Topps Chrome Star Wars Sapphire!

[Jsquared123]

Broke 4 more boxes tonight and probably done after this.

Hit base Luke, Leia and Vader

1 of the 4 boxes had a third parallel, 2 aquas and a green.

The top cards..





And the big dog…

[DaveedTO]

Originally Posted by Jsquared123

Personal preference IMO. I ripped a few boxes and inspected the better cards. Anything I want to PC that isn't super high value (under $500 or so) that looked good I am sending to SGC. Their slabs should really pop the cards, esp some of the parallels.

That being said, anything super high value I would probably send to PSA, especially if looking to potentially resell now or down the road.

There's a OVERGRADED SGC10, Topps Chrome Sapphire Star Wars Princess Leia Observes Battle #108 Orange #24/25 on eBay.

There's gold foil/stamp residue on the back.

Should be graded a SGC7??

[JoshMN]

Originally Posted by Jsquared123

And the big dog…

Dang. Big dog indeed. Nice!

[Jsquared123]

Originally Posted by DaveedTO

There's a OVERGRADED SGC10, Topps Chrome Sapphire Star Wars Princess Leia Observes Battle #108 Orange #24/25 on eBay.

There's gold foil/stamp residue on the back.

Should be graded a SGC7??

Maybe factory stamps are allowable as part of the card like a factory rough cut? Not sure what the protocol is there

[DaveedTO]

Originally Posted by Jsquared123

Congrats on the Tarkin 1/1!

[The Accountant]

Originally Posted by Jsquared123

Broke 4 more boxes tonight and probably done after this.

Hit base Luke, Leia and Vader

1 of the 4 boxes had a third parallel, 2 aquas and a green.

The top cards..





And the big dog…

There you go!!! Niceeeeee

[Kullster]

It will be interesting to see the pop reports from each of the main grading companies on Star Wars Sapphire. I got my first dozen or so singles in the mail and searched for the roller lines that everyone was mentioning. All of the fronts were perfect and the backs appeared to be fine at first glance. When you put the backs at a certain angle and under magnification or bright light, the lines are visible. Many of them. If they stay consistent, it could be 15% or less 10's if they count the lines as a surface defect. However, they could also categorize it as a printing imperfection and say it doesn't detract from the look of the card and give 85% or more 10's. PSA hasn't added it to their pop report yet. SGC has graded 17 of them and the breakdown is 10 10's, 5 9.5's, and 2 9's.

[Jsquared123]

Originally Posted by The Accountant

There you go!!! Niceeeeee

Thanks! I gotta say.. if all the 1/1s have a surface like this, we won’t see any in a 10 holder or even a 9. It’ll be on the bay tonight. Doing my best to call out the imperfections

[The Accountant]

Originally Posted by Jsquared123

Thanks! I gotta say.. if all the 1/1s have a surface like this, we won’t see any in a 10 holder or even a 9. It’ll be on the bay tonight. Doing my best to call out the imperfections

You weren’t kidding.. cmon topps

[JohnJones]

Originally Posted by Jsquared123

Fantastic! Color match! Stunning card. Congrats man!

[Brobocop]

Crazy how card title > photo. A base Luke #1 ended for $310 yesterday while a peridot Luke in Disguise ended for $330. Basically the same exact photo. I sent my Obi-Wan Gold to SGC for poops and giggles, be curious to see what it comes back at.

[dd316]

I have to admit I was very wrong about the popularity of this set. But I do have to question what's driving the aftermarket sales on these? Is it long-time Star Wars collectors, or sports guys riding the wave over from the Marvel explosion? I'm seeing a lot of new names in this thread, just curious what's going on.

It doesn't hurt that the cards look beautiful, but there is some SERIOUS money being spent on them.

[Archangel1775]

I really only buy into group breaks of Star Wars Stellar for the Autographs and original 5x7 sketches. This is the first and only set(as of now) I'm collecting this year between all sports and non-sports. I dig it.

[sengara]

Originally Posted by dd316

I do have to question what's driving the aftermarket sales on these? Is it long-time Star Wars collectors, or sports guys riding the wave over from the Marvel explosion? I'm seeing a lot of new names in this thread, just curious what's going on.

I'm a new name around here. I'm a Pokémon collector primarily. Just like many, I'm a big Star Wars fan. But I've never been a SW collector. Toys don't really appeal to me and sets like Galaxy and Masterworks just never had any allure. In Pokémon, reprints of older cards are often viewed favorably and are quite desirable (Base Set 2 being the exception). Sets like Legendary Collection, Evolutions, and certain cards in other sets have always done really well as reprints of Base Set. For SW Sapphire, I like the modern design, the parallels, and the rarity - this set has all of the traits that I would value in a Pokémon set (although Pokémon has alternate arts rather than numbered parallels. Numbered Pokémon cards are and would be enormously expensive).

I am looking to buy boxes at these prices, although I probably won't be buying boxes if it goes up to 2k. I'll still be trying to complete my base set and acquire as many Aqua and Peridot cards as I can though. The main thing I would pay significantly for would be Luke parallels, and if any more Aqua Luke #1s come for auction I'll definitely be a contender. I'm picking up base Lukes, Leias, and Vaders also. We'll all see if it pays off for everyone, and of course this set can't really be compared to anything in Pokémon, but from my experiences as a collector I like what I'm seeing here.

[JoshMN]

Originally Posted by dd316

I have to admit I was very wrong about the popularity of this set. But I do have to question what's driving the aftermarket sales on these? Is it long-time Star Wars collectors, or sports guys riding the wave over from the Marvel explosion? I'm seeing a lot of new names in this thread, just curious what's going on.

It doesn't hurt that the cards look beautiful, but there is some SERIOUS money being spent on them.

I'm a sports cards guy and a huge Star Wars fan. No real interest in other non-sports stuff and the only Star Wars cards I had before buying these are the original series that Sapphire is based on (originals pulled from packs my parents bought for me back in the day). So for me it is a strong nostalgia play combined with the enthusiasm around the Sapphire brand- I've been scoping these since people started mentioned the possibility of them in the Montgomery thread months ago (even though I don't collect non-sports).

I don't even think my interest in SWS will lead to a lot of other Star Wars card buying unless the sets are based on Episodes 4-6, but who knows. For sure, will likely be trying to grab the installments of SWS through Empire Strikes Back.

[Jsquared123]

Originally Posted by JohnJones

Fantastic! Color match! Stunning card. Congrats man!

Thank you!

[Jsquared123]

Originally Posted by Brobocop

Crazy how card title > photo. A base Luke #1 ended for $310 yesterday while a peridot Luke in Disguise ended for $330. Basically the same exact photo. I sent my Obi-Wan Gold to SGC for poops and giggles, be curious to see what it comes back at.

Ya those were mine. The #1 underperformed and the peridot kinda overperformed IMO.

I sent a bunch of base and lower end parallels to SGC too. Some have those very faint lines on the back and some dont. Curious to see how they come out.

I will be very pleased with 9s on those with the faint lines and hopefully 9.5s or 10s on the ones without. Given the quality problems of this set so far, I don't think a 9 is anything to sneeze at and "should" sell for more than raw considering ebay/camera phone pics aren't the best at capturing all the little surface issues that plague this set.

[JoshMN]

Originally Posted by dd316

It doesn't hurt that the cards look beautiful, but there is some SERIOUS money being spent on them.

I'd also add that I was only planning to grab a box or two for fun, but after seeing the actual cards and hearing the print run I was all in.

[k13]

Originally Posted by dd316

I have to admit I was very wrong about the popularity of this set. But I do have to question what's driving the aftermarket sales on these? Is it long-time Star Wars collectors, or sports guys riding the wave over from the Marvel explosion? I'm seeing a lot of new names in this thread, just curious what's going on.

It doesn't hurt that the cards look beautiful, but there is some SERIOUS money being spent on them.

You can get older chrome numbered parallels for almost nothing.

No one will want this crap in the future.
Another pump and dump.

[eldavojohn]

Originally Posted by k13

You can get older chrome numbered parallels for almost nothing.

No one will want this crap in the future.
Another pump and dump.

You know, there's an in between, right? I do think we are at/were at peak SWS but it also very much depends on what you're talking about.

I hope to one day own a Luke #1 for under $20. That's probably a pipe dream but who knows, in a few years if they get down to $50 I might get on it.

But I assure you I will always want this crap, just at 1/10th the current going rate.

[JohnJones]

Originally Posted by k13

You can get older chrome numbered parallels for almost nothing.

No one will want this crap in the future.
Another pump and dump.

LOL ok collect what you like, we won't judge...

[Archangel1775]

Originally Posted by k13

You can get older chrome numbered parallels for almost nothing.

No one will want this crap in the future.
Another pump and dump.

1999 Archives didn't have parallels. As mentioned above, the OG factor and serial numbered parallels make a huge difference. There are certain Leia's that I'd pay a couple thousand for but everything else I'm priced out of myself. So I don't mind that prices fall, I need many of them, but I don't believe they drop immensely, if at all. For preference, I like the Aqua Leia's, peridot Lukes, Gold Leai's,C3PO's and of course, anything Vader Red that I wont be able to afford.

[Ferg1945]

As others have mentioned. Huge Star Wars fan. Born in 1975, movie released 2 years later. It's easily one of my top 5 movies of all time... probably my #1. I could watch it every day and not get tired of it. It's one of those movies that if I'm watching something else and I check the guide and see Episode 4 started 20 minutes ago.... I completely abandon what I was watching and watch EP 4 till its over.

The 1977 Topps Series 1 Blue set has been an Iconic set for last 45 years. Back in 2017 I picked up as many Series 1 40th anniversary buy backs that I could. I posted a picture earlier of my 2 favorites I still have. The only other Star Wars cards I collected before Sapphire was 2015 Tek. Loved those cards. I really have had no desire to collect any other Star Wars cards since. I'm not a sketch card fan and the good autos are impossible to pull. The base were boring to me. 1977 is not...it's iconic.

I ended up opening my 3 boxes last night and I'm glad I did. They were so much fun to open. I didn't hit a huge card and my initial thought was... I could sell most of this and just buy a few more boxes. Well... I'm going for the set because the cards are so incredible that I would prefer to own this set instead of looking at sealed boxes. If I complete the set, I might look to pick up a box to hold.

[metallicalex777]

Originally Posted by Jsquared123

Ya those were mine. The #1 underperformed and the peridot kinda overperformed IMO.

I sent a bunch of base and lower end parallels to SGC too. Some have those very faint lines on the back and some dont. Curious to see how they come out.

I will be very pleased with 9s on those with the faint lines and hopefully 9.5s or 10s on the ones without. Given the quality problems of this set so far, I don't think a 9 is anything to sneeze at and "should" sell for more than raw considering ebay/camera phone pics aren't the best at capturing all the little surface issues that plague this set.

I was the winner of your base Luke #1, so know it is at least going to someone who drastically needs it to finish the set

Like others, I'm one who is jumping in to buying boxes and base to build the set. I've collected Star Wars through many short lived hobbies such as action figures and Lego (still have them all, we are a Lego family here).

Although my main hobby is baseball cards, I've never had a desire to go after Star Wars cards. Being involved with Sapphire over the recent years as an MC member, I've always appreciated the look and quality, but nothing out of those products hit any of my PC areas of focus.

When Star Wars Sapphire came out, there were multiple reasons that jumped me on board for collecting this set:

• I've never followed through with completing a chase set...I made a self challenge to do this one as I was able to justify that it is tied to my childhood (Episodes 4, 5, and 6), tied to my early stages of card collecting (came across the vintage set often as a kid), and tied to my early to current adult hood years as a baseball card hobbyist.
• Topps moved away from the current traditional royal blue and gave it a lightsaber blue...REALLY aesthetically amazing choice to go with.
• The images are still vintage, yet more modern...similar to how we see movies at home these days in HD/4K/Utra BazillionK, etc)
• Clearly, each card in the set has value...there are no penny cards nor single dollar cards.
• Although we can all think how prices fall, economy falls, etc. I don't care about those reasons now that I have true physical experience opening boxes to build a base set and making successful trades and purchases with members here/close to here.

[eldavojohn]

Originally Posted by Ferg1945

As others have mentioned. Huge Star Wars fan. Born in 1975, movie released 2 years later. It's easily one of my top 5 movies of all time... probably my #1. I could watch it every day and not get tired of it. It's one of those movies that if I'm watching something else and I check the guide and see Episode 4 started 20 minutes ago....

But how would you know that Luke just wanted to waste time avoiding chores at Tosche station if you always start the movie there?!?!