quote:

Originally posted by Logan:
2020 Topps Women of Star Wars arriving March 25.

oooh that's my birthday.

What's interesting is kids today, don't have any idea what it's like to have a complete set of anything card wise.
Sports, all non-sports now, and of course gaming cards. So with all of this saturation that's problematic for anyone
who opened wax boxes as a kid and got a couple sets, plus all the stickers. This is non issue in their collecting
mentality and world. Personally I gave up on collecting new Topps Star Wars cards. And that's something I would have
never believed back in the day. It's a combination of cost and space that's the main issue.

Can some one please tell me how many new Star Wars sets has Topps released so far in 2020 and what they were ? Also, how many U.S. card sets did Topps do for Episode IX-- were there 3 ?

Hi David,

The year is not over with. There's still time to put together and package up another set like "Journey through the Galactic Files of Star Wars Galaxy: Skywalkers and Imperial Walkers Edition.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
Can some one please tell me how many new Star Wars sets has Topps released so far in 2020 and what they were ? Also, how many U.S. card sets did Topps do for Episode IX-- were there 3 ?

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
Can some one please tell me how many new Star Wars sets has Topps released so far in 2020 and what they were ? Also, how many U.S. card sets did Topps do for Episode IX-- were there 3 ?

No expert, as I gave up on everything associated with this title long ago in a galaxy far away, but for this year I see these:

2020 Topps Star Wars Factfiles
2020 Star Wars Black & White Return of the Jedi
2020 Topps Star Wars Rise of Skywalker Series 2
2020 Topps Chrome Star Wars Prospectives - Resistance vs. The First Order (new)
Topps Star Wars Living Set (that's Topps NOW made to order cards that seems to be still running)

There could have been more, that's just the ones I noticed.

The Mandalorian and a new Stellar have been mentioned, but I don't see where anything is coming yet.

January: SW Return of the Jedi Black and White
March: Women of Star Wars
April: Mandalorian: Journey of the Child Retail
June: SW Rise of Skywalker Series 2
August: SW Chrome Perspectives: First Order VS Resistance

September: Star Wars Holochron Chronicles
October: Star Wars Stellar Autographs
November: Mandalorian Season 1
December 2020 SW Masterwork

This does not include the continuing Living Set or the On Demand Mini-Sets.

Not sure what the Factfiles set even was? Was that international or online only?

So that's 9 boxed releases in 12 months.

And the answer to Rise of Skywalker sets is 3 boxed sets:
Journey to Rise of Skywalker
Rise of Skywalker Series 1
Rise of Skywalker Series 2

There were also online exclusives and mini-sets.

Star Wars is complicated and takes some work to "catch 'em all."

Ed

Topps has pimped out Star Wars so hard that I think I only jump on new product about once every 5 years. I have pre ordered a case of Mandalorian.

I guess the last chrome release was so bad that Topps was afraid to release a checklist.

Thank you so much for this. I am sorry to ask this but can someone please post here a list of the box released U.S. sets that Topps did in 2019 ? The reason I am asking this is that I collected every sw set released 1993 to mid 2018, and then the dealer who was doing these for me wasn't able to do anything afterwards. So i am way behind. Thanks

https://www.beckett.com/news/2...rd-release-calendar/

Just scroll down to the Star Wars section.

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:
Not sure what the Factfiles set even was? Was that international or online only?
Ed

Saw it on the Topps website, but didn't read too carefully. Its six different albums with a sticker set. Not sure if its six different sticker sets also, but you would think so. Really can't tell.

I forgot all about Women of Star Wars because I didn't even look for a single auto in it.

Star Wars is just overwhelming now. I think the only way a card collector can even stick with it is to pick one or two title/design lines and only buy those cards when they come out one or two times a year. That's what I would do if I were doing it, which I'm not.

All these sets are ruining the hobby. Reminds me about the early 1990’s when they were doing 250,000 of a non-sports product, and later on with sketches in every box, just destroying an already small market. I always had confidence that the actual market will sort things out, but now I worry that companies like Topps and Upper Deck both of whom just try to milk everything they can out of a niche market will just kill it completely. It is not a bright outlook for our hobby at this point. Cryptozoic and Rittenhouse are trying to do the right things but it may be too late at this point, I’m concerned.

Yup. In the early '90s they would vastly overproduce cards of the main product lines, leaving them cheap and unwanted more than 25 years later. Today card makers proclaim premium limited print runs, but have multiple product lines in rotation.

What is the difference between 1 title with 250,000 cards that can't be absorbed, or 10 like titles with 25,000 cards each that can't be absorbed? It's saturation either way and only that top 1% or 2% of ultra premium hits are going to maintain any demand and value in the future.

I don't think that is a guess or theory because we have decades of evidence with sports cards and non-sport cards to prove what has happened to the hobby and what will continue to happen in the hobby when you kill the markets with too much product.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Raven,

I have found sealed box pics of some of the FPG cards. On box numbers between 48 and 96 thousand boxes produced. 1000 was the common number for autographs back then, many of them going higher.

I completely agree that the major players have traded high volume in for high release numbers. Although even for them one is more work than the other.

Topps has made Star Wars into the equal of a sports release. A cycle of redundancy with the same players every year.

I still like that this leaves the other companies as product makers for collectors that are pulling very limited items into their collections. It is unbelievable that titles such as Lost in Space or Umbrella Academy roll out at 3000 boxes or less. If we ever return to even a quarter of the volume from the 90's what they have given us will be at the top of the hobby in demand.

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
Thank you so much for this. I am sorry to ask this but can someone please post here a list of the box released U.S. sets that Topps did in 2019 ? The reason I am asking this is that I collected every sw set released 1993 to mid 2018, and then the dealer who was doing these for me wasn't able to do anything afterwards. So i am way behind. Thanks

2019...

January: Empire Strikes Back B/W
February: Star Wars Authentics 8x10's with card
April: Star Wars Resistance
August: Star Wars Chrome Legacy
August: Star Wars Skywalker Saga
September: Star Wars Authentics Series 2
October: SW Journey to Rise of Skywalker
October: Star Wars Stellar Autographs
November: Star Wars Masterwork 2019
December: Star Wars Rise of Skywalker Series 1

That's the boxed releases in the US.
Does not count the numerous online exclusives.

Ed

At this point they should just release STAR WARS:MEH The Force Be With You, that is just a set of white cards that fans can get sketches and autos on at conventions.

The biggest problem wih the all these Star Wars releases is that they are so uninspired. They could do something like Batman 66, based on that design, with new custom artwork instead of the same old stills. Or a Star Wars set in the style of Mars Attacks. They have plenty of their own designs from over 80 years of history.

I havent seen anything recent that interested me. But also everything is so focused on autos, and I dont collect autos at all.

One upside to this market saturation is that Topps are pumping out even more of the big name auto cards to sell their numerous sets. When Stellar 4 releases at year end, they will have put 400 on-card Harrison Ford auto cards onto the market within 3 years.

Ford went from a $10,000 card in 2007 for his debut auto, to sub $1,000 with Stellar 3 in 2019. Still not cheap by any means, but far more accessible to many collectors than ever before.

quote:

Originally posted by X:
One upside to this market saturation is that Topps are pumping out even more of the big name auto cards to sell their numerous sets. When Stellar 4 releases at year end, they will have put 400 on-card Harrison Ford auto cards onto the market within 3 years.

Still incredible if you were to take Harrison's entire run on signing cards the overall numbers are low.

I am happy to see Ewan is sticking with more sets and Nick Nolte as a first time signer. Still no hint that Carl Weathers is going to sign. I believe these are the only three on my hunt list this year.

No hint at Keri Russell either.

quote:

Originally posted by X:
Ford went from a $10,000 card in 2007 for his debut auto, to sub $1,000 with Stellar 3 in 2019. Still not cheap by any means, but far more accessible to many collectors than ever before.

Yes, which goes to show that you can't ever count on the whims and fortunes of an autograph signer. I always expected that Ford would be like Connery and Tommy Lee Jones and just not open up in any mass way because they don't need the money and project a certain gruff attitude about celebrity.

Yet Ford has done a 180 turn in the last few years. True, 400 on-card copies isn't a lot, but he has also contracted for at least a couple of private signings, was included in other products, and there must be other completed stickers out there ready to go.

The drop in his autograph value is reflected in his signed cards and I think it really hurts Stellar because his auto is the lynchpin to that set. It was just about the only reason why people made money breaking up Stellar. Curious to see what happens when the 2020 set is released. The only price I see is still $9,999.99 per hobby box, which is about the same as it was when Ford autographs were confined to a handful of rare Indiana Jones cards.

Someone on another forum was trying to compile a list of Harrison Ford certified autograph cards, along with the number of copies. Basically it covered Indiana Jones products, Star Wars products between 2007 - 2019, Ender's Game and 3 Pop Century releases. The list is incomplete because the number of copies was left as unknown in some of them and other sets may be involved in a small way. Assuming what was posted is somewhat correct, the breakdown goes something like this . . .

Indiana Jones had 32 autographs across all sets. This was back when his autograph might have gotten as much as a 5 figure price.

There are approximately 100 known autographs combined in a slew of various Star Wars sets released between 2007 - 2019, with some others not counted. However the dam breaker is Stellar with a total of 309 autograph cards for the first 3 sets. You can expect at least another 100 for the 2020 Stellar coming. So that is 509 + for all Star Wars.

The short printed autos in Ender's Game and the 3 Pop Century sets are not counted, but could be under 25 total.

So conservatively speaking its running around 600 cards at least with the combination of on-card and stickers, but because there will be 400 + of Stellar, Ford's on-card signature is actually more common than his sticker autograph.

And he is not done signing yet.

quote:

Originally posted by X:

Ford went from a $10,000 card in 2007 for his debut auto, to sub $1,000 with Stellar 3 in 2019.

I bet the folks who bought in 2007 feel really good about their purchases now.