Feb 08 | While his "Lost" co-stars prepare to pack up and leave Hawaii, Daniel Dae Kim can plan to remain there for at least a few more months. Mr. Kim, who plays the time-traveling tough guy Jin on "Lost," has been the first actor cast in a coming remake of the crime drama "Hawaii Five-O," The Hollywood Reporter said. He has been cast as Chin Ho Kelly, a detective played by Kam Fong in the original series, which began in 1968. The "Hawaii Five-O" revival is being developed by the screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci ("Star Trek," "Fringe") and Peter Lenkov, an executive producer of "CSI: NY."
Feb 03 | William Shatner has paid tribute to his former Boston Legal co-star Justin Mentell, who died in a freak car accident on Monday. The 27 year old was thrown from his Jeep after swerving off the road near Madison, Wisconsin and died at the scene of the tragic crash. The Star Trek legend was saddened to hear of Mentell's passing - as he's convinced the actor was destined for a glittering career. In a post on his Twitter.com page, Shatner writes, "I'm deeply saddened to hear about Justin Mentell. There's no telling how far up the ladder he may have climbed. My sympathies to his family."
Feb 01 | Journalist Edward Gross posted an article at SciFiTVZone.com called "The Making of the Star Trek Pilots, Part 3: "Assignment Earth"" which takes a retrospective look at the making of the Gene Roddenberry unsold TV pilot "Assignment Earth" filmed at Desilu Studios as a second season Star Trek episode. The article feature rare interviews - including authors involved with the character of Gary Seven in comics and in novels.
Before I get started with my review of REFLECTIONS 2.0, I have to apologize to my editor and to the good people at Decipher for the delay in the publication of this review. Juggling a review with busy work demands and the birth of my wife's baby daughter have delayed the completion of this review, and for that I humbly apologize. With that said, let's get started, shall we?
Over the last ten years one of the more enjoyable gaming products that has been on the market has been the STAR TREK collectible card game series from Decipher. Since its inception in 1994, the product has grown and expanded in many new and exciting ways, from expansion sets based on THE NEXT GENERATION to DEEP SPACE NINE, VOYAGER, the Original Series, and the feature films. The product has taken a life of its own, with many states and countries sponsoring gaming tournaments and championships. A few years ago Decipher launched a new and innovative online experience called STAR TREK CCG ONLINE, which allows players and collectors to obtain and trade cards with one another and to participate in real-time online games.
One of the more popular aspects of the STAR TREK CCG product, and all of the Decipher products, for that matter, has been its REFLECTIONS series, cards reissued in new, shiny foil collectibles for both the traditional collectors and the hardcore gamers. First introduced in October 2000, REFLECTIONS combined the most memorable and collectible rare, premium, and preview cards from the many expansion sets into a comprehensive collection that appealed to fans and gamers alike. As both a collector and as a gamer, I followed Decipher's STAR TREK CCG product all the way from its beginnings to its many parlor products and expansion sets, ending with THE MOTION PICTURES, though I regret not having picked up the final first edition product, ALL GOOD THINGS.
In December 2002 Decipher re-launched the STAR TREK collectible card game with a new, streamlined Second Edition version of the product. With an easier game play option, a revised rules system, and more images from the different series and films, including ENTERPRISE and NEMESIS, the STAR TREK Second Edition became as popular as the First Edition with both fans and gamers. However, to satisfy the demands and needs of the many collectors and gamers who had been used to the First Edition, Decipher incorporated a series of conversion rules allowing for Second Edition cards to be used in First Edition decks and games. Over the last couple of years Decipher has released six different Second Edition expansions, and I have to admit, I've not kept up with Second Edition at all.
Now Decipher has returned with REFLECTIONS 2.0, a more streamlined expansion set combining 60 foil versions of the most popular rare cards from the previous expansions with 61 all-new foil premium cards into a 121-card master set. Just on the surface alone this is one really sharp looking collection!
Each box contains 24 packs of cards, with 18 cards per pack. Of the 18 cards, two are foil cards, while the other 16 are a random assortment of common, uncommon, rare, and starter deck cards from Second Edition, ENERGIZE, CALL TO ARMS, and NECESSARY EVIL. Out of the review box I received, I pulled 48 different foil cards, 105 cards from Second Edition, 61 cards from ENERGIZE, 78 cards from CALL TO ARMS, 6 cards from NECESSARY EVIL, and 130 duplicates altogether. Among the more interesting rare cards I pulled were the U.S.S. Defiant from Second Edition, Leeta and Jake Sisko from ENERGIZE, Quark and Kasidy Yates from CALL TO ARMS, Jake Sisko from NECESSARY EVIL, and the Borg Queen, Jake Sisko, and William T. Riker foils, among others. My estimate is that it would take you three or four boxes to come up with enough foil cards and duplicate rare cards to trade for other needed cards to complete the REFLECTIONS 2.0 foil collection. Of course, all of this may vary, depending on what is found in each individual box, so you may wind up with a more random assortment of cards from various Second Edition expansions.
The gameplay mechanic with REFLECTIONS 2.0 is consistent with past Second Edition volumes, though a number of cards can be easily integrated into past First Edition decks. The intention of all of the Second Edition sets is to create an easier version of the STAR TREK CCG for new players as well as for veteran players and gamers alike. In order to facilitate immediate gameplay for the new foil cards, it requires integrating them into available starter decks from either the Second Edition Premiere set or the CALL TO ARMS expansion. While a number of the cards present in REFLECTIONS 2.0 are taken from the different starter decks, that may not necessarily translate into immediate starter decks for people who are just coming into the game for the first time or for the first time in a long time.
On the collectible face value alone, REFLECTIONS 2.0 is another fine addition to the growing STAR TREK CCG series, with production quality second to none. All of the images represented in the series are taken from superb digital masters of the various episodes and films, so on the surface you're getting a set of sharp-looking cards that are beautiful to look at! I found no flaws at all in any of the cards, from the foils all the way down to the starter deck cards from Second Edition. Depending on what you find in your box, you may come away with some of the harder-to-find rare foil cards in the set. It's like the old days of grab bags or baseball cards, you never know what you'll find when you open up a box!
For gamers, collectors, and STAR TREK fans alike, REFLECTIONS 2.0 is another wonderful entry in Decipher's continuing development of CCG products. While the $5 price tag may seem a little steep for each individual pack, you should be able to find a box at much more affordable prices through other markets. This is a great product, one that I'm glad to say has renewed my interest in the collectible card game field! I'm looking forward to what Decipher has in store for 2005!
ST:CCG was a failure right from the beginning, with slow, plodding gameplay and virtually nonexistent player interaction. It never rivaled Magic in popularity, and was almost immediately eclipsed by the original SW:CCG, which is why Decipher dedicated most of it's time and energy promoting SW:CCG while letting ST:CCG languish. Attendance at local tournaments was miniscule, which is why they eventually started letting tournament directors play, so there could actually be enough players to hold a tournament. Their public relations on the web was terrible, as uber bitch Major Rakal and top dufoos Even Lorentz alienated much of the player base with their less than personable and responsive attitudes on the discussion boards. And I'm not even touching on the gouging of the customers with the super-rares that were essential to building certain kinds of decks (as Seven of Nine was to building a Borg deck) and the endless foils.
Sales of 1st edition sets were mediocre to terrible, which is why they abandoned it and decided to try and reinvent the game with the even worse 2nd edition. I'm shocked they're even still producing the cards, since judging from their website you'd be hard-pressed to know anything other than LOTR:CCG exists. You wanna know why they came out with the Anthologies? So they could try to sell the zillions of packs of cards that were still sitting and rotting in the warehouse, especially Premiere packs.
Here's a tip for the idiots at Decipher - maybe they can reinvent Boy Crazy, or Austin Powers, or maybe combine the two into a wacky new party game "Austin Powers is Boy Crazy!"
Yes people like me are still playing it. It's clearly not crap otherwise they wouldn't have kept making new sets since 1994 and would have gone away like the other Star card game did.
What's wrong with having a few rares being more useful than others? It's a standard card game deal, besides 7 of nine wasn't that essaintal.
I don't know what website you've been checking, but there are actually more references to Star Trek than LOTR on the front page as I am writing this.
I've never had any bad experiences on thier boards, Even and the Major have always been nice. There are always other players who would answer questions within minutes anyways.
My friend and I used to collect the 1st edition cards. However, around the time the "Blaze of Glory" set came out we decided that the game was getting a little too in depth and, while we kept buying the new sets, we stopped playing for the most part. We have played a few times since, however, and we still enjoy it. I actually enjoy its complexity. I understand that for some people with the 'Nintendo mentality' it might be boring and too slow, but some of us actually like that aspect. However, once the 2nd Ed came out we stopped buying cards (neither of us had any interest in starting over in our collections, regardless of how compatible the two editions were.) So, to answer your question, yes, some of us used to waste our money on this crap, but not anymore. As far as the 'Reflections' cards go, they are a complete waste of time and money in my opinion. I buy the cards because they have a dual purpose. Reflections have a single purpose, collectability, and I got enough of that in the early 90's when there was a Star Trek card for EVERYTHING.
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