The first printing of this set, in England by rotary gravure, had the serial number GK247/3. The sheet shown above is from the Italian litho reprint, L46/1. The two versions of the sheet were laid out slightly differently, but used the same artwork. Personally, I always prefer gravure transfers to litho…
The reason for the reprint is that Letraset were caught by surprise by the popularity of their Star Wars products, which John Hunt (Brand Manager at the time) told me were their most successful ranges.
The first printing was ready by January 1978, as we know from their appearance at the January Toy Fairs.
This is discussed on the Stationery page.
Below, you can see how the card was folded to reveal the transfer sheet within, when viewed from the back.
As a treat, courtesy of Tom Doyle, here is the competition which appeared in Star Wars Weekly No.9, 5th April 1978, to win one of these large sets — preceded by the same week's advert for the competition.
Rampage (Marvel UK) No.25, 5th April 1978
Image courtesy of Tom Doyle
And now an even earlier Star Wars competition — with these sets among the prizes — in the Liverpool Echo, Saturday 11th February 1978, in conjunction with the Odeon Film Centre.
Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
WARNING: the competition is incredibly easy. More treats on the next two pages!
• Next Page — Part 2: Escape from the Death Star →
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