Variant/Finish Model (Prestige, Serialized)

Context and Problem Statement

Star Wars: Unlimited has 8 distinct card variants on TCGPlayer: Standard, Standard Foil, Hyperspace, Hyperspace Foil, Showcase, Standard Prestige, Foil Prestige, and Serialized Prestige. We need to map these to our two-dimensional model of variant (art/frame treatment) and finish (physical card treatment).

The tricky part is Prestige. The official SWU article “The Art of Unlimited”  describes three tiers of Prestige cards: Standard Prestige (Tier 1), Foil Prestige (Tier 2), and Serialized Prestige (Tier 3). Should Prestige be a variant, a finish, or something else?

Decision Drivers

• Variant should represent what the card looks like (art treatment, frame style)
• Finish should represent how the card is physically produced (foil treatment, serialization)
• The model should be intuitive for users browsing and filtering inventory
• TCGPlayer treats each combo as a separate product, so we need unique IDs for each
• Serialized cards are individually numbered — a physical characteristic, not an art variant

Considered Options

1. Prestige as variant, Serialized as finish: Variants = Standard, Hyperspace, Showcase, Prestige. Finishes = Normal, Foil, Serialized.
2. Prestige tiers as separate variants: Variants = Standard, Hyperspace, Showcase, Prestige, Prestige Foil, Prestige Serialized. Finishes = Normal, Foil.
3. Flat 8-value enum: A single “variant” enum with all 8 TCGPlayer variants, no separate finish dimension.

Decision Outcome

Chosen option: Prestige as variant, Serialized as finish, because it cleanly separates the art/frame treatment (Prestige) from the physical production method (Normal, Foil, Serialized).

The mapping from SWU API variantType to our model:

enum StarWarsUnlimitedVariant {
  STANDARD = "Standard",
  HYPERSPACE = "Hyperspace",
  SHOWCASE = "Showcase",
  PRESTIGE = "Prestige",
}
 
enum StarWarsUnlimitedFinish {
  NORMAL = "Standard",
  FOIL = "Foil",
  SERIALIZED = "Serialized",
}

Variant/Finish Mapping Diagram

Impacted Files

Consequences

Positive

• Clean two-dimensional model: variant describes art, finish describes physical treatment
• Prestige is clearly an art/frame variant — all Prestige cards share the same premium art style regardless of finish
• Serialized is a physical characteristic (individually numbered) which fits naturally as a finish
• Users can filter by variant (show me all Prestige cards) or by finish (show me all Foil cards) independently
• The model scales if new finishes or variants are added in the future

Negative

• Serialized as a finish is debatable — FFG officially calls it “Tier 3 Prestige” rather than a separate finish category
• Adds a third finish value (Serialized) that only applies to one variant (Prestige), creating a sparse matrix
• Showcase always has Foil finish — the variant/finish separation doesn’t fully apply there, but it’s still correct (Showcase cards are physically foiled)