On the sports side of the hobby, autographs have been fairly common since the mid-1990s when companies started making products with them promised in every box or even pack. The first autographed Star Wars trading cards with actor signatures didn't come along until 2001. In a similar fashion, high-end sports products have been in fashion for about a decade in some form or another. While there have been plenty of high-end Star Wars cards over the years, 2015 Topps Star Wars Masterwork is the first product to take on a truly high-end mentality. Everything from the base cards to the inserts are of premium quality. And they should with single-packs (done as mini boxes) going for well over $50 each at the time of release. Keeping with the premium mentality are the 2015 Topps Star Wars Masterwork Autographs, which combines several high-end elements.
Shop for 2015 Topps Star Wars Masterwork Autographs on eBay.
Autographs are inserted one per master box of four packs. The checklist has 40 signers, which is big. Among them are most of the key actors from the original trilogy including Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill. On the first day of the set's release, a Harrison Ford autograph was snatched up very quickly on eBay for a nickel short of $1,300 with a Buy It Now. Given sales of Ford cards from earlier products, this is probably on the low side. That said, even though they're all extremely rare, Ford autographs have been included in several products now and may not be as prestigious as they once were.
All of the basic autographs in 2015 Topps Star Wars Masterwork are signed on-card. This is a rarity in recent years where most signed cards have been done with stickers.
Besides basic autographs, all of the cards have four parallels. Metal Frame cards are numbered to 28. Foil Autographs are limited to 25 copies or less. The rarest are Canvas (#/10) and Wood, which are all one-of-a-kind.
There are three redemptions among the 2015 Topps Star Wars Masterwork Autographs: James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels and Matt Sloan.
Below is a gallery of all the live autographs in the set.
2015 Topps Star Wars Masterwork Autographs Gallery
Click on the links or images to shop for specific cards or check current market values on eBay.
Angus MacInnes as Jon "Dutch" Vander
Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
Caroline Blakiston as Mon Mothma
James Earl Jones as Darth Vader
Julian Glover as General Veers
Wayne Pygram as Grand Moff Tarkin
Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian
Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa
Dermot Crowley as General Madine
John Ratzenberger as Major Bren Derlin
Kenneth Colley as Admiral Piett
Michonne Bourriague as Aurra Sing
Oliver Ford Davies as Sio Bibble
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