I recently discovered my collection of topps star wars cards in the attic and am looking to complete the collection.
I noticed that some of the cards have one asterisk and some have two in front of the 20th Century Fox line at the bottom (front face) of the cards. Even some of my doubles have one and two asterisks. As I'm a perfectionist I need to know what they mean! Can anyone help? are they related to the print run or the date of printing etc.?

*= first print run

**= second print run

Btw, welcome to the boards

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jr2d2,

quote:

Originally posted by jr2d2:
First off, wrong section for this imo. I am sure someone will move it.

*= first print run

**= second print run

Btw, welcome to the booards

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We've had this conversation many times on this board and in the end I was able to conclusively say that the asterisks had nothing to do with print runs. How was I able to do that I hear you say - good question, glad you asked.
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I opened dozens of single sealed 1977 Star Wars wax packs that had cards featuring a combination of both 1 and 2 asterisks inside.
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I think in the end it was discovered that the asterisks related to the way the cards were cut when they were in sheet form.
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It was a while ago - does anyone else remember this conversation [thread]?
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Simon

* = Side A
** = Side B

Which is I believe Left and Right sides of the cutting sheet.
All cards will theoretically come in both versions, but not necessarily.

It was long believed to be print runs, but someone from the original printers cleared things up and it is a reference to the side of the sheet the card was on (helps the cutting of the sheets or whatever). If you have an uncut sheet, you'll find these should line up neatly together in groups.

As a true completionist you may have to try to get full sets of both, and tell us all if it is possible.

Most early Star Wars cards had multiple (more than 2) print runs. Most later Star Wars cards did not. There does not seem to be any good way to determine which print run an individual card is from.

The thing about card collecting, you learn something new every day

Hey Everyone,
Just to chime in...I am attempting to complete a * and ** set of vintage A New Hope (Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, and Orange). I'm seven cards short of a complete * set and 100 cards short of a ** set, with 10 coming in trade. I've found that Cathy's assertion that the later sets are harder to get to be correct. Over half of my ** needs (56/100) are from the Green and Orange sets. This being said, it does appear possible to get complete sets of * and ** through regular means, as I have not heard of any particular cards being short printed, other then generally overall with the later sets.

I'd like to know which side of the sheet the original #207 card came from though...if they were all on one side or the other or not.

Hope this helps....happy collecting!

hi everybody - it is indeed possible to complete a set of each with * or ** - I only have a few to go so if anyone has the following I would be happy to trade/buy from them to help me complete the completists list!!!!..

Star Wars Series 1 US – Blue set **
31,34.
Star Wars Series 4 – Green set *
213,217.
Star Wars Series 5 – Orange set *
306.

Anyone know if the same markings are on the OPC sets as I seem to need any awful lot of * but have a near set of **? (only need another 5!!)

Greg

With both * and ** sets to collect, I guess completing my collection is going to take a little longer than I first thought. Glad I asked the question though!
Thanks everyone for putting me on the right track

Here is another question regarding the * and **.
I have hundreds of vintage ESB and ROJ cards, some have * and some have **, but I can not find numbers with both.

For example, I have several ROJ cards # 90 with ** and several ROJ cards #91 with only one *, however I can not locate card #90 with one * and card #91 with two **

does anyone have the answer to this??

It's possible the changed their methodology of printing, and started ALWAYS having card 90 on the B side of the sheet. I never understood why a card would ever be on either side. I would have thought you printed a sheet one particular way, and never varied it.

Cathy,
Thanks for the information. There are a couple of people looking for the side A or side B versions of these cards. If we all knew that the vintage ESB and ROJ cards were printed on one side or the other, then we all can quit looking for these cards. I did come accross an ESB vintage sticker that had both one * and two **. SO... now I'm wondering if they printed the stickers differently then the cards.
Todd

IF we could find someone from the original printers, we would know. Those folks seem hard to come by these days.

All,
Posting my two cents worth ... It is most definitely possible to make the * and ** sets for the original Star Wars sets EXCEPT the orange set card # 306. I have completed all of the sets, to include the * and ** sticker sets, and I have concluded that the single * of card # 306 does not seem to exist. I even tracked down the Ebay auction with the "printer proof" and it was a **

Does anone have a single * 306?

djedi21,
question for you, have you done any collection with the * and ** with the vintage ESB and ROJ cards? I can find some stickers with both * and ** on them, however the cards seem to have either * or **, none of the cards that I have come across have both * and **.
Thanks for you input

Todd

To my knowledge, only the original 5 Star Wars sets were made with both the * and ** sets. I do not believe ESB and ROTJ were made the same way.

If I recall correctly, because I did a little research last time this came up, ESB and ROTJ cards each only come in one variety.

Edit: And DJedi21, you piqued my curiousity. I just dug through all my vintage for SW #306, the tally was eight **'s, zero *'s.

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

Seeker - Thanks for taking a look!!!

ALL COLLECTORS - Does anyone have a #306 with only 1 * ?!?!?!?!

jdedi21 and seeker,

Thanks for the information. I guessing that the vintage ESB and ROJ stickers are different then the commons since I do have ESB stickers with both * and **

The question of what the * and ** were all about has always baffled me. I was also of the belief that they meant first or second print run, but it seems that is not the case. I posted this question on NSU's CardTalk to see what those folks had to say. The link to the Topic is below. Hope this helps.

Non-Sport Update CardTalk * & ** Discussion

Hey and don't forget all the stickers...yup they come with both the * & **

I am one of those poor souls trying to collect both the * & ** sets ... have pitty on me *L* and see if you have anything I need ... then of course trade with me :^)

http://starwarscards.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1301036/m/7131048741

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

Wow. I just started getting into collecting these awesome sets of cards after scrapping together a large set of star wars ccg by decipher. I can't BELIEVE there is the difference with the two asterisks. I just almost finished the 2nd series from A New Hope and I was pretty excited about it. But there's still so much work to do...

For collecting, if you're just going to open the packs to complete sets and see the cards, how worth it is it to purchase a sealed box or even an open one vs just the loose packs? The card edges would obviously be less damaged, but the boxes are a bit more expensive. So, is it worth the cost?

I say it depends on yuor budget and how much of a perfect set you want. It has always seemed to me that first anh series 1 (blue set) was printed on thiner card and therefore got damaged more easilly than later sets from anh and the esb/ rotj sets. That may just be the cards I have managed to acquire though (currently sitting in a box waiting to be organised).