Sunday, May 20, 2012

Simple Repack Theatre Vol. 7: The (Almost!) Final Star Trek CCG Expansion "All Good Things!"


The Good: Some wonderful cards, Finishes off the first edition nicely, Decent packs of cards
The Bad: Some weak links to close up the set
The Basics: A phenomenal way to close out the Star Trek CCG First Edition, "All Good Things" provides awesome packs of cards with 41 powerful exclusives!


As the Star Trek CCG became more and more complicated, it ran into two problems: first, cards were created which alluded to cards that did not exist and second, players were dwindling and no longer had the same interest in the game. In an attempt to revitalize interest in the Star Trek CCG, Decipher, Inc. would reboot the game with "Second Edition." By closing off the first edition, it gave collectors and players a finite list of gaming options.

Still, because it was one of the flagship products upon which Decipher was built, the Star Trek CCG first edition went out with a bang. The set was called "All Good Things. .." and it was a boxed set reminiscent of "Second Anthology" in that it was a boxed set with a bunch of repackaged items and a unique pack of cards only available in the "All Good Things" boxed set.

Basics/Set Composition

This decorative box that holds over five hundred gaming card singles is designed to sell a compact playing experience to the casual fans of the game and give collectors a chance to enhance their collections. With two "Starter Deck II" Starter Decks (reviewed here!) and ten packs of "Reflections" (reviewed here!) this is an impressive collection that celebrates the Star Trek CCG experience. As well, there is a U.S.S. Jupiter card (previously limited to just the "Armada" video game) which is a fairly powerful Federation starship.

Also inside every box of "All Good Things" cards, is a cellophane pack of forty-one cards. This is what is unique about this set and this is the only reason anyone would buy them. These forty-one cards are the "All Good Things" premium rare cards. The "All Good Things" set consists of: 1 Equipment (cards focusing on mass produced items, like an environmental suit), 4 Events (long-standing challenges to players, like Bajorans committing espionage against the Dominion), 3 Incidents (cads illustrating long-standing character challenges, like being possessed by the bluegill creatures), 3 Interrupts (cards that illustrate rapid changes of fortune, like sweeping for changelings with phasers), 1 Mission (cards that are essentially the "board" for the game), 1 Objective (cards illustrating alternate goals of the game, like *shudder* getting haircuts), 21 Personnel (2 Bajoran, 9 Federation, 1 Ferengi, 2 Klingon, and 7 Non-Aligned characters) and 7 Ships (1 Cardassian, 3 Federation, and 3 Non-Aligned).

These cards represent some of the neatest broken links in the Star Trek CCG and closing those gaps brought many people a lot of joy. Also in the box is the ultimate First Edition checklist and this is a highly coveted document that lists everything in the series. This valuable resource alone makes the boxed set worth buying!

Playability

The "All Good Things" set makes the Star Trek CCG more playable by closing the gaps and making sure that every card alluded to is available, allowing all cards to be played. This set facilitates game play and makes the game a little easier to play by not making any further loose ends.

At its most basic level, this is a board game where one constructs the board and pieces out of a selection of cards. The starting purpose of the game is to get 100 points, points most often are derived from completing missions by thwarting dilemmas using the unique attributes of your ship and crew. The basic idea is to assemble a sixty card deck (for beginners), lay out the board (spaceline) and play against an opponent. "All Good Things" does not add any new card types.

This is a very complex customizable card game, but it represents a level of gaming sophistication designed to appeal to younger adults and actually challenge them, which is a decent idea given the thematic complexity of the Star Trek universe. The problem, of course, is that most people who would be most stimulated by this game do not have the time or effort/interest to learn to play it. As a result, the mid-teens that basically run the CCG players world seem to have had mixed impressions about this game.

Anyone who has played the initial game will have no problem incorporating the new cards into their deck.

Rule Changes

There are no rules changed in this expansion. As a result, "All Good Things" follows the same rules rewritten and redefined in "Voyager," review pending.

Highlights

As far as the premium cards went, the "All Good Things" set is remarkably well conceived. Most of the cards are of characters and ships, which always bodes well for broader market appeal. Sure, there is the lame "In For A Trim," but there's also some truly wonderful cards like Christopher Pike, Uri'lash, Anij and Weyoun 6. Virtually every deck can benefit.

While the obvious choice for the best card might be the dual affiliation Miral Paris, the grail of this set would have to be Admiral Janeway. This is Janeway from the series finale of Star Trek: Voyager, "Endgame." The image is good and very different from any other card on the market before or since! Moreover, the card is powerful and it allows the player special privileges and downloads that make it extra useful.

The characters in this set are something of a boon and fans responded directly to that bonus.

Collectibility

Despite the enduring popularity of the characters depicted and other forty-one cards, the expense for the boxed set now makes it cost prohibitive to purchase it for the exclusives. This was one of the least produced sets in the history of Decipher, so unopened boxes tend to be available only for exorbitant prices like $350! The strange thing is that the exclusive sets tend to be available for $125 on-line when one can find them. The other bonuses in the box are not worth anywhere near the $225 difference!

"All Good Things" has unique premiums; these cards are never reprinted and they are ONLY available in this set! The nice thing about this is that the "All Good Things" set appeals to players who are playing any number of affiliations!

This remains one of the most powerful investment sets from the Star Trek CCG, though one suspects the market has topped out at the $350 price!

Overview

"All Good Things" is generally a wonderful idea and that it is what (officially) closed out the First Edition imbues it with inherent and enduring value. Players will like the cards for the options they open up for the game, collectors will like the image diversity and investors will like the rarity.

If only Decipher hadn't - yet again - dumped extra Premiere product (in the form of "Starter Deck II") into the set, it might well have been perfect!

This set was snuck into the marketplace after "The Motion Pictures" (reviewed here!) and was intended to be the finale, though later "The Enterprise Collection" (reviewed here!), was released.

8/10

For other card reviews, be sure to visit my Card Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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