How Topps' 'Star Wars' Trading Cards Took the Galaxy by Storm (No Thanks to C-3PO)

Back in 1977, as Star Wars blew up in the zeitgeist, iconic scenes from the film were plastered on everything: books, records, posters, lunchboxes. Perhaps the most popular and enduring ephemera created during that period were the Star Wars trading cards by Topps. The publisher, best known for sports cards, had a spotty track record with the pop-culture lines produced by its New Products Division. One of the in-house editors, Gary Gerani, pushed hard for the company to take a flier on Star Wars, which went on to become one of Topps’ all-time sellers. To coincide with the release of his new book, Star Wars: The Original Topps Trading Card Series Volume One (Abrams), which reprints all the cards, stickers, and related material from the initial 1977-78 lines, Gerani revealed to Yahoo Movies the genesis of the trading cards, the mistakes that made it to print (including a legendarily bawdy C-3PO), and how the legacy of those cards extends to The Force Awakens.