Awwwww C'mon! New base cards exclusive to the $499 set?!?!?! PooDoo!



I guess I should have paid closer attention to the information for this set at the Topps booth at CVI. I could have been pissed off 2 whole months sooner. I thought it was just going to be the plates.

Yeah I mentioned this back in the Galactic Files thread, and people came to Topps defense saying this was OK. I'm sorry, but this isn't ok. These should have been included in the packs.

Saw these written up on the NSU blog. Tough for the completest to make a master set.

I was one that DID NOT agree with this then and still DO NOT! Topps increased case counts from 8 boxes to 12 boxes and also increased cost per box quite a bit. In addition to getting more money up front for this release they are now trying to get even more on the back end for something that should have been inserted already. 350 boxed sets at $500/ is $175,000! Now I do think these will hold value as they also include a 25 card exclusive expansion to the set ...so these are an absolute for master set builders ...but this justs seems like TOPPS pulling one over on the dealers/breakers of cases. imho

1,400 plates inserted into only around 12,000 hobby boxes would've killed the value and exclusive factor associated with them. It was just too many to put into a print run that small. There were 350 Gold 1 of 1 cards instead found at the rate that plates are usually found at and as a result the Gold cards have the same value plates have traditionally held in the past, with the additional premiums for Gold cards and plates that feature especially notable subjects. So Topps, with the 350 Gold cards, 100% made up for not putting the plates into packs like they've done with Star Wars Galaxy 4-7. Besides, this isn't a Galaxy set anyway. Who ever said thay had to put plates into these packs anyway? They didn't for Heritage, Evolution, 30th Anniversary, and on and on, so why is it automatically assumed for Galactic Files? They never advertised they would.

This idea of selling them as sets is not at all new to this hobby and was a good source of revenue for companies (Inkworks, Artbox) who to their collective credit put the money back into their products as I hope Topps will do.

I do think 500 bucks for a set is too expensive though, $400 would've been better at $100 per plate, but even that's a stretch. $300 would be a truly fair price on these, although certain sets will be worth a good deal more than that on the aftermarket.

Are these being issued in blind boxes so you don't know what set you'll get? That would be quite a risk at $500, but again the title card and some of the others would be worth well more than that. You might even see people breaking up the plate sets and selling them as singles.

Anyway, best of luck to Topps on this, it was the best way to go short of having 1,400 plates issued in packs, and summarily heaped all at once onto an already tight market. Remember, there are only 480 total plates from a Star Wars Galaxy set. This would've been very nearly three times that in one shot, simply too many for the market to bear.

agree with most of what you said above. But one very big aspect that Topps took from the release and for the collectors was the HUNT for the plates. I know many who take lots of joy and pain in trying to get these plates back together. Much like Rittenhouse took the thrill of trying to piece puzzles back together again by inserting puzzles complete in a box.
These boxes will definitely be distributed blind as they would get nowhere with sales once all the main characters were sold from a checklist. I think $300-$350 is more reasonable but one can not discount the re-sale price of the 25 card update set exclusive to this boxed set. Considering there are probably thousands of base sets the master set builder will desire these greatly.They really are limited .

Also, I agree having the plates inserted MIGHT have diminished their value, but IF the plates were inserted into Retail packs as well many would still be in sealed retail cases collecting dust in their warehouses. TOPPS makes a plethora of retail for all of their products

on a side note, the sets you mentioned heritage,evolution and 30th were 5+ years ago...in ancient times plates were not inserted lol... as for the now... Galaxy 4-7 had plates inserted. If only for the price increase, the plates seemed a natural to be inserted into Galactic Files Hobby and Retail boxes.

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

Exactly, with the price increase, you expect the same kind of inserts that you get with the Galaxy releases, and that includes printing plates. The plates would have fallen 1 per case (with some cases containing 2) and that is perfectly fine in my book. It still would have been VERY tough to put sets together, and the bigger characters would have still held a premium over vehicles and such.

To me this says well we didn't sell enough of the product, so this is our way of compensating for that. I cannot see too many people paying $500 for these. If they sell 50 sets at that price I would be surprised.

There wasn't really a price increase on Galactic Files over previous sets, rather they were just issued in a different configuration. To wit, take the 24 packs of 12 cards and split them into 48 six card packs. That makes two 24 pack boxes for $90 (pre-sale price) with a hit in each, so one box of 24 six card packs (with a guaranteed hit) cost 45 dollars. Looking at it that way makes these cheaper than the recent Galaxy sets have been per hit (1 sketch per box). You're only losing one base card per pack with their contents split in half this way, since Galaxy packs only had 7 cards. So at $45 for 24 six cards packs with a hit in every 24th pack, that is certainly in the same ballpark as the cards have been priced at, making it in no way a cheat that the plates weren't inserted.

Granted, being made to count manufactured Patch cards as a hit is a bit of stretch in many quarters (mine included), but the patches only constituted 1 out of every 4 hits, and while most people consider even that too many, there are certain of the short printed patch cards that do have the value of a mid level sketch or autograph card, and certainly more valuable than any common sketch or autograph. And the patches are a limited production with well under 1,000 of each, so they are better than a normal chase set, although maybe not quite at "hit" level.

So again, it really is better the plates weren't in the packs, they absolutely would've flooded the market with them. This other method of selling them separately is preferable, although the price should be no higher than $350 for the set, perfect really since there are 350 of them. (I said $300 max earlier, but I didn't know about the additional exclusive card set that comes with each set of plates at that time).

I'm not sure I see this as a big draw, unless I'm missing something here. You don't know which card your getting the printing plates for and I don't hear of that many collectors who go after printing plates as their number 1 choice. Its usually more like just a cut above manufactured patch cards.

I can see where Topps wants the extra revenue, I just don't know that the $499 price will hold up. It would be twice as attractive if it were half as much.

If this is wrong place to post this, I apologize - especially since this is just about the plates. But I can't find another thread about the Galactic Files (I'm being rushed out the door of my hosue by my wife at the moment), so I thought I would post here....

On the site dedicated just to Star Wars cards - Collector's Connection - I attempted TWICE to get some info on this set, and received little to no response, so I'm trying here instead... I wrote:

"Has anyone noticed whether or not the images on the BASE cards are re-runs of images from prior sets? Or, are the base card images unique to this set? Needless to say, I could care less about the graphic design of the cards - I just want to know if the main images on each card are new or just repeats of all the sets that have come before (dressed up to look different with new packaging)? Thanks!"

Only two people responded (even though there were many people reading the thread) and their responses didn't tell me much (no offense). I guess what I REALLY should have asked was: is this set worth the expense?

If anyone could share their opinions on this, I would appreciate it! Thanks!

Geoff

quote:

Originally posted by geoffbovey:
... is this set worth the expense?

If anyone could share their opinions on this, I would appreciate it! Thanks!

Geoff

Yes, the set is worth the expense! It is a great big SW set! I would say that about any SW set though, and so would most people at starwarscards.net. There are already thousands of SW cards, so there cannot be many unique shots left to capture on a card.

You should read chesspieceface' excellent review in the box breakdown thread.

If you just want something unusual/unique, you should get the Galactic Moments insert set - a beautiful black and white set of 20 cards.

Topps has the product information up now:

http://www.toppsonlinestore.co...pps-Star-Wars/Detail

It is not for sale yet, but should be sometime in November.
If you sign up to receive entertainment email alerts, you have a chance to win a $500 set.

They are up for sale now. At the link in Red 5's post above.

I haven't seen anyone posting about this: there is also a Galactic Files binder.
Shipping out of the US is $41.95.
I need someone in the US to order it for me and send it to me.

I bought the Galaxy 5 at Memorabelia - lets hope the dealers will have some Galactic files at Memorabelia this year. $41.95 for shipping??

We have a story on the blog today about the printing plate sets going on sale and how you sign-up for the shopTopps.com email list and be entered into a drawing to win one of the sets:

Galactic Files Printing Plate Set Sales Go Live; Sign Up for ShopTopps’ List For a Chance To Win A Set

When are they drawing a winner?

quote:

So again, it really is better the plates weren't in the packs, they absolutely would've flooded the market with them. This other method of selling them separately is preferable, although the price should be no higher than $350 for the set, perfect really since there are 350 of them. (I said $300 max earlier, but I didn't know about the additional exclusive card set that comes with each set of plates at that time).

Eh? Upper deck does fine with Marvel sets and plates @ around 1 per 6 boxes.

IMO, they would not have flooded but it's somewhat understandable being there are gold 1-of-1s or they could always pull a "Sports Bowman" and go all in with parallels.

There is no Upper Deck Marvel set that has 1,400 printing plates inserted in its packs, or even anything approaching that number, so there is no way to compare them.

If one set, any set, had 1,400 printing plates inserted into packs, they simply would not have the collectability factor printing plate cards have had in the past. Usually there are about 400 plates TOTAL. Galactic Files is an unusually large non sport set.