The Worst Of The Star Trek: Voyager Trading Cards: Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home Flops!

The Good: Good images, Decent autographs, Interesting chase sets, Incredible collectible value for bonus cards
The Bad: Use of redemption cards, Poor copy-editing on common set, Redundant chase cards
The Basics: Enduring value does not forgive this set for being poorly constructed and utilizing redemption cards for some of the most valuable cards in the set.


The thing about having standards that become fairly well known is that when one defies those standards, readers tend to know. What separates reviewers from hacks is their ability to objectively look at things that they do not like and rate them according to whatever standard they have and those of us with high, uniform standards are often caught on our principles when reviewing things we loathe.

To wit; right now, I want nothing more than to pan the Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home trading card set. It is a pathetic set that should be avoided by serious collectors and fans of Star Trek: Voyager and the Star Trek franchise. But, objectively, it remains one of the most valuable Star Trek trading card sets and the boxes still command ridiculously high prices in the secondary market. Some of the chase cards are impressive and even (grumble) look real good. So, while my instinct is to rate this with one star and flame away at this set - which was only outdone in terms of lack of quality by the Star Trek: The Next Generation Profiles set (reviewed here!) - I must grudgingly confess that there are merits to this set.

Basics/Set Composition

Properly assembled, the Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home set of trading cards includes 160 cards, all but six are found in the boxes of Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home trading cards. SkyBox was notorious for releasing sets of trading cards incomplete, with redemption cards, and the Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home set is one of those. Sadly, this is also one of the worst assembled common sets ever produced by Fleer/SkyBox and it makes one almost wonder why the bothered . . . oh, yes, they had to exploit the arrival of Seven Of Nine. Bypassing a sensible Star Trek: Voyager Season Three set that had long been promised to fans, Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home leapt ahead to provide cards that capitalized on the appearance of the buxom Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager to try to sell the trading cards.

The Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home set is comprised of a 100 card common set and sixty chase cards, which include autographs, a promotional card, two redemption cards and three different case topper incentive cards based on the size of the case purchased. The set includes a pretty wide array of images from the third through fifth seasons of the popular science fiction show. Wherever possible, the images include Seven Of Nine, an annoying conceit, but at least the set is pretty obvious about what it is doing. Fortunately, the first thirty-three cards - because they precede Seven's arrival - are absent the busty Borg.

The Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home trading cards were originally released in packs of nine cards with thirty-six packs per box. They remain one of the hardest to find unopened boxes because of the popularity of the subject. As well, there was a binder released by SkyBox to hold the complete set.

Common Cards

The Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home common card set is comprised of one hundred cards. The cards are randomly spread between the three seasons of Star Trek: Voyager from the third through fifth season. There are basically thirty-three cards for the third season, twenty-nine for the fifth and twenty-eight for the sixth season, as well as nine cards focusing on villains from Star Trek: Voyager plus a checklist. Some of the episodes have multiple cards ("Basics," "Flashback," and "The Q And The Grey," for example each have three) while others are represented by a single card (almost all of the fifth season episodes).

The common card set is quite poorly-conceived and executed. The cards are randomly oriented between portrait and landscape orientations and there is no rhyme or reason between them when putting them into a binder. As well, they are poorly written and there are at least ten cards in the common set that end abruptly in the middle of the sentence!

Even more baffling is the numbering system. The cards start with number 178, suggesting that SkyBox intends for fans to continue the set where the Star Trek: Voyager Season Two trading cards ended. However, that number does not include the checklist cards to that set or the chase cards, which took that set up to card #202! As a result, there is a somewhat ridiculous sense to this common set.

Chase Cards

After the common set, there are sixty bonus cards, all but five are found in the packs of trading cards. The first nine are a set of Advanced Technology cards. These were inserted one in every four packs and they are a simple card detailing new technologies and ships Voyager encountered in the three year span. All that makes them bonus cards (other than the numbering) is a thin bit of foil.

The next level of chase cards (chase, bonus and insert cards all being the same thing - additional cards with alternate numbering that are in addition to the common cards which usually have some gimmick to them) is the Adventures Of Captain Proton set. This problematic chase set is highly sought after, despite its relative ease of assembly (they were found one in every eight packs). While all of the backs are oriented in portrait orientation, the fronts are a mix of portrait and landscape, making for a disappointing look when assembled in the binder. These cards are simple black and white cards illustrating characters as they appear in the Captain Proton holodeck scenario. The subject is all that seems to make this set popular.

The next tier of the chase cards are the Interstellar Species cards and admittedly, these are cool cards. Made of green plastic, the images of alien races from Star Trek: Voyager are silk screened on. The backs have Seven Of Nine's observations on the aliens on the front and that makes them interesting to fans of Seven as well as more moderate Star Trek: Voyager fans. These are found approximately one in every twelve packs and they have retained their value over the years quite well.

The set is duplicated, however, with an even rarer orange plastic set. The orange plastic cards are identical to the original Interstellar Species cards, save that they are printed on translucent orange plastic. These were estimated to be three orange cards per every twenty boxes, making the set one of the hardest to complete!

Then there are the nine autograph cards and these are almost the real grails of the Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home set. The entire main cast of Star Trek: Voyager signed autograph cards for this set, but two of them did not get their autograph cards in in time. As a result, A1 and A7, Janeway and Seven are only available in packs as redemption cards, which have long since expired. Even more problematic for those still able to get their hands on boxes of Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home cards: there are no guarantees of an autograph in a box! Instead, in any box, collectors get either an autograph or one of the nine Command Crew lenticular cards.

The Command Crew cards are an interesting chase card. After years of making lenticular cards with multiple frames of motion, Fleer/SkyBox simplified for the Command Crew cards. These are lenticular cards that simply establish a three-dimensional image of each of the main cast of Star Trek: Voyager on their lenticular surface. The backs of each card has a brief description of the character and is individually numbered out of 750. These cards have retained their value well in the secondary market and even now command prices in the $50 range!

Non-Box/Pack Cards

There were six non-box chase cards. There was a very standard promotional card. It is a shot of the complete cast and it is relatively easy to find in the secondary market.

The next level of cards not found in the boxes are the two autographs for which there are redemption cards. The only way to find the Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan autograph cards now is on the secondary market. Unfortunately, since SkyBox no longer holds the license, anyone who pulls one of the redemption cards will be unable to redeem it for an autograph. This kind of gimmick is very frustrating to collectors and fans and it is enough to cost the set a point in my book.

As well, the final level of chase is just annoying. There were three types of cases for the Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home set: six box, twelve-box and twenty box cases. Each size case had a different casetopper. The casetoppers were oversized Command Crew cards of Chakotay, Janeway and Seven of Nine, respectively. Finding unopened cases is near impossible, as is tracking down these oversized cards. Unlike the original Command Crew cards, these are not individually numbered.

Overall

From the common card set, which is poorly conceived and executed, through the difficult to find and assemble high level chase sets, Star Trek: Voyager: Closer To Home was a disappointment when it was first released. It remains a thorn in many collector's sides, but investors make out well given several of the cards' rarities, keeping it from being the worst trading card set Fleer/SkyBox ever produced for the Star Trek franchise.

Still, as a collector, this was one of the first sets I liquidated when I lost the ability to get everything.

This set culls images from:
Star Trek: Voyager - Season Three
Star Trek: Voyager - Season Four
Star Trek: Voyager - Season Five

This is a set of cards I sell in my online store! Please check out my current inventory by clicking here!


For other Star Trek: Voyager trading card sets, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Season 1 Series 1
Season 1 Series 2
Season 2
Star Trek: Voyager Profiles
Women Of Star Trek: Voyager HoloFEX
The Legends Of Star Trek: Captain Kathryn Janeway

3.5/10

For other trading card reviews, be sure to check out my Trading Card Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Star Trek: Voyager Profiles Might Well Be The Best Trading Card Set Ever Produced For Star Trek: Voyager!

The Good: Great images, Decent autographs, No redemption cards, Interesting chase sets, Captain's card
The Bad: Contest card rarity
The Basics: Despite taking a whole ton of boxes to complete, the Star Trek: Voyager Profiles set remains the best trading card set for that series.


Star Trek: Voyager, in my rating system, never quite hit a perfect episode. Sure, they came close in the second season with the episode "Resolutions" (reviewed here!), but they never quite hit the mark for perfection. Perhaps the saddest thing about the collectibles associated with Star Trek: Voyager was that the moment Seven Of Nine was added to the cast, virtually all of the collectibles associated with the show tried to capitalize on her. Yes, it wasn't only the series that sold out to the Baywatch audience, it was the manufacturers of Star Trek swag that followed suit.

To wit, the manufacturers of Star Trek trading cards at the time, SkyBox, had been pleasing fans with Episode Collection sets for Star Trek: Voyager. Shortly after Seven Of Nine came on, they abandoned the planned installment of Star Trek: Voyager - Season Three trading cards in favor of Star Trek: Voyager Profiles. Star Trek: Voyager Profiles, as they are commonly known, was a set of trading cards that focused on the characters of Star Trek: Voyager, as opposed to the episodes. And this allowed Seven Of Nine to be included in the set. More than that, SkyBox made her the focus of the set, including an entire nine-card chase set devoted to her development in the fourth season. And just as there was a near-miss with perfection for the series Star Trek: Voyager, the Star Trek: Voyager Profiles cards graze perfection for a set of trading cards.

Basics/Set Composition

Properly assembled, the Star Trek: Voyager Profiles set of trading cards includes 149 cards, all but one (technically, two) that can be found in the boxes of Star Trek: Voyager Profiles trading cards. Considering that SkyBox was notorious for releasing sets of trading cards incomplete, with redemption cards, that the Star Trek: Voyager Profiles set is so close to perfect is actually quite an accomplishment!

The Star Trek: Voyager Profiles set is comprised of a 90 card common set and fifty nine chase cards, which include autographs, a promotional card, and a near-impossible to find contest card. The set includes a pretty wide array of images from the first through fourth seasons of the popular science fiction show. Wherever possible, the images include Seven Of Nine, an annoying conceit, but at least the set is pretty obvious about what it is doing. This is a little annoying, though because the set is supposed to be focused on the characters of Star Trek: Voyager and instead it reads as something of a "how the characters on the U.S.S. Voyager relate to Seven Of Nine" set!

The Star Trek: Voyager Profiles trading cards were originally released in packs of nine cards with thirty-six packs per box. They remain one of the hardest to find unopened boxes because of the popularity of the subject. As well, there was a binder released by SkyBox to hold the complete set.

Common Cards

The Star Trek: Voyager Profiles common card set is comprised of ninety cards. The cards are broken down in groups of nine to highlight the various characters, with Janeway, Chakotay, Tom Paris, Tuvok, Torres, Harry Kim, Seven Of Nine, The Doctor, and Neelix each being given nine cards. Kes is granted a page of eight cards, with the final card in the set being a checklist. This is obvious pandering to Seven Of Nine as - when this set was produced - Kes had logged well over three times the number of hours on the ship and show than the character of Seven of Nine. Sure, one card does not seem like much to lose, but given that there is a whole chase set devoted to Seven of Nine as well . . .

Each of the nine card sets are organized the same way, with the first of the nine cards being a Crew Manifest card, simply describing the character in the most vague and basic terms. The second card in each character's set is the Captain's Log card, written as if Captain Janeway were describing the officer and her relationship with them. There is also a quote from the captain about the character on the second of the nine cards. The next three cards are written as if they were Personal Logs about episodes that focused on the character. So, for example, in the Neelix set, cards are written as if Neelix was describing his character growth in the episodes "Elogium," "Fair Trade," and "Mortal Coil." The three cards that follow that are Reflections, written as if other characters were describing the primary character, which allows the set to focus on relationships that have developed on Voyager. For example, in the B'Elanna Torres section of the set, there are three cards wherein The Doctor, Assistant Engineer Vorik, and Tom Paris describe their relationship with Torres. The final card of each character's page is an Alien Encounters card, describing the character's unique interaction with life forms that Voyager has run into. So, for example, Harry Kim's page ends with a description of Kim's relationship to the Hirogen after they took over the U.S.S. Voyager!

The common card set is fairly well-conceived and executed. All of the cards are oriented the same way, in this case landscape orientation. They are written well and there was enough attention to detail to note such things as Janeway getting an Admiral's Log from one of her superiors, as opposed to her writing about herself, which is reasonably clever. There is enough in the common set to amuse fans of Star Trek: Voyager and remind them of the best aspects of their favorite characters.

Chase Cards

After the common set, there are fifty-nine bonus cards, all but two (I'm saying) are found in the packs of trading cards. The first nine are part of a subset of gaming cards. When Star Trek: Voyager Profiles was originally released, there was as contest to help collectors win a complete set of the autograph cards from the set. Fans had to spell out Star Trek: Voyager with cards that featured individual letters on them and a picture of a cast member. These are wonderful cards to get autographed because they feature the main cast members and a cast shot. Because they were one game card per pack, this set is readily available, easy to assemble and often included in the common card set by dealers who assemble the set for collectors.

The next level of chase cards (chase, bonus and insert cards all being the same thing - additional cards with alternate numbering that are in addition to the common cards which usually have some gimmick to them) is the Michael Westmore Make-up set. This is a fairly bland set of cards that features pictures of Michael Westmore's make-up lab and various bits of prosthetics around his office. The highlight of these are the last three cards in the set which illustrate Westmore applying the Neelix make-up to Ethan Phillips. These are mildly interesting for those into the behind-the-scenes aspects of Star Trek: Voyager. There was approximately one MW card in every four packs, making it possible to get a complete set of nine out of a single box. These cards are in portrait orientation, making the collector turn their binder to look at them after seeing all of the common cards.

The second tier of the duller chase cards is the Alien Technology cards and those who got the sell sheet for the set were likely to be disappointed by the change in orientation and photograph quality. These cards feature nine different starships encountered by the U.S.S. Voyager on the front and a small picture of the alien that inhabits them on the back. The cards describe the alien ship and the culture of the alien race and they are interesting enough. All that makes these a chase card is the foil lettering on the front and the fact that they were only found in every six packs, meaning it took at least two boxes to complete this rather dull chase set.

But then we get into the better chase and here is where it might seem weird considering my general disdain for Seven Of Nine. The next chase set is a set focusing on Seven Of Nine. These are portrait-oriented, foil enhanced embossed cards featuring various images of Seven Of Nine. They are written describing Seven's Physical development, Emotional development and the assignments she is given on Voyager. Who cares about the writing, though?! Yes, these are images of a big-breasted woman in a catsuit and the set pretty much capitalizes on that, save three of the cards, which have Seven in her still-assimilated form. These cards were approximately one in every nine packs, but it took more than three boxes to complete the Seven Of Nine set. The reason for this is that card Seven Of Nine has an entirely different look, style and rarity. Approximately one in every five boxes, card 7 of 9 in the Seven Of Nine chase set was an unembossed foil card featuring a shot of Seven in her blue uniform. This is a collector's dream and nightmare; it doesn't look like it fits the set, it raises the price on the complete set and it is much harder to find. Apparently, SkyBox's philosophy was "who cares; fanboys will chase it - it's a woman! With BOOBS!" Sadly, like the producers of Star Trek: Voyager when they brought Seven Of Nine on, they were proven right. The fans did eat this card up and it is one of the harder ones to find on the secondary market.

Then there are the twenty autograph cards and these are the real treat of the Star Trek: Voyager Profiles set. The entire main cast of Star Trek: Voyager signed autograph cards for this set, including Jennifer Lein as Kes! As well, popular guest stars like George Takei, John Rhys-Davies, and John De Lancie all signed. Ironically, the only autograph that has not held any value is the ridiculously overproduced, oversigned A17 of Michael McKean as the Clown. Given that there was only one autograph per box, the autographs from this set remain some of the most highly coveted. They are all portrait orientation, full bleed, meaning there is a large picture that the celebrity signed over, giving the best possible picture and autograph space. As well, SkyBox embossed each one after signing with its seal, giving them one of the industry's most recognizable seals of authenticity.

The grail of the Star Trek: Voyager Profiles set - outside, I suppose, the Jeri Ryan autograph card - is the Captain's Card. One per case, there is a black plastic card featuring Captain Janeway silk-screened on it. This was the first of four Captain's Cards and it was strictly limited to 1200 hand numbered cards. These are beautiful, though less careful collectors will find they chip easily.

Non-Box/Pack Cards

There were two non-box chase cards and this is where the set falls from grace. There was a promotional card and that was fine. It is a shot of the complete cast and it is relatively easy to find in the secondary market.

The problem goes back to the game set that SkyBox produced to give out a set of the autograph cards. In order to regulate the game, they made one card exceptionally limited. The "Y" card featured Seven Of Nine (no surprise there) and only fifty of the card were released. Because these cards were released in the packs and there were only fifty of them, they are virtually impossible to find. The thing is, when they were redeemed as part of the contest, those lucky enough to pull one of the "Y" cards were issued a "Voided Y Card." The thing is, there are far more than fifty of the "Voided Y" cards in existence and for a limited time, SkyBox distributed them freely to help collectors finish their sets. Sadly, most fans did not know this and they ended up in the hands of a very small number of dealers, who continue to charge an arm and a leg for them. This card still runs at least $50 (when one can find it) and it has no real value outside allowing a true collector to finish their set. Unfortunately, since SkyBox no longer holds the license, anyone who pulls one of the last fifty "Y" cards will be unable to redeem it for an autograph set. This kind of gimmick is very frustrating to collectors and fans and it is enough to cost the set a point in my book.

Overall

Besides that, though, this is truly great set and Star Trek: Voyager never looked as good on trading cards as it does in this set. Indeed, it is a far cry better than SkyBox's final attempt to capitalize on the series. Despite the issues with the gaming subset, this is THE Star Trek: Voyager trading card set to collect.

This set culls images from:
Star Trek: Voyager - Season One
Star Trek: Voyager - Season Two
Star Trek: Voyager - Season Three
Star Trek: Voyager - Season Four

For other Star Trek: Voyager trading card sets, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Season 1 Series 1
Season 1 Series 2
Season 2
Women Of Star Trek: Voyager HoloFEX

This is a set of trading cards I proudly sell through my online store! Visit my current inventory by clicking here!

9/10

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

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

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Out With A Whimper: Star Trek Phase Three Set Buries The 30th Anniversary Celebration.

The Good: Excellent images, Some interesting chase cards, Easy to collect.
The Bad: Chase are rather unsophisticated, Review cards in common set
The Basics: Decent photography in the common set does not save this dull trading card release from SkyBox.


When SkyBox had the license for Star Trek trading cards, they did a few clever gimmicks. Unfortunately, as the Fleer decided to deprioritize the non-sports line, they let SkyBox drift a bit. When the ambitious gimmicks and the financial problems meet, collectors ended up with sets like the Star Trek 30th Anniversary Reflections Of The Future Phase Three Set. The ambitious part came with the idea of doing a comprehensive, mammoth 30th anniversary set. This was accomplished by breaking the huge set into three smaller sets with Phase One (reviewed here!) focusing on ships and technology and Phase Two (reviewed here!) focusing on aliens and characters in the Star Trek universe. Because a third set had been promised, SkyBox felt obligated to release it and Phase Three included the cosmic phenomenon of the Star Trek universe as well as tributes to Star Trek. It is in the latter half that the set truly collapses, but where the first two sets were remarkably specific and well-conceived, "Phase Three" is too nebulous and it becomes clear when looking through it that the designers were at something of a loss as to how to cap off the series.

Basics/Set Composition

The "Phase Three" set is a 132 card set featuring a 100 card common set and thirty-two bonus cards, all but two of which are available in boxes of the trading cards. The "Phase Three" set was originally released in boxes of thirty-six packs, which each contained eight "Phase Three" cards. There was a manufacturer-created binder that bore the same logo as the box top and those are long since gone from hobby and collectible shops (since SkyBox lost the Star Trek license almost a decade ago). The packs generally had good collation and the basic set and the lower levels of chase cards were easy enough to come by to make them collectable but not so easy as to make one consider them overproduced. With the "Reflections Of The Future" series, SkyBox hit a fair production run. With "Phase Three," the cards easily met demand and they remain - by far - the easiest of the 30th Anniversary boxes to find in the secondary market now.

Common Cards

The "Phase Three" set features the cosmic phenomenon from the Star Trek franchise and tributes to the Star Trek franchise in both the common set and the bonus cards. The common card set consists of 100 cards, numbered 201 - 300. The common set is broken down with 63 cosmic phenomenon cards, 28 tribute cards, 6 starship review cards, 2 checklists, and a Star Trek fan club card. As far as the series breakdown goes, this is a fairly balanced set with 17 Star Trek, 11 Star Trek: The Animated Series, 9 Star Trek film, 32 Star Trek: The Next Generation, 12 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 6 Star Trek: Voyager cards. There is also a nine-card mural which combines images from all of the series'. This is actually very cool in that it recreates the box tops from the various boxes, which won awards for box design the year the cards were released. Each card is protected from light damage by a UV resistant coating.

The common card set is a decent collection featuring digital image captures that allow incredible transfers of the special effects shots and crewmember/ship photographs (which is what most of the "tribute" section is comprised of) used to document the subject of the cards. Whenever possible, the images on the front and back are different to illustrate the extent and scale of the cosmic phenomenon. So, for example, card #204 illustrates Apollo's hand on the front holding the Enterprise in its grip. The back has a small image of the hand from the viewscreen. This is fairly clever and utilizes the full-bleed front quite well.

The backs are well-written with a great deal of detail (as much as a trading card can carry) on the cosmic phenomenon and the tributes. The tributes include a time line of Star Trek history, awards the various shows won, and notable guest stars who appeared in episodes or Star Trek movies.

The common set is somewhat weakened by the last seven pre-checklist cards. These cards focus on starships, which were covered in the "Phase One" set. While there were several notable ships omitted for space, the "Phase Three" set rectifies that. But the First Contact preview card is even more inane than the review cards and the final card of the set with the Fan Club advertisement just seems desperate and lousy.

The common cards themselves represent a higher level of quality as - in addition to incredible and rare images - each one is foil stamped with a Cosmic Phenomenon or Tribute logo to easily differentiate which part of the set one is in. As well, they are all - common and chase - oriented in a landscape orientation, making for wonderful consistency when looking through one's binder.

Chase Cards

The bonus cards in this set are a real mixed bag. With the "Phase Three" set, there were thirty different bonus cards that could be found in the boxes and an additional two that were a mail-away or otherwise limited release cards. These were not mass produced, which has allowed them to retain some significant value in the marketplace today. While not strictly bonus cards, the Cinema Collection advertisement card and Survey card were plentiful enough that virtually every box had at least one of each.

The first level of chase card was the Blueprint puzzle cards. One in every few packs (the odds on these are radically skewed box to box as when they pop up often there were a few in a pack!) had one of nine thin paper cards that advertised blueprint posters that could be mailed away for. Yes, for an additional $20 or $15 one could mail away for blueprints of either Deep Space Nine or the U.S.S. Enterprise. This is a terrible chase card as all it does is attempt to promote something utterly unrelated to be bought by collectors. Yes, card collectors are asked to assemble their own advertisement!

One in every six packs there was one of six Decipher Star Trek The Gaming Card Set exclusive cards. The wildly unpopular trading card game was expanded with cards featuring a Phaser Mishap, Emergency Distress Call, Turbolift Doors, Cryogenic Chambers, Organians, and the Wild card "He's Dead, Jim." These are fun for the few people who played the game, but had little crossover appeal to trading card collectors who wanted something more from the trading cards as opposed to yet another SkyBox product.
They got their wish with the tribute foil cards. In every twelve packs there was one of nine puzzle cards which have a timeline of the history of Star Trek production. This is a cool enough concept and the foil cards look great. The mural is unique to the set and features concept sketches for the original U.S.S. Enterprise, the space shuttle, and a special 30th Anniversary plaque. It's a set that a number of collectors will enjoy.

It takes three boxes with ideal collation to complete the Viewscreen lenticular set. The three M cards are an intriguing collection of multiple-frame image cards which show the viewscreens of various Star Trek ships as they encounter notable phenomenon. As a result, Apollo's Hand reaches for the Enterprise, the Crystalline Entity rushes toward the Enterprise-D and the Badlands destroy a Cardassian vessel on Voyager's viewscreen! These are interesting enough, but their value seems to have plummeted in the secondary market of late. When the high end item in a box drops in value, it's hard to justify the box prices!

The final bonus card that might still be pulled from the boxes and packs is a SkyMotion Redemption card (which looks virtually identical to the Survey card on the front!). The Redemption cards have long since expired, but true completists will want them. Redemption cards were inserted into one in every five boxes.

Non-Box/Pack Cards

The actual SkyMotion card is a neat card. It is a thick plastic card that when held up to the light and tilted, it illustrates thirty frames of an image! In this case, the image is of the Bajoran Wormhole opening for the first time from "Emissary!" In addition to the standard SkyMotion card, that was only available from the use of redemption cards, there was also a double-sized jumbo SkyMotion card which is a bit more clear, though it contains the same image. There were no other promotional cards in this set, making it a surprisingly easy set to complete (and yet valuable nonetheless!).

Overall

Boxes of the "Phase Three" cards have tanked in value because they were overproduced in proportion to the interest in their subject matter. SkyBox assumed that because fans had invested in the first two sets that they could put together the final set with little enthusiasm and the result is a set that is far less inspired than the others. As a result, it is much easier to pass on this one than the others.

This set culls images from:
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Animated Series
The Star Trek films
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager - Season 1

This is a set of trading cards I sell in my online store! Check out my full inventory of them by clicking here!

3.5/10

For other trading card reviews, check out my Trading Card Review Index Page for an organized listing!

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

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Starships And Phasers And Gold Plaques (Oh My!) "Reflections Of The Future" Phase One Cards!

The Good: Excellent images, Some truly great chase cards, Good subject matter, Easy to collect.
The Bad: Chase are a little unsophisticated, Preview cards in common set.
The Basics: With its wonderful images and great bonus cards (even if some are hard to find!)the "Phase One" set is a real winner for Star Trek fans and trading card collectors!


Star Trek trading cards very seldom take risks. They appeal to their niche market and tend to be very safe collections of cards that usually focus on one of the many series' of Star Trek with a very narrow focus. When it comes to anniversaries - usually dictated by the debut of the original Star Trek series - occasionally the trading card companies go more ambitious and focus on the whole franchise. While SkyBox held the license, they looked at the entirety of the franchise and produced three sets of trading cards to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Star Trek. The three sets (well, two of the three) remain to this day arguably the most popular pre-autograph releases.

The first of these sets, which set a new higher standard for Star Trek card releases was the Star Trek 30th Anniversary Reflections Of The Future Phase One set and it looked at the ships and technology aspects of the Star Trek franchise. It was remarkably thorough, including the original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Animated Series, the Star Trek film collections, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the first season of Star Trek: Voyager. This, then, becomes a remarkably comprehensive set for fans of the entire Star Trek franchise and it is a treasure trove of information and images for the ships and technology of the franchise.

The "Phase One" set is a 129 card set featuring a 100 card common set and twenty-nine bonus cards, all but five of which are available in boxes of the trading cards. The "Phase One" set was originally released in boxes of thirty-six packs, which each contained eight "Phase One" cards. There was a manufacturer-created binder that bore the same logo as the box top and those are long since gone from hobby and collectible shops (since SkyBox lost the Star Trek license almost a decade ago). The packs generally had good collation and the basic set and the lower levels of chase cards were easy enough to come by to make them collectable but not so easy as to make one consider them overproduced. With the "Reflections Of The Future" series, SkyBox hit a fair production run.

The "Phase One" set features the ships and technology from the Star Trek franchise in both the common set and the bonus cards. The common card set consists of 100 cards, numbered 1 - 100 and the set is broken down with 54 starship cards, 35 technology cards, 9 Alien race/character preview cards, and the two checklists. As far as the series breakdown goes, this is a remarkably balanced set (though because Star Trek: The Next Generation had the most hours of material at the time, it might seem a little tipped toward that series) with 33 Star Trek, 3 Star Trek: The Animated Series, 13 Star Trek film, 37 Star Trek: The Next Generation, 9 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and 3 Star Trek: Voyager cards. Each card is protected from light damage by a UV resistant coating.

The common card set is a beautiful looking collection featuring digital image captures that allow incredible transfers of the starship and prop photographs used to document the subject of the cards. For the starships, wherever possible, the card front contains an external shot of the starship and the back has a small image of the bridge of the ship! Similarly, most of the technology cards have a big image on the front and the back has a smaller image of the technology piece in use or close up illustrating more detail.

The backs are well-written with a great deal of detail (as much as a trading card can carry) on the ships and devices. They document the differences between phasers in the different time periods of Star Trek and tell a brief story about the ship being illustrated. One of the nice things about that is that because some of the ships are either obscure (Star Trek: The Animated Series' S.S. Huron), destroyed (the U.S.S. Grissom from Star Trek III: The Search For Spock) or visually repetitive (there are several cards that have images of Galaxy Class starships on the front), the text on the back clearly differentiates the starship types (i.e. Galaxy Class) from the individual ships (U.S.S. Odyssey). For the most part, the producers at SkyBox picked great images and intriguing ships, wisely devoting the first six cards to Enterprises!

The technology half likewise commits to the popular (phasers, communicators) and the obscure (the Transmuter from "Catspaw"). There are some intriguing cards of obscure props that one might never see as detailed elsewhere. The set also reveals with side by sides how Paramount sometimes reuses and redresses props! It's a wonderful and informative set for anyone who loves Star Trek starships or the gadgets of the series.

The common set is somewhat weakened by the last nine pre-checklist cards. These cards focus on aliens and characters and basically serve to advertise the "Phase Two" set. One suspects fans would have found the set without nine cards being taken out of this set to devote to the next one and I could easily come up with nine more technology cards that could have been done! The common cards themselves represent a higher level of quality as - in addition to incredible and rare images - each one is foil stamped with a Ship or Technology logo to easily differentiate which part of the set one is in. As well, they are all - common and chase - oriented in a landscape orientation, making for wonderful consistency when looking through one's binder.

The bonus cards in this set are some of the best and most intriguing pre-autograph inserts. Autograph cards changed everything and it is sometimes hard for collectors to look back at their collections and see what used to entertain and satisfy them as fans and collectors. With the "Phase One" set, there were twenty-four different bonus cards that could be found in the boxes and an additional five that were either mail-away or otherwise limited release cards. These were not mass produced, which has allowed them to retain some significant value in the marketplace today. While not strictly bonus cards, the Cinema Collection advertisement card and Survey card were plentiful enough that virtually every box had at least one of each.

The first level of chase card was the technology foil cards. One in every twelve packs had one of nine foil cards that featured technology - Phasers, Communicators and Tricorders - from the Star Trek franchise. The neat thing about these nine cards were they illustrated the development of each item from the mid-23rd Century (original Star Trek) to late-23rd Century (Star Trek films) to the 24th Century (Star Trek: The Next Generation). This is a very neat guide to the three most commonly represented pieces of technology in the franchise and the E1 - E9 cards tend to look great in a binder. It takes three boxes with ideal collation to complete this set.

It also takes three boxes with ideal collation to complete the Die Cut Weapons set. The three D cards are concept cards that have been laser cut to have shapes that are different from the standard trading card. So, for example, the D1 card focuses on the d'k tang Klingon Blade and the top of the card is serrated like the Klingon knife! The other two cards in the set have holes in them representing the blast patterns of some of the firearms. This is an interesting concept, but it is executed in a fashion that is ultimately somewhat disappointing. Points for effort, but it's hard to get excited about these weapon cards with the funny shape. Fortunately, there are only the three!

The most incredible chase cards in this set are the Ship Registry Plaque cards. All StarFleet vessels have a plaque on the bridge that clearly denotes the vessel and they were replicated from the actual props from the Star Trek shows! The back of each card has a wonderfully vivid image of the starship whose plaque is represented on the front. As well, the card text and edges are embossed, making it very much like a ship plaque! These cards were one in every OTHER box! That means to complete this set with ideal collation still takes eighteen boxes of cards! This turned off a lot of collectors at the time and these ship plaque cards have retained their value over the years. They still command prices of $50 or more in the secondary market, pushing the value of a master set up a bit. The only disappointing aspect of the Registry Plaque cards is that there was not one done for the U.S.S. Defiant (from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). Given that U.S.S. Voyager made it into the set, the lack of a Defiant ship plaque is a letdown, especially when one considers that such one-episode wonders as the U.S.S. Stargazer, U.S.S. Brittain, and U.S.S. Sutherland made the release! The four different Enterprises represented make some sense, but to include the Brittain and not the Defiant is just wrong!

The final bonus card that might still be pulled from the boxes and packs is a SkyMotion Redemption card (which looks virtually identical to the Survey card on the front!). The Redemption cards have long since expired, but true completists will want them. Redemption cards were inserted into one in every five boxes.

The actual SkyMotion card is a neat card. It is a thick plastic card that when held up to the light and tilted, it illustrates thirty frames of images! In this case, the image is the U.S.S. Enterprise cresting Earth from Star Trek: The Motion Picture! In addition to the standard SkyMotion card, that was only available from the use of redemption cards, there was also a double-sized jumbo SkyMotion card which is a bit more clear, though it contains the same image. There was a double-sized promotional card as well that can be fairly easily tracked down in the secondary market. There was another promotional card that was an exclusive to Non-Sport Update Magazine (reviewed here!). That card is only differentiated from card #1 in the set by the text on the back.

The real bear to find for this set (outside the ship Registry plaques and the jumbo SkyMotion card) is the Mastercard Exclusive promotional card. This card advertises the complete "Reflections Of The Future" series but remains exceptionally hard-to-find because they were sent to customers who used their Star Trek Mastercard once and many people who received them simply tossed them out! As a result, this final card in the set can run well over $100 when one can find it, even though it in nothing truly spectacular.

But it does finish off well a fairly spectacular set. Boxes of the "Phase One" cards have retained their value well because the sets and the bonus cards have held their value as well. This is a great set for fans of Star Trek who are just getting into card collecting, despite the difficulty in assembling a Registry Plaque set. Most boxes contain two common sets with a healthy start to a third. And this was a set that had great box design as well (it's a bit bulky for my taste, but it won awards in the industry at the time and the images on them - there are very cool murals under the lid flap - are very creative and cool!) and makes for an all around wonderful release that still holds up in a world of autograph and costume cards.

This is a must have for Star Trek trading card collectors!

This set culls images from:
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Animated Series
The Star Trek films
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager - Season 1

This set of trading cards is one I proudly sell through my online store! Be sure to check out my current inventory of them!

8/10

For other card reviews, check out my Card Index Page for an organized listing!

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

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Simple And Almost Lame, Star Trek: Voyager Season Two Trading Cards Underwhelm

The Good: Interesting chase, Nice looking cards, Well written
The Bad: Far too easy to complete, Simple chase cards, Value, Organization
The Basics: This Star Trek: Voyager card series is a remarkably average trading card series that did not retain its value because of its exceptionally easy completion.


Star Trek: Voyager was a tough show to market for the merchandisers. After all, until Seven of Nine popped up, there was a show where the ship wandered aimlessly and fell into predictable patterns of recasting Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes. Half the time, the series forgot that it was supposed to be about a ship attempting to get home, the other half of the time, the characters remember this integral fact, but are thwarted from their attempts with little compounding of consequences. Say what you want about Seven Of Nine - and I've been one of the biggest critics of her - but at least when she popped up, there was something obvious to sell: sex appeal.

Back in the second season, though, those trying to exploit the show for a buck found themselves in a bind. There was nothing quite so interesting going on in the second season. As a result, things like Star Trek: Voyager Season Two trading cards ended up as something lackluster.

Basics/Set Composition

Like the some of the earliest SkyBox Star Trek releases, this set was a bit overproduced and as a result all of the bonus cards that can be found in the standard hobby/retail boxes - as well as the common card sets - have been severely devalued. The Star Trek: Voyager Season 2 boxes, were released only in the standard hobby release with forty-eight packs featuring eight cards per pack. Unlike virtually every other trading card release, Star Trek: Voyager - Season Two was a remarkably easy set to assemble and SkyBox made it surprisingly low on frills.

The Star Trek: Voyager Season Two trading card set consists of one hundred common cards and 13 chase cards available in the packs. Only the manufacturer-produced binder is not available in boxes of these cards. For those unfamiliar with trading card collecting, "chase" cards are bonus cards inserted into random packs that fall outside the regular numbering system. Usually, there is some special (and usually more-expensive-to-produce) quality to them which is why they were made rare in the first place. Strangely, the Star Trek: Voyager Season Two set utilizes the same numbering system as the common cards, making it harder to differentiate between the cards because when this set was released, chase cards were not especially.

A box of Star Trek: Voyager Season Two trading cards consists of forty-eight packs of cards, with eight cards per pack. A box of cards ought to contain at least one complete set of common cards and collation in these boxes was so good that most will yield a second common set and almost a third one. In addition to a common set, each box ought to contain all three of the Xenobio sketches, 24th Century Technology cards, and Strange New Worlds insert cards. One per box were the acetate Holodeck cards and these are the only cards most fans still search for from this set.

Common Cards

The common card set consisted of one hundred cards and one of the nice things is, like its predecessor set, this set is generally a sensibly oriented set! All 100 cards and all of the chase cards are oriented in a landscape orientation. This is especially nice for those who put the cards in a binder as everything is oriented the same direction, making it very easy to see all of the images in a consecutive order and read the backs of the cards in order as well.

The 100 card set focuses on the entire second season of Star Trek: Voyager. This set provided a great collection of images from the second season and contains some images not captured outside the series elsewhere (like on 8X10 photographs or collector's plates). Each episode is explored in detail with three cards devoted to the plot. The images on the front are full-bleed (one image per card, no borders) and the backs are generally well-written explorations of the episode plots, the technology, and the worlds of the first season of the show. It is a nice, collectible compendium of images and information for fans of Star Trek: Voyager!

This set follows as the logical continuation of Voyager Season One Series Two (reviewed here!) and as a result continues with the numbering and style from that set.

The 100 card common set is broken down as follows: 91 - 99 Star Trek: Voyager Season 2 timeline illustrating the order of the episodes and charting the course of the season, 100 - 177 detailing the story behind each episode from the second season, 178 - 179 Checklist cards, 180 Production Credits card (card detailing the complete cast and crew for the season), 181 Fan club advertisement card, and 182 - 190 Significant guest characters cards.

The cards in the common set are pretty standard with the episodes being well-detailed across the three cards per episode and the set generally looks good up until the end. The Fan club exclusive card throws off the mural that ought to cap the series off well. As a result, if put in the binder by the numbers, the set is thrown off and the mural does not come together as the background (front and back) suggests it ought to.

Chase Cards

The bonus cards to this set include a three-card Spectra card chase set focusing on aliens encountered for the first time in the second season, another three Spectra foil cards focusing on 24th Century Technology, still another three Spectra etched foils of the Strange New Worlds from the second season and finally a set of three acetate cards featuring characters from Star Trek: Voyager in holodeck scenarios. While not strictly speaking a chase card, this set also includes a 1997 Star Trek preview card, which is a testament to card sets that went uncreated.

The Spectra cards are nice, etched foil cards varying from the ugly green Xenobio Sketch cards each with one of the important aliens from the second season of Star Trek: Voyager on it. The 24th Century Technology cards are perhaps the least inspired foil cards ever featuring images of such things as the Hibernation pods from "The Thaw" and the landing struts from the U.S.S. Voyager. The Strange New Worlds cards at the very least have interesting images to them and that almost makes up for the fact that the Spectra etching foil makes them look almost like common cards.

The only truly distinct chase cards in this set are the holodeck cards. Printed on a transparent plastic, these silk-screened images feature memorable moments from the second season's episodes involving the Holodeck. Numbered in sequence to cap off the set (200 - 202) these cards feature Janeway in her 18th Century novel get-up, Chakotay and Paris playing pool and The Doctor in his convertible on Mars. Because every other card but these is available in EVERY box, with only one of the Holodeck cards per box, these are the cards people continue to chase after, even now.

Non-Box Cards

This set had no promotional cards, nor exclusives that were not available in the boxes and packs.

Overview

By today's standards, the savvy card collector is likely to find this set quaint and somewhat simple. It is downright frustrating to collectors because it is simple to collect, save the holodeck cards. Many dealers do not carry these cards for the simple fact that everything is available - on average - in each and every box save those cards and it leaves dealers with a lot left over after the holodeck cards sell.

On the plus side, it is inexpensive to assemble. Boxes sell regularly for $10 - $25 in the market, but the value of the sets tends to reflect that low cost. This is an excellent set for those just getting started in Star Trek card collecting, but those who want something good, something that will appreciate in value over time would do best to avoid this one.

It's just too simple, capped off by three cards that are disproportionately difficult to find, especially given all of the leftovers one is left with when buying these boxes.

This set uses material solely from "Star Trek: Voyager - The Complete Second Season" reviewed here!

This is a set of trading cards I sell in my online store!  Please check out my current inventory and buy!

For other card sets that focus on episodes, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 Series 1
The Complete Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek Season Two

3/10

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

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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One Good Series Of Trading Cards Deserves Another, Star Trek: Voyager Season One Series TWO!

The Good: Interesting chase, Nice looking cards, Well written
The Bad: Various boxes/exclusives make it hard to complete a master set, Simple chase cards, Value
The Basics: This Star Trek: Voyager card series is a remarkably average trading card series that did not retain its value because of its retail-exclusive re-releases.


When Star Trek: Voyager premiered on television, fans of the Star Trek franchise were treated to an opportunity to collect trading cards based on the first, double-length episode. That set of trading cards was the Star Trek: Voyager Season One Series One trading card set (reviewed here!). Following the conclusion of the first season of Star Trek: Voyager, SkyBox released a new set of cards, the Star Trek: Voyager Season One Series Two set.

The Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 Series 2 set is probably the most widely available collection of Star Trek: Voyager trading cards, in no small part because the product was released to the market three separate times. The first release was the commonly available hobby and retail boxes. It was followed months later by the second two releases that had packs sold exclusively at WalMart and Blockbuster stores. The WalMart exclusive packages had twice as many cards per pack and included one of nine embossed cards featuring the crewmembers of the U.S.S. Voyager. The BlockBuster exclusive packs each included one of nine trading cards that popped up to make a 3-D mini-standee of each of the main cast members!

So, like the some of the earliest SkyBox Star Trek releases, this set was a bit overproduced and as a result all of the bonus cards that can be found in the standard hobby/retail boxes - as well as the common card sets - have been severely devalued. Cards like the SkyMotion Redemption Card which usually held their value because they were so hard to find (whatwith collectors redeeming them!), became more plentiful in the market with the subsequent releases so the boxes and single cards that were common to all three releases were severely devalued. Out of all the Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 Series 2 boxes, the standard hobby release with thirty-six packs featuring eight cards per pack is the least expensive and least valuable to consumers and collectors. The advantage, of course, is that one might assemble the set fairly inexpensively as a result (at least the box-bound set).

The Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 Series 2 trading card set consists of ninety common cards, 18 chase cards available in the packs and twenty bonus cards that were available only in the retailer-specific exclusive packs or through mail-away promotions that render them no longer available directly from SkyBox. Like the manufacturer-produced binder the final two cards are not available in any of the boxes of trading cards. For those unfamiliar with trading card collecting, "chase" cards are bonus cards inserted into random packs that fall outside the regular numbering system. Usually, there is some special (and usually more-expensive-to-produce) quality to them which is why they were made rare in the first place. The Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 Series 2 set was released at a time when chase cards were not especially interesting, though the highlight of this set was easily the mail-away SkyMotion card with an image that moved on it! While boxes of these cards may contain the Redemption Card needed to get the SkyMotion card, none of them would have the actual motion card in them.

A box of Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 Series 2 trading cards consists of thirty-six packs of cards, with eight cards per pack. A box of cards ought to contain at least one complete set of common cards and collation in these boxes was so good that most will yield a second common set. In addition to a common set, each box ought to contain three of the "Spectra" chase cards and two of the Neelix scratch and sniff recipe cards. One in every six boxes contained a redemption card for the SkyMotion card!

The common card set consisted of ninety cards and one of the nice things is, like its predecessor set, this set is a very sensibly oriented set! All 90 cards and all of the chase cards (save the Blockbuster Exclusive set) are oriented in a landscape orientation. This is especially nice for those who put the cards in a binder as everything is oriented the same direction, making it very easy to see all of the images in a consecutive order and read the backs of the cards in order as well.

The 90 card set focuses on the entire first season of Star Trek: Voyager. This set provided a great collection of images from the first season and contains some images not captured outside the series elsewhere (like on 8X10 photographs or collector's plates). Each episode is explored in detail with three cards devoted to the plot. The images on the front are full-bleed (one image per card, no borders) and the backs are generally well-written explorations of the episode plots, the technology, and the worlds of the first season of the show. It is a nice, collectible compendium of images and information for fans of "Star Trek: Voyager!"

The 90 card common set is broken down as follows: 1 - 9 Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 timeline illustrating the order of the episodes and charting the course of the season, 10 - 57 detailing the entire story in depth of the pilot episode, 58 - 63 trivia cards, 64 - 72 The Caretaker's Array being destroyed mural - a beautiful nine card mural that depicts the viewscreen shot of the Caretaker's station exploding on the front and viewscreen shots on the backs of the cards, 73 - 83 technology cards, 84 - 88 Strange New Worlds cards depicting planets Voyager visited in its first season, and 89-90 Checklist cards.

The bonus cards to this set include a nine-card Spectra card chase set, six Neelix Recipe cards that feature a scratch and sniff panel on the back, and a SkyMotion redemption card. While not strictly speaking chase cards, this set also includes a survey card and an order form card for the "Star Trek: Cinema Collection" cards. The Spectra cards are nice, etched foil cards with a pink background and each of the nine cards has one of the important aliens from the first season of Star Trek: Voyager on it. The Neelix Recipe cards feature shots of Voyager's chef, kitchen and cuisine on the front and a recipe and scratch and sniff panel on the back. The SkyMotion Redemption Card is a bland black and pink card with words "SkyMotion Redemption" on the front in big letters, though it looks a lot like the survey card. The back of that card has information on how to redeem the card for the actual SkyMotion card. It is worth noting that the SkyMotion Redemption Cards may no longer be redeemed for an actual SkyMotion card.

In addition to the cards available in the boxes, there are several cards that were not available in the boxes. They included the nine crew embossed cards from the WalMart packs, the nine cards from BlockBuster video that were probably a better idea than execution, the SkyMotion card and the oversized SkyMotion card. There was the regular trading card-sized SkyMotion card, a thick plastic card featuring the Captain Janeway beaming up to the ship. This card was only available from SkyBox with the mail-in Redemption card. As well, SkyBox offered an oversized SkyMotion card that was at least twice as big as the standard one and had the same image. The jumbo SkyMotion card was something that could be bought directly from SkyBox at the time (again, that offer has long since expired!).

For the true completist, there are three promotional cards. One was a general distribution oversized promo card sheet. The other two promotional cards are a bear to find. The first was exceptionally limited and was given out as a prize for the Gummie Awards by Non-Sports Update Magazine and the other - a rather bland #0 promo - was given out by Mastercard as part of a Star Trek credit card promotion. Those last two promos are arguably the hardest to track down.

But out of a box of these cards, the best one may hope for is the SkyMotion Redemption Card, which is pretty pathetic considering that it can no longer be redeemed. At best, this card carries a value of $25 and that is for the completist collectors that absolutely must have everything. Considering that a collector would have to purchase approximately six boxes of cards, this seems like a lot to buy to put together such a mediocre set. This set might sell best to fans of Star Trek: Voyager and those who want a simple, affordable Star Trek card collection. Indeed, if one were to use the checklist as the guide, the complete set of cards (all of which are in the boxes) represents a very attractive, colorful set.

But by today's standards, the savvy card collector is likely to find this set quaint and somewhat simple. It is inexpensive to assemble - boxes sell regularly for $10 - $25 in the market - and the value of the sets tends to reflect that low cost. Despite not having a lot to offer collectors in today's more extreme chase oriented marketplace, this set was fun to collect and it is worth recommending to any collector who wants to have fun assembling a set of trading cards that looks good!

This set uses material solely from Star Trek: Voyager - The Complete First Season, reviewed here!

This is a set of trading cards I sell in my online store! Click here to check out my current inventory!

For other sets of SkyBox cards that had SkyMotion bonus cards, check out my reviews of:
Star Trek: Generations trading cards
Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode Collection Season Six trading cards

5/10

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

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Solid Trading Card Set Marks Star Trek: Voyager's Debut With "Season 1 Series 1!"

The Good: Excellent images, Decent text on cards, Nice chase cards, Generally easy to find/assemble
The Bad: Not terribly impressive, Mail-away chase cards are unexciting, Set did not maintain value
The Basics: With Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 Series 1 trading cards, fans are able to find a decent-looking set that is easy to collect, even if it didn't appreciate in value.


For the time that SkyBox, the non-sports card division of Fleer Trading Cards, had the Star Trek trading card license, they quickly learned how to incorporate more and more value into their trading cards. As a result, they tended to learn from their mistakes and adapt. When Star Trek: Deep Space Nine debuted, they released a boxed set of trading cards chronicling the pilot. It was a beautiful little set but because collectors did not have to chase anything down or open packs, the set bombed in the retail and hobby markets. Learning from that mistake, when Star Trek: Voyager premiered, they released Star Trek: Voyager Season One Series One trading cards as a standard release. And it worked out well for SkyBox and collectors.

Unlike the earliest SkyBox Star Trek releases, this set was not overproduced, so finding one of the unopened boxes can be a real treat for collectors. Unfortunately for those same collectors, there is nothing earthshattering in the make up of this set and not everything from it was available in the boxes themselves. That might frustrate some collectors, though many will find value (and headaches) in tracking down the last few cards from the set in the secondary market!

The Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 Series 1 trading card set consists of one hundred common cards, 15 chase cards available in the packs and five bonus cards that were available only through mail-away promotions and are no longer available directly from SkyBox. Like the manufacturer-produced binder the final five cards are not available in the boxes of trading cards. For those not hip to the lingo, "chase" cards are bonus cards inserted into random packs that fall outside the regular numbering system. Usually, there is some special (and usually more-expensive-to-produce) quality to them which is why they were made rare in the first place. The Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 Series 1 set was released at a time when chase cards were not especially interesting, though the highlight of this set was a hologram with an image that moved on it!

A box of Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 Series 1 trading cards consists of thirty-six packs of cards, with eight cards per pack. A box of cards ought to contain at least one complete set of common cards and while it is possible by the numbers to assemble second set, usually the collation of the cards was not that precise. In addition to a common set, each box ought to contain three of the "Spectra" chase cards and two of the Ship Blueprint mail-away offer foil cards. One in every six boxes contained a redemption card for the SkyMotion card and one out of six boxes contained a motion hologram of the Emergency Medical Hologram, The Doctor!

The common card set consisted of ninety-eight cards, plus a title card (T1) and a preview card (P1). The T1 and P1 cards were inserted with such regularity and frequency that they are considered by most collectors to be a part of the common card set. The common card set, then, has 100 cards and one of the nice things is, this set is a very sensibly oriented set! All 100 cards and all of the chase cards are oriented in a landscape orientation. This is especially nice for those who put the cards in a binder as everything is oriented the same direction, making it very easy to see all of the images in a consecutive order and read the backs of the cards in order as well.

The 100 card set focuses on the very first episode of Star Trek: Voyager. It's all "Caretaker," all the time! This set provided some of the first images of the series and contains some of the most unique images from both the series and the pilot episode ever assembled. This is not the typical set in that it is very esoteric, focusing quite precisely on the one episode and exploring it with a depth that most trading card series do not do. In fact, outside sets that are focused on individual films, I do not recall any sets that put this much emphasis on a single episode of a franchise!

The 100 card common set is broken down as follows: T1 - the title card, 1 - 72 "Caretaker" plot cards detailing the entire story in depth of the pilot episode, 73 - 81 U.S.S. Voyager mural card a beautiful nine card mural that depicts Voyager coming over the rings of a planet from the opening credits to the show, 82 - 87 Behind-the-Scenes cards, 88 - 96 Technology cards, 97-98 Checklist cards, and P1 a preview card for the forthcoming "Star Trek: Voyager Season One Series Two" trading card set!

As previously stated, this is a nice looking set featuring images from the first episode of Star Trek: Voyager and it is bound to thrill any fan of that series. The images are full bleed which is especially nice for collectors and fans who like to get trading cards autographed. This means that there are no borders on the front of the card and the image is large. This set is characterized by a fairly bright color palate and the captures for the card images are largely clear and well centered. The back of each card is fairly written with the entire story of "Caretaker" being detailed scene by scene to correspond with the image on the front of the card. The technology cards and behind-the-scenes cards are interesting and written fine as well.

The bonus cards to this set include a nine-card Spectra card chase set, three blueprint offer cards, a SkyMotion redemption card, and the EMH hologram card. While not strictly speaking a chase card, this set also included a survey card. The Spectra cards are nice, etched foil cards with a blue background and each of the nine cards has one of the main crewmembers from Voyager on the front and a character biography on the back. The blueprint offer cards have a silver foil front depicting a part of the ship and the back has information on how to order the actual blueprint cards. The SkyMotion Redemption Card features the U.S.S. Voyager and the words "SkyMotion Redemption" on the front in big letters so it is easy to recognize. The back of that card has information on how to redeem the card for the actual SkyMotion card. It is worth noting that neither the blueprint offer cards nor the SkyMotion Redemption Cards represent any offers for cards that are still valid. SkyBox lost the Star Trek license almost a decade ago and they do not honor the old redemption cards any longer.

The true prize of this set is the one per six boxes EMH hologram card. The front of the card has a hologram that actually contains several frames of images. As a result, as one turns the hologram in normal light the image in the hologram actually animates! The image is of Voyager's holographic Doctor, which is very appropriate. When one moves the hologram, the Doctor opens his eyes and waves the scanner wand and arches his eyebrow. It's a nice effect, but hardly flawless. Because the arm movement is so extreme, it's impossible to catch the hologram with only one frame at a time. As a result, the arm waving the medical scanner is pretty much always a blurred amalgam of the frames featuring the arm movement. The back of the card is rather lame, simply a series of SkyBox logos and copyright information.

In addition to the cards available in the boxes, there are several cards that were not available in the boxes. They included the three blueprint cards, which had to be ordered directly from SkyBox. These were very rare cards that unfolded to have blueprint representations of key rooms in the U.S.S. Voyager as well as one of the starship itself. There was the regular trading card-sized SkyMotion card, a thick plastic card featuring the U.S.S. Voyager going to warp. These cards were only available from SkyBox with the mail-in Redemption card. As well, SkyBox offered an oversized SkyMotion card that was at least twice as big as the standard one and had the same image. The jumbo SkyMotion card was something that could be bought directly from SkyBox at the time (again, that offer has long since expired!).

For the true completist, there are four promotional cards, two of which are actually oversized promo card sheets and are rather hard to find. The other two promotional cards, given out in the magazines Non-Sports Update and - the near impossible to find - Cards Illustrated Magazine finish the set.

The cards that retained the greatest value in this set are the ones that were direct mail-aways from SkyBox, largely because at the time many collectors did not seem that excited about them. As a result, completist collectors and a few foresighted dealers bought them up and they command a decent price to this day. As well, the C1 promotional card retained quite a bit of value.

But out of a box of these cards, the best one may hope for is the EMH hologram card. While the market fluctuates, these cards have sold consistently for $30 - $50 for the past seven years to ten years. The set, as available in the boxes (the 100 cards + 15 chase cards) represents a decent and eminently collectible set. With six boxes one is virtually guaranteed to pick up a full set.

This set might sell best to fans of Star Trek: Voyager and those who want a simple, affordable Star Trek card collection. Indeed, if one were to use the checklist as the guide, the complete set of cards (all of which are in the boxes) represents a very attractive, colorful set.

But by today's standards, the savvy card collector is likely to find this set quaint and somewhat simple. It is inexpensive to assemble - boxes sell regularly for $15 - $40 in the market - and the value of the sets tends to reflect that low cost. Despite not having a lot to offer collectors in today's more extreme chase oriented marketplace, this set was fun to collect and it is worth recommending to any collector who wants to have fun assembling a set of trading cards that looks good!

This set uses material solely from the Star Trek: Voyager pilot episode "Caretaker," reviewed here!

For other Star Trek franchise card sets, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Star Trek Season One trading cards
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Episode Collection trading cards
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Series Premiere trading card set

5.5/10

For other card reviews, please be sure to check out my Card Index Page for an organized listing of all my card reviews!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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