First
Anthology, 2 unlimited starter decks, 2 Premiere booster packs,
2 Alternate Universe booster packs, 2 Q-Continuum booster packs, 1 warp
pack, 6 rare preview cards
Average Picture Score: 2.72
Average Lore Score: 3.08
Average Trek Sense Score: 4.33
Average Seedability/Stockability Score: 3.62
PRODUCT CONCEPT: The idea of packaging together all the products that have gone before isn't very original, but that of including a box to put your collection in (your personal anthology) is worth it. The Anthology features cards from the first 3 sets, plus 6 "previews", cards Decipher promised to include in future sets. All were based on Deep Space 9 or Voyager, but fully playable with the TNG-related sets despite the new affiliation icons. Those previews were fun because they did preview more than cards, but icons as well. We got to see the first Cardassian icon, the first Ferengi, and the first and only (to date) Excelsior icon. That, at least, was fun, since anthologizing sets we already had access to (if not complete collections of) was not. A 3.3.
PACKAGING/LOOK: First of all, the long "800-card" box is great. It's very sturdy and does hold a large amount of cards. The dark blue and STCCG icon on it are from the early days, but still look good. (Really, my main beef about the Anthology boxes isn't the quality: it's that they don't make them often enough to keep up with my collection, and I only keep one of every card in them!) The box came in a sleeve which rather boringly matches the box in all things. I don't use it, but you could keep it to keep your box closed. On the underside of it is a clear presentation of everything you get with the product. Oddly, the rules supplement looks nothing like it actually does.
As sundry extras inside, you'll find a plain Fajo Collection coupon and a tall, but handsome, rules supplement that covers not only the new preview cards, but the everything from AU and QC as well. This was welcome since I never did put my hands on any of them (wasn't buying boxes back then). The supplement uses 2 colors only - black and a rather dark blue which doesn't complement the booklet very well, especially in its reproduction of various icons. The booklet also features a picture of Decipher's original webpage with the odd... umm, let's call 'em buildings. Remember those? As for the information on the previews, there's not much to tell rules-wise, but there's still a paragraph on each - an interesting and fun mix of background material from the show, strategy tips and clarifications. Just the box is worth the buy, so I'll go as high as 4.2.
DISTRIBUTION: Today, we don't look very kindly on products that recycle Premiere, AU and QC cards because we have so many of them already. 15-card booster packs do tend to give you large collections of commons, not all of them useful. Sure, the expansions do contain some staple cards like Q's Tent, but you have to go through a lot of trashy Q-cards and things like Howard Heirloom Candle to get to them. These sets are quite unbalanced, at times soaring, at others crashing. Still, the distribution of 2 boosters per expansion makes sense and gives a newcomer a fair sample of that set. 2 starter decks may be a bit much however, especially since they weren't really playable out of the box, warp pack or no. The warp pack was cool when it came out, but you have a good chance to get its new cards in your AU packs, so only Sensitive Search remains "unique" (if you don't have the 2-player set that is). That leaves us with the 6 previews. No real problems there since you always get the same 6, but the product gets less and less desirable with time as the cards get released in better-looking black border in later expansions. As of this date, only Ensign Tuvok remains unrealeased. Still, availability of the First Anthology waned much more quickly than those cards came out. You do have to buy a lot of older product to get only 6 new cards which you could wait for anyway. Fairly average at 3.1.
NEW ICONS, CARD TYPES & MECHANICS: While this product marked the first appearance of Cardassian and Ferengi affiliation icons, I think I'll wait until the actual introduction of those affiliations (DS9 and RoA respectively) to comment on them. The Excelsior icon is the only item not yet repeated in a normal expansion, so we'll cover it here, with an eventual update.
Excelsior
icon
Graphics: The icon was lifted from the movie-era Starfleet insignia,
just taking the A and circle and dropping the wide badge underneath. Looks
good, and the golden color certainly separates it from the blueish OS and
E-E icons. A clean 3.6.
Trek Sense: Still calling it the "Excelsior icon", I think Decipher
should make the jump to "Movie icon" or some such (which is no more a reference
to media than is "Original Series". You just know that's what it's gonna
be - an icon to represent personnel, ships and equipment from a relevant
time location. I'd be very disappointed if it were just a staffing icon
for the Starship Excelsior ;-). Are such icons sensical? Sure are, and
way more elegant than using lore to indicate TL on so many cards. Makes
sense, but isn't active yet, so only a 4.
Usefulness: Well, none yet! Until we get a place to report such
personnel, equipment to modify them and ships they can fly and report to,
it'll have to stay a 0. Get back to me when we get a Movie expansion.
[Average total: .2.53]
(Average score for new mechanics: 2.53.)
OVERALL USEFULNESS: The box, as I've said, is very useful. The coupon helped with the buying of a Fajo Collection, but to get a 30$ rebate, you needed to buy 3 Anthologies, which just isn't worth it unless you're only just starting. The anthology of cards (the starters and boosters) gets you a large number of commons (11 per booster) and only a total of 10 rares, so it all depends on what you draw. It really boils down to the 6 previews. Assuming you got them when none had been reprinted yet, I'd have to say they were worth it. Dr. Telek R'Mor in particular, is a staple of Romulan space decks, The Orb or Prophecy and Change is not only great for Bajorans, but for probe rigging as well (by the Borg for example), and Thomas Paris has seen a large amount of use thanks to his NA Navigation x2 and Transporter Skill. The other three are less important, but do have their uses, especially Garak and even Quark Son of Keldar. Ensign Tuvok will be the last to be reprinted, but also the least useful. The score is positive then, but with the re-release of all these cards, can't set any records. A 3.6.
TOTAL: 16.73 (66.92%) Maybe more for a newbie.