Being quarantined has led many of us to do unintelligent , useless things . And yet , I presume you to thrum the unintelligent , useless , laughably geeky thing I ’m currently doing .
A few months back I wrote abouthow I lately got back intothe Topps app Star Wars Card Trader . It ’s a digital carte du jour trading scheme that I in the first place suffer into , and wrote about , right smart back in 2015 . ( That 2015 clause give more context about what the app really is . ) Since my more late article , though , I switched gears and focalise primarily on collecting cards withHan Solo in Hoth power train or in Carbonite . The goal was to produce at least one of every exclusive Hoth Han or Carbonite cards in the app .
That ’s not a unsubdivided project .

A crop of Han Solo in Carbonite white base. I need at least 10,000 of these.Image: Topps
I Only sleep with Han Solo When He ’s Cold
Over the years , there have been lots and lots of different version of both those classic Han looks — everything from standard base cards ( which are in every pack and of which millions may exist ) toultra - rare inserts cardswhere only a few 12 exist . In the past few months , I ’ve been able to larn a few Hoth and Carbonite cards with a card count ( cc ) as low as one , intend I ’m the only person who has it . I even got to a point where I acquired 27 of 28 variance of the 2016 base of operations posting with Han in Carbonite . The one I ’m pretermit is the rarest , the 1cc , which is in what fans call a “ all in news report , ” meaning , the owner has n’t touched it in months . ( Macc13 , if you ’re out there , let ’s talk ! )
Anyway , that was my aim . Just collect old Hoth Han and Han in Carbonite . However , things contract a sudden crook in mid - July when Topps revealed Han Solo in Carbonite would be among the character featured in the 2nd series of 2020 groundwork cards .

The 2018 Monument. I do not own this and only 8 people completed it. This, but for the new cards, is the goal.Image: Topps
Here ’s where I have to explain another aspect of the trading outgrowth — a Monument . It ’s a reward for collecting ( or , in fan terms , “ hoarding ” ) an absurd quantity of base cards , then melding them together to get an ultra - rare , radical - special edition of that batting order . A card that has your username on the back of it . Here ’s the 2018 Han in Carbonite monument .
I do n’t own the above Monument ; most people who have it would never trade it , because they worked so firmly to get it , or would want a whole great deal of money for it ( which , I admit , I ’ve judge to no avail ) . So when a 2020 Monument became a possibility , I realized if I ’m going to proceed my quest to pick up one of every single card of Han in Carbonite , I would need the new Monument . And the best direction to assure I get one is to receive 10,000 white , 1,250 dreary , 500 red , 200 green , and 100 orange cards of the same fictional character .
Or , at least , that was the case in 2019 . Topps has yet to foretell if 2020 monument are even bump , let alone the prerequisite , so all this may finish up being for naught . Would n’t that be pure ? If the past times repeats itself , however , here ’s how it works . A user gets base calling card by opening up any pack . For the 2020 base scorecard , there are 100 characters in each serial , two series total , and five different color variants of each range from most rare ( orange ) to least rare ( lily-white ) . So anytime someone opens a pack , there ’s just about a 1:200 opportunity you ’ll pull in a specific character before you even consider color . That have in mind it would be damn about impossible to acquire that many of the same cards on your own . The only fashion to do it is to trade with other users .

gratefully , not everyone is sound after this specific Han Solo . Some folk music will but others are seeking everyone from Rey or Kylo Ren to the Rancor or Rook Kast . Basically , any character that exists in the Star Wars galax has someone who is endeavor to hoard it . So it ’s a matter of find out people who are n’t accumulate your character and then swapping them your character for theirs . Everyone wins .
The job is not just finding those people , but that the app only let player to swap nine cards each at a time . So even if you found someone who had all 10,000 cards you demand , it would take over 1,000 trades to get those placard . And that ’s not even taking into consideration the other color .
This is a task . A large one . But , during quarantine , it ’s giving me something to do . Going has been dull to start because while the serial one characters have been in packs for months now , meaning people have circle of them , series two characters such as Han Solo in Carbonite were only recently slip in . So instead of nine for nine , I ’m doing a lot of three for three . It ’s slightly wearisome but that ’ll change . As the tens of M of app users continue to open coterie all daytime , every day , more and more Han in Carbonite card will be released . Then it ’s just a matter of finding them , sending hoi polloi adequate trades and doing that thou and K of times . All before whatever deadline Topps sets , if Topps even mark a deadline .

So for the past week , and foreseeable time to come , any downtime will consist of me read all the trade feeds , finding the great unwashed looking for characters , encounter if those people have Carbonite card , then sending them deal . Sometimes you pick up a few dozen very quickly . Other times , it could take 10 - 15 hour to make out one craft . My guesswork is , spread out through the close of the year at least , this will take me well over 100 hours .
All for one , stupid circuit card . What am I doing ?
As of publication I currently have 310 whites , 106 blues , 84 Red , 29 green , and 34 oranges . A estimable start . But a long , long way to go to the end . One last thing … if you get a few Han Solo in Carbonite cards , mail them over to DarthGerm . I ’ll be waiting .

Star Wars ‘ Digital Trading Cards Have get So Much Weirder
Updated : 2025-03-08 , 11:45 a.m. ET : I ’m going to update this space on the first of every calendar month with my late count . And ladies and gentleman , I had a good first month .
August 4 ( appointment of publishing ): 310 Stanford White , 106 blues , 84 Red , 29 greens , and 34 oranges .

September 1 ( Update 1 ): 6,123 Edward Douglas White Jr. , 2,905 vapours , 2,203 reds , 696 greens , 253 orange tree .
update : 2025-03-08 , 6:45 p.m. ET : I ’m break in in to say , I ’ve done it . And much quicker than I ever expect to . Just over a month .
Updated : 2025-01-12 , 1:15 p.m. ET : Monthly update sum up . Things slowed down a minute since I attain the numbers most suppose will be demand for monument .

Here they are. The 2020 Han Solo in Carbonite base cards. I need a lot of these.Image: Topps
August 4 ( Date of publication ): 310 whites , 106 blues , 84 reds , 29 greens , and 34 oranges .
October 1 ( Update 2 ): 13,079 whites , 5,247 blue , 3,832 reds , 1,396 greens , 526 orange tree . ( Oh , and 61 bronze , 30 chrome , 101 purple , 38 DigiCon , not that those count . )
Updated : 2025-04-15 , 12:35 p.m. ET : Another monthly update . During last calendar month , Topps made it official . Monuments are happening in early 2021 . However , the official number for Wave 2 ( of which Han is a part ) are not what I look . At all .

10,000 acquired.Image: Topps
They are : 5,000 bloodless , 625 blue , 250 red , 100 unripened , 50 orange .
Way , manner too low . Way too easy . But such is life .
So , when I found that out around the middle of the month , I slacken down . A heap . I already had more than I call for for two , let alone one . However , I project , maybe we ’d just agitate a bit more . And today my numbers are as play along :

15,391 White , 5,737 blues , 4,140 reds , 1,585 green , 621 orange .
Which means , not only is my goal everlasting . It ’s complete … fourth dimension three , at least .
For more , ensure you ’re following us on our Instagram @io9dotcom .

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