Topps The Empire Strikes Back Giant Photo Cards

A separate five-by-seven-inch format

Topps also released thirty oversized Empire Strikes Back photo cards in 1980. Each measures approximately five by seven inches, making this a separate product from the standard three-series card and sticker program. Its code numbers run from 1 through 30. The larger dimensions and image-led format are essential identification details because a photograph of Darth Vader, Yoda or Luke can appear on several unrelated editions.

Thirty numbered film photographs

The giant-card checklist begins with Darth Vader, Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca. Additional entries depict Han and Leia, a lightsaber confrontation between Vader and Luke, the Falcon, Yoda, Hoth combat and a cast photograph. The published titles are concise scene labels rather than full character biographies. They help match the image to a printed card number, but similar scenes on ordinary cards do not establish the same issue.

Two standard checklist backs and a test issue

The regular giant-card release uses checklist images on the backs. Cards 1 through 15 show miniature pictures for the first half of the checklist, while cards 16 through 30 show the second half. A separately documented test version instead uses text on the reverse. This is a genuine variation to investigate with matching physical examples, not evidence that every indexed photo card has two independently verified back images.

Why a reverse photograph matters

The same giant-card front can be encountered with a checklist-style back or a text-based test-issue back. The current IDS index contains thirty numbered subjects, not sixty authenticated variant records. A seller's description of an unusual back should be corroborated with a legible photo of that exact object. The gallery therefore identifies its existing sources without silently assigning an unverified test-edition back to any numbered card.

Thirty third-party front and reverse links

The structured checklist already supplies 30 front URLs and 30 reverse URLs from Trading Card Database. The catalog had incorrectly reported zero images even though these links were present. Correcting the metadata makes existing source coverage visible; it does not import or create images. These are external card scans, and their continued availability, correct front/back identification and reuse rights must be evaluated independently.

Two complementary collecting references

StarWarsCards.net provides the thirty-card sequence, the five-by-seven-inch format and the distinction between regular and test-issue reverse designs. Trading Card Database offers the numbered checklist and image references currently linked from individual IDS records. Both sources support the separation from ordinary 1980 Topps card packs. Neither alone proves a particular marketplace card's condition, price or provenance.

• StarWarsCards.net checklist
• Trading Card Database 5x7 card checklist and scans
• Star Wars Collectors Archive: original Giant Photo #1, standard and rare text-back test printing

Sources and editorial standards · All U.S. Star Wars card sets