First Edition Virtual Promos

by Seth Claybrook, First Edition Graphic Designer

14th April 2009

One of my favorite Star Trek themes is time travel. The ability to take our rigid view of linear time and twist it in fluid knots gives even the proficient quantum theorist headaches. One of the joys (and headaches) of working with The Continuing Committee is the opportunity to go back and revisit old cards, as well as look to the future development of new cards.

We are fast approaching the release of brand new virtual cards for First Edition. With the development of smaller and larger sets, we found that sometimes a card does not quite fit into a certain expansion. Either it needs to be released sooner than the next set, we want to be able to promote an event, or give the players a preview from the next set.

Unlike Second Edition, where an expansion is identified by a number, each First Edition expansion has its own unique icon. All of them you ask? They do now. We went back and retrofitted the first three expansions and the boutique products with their own icons. Check the Errata File to see some of the old cards with new expansion icons.

We wanted a way to distinguish all cards not tied to a particular set. Decipher had a Preview/Premium icon, but not everything you would think fit into that category. Decipher had tournament foils and Reflections expansion foils, but they retained their original expansion icons. They didn't even get the default Preview/Premium icon. Well, we wanted to make sure that things were more easily identifiable.

Decipher used the image from the card Distortion of the Space/Time Continuum as the basis for their Preview/Premium icon. Fitting, as it was usually cards pulled from the future or past into the present. It was so strong conceptually, that we looked at tons of images of everything that had anything to do with moving through time. We laid them all out in the tiny expansion icon form and found one that was eye catching and easily identifiable to create the Virtual Promotional Icon.

You will see the Virtual Promotional Icon featured on a number of types of cards. Cards from the past pulled to the here and now, cards from future sets pulled to the present and even cards that exist in an alternate reality where only the image is different.

Similar to the Virtual Promo cards for Second Edition, First Edition will have its own cards available in Alternate Image form available to Tournament Directors to have for their events. We are even working on some cards that, like the Fajo Collection, think outside the box graphically! Look for more details on these special edition cards in the coming weeks.

Whether you are a long-time player, or just returning/brand new to First Edition, now is a great time to be involved in the First Edition of the Star Trek CCG. We have a lot planned in the coming months, so keep a close watch here for the latest news!

-djl-