Star Wars is at the forefront of the world’s pop cultural phenomenons and was able to take advantage of every type of emerging product in the 70s and 80s leading to more success, popularity, and money for the franchise. With a niche group of fans who want to collect the oldest and most historic Star Wars memorabilia, there’s an interest in the Star Wars trading cards of the late 70s. From the evolution of baseball cards which began sometime around the 1930s, Topps Chewing Gum Inc. began expanding its cards to depict movies, television shows, and more to help bolster sales.
It’s not surprising that Star Wars released trading cards as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Because many of these cards have been lost to time, and the lack of foresight of everyone who was buying these cards and not preserving them, collectors are willing to pay quite a bit for mint condition examples. Let’s take a look at the top 5 most valuable Star Wars trading cards of all time.
5. Luke Skywalker #1 1977 Star Wars Wonder Bread
Luke Skywalker, from the Wonder Bread series, starts things off. Although the Topps trading cards were the standard, that didn’t stop other companies from printing promotional cards whenever they could secure licensing. This promotional set was only available, as you might have guessed, inside specially marked loaves of Wonder Bread. Since this set was meant to increase sales of a food product, there were only 16 cards made in total.
These are different from the Topps cards in a few distinct ways. The front side has a yellow bottom section with the name of the card and a blue section on the right with the Star Wars logo. The backside has some text that adds further detail to the picture on the front of the card and at the very end, the number of the card is written out. This card reaches a current average of $2,000 in PSA-graded 10 Gem mint condition.
Related: All Star Wars TV Shows, Ranked on The Mary Sue
4. 1977 Topps Star Wars Artoo-Detoo, The Little Droid R2-D2
The adorable droid, Artoo-Detoo aka R2D2, is another fan-favorite character who caught the endearment of fans of all ages. In his trading card form fans get to have a nice full-body shot of the droid as he stands amongst the dusty mountains. This card is from the 1977 Topps first series set and is the perfect collectible for any Star Wars fan who has a soft spot for this hard hunk of droid. This card reaches a current average of $5,000 in PSA-graded 10 Gem mint condition.
3. Darth Vader #5 1977 Star Wars Wonder Bread
As one of pop culture’s most iconic villains of all time, Darth Vader needs to be on this list, otherwise he might have something to say about it! Darth Vader’s face and helmet are the focus here, and the slight tilt back of his head reveals just enough of his features catching the nearby light. It’s also easy to identify the background of this image, but we’ll let the true fans name it instead of giving it away. This card reaches a current average of $5,000 in PSA-graded 10 Gem mint condition.
2. Han Solo Space Pirate #4 1977 Topps Series 1
Han Solo’s card in the Topps Series 1 set is the second most popular card currently, and that’s also understandable due to the character’s charm and persona. Being the pilot of the Millennium Falcon and best buds with Chewbacca, Han Solo is just as iconic as Luke. His card has him in his classic blaster pose with a finger on the trigger ready to fire on any enemy belonging to the empire. This card reaches a current average of $7,000 in PSA-graded 10 Gem mint condition.
1. Luke Skywalker Rookie Card Star Wars Series #1
Luke Skywalker at number one should be the most obvious card demanding the highest value. He is the poster child of the original series and a fantastic character at that. The titular hero, his story is the emphasis of the original trilogy and has a deep complexity that rivals many characters of this day. This Skywalker rookie card is #1 from the Topps Star Wars series 1 set that was released in 1977. This card reaches a current average of $55,000 in PSA-graded 10 Gem mint condition.
And there you have it — the top 5 most valuable Star Wars trading cards of all time. Star Wars is one of the world’s first science fiction pop culture phenomenons, and it’s nothing short of amazing how it still remains relevant today amidst all the controversy after the new movies were released. One thing’s for sure, Star Wars continues to captivate space adventurers who are eager to explore a galaxy far, far away.
