Topps - US - E1: Widevision Retail Edition (1999)

Two sets were part of the initial release of Phantom Menace merchandise; a hobby set, and a retail set.

This set is in the now famous Topps Widevision format. This format is terrific for movie photo cards, as it allows images from the film to be presented without cropping. It also gives a lot more room on the backs of the cards for information. Adding to the fun of this set is a great color scheme and well-designed card backs.

The cards were printed on 20-point stock with a UV coating. There are 80 cards in the set, featuring movie highlights and character profiles. The cards follow the general plot of the film.

The chase cards are where this set seems to get interesting. In the past, we have seen between 6 and 10 chase cards, usually chrome cards. It looks like the retail version of this set will instead have 16 sticker cards, and 10 mirror-board cards. I happen to think this is great for kids and collectors alike. Hologram cards look neat, but lets face it, kids could care less. Stickers however are a great bonus in any card set, and a nice flashback to the past. The stickers for this set have one odd quirk, the word "peel" appears in the top right-hand corner of each sticker. The stickers are beautiful with character images within film settings. Sticker backs show the same character. If the stickers is peeled, the image on the back could be considered a card with a blank white back. The mirror-board cards are equally nice, with each featuring a characters face above a character scene and the characters name. The cards are shiny, but don't have the image depth of a chrome card.

The card set has 5 wrapper variations.

This card set was distributed by the pack at $1.99 per pack for 8 cards. Topps pre-printed the price onto the wrappers, which should discourage stores that tend to overcharge. In addition to being available in packs, the cards were also being distributed in collectible tins. 5 tins are available (Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon Jinn, Amidala, Anakin, and Darth Maul). Each tin contains 7 packs of cards. Additionally, each tin contains one of five special oversize chrome cards. Tins have a recommended price of $19.99, and are well worth the price in my opinion.

This is a great card set, and one that every collector and Star Wars fan will enjoy. Topps has done an excellent job with this set, demonstrating how truly great Star Wars cards can be for the second time this year (see the Chrome Archives set for another great example).

Thanks to Josh Charles for help filling in some of the blanks on my checklist.

A big thank you to many people for quickly identifying the F6 card as Watto, previously listed as needed. :o) There are far too many names to list, but the information is still much appreciated.