How do you tell the difference between Alpha and Beta Star Trek CCG?

Question

The 1994 Decipher Star Trek CCG Premier/1st Edition cards were released in black border limited and in white border which I've only recently found described as both alpha and beta releases.

I'm processing a huge lot of these cards, is there any way to distinguish between the alpha edition and the beta edition?

I know it's a trivial value issue, but I strongly prefer to put the right collections together.

Stephen · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-18T21:02:21.637

The white bordered alpha edition was produced in 1994 and bears 1994 on the copyright line.

The white bordered beta edition was produced in 1995 and bears 1995 on the copyright line.

The sets are otherwise indistinguishable. Additionally there is a silver bordered collector's edition that was distributed in a metal container.

The cards with changes between Alpha and Beta are:

ARMUS - SKIN OF EVIL — changed lore from "Malevolent being formed when the inhabitants of Vagra II rid themselves of all the evil they have inside." to "A malevolent being was formed when the inhabitants of Vagra II rid themselves of all the evil they had inside."

DISTORTION FIELD — changed "prevents any beam down here" to "...prevents beam down/up here..."

EMERGENCY TRANSPORTER ARMBANDS — changed "Beam Personnel up or down at any time, even during a battle before the winner is determined." to "Beam your Personnel up or down at any time, except during a dilemma (unless specifically permitted). May be used during battle before the winner is determined."

EVACUATION — changed "Strength" to "STRENGTH"

FIRESTORM — changed "... unless thermal deflectors present. Discard dilemma." to "...unless thermal deflectors present OR Away Team escapes using emergency transporter armbands. Discard dilemma."

GIUSTI — corrected misspelling of "consol" to "console"

**INVESTIGATE TIME CONTINUUM — corrected misspelling of "Dividia" to "Devidia"

KHITOMER RESEARCH — changed from Romulan to Romulan and Klingon mission

LWAXANNA TROI — corrected misspelling of "Lwaxanna" to "Lwaxana"

MENDON — corrected misspelling of "specialist" to "specialists"

'T'PAN — added MINDMELD skill

THE JUGGLER — corrected misspelling of "Lwaxanna" to "Lwaxana"

TORAL — changed "...bidding of half sisters, Lursa and B'Etor." to "...bidding of Duras's sisters, Lursa and B'Etor."

TSIOLKOVSKY INFECTION — added "(Not cumulative.)"

U.S.S. OBERTH — moved staff icon to center of art block.

WESLEY CRUSHER — removed apostrophe from "Protege' of the Traveler." to read "Protege of the Traveler."

WIND DANCER — corrected misspelling of "Lwaxanna" to "Lwaxana"

That is not the only difference: 17 cards where changed to correct some (mostly minor) errors: http://stccg1e.wikia.com/wiki/Premiere — RoToRa, Oct 14 '11 at 14:56
@RoToRa I was mostly concerned with identifying the cards, however, your link is excellent information. If you put it in an answer, I'd certainly give you an upvote. — Stephen, Oct 14 '11 at 19:19

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 08 '12 at 11:10

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I thought white was alpha and black was beta...When they first came out in Lexington Kentucky they were white bordered. a year or so later they came out with black border, same cards as the white border but calling them beta.

answered Feb 08 '12 at 11:10

Horsemuffins

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The black boarder cards are exclusively referred to as "Limited", and white boarder as "Unlimited". Only the Unlimited are affected by the question of Alpha or Beta :) – Stephen Feb 08 '12 at 13:22

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 08 '12 at 13:22

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I have 3 T'Pan . 1 of them only has Science for skills while 2 of them have Science and Mindmeld. I guess the just Science one is a miss print!

edited Feb 08 '12 at 13:22

Stephen

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answered Feb 08 '12 at 11:15

Horsemuffins

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T'Pan is listed in the cards noted in my original answer. – Stephen Feb 08 '12 at 18:50

How do you tell the difference between Alpha and Beta Star Trek CCG?

3 Answers3