I picked up the recent ROTJ base set for $ 30, which is all I wanted. I wasn't interested in any autos or sketches

Out of curiosity, have the base set prices gone up ?

That price of the Jedi 3D base set is pretty steady it seems. The release of the Jedi set did seem to help the prices of the Empire 3D set increase a bit though.

Ordinarily, this "hits" era of trading cards does mean very reasonably priced base sets for collectors only interested in those, but on this Masterwork set, you only get, I think 160 cards TOTAL in a whole $1,500 case of cards, and a bunch of those will be hits, so I don't think there will be very many complete base sets assembled and offered for sale, and even if there are, the price will be significant.

There are about 20 hits per case, it looks like, and also plenty of parallel cards, so it is possible there could be a complete 105 card minimaster (consisting of the 75 card base set and the 3 "easy" 10 card chase sets) in each case. Hopefully, anyway...

I think ever since Upper Deck came out with the Marvel Premiere priced at $200.00 a couple years back, companies are following suite to (sorry to say) milk the market. I think in the long run it's going to alienate most NON-SPORT collectors. I mean selling a kidney isn't what the the hobby's about? I hope this trend stops.

Yes, but this happened exactly like this first in sports cards, gradually since the 1990's and continuing to this day. $400 boxes of sports cards with 4 packs in them are not uncommon.

By itself, I'm not sure the nonsports market could bear set like this. How many non-sports dealers can risk $200 on boxes of cards that might be selling for $100 a month or two later? (Unlikely with these, I know, but a possibility).

Rather, it is the sports card market money that goes into these, which is to say dealers who buy everything, especially the expensive stuff, that get these super high end sets made in the first place, and then the supercollectors with pockets of seeming endless depth who end buying most of the best cards, upping the ante even more for the next set.

In the course of well under 10 years, Star Wars cards went from about $40 per box, to $60, to $90, to $120, and now $200.

Those high end collectors who continue to buy up the Tiffany material the manufacturers make at the distributors request seems to be only enough to bear Star Wars and Marvel Cards, but a couple of other properties that might possibly have $200 boxes and $50 packs in their very near future could include hot titles like "LOTR/Hobbit" and "Walking Dead". Cryptozoic has those licenses, so it wouldn't be much of a jump, just double the hits in the boxes they make now, double the price, and away they go...

It's the way it is. I'm sure "regular" collectors like us, but interested in sports cards, lamented this same thing happening back on sport cards boards in the exact same way about 10 years ago when their cost increases really hit high gear.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:

Rather, it is the sports card market money that goes into these, which is to say dealers who buy everything, especially the expensive stuff, that get these super high end sets made in the first place, and then the supercollectors with pockets of seeming endless depth who end buying most of the best cards, upping the ante even more for the next set.

It's the way it is. I'm sure "regular" collectors like us, but interested in sports cards, lamented this same thing happening back on sport cards boards in the exact same way about 10 years ago when their cost increases really hit high gear.

I keep hearing this argument about high end sportscard collectors coming in to pick up these super premium, expensive non-sport cards. The only thing is, I don't know who they are or how many of them there are. Outside of dealers who may have some high rollers as customers, I don't know if any average non-sport card collector really knows them.

I have a LHS and it sells sports cards and gaming cards. I don't see anyone ever dropping a lot of money on any boxes anymore. They use to for baseball and basketball and gaming cards like Magic sold like crazy, but nothing has been doing that much in a good many years, at least not from what I see. I don't know if its all a myth or if these cards are so limited that a small handful of rich people is all you need to buy them out. Maybe both are true.

As for sports card decline, it wasn't ten years ago, more like seventeen. I date it back to 1997 when the autograph card became an expected hit in every pack in some products, not just a rarity that you never found. Different people would choose different years, but I think '97 was the beginning of the high prices that would eventually bottom out with internet dumping and utimately drive away most of the average collectors because on the one hand their collections were going down in value, while on the other hand they could no longer afford to buy the premium products they wanted.

That shoulds like a contradition, but it's not. All the attention and money was being soaked up by the new and better cards and the new rookies. Old collectors couldn't keep up at the same pace they had before and their own collections were losing value because all the demand was for newer cards. A double whammy.

Could that happen with non-sport cards? Well it already has, hasn't it.

We have a twice weekly warehouse show in our area that is mostly comic books, sports cards, action figures (and the like), and gaming cards, but not so much non-sports.

Over there anyway, I regularly see people dropping absurd amounts of money on the gaming cards. $100 for a box of those and $5 to $6 er pack is absolutely nothing to the collectors of these kinds of cards. Those CCG cards must still be doing gigantic business. Look at the 5 variant Magic The Gathering cards they sold at Comic-con these last two years. Those were expensive to begin with, but the demand for them made them worth even more on the secondary market.

Thinking back on it, Raven, 1997 may have also been right around the time non-sports began its current trajectory. Some of the first really expensive (relatively speaking) non sports cards came out in that span. 1994 and 95 Flair Marvel Annual, 1996 Marvel Masterpieces, and 1997 Marvel Motion all had price tags on them we'd never seen, with pack prices north of $3 each (and those actually even predate the the "hits" driven releases soon to follow, and with us ever since).

Topps has posted photos of some actual autos on their Facebook site. Also, they showed a metal card, and said some auto cards will be made of wood. Kind of odd, but if they are reaching for something different..this is it.

Woodworm and rust maybe?

I did a few cards for this set.

Here are the additional sketches I did \m/ \m/

I bet Topps can't wait for the new Star Wars movies to be released. Finally they'll have some new images to put on a card. No we can get Old version autos of Luke, Han and Leia lol

Topps just put this up at their website, some pretty detailed info for them. A couple of the names are doubled up, so it's not perfect. Even so, let's hope this kind of info becomes the standard.
Here's the link to the actual page...

http://www.topps.com/shop-bran...asterwork-hobby.html

...but I've also pasted the list below in case it goes away. It's a little wonky from my cut and paste, but basically, the very low first couple of numbers are the rare box/puzzle/book sketches, and usually one or the three, which is why most of the artists only have 4 numbers in total.
Any artist who has six numbers did all 6 versions, basically these guys: Brian DeGuire, Joe Hogan, Christopher West, Patrick Giles, Chris Raimo, Scott Rorie, and Lord Mesa.

Topps Star Wars Masterwork Official Sketch Artist List

Name Box Puzzles Books Silver Gold Wood
Melike Acar 1 41 5 3
Jason Adams 8 1 84 10 5
Irma Ahmed 1 42 5 3
Irma Ahmed 9 50
Joe Allard 9 25
Karl Altstaetter 13 70 5 3
Kent Archer 2 1 42 5 2
Kyle Babbitt 7 6 1 25 5 3
Michael Babinski 3 43 5 3
Jorge Baeza 8 42 5 3
Mary Bellamy 11 1 62 5 3
Jeffrey Benitez 5 90 10 6
Tina Berardi 4 1 50 5 3
Dan Bergren 1 42 5 3
Joel Biske 2 42 5 3
Dana Black 1 1 47 5 3
Steven Black 5 101 10 0
Brandon Bracamonte 9 56
Ken Branch 6 85 10 5
Alex Buechel 8 42 5 3
James Bukaskis 11 25
Steven Burch 14 7 142 20 10
Linzy Busch 1 45 5 2
Juan Francisco "Puis" Calzada Rubio 3 43 5 2
Jeff Carlise 3 40 5 3
Jason Chalker 5 2 80 5 3
Peter Chan 5 1 101 10 5
Jeff Chandler 8 42 5 3
Francois Chartier 7 1 64 5 3
Justin Chung 10 25
Jeff Confer 3 42 5 3
Ron Conley 9 25
Daniel Contois 10 22 2 1
Daniel Cooney 4 68 10 5
Joe Corroney 3 25
Andrew Cosson 12 92 5 3
Roy Cover 3 1 15 8
Roy Cover 10 125
Doug Cowan 1 21 3 2
Kaela Croft 2 43 5 3
Jason Crosby 3 2 34 5 3
Emily Crowley 6 93 10 5
Ted Dastick 7 1 95 10 6
Jason Davies 1 42 5 3
Van Davis 2 16 3
Brian DeGuire 4 2 1 42 5 3
Jenn DePaola 8 43 5 2
Pablo Diaz 7 129 15 8
D Douglass 8 1 80 4 2
Tim Dowler 3 42 5 3
Kevin Doyle 4 1 98 10 6
Kimberly Dunaway 5 96 9 4
Jason Durden 10 41 5 3
Michael Duron 5 1 50 5 3
Marcia Dye 9 25
Davide Fabbri 10 234 20 10
Nicole Falk 1 42 5 3
Gabe Farber 2 20 3 2
Jason Flowers 13 1 98 5 2
Denae Frazier 1 42 5 3
Brandon Gallo 10 67 5 3
Patrick Giles 15 2 3 103 10 3
Mick and Matt Glebe 1 42 5 3
Jason Goad 1 42 5 3
Daniel Gorman 8 42 5 3
Grant Gould 2 43 5 2
Kevin Graham 1 41 5 3
Paul Gutierrez 4 1 1 93 5 3
Danny Haas 3 43 5 2
Charles Hall 11 8
Karen Hallion 1 43 5 2
Nathan Hamill 10 6 2
Mark Hammermeister 1 42 5 3
Mike Hampton 8 47 2
Ingrid Hardy 1 36 5 3
John Haun 1 42 5 3
Chris Henderson 1 42 5 3
Chris Henderson 10 50
Robert Hendrickson 3 44 3 3
Julio Herrera 3 1 22 5 3
Karen Hinson 2 20 3 2
Val Hochberg 2 42 5 3
Erik Hodson 5 3 73 10 5
Erik Hodson 10 3 44
Joe Hogan 6 2 1 43 5 3
Joe Hogan 9 2 45
Scott Houseman 2 42 5 3
Gavin Hunt 1 25 3 2
Robert Jimenez 2 43 5 3
Jason Kincaid 10 1 44 5 3
Ken Knudtsen 4 85 10 5
Lee Kohse 4 87 10 5
Brian Kong 1 42 5 3
Eric Kowalick 7 85 10 5
Jayson Kretzer 2 42 5 3
Marck Labas 6 85 10 5
Michael Leavitt 3 43 4 0
Elfie Lebouleux 1 48 0 3
Eric Lehtonen 3 45 5 3
Eric Lehtonen 9 25
Lee Lightfoot 15 135 10 5
Lak Lim 8 50
Russ Maheras 8 3 64 5 2
Jeff Mallinson 2 42 5 2
Bill Maus 3 42 5 3
Mike Mayhew 2 11 1 1
Clay McCormack 5 93 10 5
Chad McCowan 1 45 3
Lord Mesa 5 2 1 95 10 5
Tony Miello 6 75 5 3
Matthew Minor 4 93 10 5
Solly Mohamed 7 1 92 10 6
Rich Molinelli 6 87 10 6
Monte Moore 11 43 3 2
Jon Morris 3 42 5 3
Mat Nastos 12 90 5 2
Gyula Nemeth 3 42 5 3
Nik Neocleaous 1 4 1 0 1 1
Steve Oatney 8 39 5 3
Rhiannon Owens 3 42 5 3
Dan Parsons 10 93 5 2
Terry Pavlet 3 43 5 2
Don Pedicini 11 113 7 5
Sean Pence 2 20 3 2
Kris Penix 5 1 50 5 3
Darrin Pepe 8 1 67 5 3
Mark Pingatore 8 43 5 2
Tim Proctor 3 42 5 3
Anthony D. Pugh 8 28
Bill Pulkovski 19 65 5 2
David Rabbitte 9 1 21 2
Darin Radimaker 12 88 5 3
Brent Ragland 3 43 5 2
Brent Ragland 9 25
Chris Raimo 10 2 2 99 5 2
Wilson Ramos 8 88 10 5
Brandon Reece 2 3 38 5 3
Lawrence Reynolds 1 3 34 4 3
Chris Ring 2 42 5 3
Adrian Rivera 11 76 5 2
Scott Rorie 5 2 1 41 5 3
Craig Rousseau 2 10 1 1
Tyler Scarlet 6 85 10 5
Tim Shay 12 26 3 2
Jon Sloboda 12 1 43 5 2
Dan Smith 1 42 5 3
Todd Smith 3 42 5 3
James H Smith 15 2 41 5 3
Todd Allen Smith 7 50 5 3
Matt Smith 8 1 22 5 3
Dan Smith 10 50
Tod Allen Smith 10 35
Jamie Snell 2 43 5 3
Jason Sobol 8 1 95 10 5
John Soukup 6 1 91 10 5
Christian St. Pierre 11 92 5 3
Bob Stevlic 2 15 1 1
Lark Sudol 10 22 2
Stephanie Swanger 12 46 2 2
Adam Talley 6 85 10 5
Tomoko Taniguchi 1 1 39 5 2
Strephon Taylor 8 42 5 3
Rob Teranishi 7 254 25 11
Andie Tong 8 42 5 3
Adriana Vanderstelt 2 85 10 5
Mike Vasquez 11 68 5 2
Omar Maya Velázquez 8 2 1 100 3
Martheus Wade 8 38 2
Russ Walks 1 22 1 2
Ed Watson 9 25
Christopther West 7 1 1 43 5 3
Sarah Wilkinson 8 67 4 2
David Williams 3 48 5 3
Lin Workman 3 42 5 3
Scott Zambelli 6 142 8 5
Jeff Zapata 5 1 90 10 6

My numbers are double because I did 125 regular silver cards 15 gold parallels and 8 wood parallels and one booklet which i count as 2 cards. I did three puzzles I think and I believe only one was packed out intact.

So has anyone picked up anything from this release?

I have done something of a u-turn on my initial thoughts, particularly regarding the autographs. It has taken me a while but I have warmed to their slightly busy design and for the sake of £16 I thought I'd take the plunge with a Julian Glover autograph as I have always like his small part as General Veers, as well as his turns in Bond and Indiana Jones.
I had heard the cards were thick but was not expecting what I received! Most of the costume and prop cards I have ever owned are not as thick as this auto card. In real life the design and stock feel and look very premium and for my first official Star Wars autograph card I am very impressed with it. The quality certainly helps make these cards feel fresh after a franchise that has been rehashed to death.

I don't buy into the whole parallel phenomenon and helps sets like these be not very collector friendly at all. Then again there is so much variety/variants available there is enough to allow fans to pick up the many odd bits they like.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
Topps just put this up at their website, some pretty detailed info for them. A couple of the names are doubled up, so it's not perfect. Even so, let's hope this kind of info becomes the standard.
Here's the link to the actual page...

Thanks for posting this! I saw their link to the checklist PDF but didn't scroll down far enough for the artist list.

The doubled-up names came about because Topps included a column for "box", which I assume is from their inventory sorting, and some artists were in more than one box.

Some auction sellers don't try very hard to decipher artist sigs, but I conclude that the toughest IDs are the ones I didn't see in listings: Brandon Reece, Julio Herrera, and Karl Alstaetter. "Zuno" is Peter Chan (for the studio; I've seen him as CHANP on other series). Gary Kezele has some artist proofs but apparently didn't make it into the packs.

And for people pursuing master sets, there are *four* different Medallion relics for Darth Vader - Darth Vader's Lightsaber.

Wonderful info. Allender for the win, as usual.

I have seen a couple of artists correct their numbers already, so it'll require a little tweaking yet...

One of the posters said elsewhere that they have seen base sets and the easy chase levels selling for a mere $ 200 total. Did I misread this ? Is this true ? I thought they'd be much harder to assemble

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
One of the posters said elsewhere that they have seen base sets and the easy chase levels selling for a mere $ 200 total. Did I misread this ? Is this true ? I thought they'd be much harder to assemble

Be careful with what people are calling the base set here. The regular base cards from 1 - 50 are noted as the set in some places. This does not include the short printed base cards 51 - 75. To my mind you have the full base set only when you have all 75 cards. But that's just MHO.

Raven, I agree that cards 1-75 should be a base set. I have not seen any sets of 75 for sale, just "sets" of 50

This is the first Topps Star Wars set that I have not pursued, as it seems impossible to get a base set ! What a shame

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
Raven, I agree that cards 1-75 should be a base set. I have not seen any sets of 75 for sale, just "sets" of 50

This is the first Topps Star Wars set that I have not pursued, as it seems impossible to get a base set ! What a shame

Maybe not impossible, but certainly pricey. As far as I can tell, if you buy a case and it is a good case you should get one regular run of base cards 1 - 50 and 8 of the shortprinted 51 - 75 base cards.

So 3 cases with no SP dups still leaves you 1 card shy of the 25 SP base cards. And that's if it's all perfect, which is unlikely to happen, plus a case can come up short on the 1 - 50 cards too. Very tough to put together.