1996 Topps Star Wars 3Di Widevision Trading Cards
Product Details
3D has long been a gimmick to help sell many things. For trading cards, it's a selling point that has been around for a long time in various forms. In the mid-1990s, about a decade before it took a stranglehold on movie theaters, card companies were experimenting with the technology again. 1996 Topps Star Wars 3Di Widevision was intended to be the first of multiple 3D Star Wars sets. Things didn't quite work out that way. However, like a lot of sets that are under-produced and ignored when first released, 1996 Topps Star Wars 3Di Widevision has held onto its value very well. Today, it's one of the most valuable 1990s base sets for an entertainment release.
The 1996 Topps Star Wars 3Di Widevision base set consists of 63 cards. Like the regular Widevision set released a year earlier, cards are over-sized, much like the tall boy format. The 3D look is the star as far as design and content. Besides the main image, fronts have a simple ribbon with the Star Wars logo. Card backs have a small writeup, a generic background image and a preview of the next card. These don't show nearly the same depth (pun not intended) as the original Widevision cards that doubled as an extensive behind-the-scenes look at the franchise.
Every box has a sample card attached to it. Originally intended for display, every base card has one. These cards hold collectible value as collectors work on their master sets.
With the premium format of the base cards, Topps must not have felt the need to do much in the way of inserts. The set has just one, a MultiMotion card showing the Death Star exploding.
While promos were made for 3D sets of both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, it wasn't meant to be. ESB was finally made, but more than a decade later. A RotJ 3D Widevision set still hasn't been produced. The only other film in the franchise to get a similar treatment was Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Easier to find than this set, it was released in 2000.
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Set Checklist
1996 Topps Star Wars 3Di Widevision Checklist
Base Set Checklist
2 Pursuit in Space
3 Droids in Crossfire
4 A Princess Strikes Back
5 Release of the Escape Pod
6 Toward Tatooine
7 Jawas in Hiding
8 Enter Luke Skywalker
9 The Leia Hologram
10 Spotting Sandpeople
11 Attacked by Tuskan Raiders
12 Rescued by Ben Kenobi
13 A Message for Help
14 Power of the Dark Side
15 Fate of the Lars Homestead
16 Cantina Denizens
17 Meet Han and Chewie
18 Alerting the Sandtrooper
19 Preparing for Space Travel
20 Escape from Tatooine
21 Han Solo in Command
22 Jumping into Hyperspace
23 Target: Alderaan
24 Laser of Destruction
25 Leia's Ordeal
26 Destruction of a Planet
27 Lightsaber Practice
28 Approaching the Death Star
29 Drawn into Danger
30 Heroes in Hiding
31 Accessing Imperial Data
32 Luke's Rescue Plan
34 Han Solo's Bluff
35 Trapped in the Alcove
36 Trash Compacter Peril
37 The Power Generator Trench
38 Shoot Out in the Shaft
39 Swinging to Safety
40 When Jedi Clash
41 "Run Luke, Run"
42 Escaping the Death Star
43 "I Can't Believe He 's Gone"
44 Skirmish in Space
45 "Got Him, I Got Him"
46 Destination: Yavin
47 The Rebel Hideout
48 Briefing the Rebels
49 X-Wings Away
50 Assault on the Death Star
51 Monitoring the Battle
52 Vader in the Trench
53 "Targets Coming Up"
54 Artoo Hanging On
55 Blasted by Vader
56 Luke Uses the Force
57 Surprise Attack
58 Vader's Final Stand
59 Solo to the Rescue
60 Death Star Departure
61 The Victorious Rebels
62 Honored for Their Bravery
63 Heroes of the Rebellion
MultiMotion Checklist
Promo Card Checklist
3Di2
Laurie
Sorry, I should have specified – of the Star Wars set (not ESB, etc)