Tips for Star Wars Card Trader

For ongoing STAR WARS CARD TRADER posts and tips – click here.

A new app, a new game, a new conquest. Lots of really cool stuff for the game, and I know that not everyone is going to be familiar with how it works. I will do my best to piece together all the different tidbits of information I pick up, and will post them here. This page should serve as a comprehensive look at the nuance of the app.

Transmission Feed

This is the main space where all app news will be posted. You should read every article that is posted on the feed, as it will detail new packs, cards and award chases. If you avoid this part of the game, you will miss out. Plain and simple.

When something new hits the game, something will be posted in the Trasmission feed. Read it before you go diving in. Not only will it detail difficulty to achieve, but card count limits and other valuable information. THIS IS ESSENTIAL to be successful, as the level of detail with each set can be extreme.

Most of the articles have a space for comments, so definitely check it out. Users will talk about experiences with packs, trading and other general commentary, and you can post your own feedback there as well.

If you click the top of the feed, you can access a series of tips as well.

Credits / Coins

For this game, Credits (Coins for the other apps) are your main source of power. Because they provide the only way to open packs, its best to make the most of them. As of week 1, the daily bonus is 25,000 credits, although that could easily change. This means, for lack of a better way of putting it, you can open 5 of the 5k packs per day. That isnt a lot, because they have replaced the gameplay element of the app with much more of a focus on collectability. Without spending your coins wisely, you could easily find yourself out in the cold when a cool card is released.

Buying credits from the store can happen any number of ways. The larger the buy the more bang for your buck. As of October, the app has also offered the direct purchase of cards for a set price. Regardless of how you purchase, its best to be smart and determine the best way to spend. I will say this, buying is almost essential to making the most of your collection, but you can survive without it. Deciding against purchase will force your effort to be much higher, but you wont have to worry about the increasing costs for many of the top sets in the game. Just be prepared to understand that you cannot collect everything.

Master Access

By purchasing any coin bundle from the credit store, you will unlock Master Access until 5am EST the next day. This includes a bunch of new set packs that have more inserts in them, as well as new base packs. You will not get longer access for buying larger coin bundles.

Weekly inserts like Vintage and Widevision are put into the Master Base Packs early, but it is rarely worth it to chase them down in that format. They never sell out before hitting regular packs, so you shouldnt need to worry about missing out.

Also, certain sets will have parallels that are specific to master packs, make sure to read the transmissions closely so that you dont have to worry about opening packs that dont have the right card.

Smuggler’s Den

This is a feature of the game where you can build your collection through trading in lower rarities of base cards for higher ones, and also build ships and vehicles through the resources and schematics you can find in packs. There are certain inserts that are only attainable through the Den, and most of the time are only available for a limited time.

When items are “shredded” through the den’s features, anything traded in will no longer be a part of your collection. Not only that, but the shredded items are completely removed from the game and may never be available again. Be aware that shredding items comes with a lucrative reward in some cases, but it can also be costly.

Resources come in 9 different varieties, and can be obtained through packs in the cantina. They represent different building blocks needed for any number of items that can be constructed through Smugger’s den.

To see what is needed to build an item, all you have to do is go to the Smuggler’s Den part of the sheet and click on the item you want that has the den logo by it. It will bring up the shredding screen where you can view the necessary pieces needed to complete the offer.

The Den will continue to be a huge part of the game going forward, and I can see many different things being used to make it attractive to all the users. Only time will tell what the potential for this feature truly looks like.

Aside from building ships and claiming base variants, set awards have also been made available through the Den, which is a huge piece of completing a chase. Make sure to read the article on when you can claim the different cards that might be available through the den.

For more extensive looks at the Den – here are some posts that dive deeper:

Making Sense of the Smuggler’s Den Build Mode

Valuing Smuggler’s Den Variant Base

A Deeper Look at the New Smuggler’s Den

Card Structure (Series 1 and 2)

NOTE: As of January, Series 1 and 2 have been sold out and are no longer available. They have been replaced in packs with cards that feature a new design and are called Series 3.

For the first series of packs, the card structure was a bit different than the other Topps apps. In the sports apps, there are only 5 levels of cards (common, uncommon, rare, scarce, and super rare), but in SWCT, there were 7. These levels functioned as value indicators for a card’s worth, and can provide larger rewards as sets are built.

• White – the easiest card to pull
• Blue – a step up, can fall about one per pack
• Red – rarer card, usually one every other pack
• Yellow – rarest base card, and tough to pull
• Gold – Special base, only available in the 20k Darth Vader Pack
• Purple – Insert base, given to people who complete the scene collection (3 yellow, 1 gold) within 24 hours of release

There were also MANY base variants that were available, which number into the 20s in different types. They ranged from Green which were available at specific times for 500 credits per pack, all the way up to pay per purchase parallels like Saber cards which cost as much as 100 dollars per card.

Base parallels were numerous as explained above, and its STILL a good idea to familiarize yourself with as many of the parallels as possible. Each card remains valuable in some way and has a different exchange rate attached to them, mainly associated with the card counts and characters.

Here is a sample of what was offered previously:

• Green – Released in timed batches, one character at time
• Spectrum – Like green, released in timed batches, one character at a time
• Neon – Low count pay per purchase insert with only 5 cards per subject
• Saber – Low count pay per purchase inserts in multiple colors
• Monument – Available in the smuggler’s den on limited availability for people who have collected enormous amounts of a certain card
• Pink – Pack pulled insert limited to just 10 copies

Because of the character focused approach that SWCT has cultivated, the base variants have become sought after by individuals who want to continue their master set. Cost can be high, and the higher the cost, the more difficult the cards are to obtain. Even though the cards are retired, it doesnt decrease the value all that much.

Card Structure (Series 3 and Force Awakens Series 1)

As of January 2016, Series 3 was made available in packs, including a group of characters from the new movie. These cards have a structure that is different than the original series, and it can be confusing to equate value of the new cards versus the first two series. Most importantly, there are people who are still looking for the original set, but as a whole, the new cards are more valuable.

Here is the new structure:

• White – Common
• Blue – Uncommon
• Red – Rare
• Green – Scarce
• Orange – Super Rare (Master Packs Only)
• Purple – (Limited Preview Cards)
• Base Variants – Silver, Teal, etc.

Being that Orange has taken the place of golds, they are only available in the master packs, which makes them that much more difficult to obtain. Base variants also have moved to a more direct purchase structure, and its good to keep an eye out for deals on what those cards might be selling for.

Greens have taken the place of Yellow, but are no longer available in the pack that costs 5k per opening. That means that there will be less of them in circulation overall, as fewer people will open the Red pack than will open the blue pack.

Series 3 Expansion – 2016

In a bit of an unexpected move, Topps added to series 3 with a large expansion of the base cards, including a ton of additions to the Force Awakens grouping. It included more cards that had “spoiler-ish” type content, including ones for Luke Skywalker and Rey with a Lightsaber. These expansion cards have SIMILAR look to Series 3, but much bolder colors around a slightly different border. To the untrained eye, the expansion cards might look too similar, but the colors used in the different variants should give you the best clue outside of just looking at the card count on the back. All expansion cards have a much lower card count, as they have been in circulation for a considerably less amount of time.

Pack structure was initially more expensive for these cards, although its inconsistent with some insert packs now containing expansion content.

Hoarding

This is a user created element to the game that has become a huge focus for the entire app. To put it simply, some users have chosen a character and have looked to acquire as many of that character’s card as possible. Some hoards can number in the tens of thousands.

Hoarding can be as simple as trying to acquire the commons, to as high as trying to acquire as many of that character’s card period.

There are incentives for hoarding, as there are smuggler’s den exclusive cards that have been offered for shredding high amounts of a certain character at a given time. They range from monuments that take 1000s of base commons and other cards, to Pinks which take a hoard of golds.

Some users are identified by their hoard, as they have become infamous for collecting such a large amount.

Pack Structure (Series 3 and Force Awakens Series 1)

NOTE: As of January, with new base releases, SWCT unveiled a series of new packs. The packs are no longer modeled after characters, instead switching to colors.

As we have seen in the past, the pack structure is one of the more contentious parts of the app setup. Because packs can be such a big part of a user’s daily experience, there are a lot of people who will always have issue with the way they are launched in the store. Keep in mind that with a daily bonus of 25k credits, the packs you open become a measure of your success in the game.

Here are how packs are set up, but realize that just because you are opening an “Orange Pack” doesnt mean all the cards are of the orange parallel. Read carefully about the odds per pack before opening.

• White Pack (2500, 3 cards) – This pack only has white and blue cards in it, and only offers 3 cards. This is the equivalent of the Mace Windu pack from before, but with a higher cost for Series 3.
• Blue Pack (5000, 5 cards) – This is the equivalent of the old Boba packs, and has a small chance of pulling red along with the weekly marathon inserts that will be put into these packs. This is where most of the users who collect the sets like Vintage and Widevision will be spending most of their coins.
• Red Pack (7500, 7 cards) – This isnt actually a bad deal, considering you get the green parallel at 1% of cards in the pack, and you get an extra 2 cards. You are paying an extra 500 coins per card to get that access, but if you want the higher parallels, this is it.
• Green Pack (10k, 10 cards, MASTER) – If you have master access, this is the place to spend your coins if you are looking for greens. Instead of paying the extra 500 coins per pack to get access, we are back to the 1000 per card.
• Orange Pack (25k, 15 cards, MASTER) – Being that this is currently the only regular pack that has orange parallels, you will have to pay through the nose to get a shot. In all reality, this isnt a great pack to open for just collecting base cards. This will have early access to stuff like Vintage, but its best to just wait for it to hit the blue pack.

 

RETIRED: Pack Structure (Series 1 and 2)

Its best to familiarize yourself with the pack structure because it will help you to spend your coins more wisely. Wasting coins is easy to do, but it can be damaging to your ability to collect the right cards needed to unlock most of the rewards.

• Mace Windu Pack (1k – 3 cards) – Since the inserts have been removed from these packs, I would only advise opening these if you need white and blue base. Nothing more. Fan’s choice are still available in these packs.
• Asajj Ventriss Pack (RETIRED – 3k – 9 cards) – Again, with no inserts, the only reason to open these packs are for the commons. Fan’s choice are still available in these packs.
• Boba Fett Pack (5k – 15 cards) – This is your home base. Access to yellow cards at a low seeding rate of 1% is rough, but they are there if you open enough. Its worth paying the extra 2k for access to yellows. When inserts hit the packs, these will be your best option. Although Yoda gives you access to a higher yellow pull rate, its not worth it.
• Yoda Pack (10k – 5 cards) – This pack is only available after a coin purchase from the credit store. Im not a fan of this structure, but I understand why they did it. Higher seeding rates for yellows are good, but they are tough pulls. With only 5 cards in the pack, this is not the one I would open.
• Darth Vader Pack (20k – 15 cards) – Like Yoda, this is only available after a purchase from the credit store. That being said, the Yellow rates are super high, and its like getting a free Yoda pack with higher seeding plus access to Golds. I would buy this pack all day long if you are spending real money.
• Star Destroyer Pack (10 cards – 50k) – Mix of base and inserts. Offers a chance to pull releases from an array of different insert sets. Does not usually include marathon sets like Vintage or Widevision.
• Darth Sidious Pack (30k – 3 cards) – Golds and yellow cards only.
• Insert Packs (Varies) – These can go VERY fast, and usually cost about 5k and up. Its worth buying some of these packs if you can, as the seeding rates are good, and so many people will be opening them that the good cards should fall more often.

My suggestion is to wait to open packs until one of these two situations happens. First, if a new insert pack is released, hop to it before they sell out. If not, I would wait until about 7pm at night to open base packs, as the scene collection will be live, and more people will be online. You WANT to open packs when others are opening, trust me. It will help circulation, and you wont have to sort through as many dud packs as you would if you were the only one opening.

NOTE: Opening base packs at 3am is a bad idea. Try to open packs when more people are online.

Direct Purchase Releases

Being that apps are expensive and coins can easily be farmed by owning multiple accounts, cards offered through direct purchase through the credit store have become more common. Basically, instead of buying or spending coins to open a pack with small odds of getting the insert you want, direct purchase offers the inserts for a specific price. Sometimes, variants of marathons or base variants are ONLY available through direct purchase, and many can be very expensive.

Through the direct purchase process, Topps has to bank on the cards selling up to their value on the secondary market. In some cases that doesnt happen quickly, and discount sales can be offered. For every base variant release in Series 1 and 2, there was at least one discount offered, so if you are deciding on when to buy, that’s probably the best. If a card has a super low count, you might miss out if you wait, however.

Insert Structure

Inserts come in a few different varieties, which include Weekly, Base Variants, Places, and Ongoing chase sets. Weekly inserts are organized in a Marathon capacity, which means that for collecting every one, you will get a special award at week 10, 20 and 30. There will also be an award for collecting all 30.

In terms of the other cards, value can be determined by card count and pack odds. The higher the card count and higher the odds to pull, the more valuable they will be. We have also seen variant cards which may or may not also have their own awards, available at much more difficult pull rates.

Here are the list of weekly inserts so far:

WAVE 1 (EARLY 2015 – COMPLETE)

• Galactic Moments (MON release)
• Bounty (TUE release)
• Fan’s Choice (WED release)
• Vintage (THU release)
• Connections (FRI release)
• Widevision (SAT release)
• Topps Choice (SUN release)

WAVE 2 (NOVEMBER 2015)

• Making of Monday (MON release)
• 1977 Classic (TUE release)
• Fan’s Choice (WED release)
• Vintage (THU release)
• Film Quote Friday (FRI release)
• Widevision (SAT Release)
• Topps Choice (SUN Release)

NEW WAVE – (MID 2016)

• Prime
• Widevision
• Creatures
• Evolutions
• Droids
• Fan’s Choice
• Medallion (direct purchase only)

There are also set type inserts, which unlike the other apps, have rarity levels. So, there is a base version that will have a high card count limit, followed by any number of rarer levels with reduced card count limits.

Pay attention to all “number printed” or card count limits, as it will dictate how valuable the cards are more than anything in this game. With no gameplay element, rarity is almost everything. You can see an updated count on the back of the card, in the bottom left corner. This shows how many are in circulation at the moment. Cards with a sold out tag on the front have reached their card count limit and are no longer available in packs.

One of the newer things that is done with SWCT is that many of the weekly inserts are available in the Darth Vader packs ahead of the normal base packs. I would recommend waiting until they are fully released to the normal packs before attempting to pull them. When the article goes live in the transmission feed, do not start pulling the base packs until you read the full text. I have felt awfully stupid on numerous occasions trying to pull the card early.

Vintage is the most popular of any insert, and will sell out relatively fast depending on card counts. Be prepared on Thursday to be near your phone when the packs go live. You do not want to miss out on your chance. Other sets can come any time, so you just have to be ready. MAKE SURE to have push notifications turned on so you dont miss out on a release.

Marathons

Each of the weekly insert sets is tied to a chase that runs 30 weeks from the original release of the app. Of the 30 weeks, each leg consists of 10 weeks and composes all cards of that specific insert released during those timeframes.

By completing each leg of the marathon chase, you will earn a special award card, which is only given out to people who own every card at the time the award is given out. There is also an award for collecting all 30 weeks of a marathon, which means you should not trade away singles from previous legs unless you do not want to chase the big award.

Wave 1 completed in late 2015, and was closed out completely in December for the last set. Wave 2 was launched on Thanksgiving 2015, and included 4 new sets and a new 30 week chase for each of the seven designated marathons. The new Wave 2 sets are more structured around days of the week, and remain some of the most collected sets in the game.

For a checklist of each Marathon, see the links section in the top navigation bar.

Trading

You will not be able to be a top player without trading. Its one of the most important elements of the game, no doubt about it. Without trading, you will be left to buy your way through the game, when it is absolutely not necessary to spend that much. It takes time to trade, but its worth it.

• Start at the bottom and work your way up. You will get to open a lot of packs during the course of the game, so you will not need to shoot for the stars from the beginning.
• Go on the Storm Trooper Fan Feed and search out players that have a high trader score and a high collection score by their name. They will likely have a ton of duplicate cards and will trade you commons and boosts for next to nothing.
• Be conscious of who you are trading with! Some people will collect based on rarity alone, others will go for sets, while some just like their favorite character. If you can look at their collection, sometimes its easy to tell. This will help you make a better offer.
• Most of the apps function on collection in some way, and one of the main rules is to avoid making offers on single cards unless you are going to give them something they need of more worth. Dupes are plentiful, and if a card has a little number in the top right corner, it says how many copies of the card someone has. Just because someone has a dupe, DOES NOT mean its going for cheap. They just may be more likely to give it up in a trade that they get something of equal value.
• I would suggest against lowballing any player when it comes to high value cards. When it comes to lower value cards, lowball away. You never know, but be prepared to be ignored if you offer junk for nice stuff.
• Never offer more than one trade at a time to anyone. Give them time to respond to an offer before offering again.
• If a player declines your trade without a counter, I would not suggest offering again on that card for at least a few hours. No one likes being harassed.
• New inserts are always worth more than older inserts. If a new insert is released, it automatically becomes more valuable than older inserts of that same rarity. Dont expect to trade 1-1 for a new card with an old card. Some collectors are rabid, so they will overpay, and some collectors will hold out for a good offer.
• Dont offer a ton of trades with the same card involved. If one of the traders accepts, the rest of the trades are voided. Diversify your offers!
• Wave 1 Week one cards have a tremendous value increase for a number of reasons. Dont expect to get them very easily. They include, Vintage Han in the Millenium Falcon, WV Help Me Obi Wan, TC Jek Porkins, GM Ralph McQuarrie, Bounty Greedo, Connections Darth Sidious and Darth Maul. Each new leg of the marathon will have new week 1 cards that will likely carry more value.
• Hoarding will make some base cards tough to acquire. If you are looking to start a hoard, its best to find a partner(s) who are willing to unload some of their own cards for an equal amount of your own collection. You can usually trade 1:1 on each level of base when it comes to hoarders.

Trading can happen one of many ways, but the two most common are from the Storm Trooper fan feed, or from the main card sheet.

When trading from the fan feed, you will see a list of comments made by users offering trades. Click on the picture by their name and select “offer trade.” It will bring up their card sheet and you can select which cards you would like to make an offer on. For reference, the person making the offer usually has less leverage, so overpaying in value is almost expected.

You should sort by “Cards They Need” from the top right corner menu, as it will show you what you have that they do not. This is a big thing for helping make a good offer. I will warn you that non-base cards will trade for more value, and I would offer multiple good cards.

You can also trade from the “All Cards” main sheet, that details every card currently in the game. You can bring it up by clicking on the card logo on the far right bottom of the main Death Star home screen. It will bring up “My Cards” automatically, but you can switch to all cards by tapping the top bar. Clicking a card and then the trade logo at the bottom of the screen will bring up the blind offer menu. Select the cards you will give up and select up to 5 users to trade with. This is a very volatile process, so be prepared to get low ratings if you trade in this manner.

Ways of Staying On Top of the News

Here are a list of all the Twitter accounts you should follow, they will be well worth making a twitter account if you dont already have one.

• @ToppsDigital – main hub for news
• @ToppsJer – App producer for SWCT
• @ToppsKeith – Associate App producer for SWCT
• @IanHundiak – App producer for Topps Digital
• @Chris Vaccaro – Topps Digital Editor in Chief
• @ToppsBunt – Main account for the Baseball game
• @ToppsHuddle – Main account for the Football game
• @ToppsKick – Main account for the Soccer game

Even if you dont play along with the other apps, the accounts do tweet out valuable information.

If you have any questions – reach out to me in game under my main account SCUncensored. Say you are from the site, and I will do my best to respond. You can also tweet at me @SCUncensored, which is easily the best way to get a hold of me.