1980 Topps Empire Strikes Back

To coincide with the second installment in the original Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Topps released in two 132-card series and a final 88-card offering, Series 1, 2 and 3. Topps also created three series of stickers to accompany each series, 33 card in the first two series and 22 for the third, with one sticker card distributed 12-card pack. Series 1 begins with a title card and 12 “Star File” cards, each one featuring a primary cast member including new characters like Yoda (#9) and Boba Fett (#11). The following 100 cards show various scenes from the film outlined in red with a cloudy white border. Thirteen cards present the artwork of Ralph McQuarrie, listed as "Space Paintings" with two checklists rounding out the series. The numbered backs each feature text regarding the scene from the front.

Series 2 is also a 132-card collection with an additional 33 sticker cards that starts with a title card and then features 10 Spacecrafts followed by the heart of the set, story and characters cards, 12 behind the scene cards and finally two checklists. The second series is virtually identical to Series 1, but displays a blue border rather than red on the front and the numbered backs – continued from the first series (#133-264) – have trivia questions and answers on each. Series 3 on the other hand total only 88 in number and present a cloudy yellow border around a green outline of each scene. Once again, the first group of 16 cards focuses on specific characters, followed by the bulk of the series story and scene cards. Toward the end of Series 3 are a few artistic renderings from McQuarrie followed by a checklist, listing #265-352, to close out the set. Keys to this highly sought after set include most of the character cards including Luke Skywalker (#2), Princess Leia (#3), Han Solo (#4), Chewbacca (#5), See-Threpio (#6), Artoo-Deeto (#7), Lando Calrissian (#8), Yoda (#9), Darth Vader (#10), Boba Fett (#11) and Captor, Boba Fett (#210).