Recommended music: Muse – Starlight
This #StarWarsSaturday, we’re still looking ahead to the 10th anniversary of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in December. Check out these trading cards from Topps Star Wars: Rogue One: Mission Briefing!
Topps released the Rogue One: Mission Briefing trading card set in September 2016 to get both longtime and new fans excited for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The base set includes 100 cards covering stories from Episodes I to VI and the animated series of that era, highlighting major events such as the creation and destruction of the Death Star.
In addition to the base set, parallels, and autographs I’ve already talked about, packs from this set also included patch cards, sketch cards, and several insert sets like Character Stickers, Comic Strips, Heroes of the Rebel Alliance, Montages, The Death Star, and Villains of the Galactic Empire. I’ll share more details about the set next week. For now, I want to focus on four cards that dive deeper into the story from Star Wars Rebels.
Before Rogue One and later projects like Solo and Andor came out, Star Wars Rebels played an important role by connecting the prequel and original trilogies. The show explored the galaxy under Imperial rule and showed how the Rebel Alliance began. It also added to the Star Wars universe by introducing new Force mythology, such as the World Between Worlds, and gave some closure to well-known Clone Wars characters, such as Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex (or so we thought).
Most importantly, the show introduces the popular Ghost crew, including Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn. Their stories help set up future adventures in the current live-action “Mando-verse” era.
The story captured in these four cards is from the end of Rebels season 2, when the Ghost crew orbits the planet Geonosis, seen in Attack of the Clones and Clone Wars, and discovers remnants of an Imperial orbital construction project: the Death Star. The cards don’t show it, but there’s also a great side story where Zeb and Imperial Agent Kallus get stranded together on Geonosis’ frozen moon after a rebel mission fails. Injured and stuck, these two enemies have to work together to survive the cold and dangerous creatures.
Even though Kallus was involved in the tragedy that struck Zeb’s people, being stuck together leads them to respect each other. They help each other stay warm and fight together, realizing that neither side is exactly what they thought. When help finally comes, the difference is clear: the Ghost crew welcomes Zeb warmly, but the Empire treats Kallus with cold indifference. Alone in his quarters, a bruised and solitary Kallus is visibly disillusioned, marking the turning point that sets up his eventual switch to the Rebellion.
Yes, The Mandalorian & Grogu movie is still playing in theaters, along with Masters of the Universe. If you haven’t seen them yet, try to catch them on the big screen before they’re gone. I’m looking forward to another Star Wars anniversary coming up, so I’ll be back next Saturday with more Star Wars talk!
#RogueOne10
#RogueOneAStarWarsStory
#TheMandalorianAndGrogu
#ToyPhotography
Dale's Toys 