Topps and Star Wars in Starlog’s 1981 “Best of” Collection

It’s not overstating things to say that Star Wars changed everything about licensing. In Action Figures Not Included* I took time to explore how, after Star Wars, companies took more and more chances on movie licensing than they did before the film’s success. Before 1977, movies came and went too fast to be worth the cost of a license for toys, games, books, or other collectibles and entertaining products. Sure there were some licenses in action — Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Disney — but the general rule was: Avoid movie licenses.

This rule against licensing movies included trading cards . . . until Star Wars.

This article from the 1981 Best of Starlog #2 shows us how the success of Topps’ original Star Wars trading cards created a surge of movie-based trading cards in the late seventies and early eighties. Awesome data here for those of us who love to learn how things sold when they were released. Check the table in the article that offers sales comparisons between different card sets; I guess Disney’s The Black Hole just didn’t do all that well in any category.

Related articles

• Topps’ Star Trek Trading Cards Book (battlegrip.com)
• Black Hole Robot Concept Art in Starlog #35 (battlegrip.com)