Star Wars: a New Hope
‘Star Wars: a New Hope’ playing cards to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film Star Wars, USA, 2007.
This pack was produced by Cartamundi in a limited edition of 5000 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film Star Wars, released in 1977 and which has since become a worldwide pop culture phenomenon and one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
The cards feature every aspect of the original motion picture, including concept paintings and drawings, models and costumes used in filming, storyboard art, and rare behind the scene photos and designs. Each card features a main and secondary image, below which is a short text describing both. The pack includes three jokers which replicate different original posters for the film (all designed by Ralph McQuarrie). The pack comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, with the attractive tuck box seated in a black flip-top presentation case. See the case and box►
The nine of diamonds shows the Y-Wing Starfighter. A model of an X-Wing Fighter from the original Star Wars film was recently put up for auction. See the Guardian Mon 11 Sep 2023: Long-lost Star Wars X-Wing model to be auctioned, bids starting at $400,000►
By Peter Burnett
Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
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