The Topps Company has announced that it will release a Star Wars Heritage trading card series in September.  The release will be timed to tie in with the heavily marketed Star Wars Trilogy DVD Box Set, which will street September 21st (see 'Star Wars Trilogy DVD Details Revealed'). 

 

Both sketch cards and autograph cards are planned for the series.  Topps included sketch cards in its recently released Clone Wars series (see 'Topps Has Clone Wars Cards'), the first time sketch cards had been used in a Star Wars series.  It sold out shortly after release, with many wholesale orders unfulfilled.  The aftermarket values of the Clone Wars sketch cards reached a peak of $865 for one card, with other values in the $400-$750 range. 

 

Topps' retro Heritage brand, developed for its sports lines, features vintage card designs printed on greyback stock and (wrapped) gum in every pack.  Star Wars Heritage cards will feature the same treatment, and include images from all six Star Wars movies, including preview images of  Star Wars:  Episode III.  Never-before-used images have been selected for each of the five previously released movies included in the set.

 

Topps plans to distribute over 1 million total Star Wars Heritage promo cards in support of the series, with six different designs tied to each of the six Star Wars films.  Here's the distribution plan for the promo cards:

Promo Card #1 (Phantom Menace) Star Wars Insider #78

Promo Card #2 (Attack of the Clones) StarWarsShop.com

Promo Card #3 (Episode III) San Diego Comic Con

Promo Card #4 (Star Wars) Non-Sport Update, Oct/Nov issue

Promo Card #5 (The Empire Strikes Back) Diamond Previews, July

Promo Card #6 (Return of the Jedi) GamePro, November

 

Topps will also be running print advertising and mounting a publicity campaign.