. One brother is still a big Star Wars fan, but I never bought a pack. I did end up getting a few hundred cards in flea market finds over the years.

Sean said...

I bought the orange and red series from that set back in 2009 or 2010, they were quite cheap back then. I had planned on adding the rest at some point but never got around to it and now I'm kicking myself for not having finished it way back when, the prices on them have gone through the roof (like everything else).

Those are a fantastic set. I was too young in 1977, but I saw Empire Strikes Back and ROTJ in the theatres and was a huge fan as a kid with a ton of the Kenner toys (which I fortunately put a decent collection of together back at the same time I bought the cards, before prices exploded). I had some of the ROTJ cards as a kid but not many.

Fuji said...

gca - the first star wars graded card i bought was a vader, but i sold it when the market was hot. when the market settles, i'll definitely grab another copy. by the way, i'm excited to see vader in the obi-wan miniseries that's coming out in a few weeks.

bo - one of these days i'd like to add the 1983 topps return of the jedi set w/stickers to my collection. by the time this set was released, i was more into baseball cards

anonymous - when i was a kid, i was a huge kiss fan. had no idea what they sang, but i thought they looked really cool

runforekelloggs - do you collect any of the kelloggs star wars sets?

sean - i wish i would have made more of an effort to go back and buy vintage kenner figures ten to fifteen years ago. hope one day you show off some of the ones you have on your blog.

Daniel Wilson said...

I was born in 1981 so by the time I was 5 or 6 years old, Star Wars wasn't as big, but I'm still a big Star Wars fan at this point and would love to add a couple of these Star Wars cards in my collection.

Jafronius said...

I miss the days when non sport cards were just as available as sports cards. Star Wars sets were all over the place in the mid 90s

Crocodile said...

I had a bunch of Star Wars cards growing up, but those got tossed when I started focusing on sports cards.

SumoMenkoMan said...

Going to the store to pick up packs was such a highlight of my day. No online ordering, just waiting and spending a few bucks picking out packs. Never collected Star Wars cards, but wish I had.

Fuji said...

daniel wilson - you have some of the best card shop finds. hopefully your lcs picks up some vintage star wars cards for your collection

jafronius - i agree. there are so many tv shows that i'd love to see trading card sets for.

crocodile - at least you remember tossing your sw cards. i have no idea what happened to all of the star wars cards from my childhood.

sumomenkoman - it's never too late to start buddy ;D