A major milestone...but issues...and Star Wars!

I've been trying to figure out how to post about this for several days, as my scanner just cannot handle these cards. It's a good scanner, but it can't do some things- Upper Deck cards from 1997-99, or lenticulars, for instance.

Of course, this entire set happens to be lenticular.

The 3Di sets are incredible in hand, but for some reason they issue them only on Topps' website- and they are very expensive. About $2.50 per card. At least you are guaranteed a complete set when you buy them...but the set is only 44 cards.

They did one for Return of the Jedi either last year or late 2013, but I missed it totally. I was going to pass on this set for Revenge of the Sith as well but my mom would have nothing of that.

I don't know if it's just geographical convienence or not, but it arrived to me the day after the order was placed.

I was a little closer than I thought, but the first card shown here is a MAJOR milestone for me- it's my 10,000th non-sports card! Fitting, as my FIRST non-sports cards, back in 1988, were Star Wars cards, actually the duplicates my brother got new in 1977. Star Wars takes up the largest portion of my non-sports collection, but I don't have an exact count of how many of those 10,000 are Star Wars. I used to have that sort of info, but being scatterbrained as I am, I lost it. Someday I will have to recount them and find out. I am just glad I have the running total of all of them. I also know I have more out there somewhere, but I don't know where/what cards, so the number isn't perfect. For example I know I broke a box of the Skybox Archie cards back in the 1990s, and there is more Star Wars I remember having, but have not been able to find in years.

The Lightsaber battle was my target in the second photograph, but the card on the stack above shows the 3-D affect much better. I took a photo of that as well, but it was not usable (blurry), so since I didn't think I needed it in this picture, I didn't get it all in frame. Figures, right?

In each set you are guarenteed to get two "hits". I'm much more into base cards but I did happen to get my first Star Wars autograph, and only my second non-sports autograph overall.

 I like the fact that they kept it in-continuity for the card. Being non-lenticular I was able to scan the two inserts.

I also got a sketch. I have no idea who the artist is.The signature on the back looks like it says "none" or "Jcone" or something along those lines. For some reason most Star Wars sketches are black and white, very few use color. My brother is a talented artist, and I'm trying to convince him to do sketch card work.
Each sketch card is a 1/1, by the way. However, there are enough sketches made so that every set includes one. Only 2000 sets were produced, and I got set #84, which is numbered on the box, but not the cards.

The cards come in a box with a cool embossed cover...

So, I am very glad I got the set- the 3Di cards are some of the most visually stunning cards ever made- but I am disappointed that I am not able to properly document them with scans. At least, not yet. When I replace my Epson scanner someday, I will be able to get proper scans then, as it scans them perfectly. Unfortunately the Epson scanner is on it's last legs and scanning these cards would be essentially impossible right now.

I am also very glad to hit the 10,000 mark for non-sports cards. Although I ignored them for years I began with non-sports and collected them exclusively from 1988-1992. And since I got back into them circa 2009 I have enjoyed them more than sports cards most of the time.

It's also pretty cool to have pulled an autograph as well. (there was no guarantee on them, well- you had about a 50-50% chance of pulling an autograph or manu-relic) But I pulled the autograph, the first one I've pulled for non-sports ever. (The other one I have was a promo/incentive that came with a binder, I'll show it someday) Unless you count the three in-person ones I got at the comic convention a month or so ago...but since they aren't issued cards I am not sure if those count. (They are counted towards the 10,000 however)