A New Era for Errata: Versioning and Card Number Preservation

by Dan Hamman, Collector

7th April 2025

The Continuing Committee is rolling out an important update to how errata is noted on Star Trek: First Edition cards. Starting today, all newly updated cards will feature a revised marking that preserves collector information and introduces version control. This change will give players and collectors a clearer understanding of what's changed and when.

The Old System: Functional but Flawed

The Continuing Committee periodically updates Star Trek: First Edition cards with revised text and other gameplay changes. Previously, cards that have been updated this way received a marking in the lower right corner like this:

This marking makes it easy to know that this card has something updated. It was a reasonable system and has been in use for years. However, it has two flaws. First, there is no way to differentiate between two errata'd versions of the same card, which of them is a later, updated version. Secondly, the errata mark overwrote the card number.

Early in Decipher's run, from Premiere through the Second Anthology promos, this wasn't a problem - there was no card number printed there. But after The Trouble with Tribbles, all cards were marked with rarity and card number in the set.

Any time we gave errata to a card with a card number, that information was removed from the card art. This information is generally not game-play relevant outside of certain deck restrictions. But losing this information isn't ideal—especially when checking for virtual-only eligibility or sorting cards back into a binder.

The New Marking: What's Changing

With today's Errata release, cards will now be marked in a different way. For example, here is the new marking as seen on the updated version of Scientific Diplomacy:

What Happens to Older Errata?

On the subject of older cards, there are no plans to retroactively add versioning or collector information to previously updated cards. The new system will apply only to errata released from this point onward. There's no need to reprint or replace any virtual cards you've already made—those remain valid and unchanged.

Old Cards, New Numbers

Any card that previously did not have a card number that goes through the Errata process will also be marked with an appropriate card number. Over time, numbers will be added to cards on our cardlist pages for sets that were not numbered. For example, Phoenix is card 128 R, and here's what the new errata marking looks like:

Note that we also don't plan to go back and add collector information to all cards from early Decipher sets. No cards will be retroactively given card numbers on their image unless we are regenerating the card for another reason.

Moving Forward

So, the next time you print or play with an errata'd card, check the bottom-right corner. You'll still see the familiar errata indicator—but now with a preserved card number and a clear version mark, like “E1.” It's a small change with big clarity. Whether you're managing your collection or just making sure you're using the latest card text, this update helps everyone stay on the same page.

Game on!

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