A Vintage 3PO Christmas miracle!!

by Bill Cable
on 2019-01-02, 07:32:43

So Christmas morning, after opening all the presents and all that fun stuff, I grabbed my phone and did my daily phone routine. I played some Angry Birds 2, and I checked my emails. I got my daily eBay search emails, and I noticed an ESB C-3PO was one of the items. So I clicked on it. It was ending that evening, and it looked to be in pretty fair shape. Importantly, the bubble was clear. And even more importantly, it was a variant I didn't already own!!

So at 10pm on Christmas day, I sniped. And I won. And I won it for much less than I bid. And on New Year's Eve it arrived at my doorstep.

This is an ESB48-B card, which is an ESB48-A with an Ackbar sticker attached. I've owned an ESB48-B in cherry condition with a clear bubble for probably 15 years, so why did I bid on this one? It's a variant I didn't own - it's trayless. Removable Limbs C-3PO is often available in both a package with an inner tray and a package with no inner tray and a cardboard footer. Over the years I've collected a few different pairings like that. It's not something I rigorously pursue, but it's nice when I stumble upon a new one.

This isn't a particularly rare variant. There's actually been a few on eBay recently. But usually they have yellowed bubbles, or when they don't they go for way more than I'd like to pay. This one just hit all the right notes, and wrapped up what was a very Merry Christmas!