The Start of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game

The Star Wars franchise is nothing new, and trading card games are definitely not new. However, we're very excited to say that we do have some “new” cards from The Star Wars Customizable Card Game produced by Decipher Inc. from 1995 – 2001.

What feels like “a long time ago in a galaxy” not so far away, Decipher first produced the Star Wars Customizable Card Game in December 1995. The original set was just called “The Star Wars Customizable Card Game.” This premiere deck focused on characters from the original trilogy, as well as vehicles, settings, and other cards that served for the original mechanics. Over the next 6 years, Decipher produced 11 expansion packs, several of which we have in stock.

 

2001 Star Wars Reflections III CCG Collector Booster Box Factory Sealed

1996

The first two expansion packs released were A New Hope and Hoth. Both introduced new mechanics such as “planet destruction” (A New Hope) and “personas” (Hoth). New cards also included character debuts like Chewbacca and R2-D2 (A New Hope) and vehicles like AT-ATs (Hoth).

Star Wars CCG A New Hope Expansion Display Limited Edition Card Box Set – Factory Sealed, 1996

1997

Early 1997 saw the release of the Empire Strikes Back 2-player deck and the Dagobah expansion pack. For the Dagobah expansion pack the most interesting feature was the marketing tactic Decipher took. With each pack of 9 cards, players and collectors could be assured that the last card in their pack would always be rare. With this method, it would ensure a better balance between common/uncommon cards and rares. However, the Dagobah expansion also received poor reception and criticism due to changing and introducing new strategies to the game that focused on deck building and manipulation and took away from features that players loved like intense battling.

Released later in the year, The First Anthology was released containing two white-bordered Premiere starter decks, plus the 5 A New Hope (2), Hoth (2), and 11-card premium Jedi (1) expansion packs. This was the first publication of the Boba Fett card, which was later “officially” added to the game in the 1997 “Cloud City” expansion pack.

The final expansion pack released in 1997 was Cloud City. Not only was this the set where Boba Fett officially joined game play, Lando Calrissian joined the fight with unique personas. A “dueling” mechanic was also introduced and heightened stakes by adding a potential for Luke to join the Dark Side. Cloud City also served as a way to balance out some less popular strategies that had become widely used since the Dagobah expansions release.

Star Wars CCG Full Box Cloud City - Factory Sealed, 1997

1998

1998 brought the Lucasfilm's renewal of the Star Wars licensing with Decipher. This renewal included intellectual property from the first prequel movie Episode I: The Phantom Menace slated for release in 1999. However, no elements from The Phantom Menace were added until 2001.

Instead players saw 5 special releases still relating to the original trilogy for 1998. The first of these was the Jabba's Palace expansion pack in April that year. Jabba's Palace while focused on the iconic scenes of rescuing Han from Jabba, the deck is arguably the least popular deck available due to its general lack of competitive tournament cards. However, it did feature Jabba as a character and a new version of R2-D2.

1998 Star Wars Jabba's Palace Expansion Display CCG Limited Edition Factory Sealed Card Box

In May, Star Wars CCG players saw the release of the first Official Tournament Sealed Deck packs. These decks came with 18 exclusive cards that had black borders, and 4 Premier expansion packs of 15 cards each with white borders. They also had an additional black-bordered card pack containing 9 Light side cards and 9 dark side cards that didn't vary between the sets. There were 6 different sealed box editions that each featured a character: Boba Fett, Leia Organa, Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt, C-3P0, and Luke Skywalker. The Luke Skywalker box was especially unusual due to featuring Luke in full pilot gear when no-other cards featured him that way.

Later in July the same year, Decipher released the Star Wars CCG Second Anthology. In it were two of the Dagobah and Cloud City Limited packs, eight Premiere Unlimted packs, and six preview cards from the upcoming Special Edition Limited, Endor Limited, and Death Star II limited sets. The Second Anthology also came with an 800-card storage box.

Following The Second Anthology release, Decipher began releasing revised editions of previous expansion packs. Two of these revised packs released in September and October 1998. The first was A New Hope Revised Unlimited followed by Hoth Revised Unlimited. There was not much new about these sets. A New Hope retained its black borders, but had updated game text. Revised Hoth, however, had the revised game play text plus white borders instead of black.

1998 Star Wars Enhanced Premiere CCG Box (Sealed), Luke with Lightsaber

The 6^th full expansion set, Special Edition Limited was released in November 1998. This set was one of the largest releases as it featured 324 cards, plus scenes from the original trilogy not before seen in the game. There were also several elements that made this what is now argued one of the most significant card set releases from the Decipher Star Wars CCG. This set was released with new starter decks, special expansion card packs, a new rule book, a glossary, and some new mechanics including double-sided cards. It is notable that there never was an Unlimited version of the Special Edition pack.

At the same time of the Special Edition Limited Release, Decipher also decided to introduce Enhanced Premiere Packs. These packs were easily created and sold, due to being “must-have” decks that were marketed to new players. These packs included new character cards in addition to regular Premier packs. Many now, view the release of these packs as Decipher's way to get rid of excess and unsold product. Looking back from the present day, it is easy to speculate that these Enhanced Premiere Packs could have been the first signs of decline for the Decipher card game.

1998 Star Wars Enhanced Premiere CCG Box (Sealed), Luke with Lightsaber

1998 Star Wars Enhanced Premiere CCG Box (Sealed), Darth Vader with Lightsaber

1998 Star Wars Enhanced Premiere CCG Box (Sealed), Obi-Wan with Lightsaber

1999

1999 was a huge year for the Star Wars franchise and fandom as Lucas Films revived the franchise with the May release of The Phantom Menace. The new movie brought more attention to the Star Wars franchise as a whole. However, Decipher only released two card packs.

The first of these packs was released in June 1999 a month after the first prequel movie showed in theaters. This pack was the Endor Limited expansion pack. The 7^th full set this pack contained 180 cards and presented characters, scenes, and other elements from Episode VI: Return of the Jedi including Ewoks and speeder bikes. This expansion pack also featured foiled cards. However, it was difficult to complete the foil sets due to the distribution of them.

Enhanced Cloud City, came out in December of that year. This pack similar to the Enhance Premiere Packs in that Decipher used to sell excess left-over inventory. Decipher continued this method for several other packs released in the next two years. However, this expansion did feature 12 premium cards including: Chewie with Blaster Rifle, Lando in Millennium Falcon, Boba Fett In Slave I, and This Deal Is Getting Worse All the Time/Pray I Don't Alter It Any Further

Decipher also released Dagobah Revised Unlimited in December 1999. This set may have been released as a response to the criticisms of the original 1997 Dagobah expansion. This set was a near identical set to its predecessor. The major differences of the revised 1999 release was white borders, and text revisions to help address some game play issues.

2000

The Enhanced Jabba's Palace was first released in January 2000. This pack like other Enhanced re-released packs was an effort to sell excess product packs. There was not much of a fan-fare around its release. It did feature 12 premium cards (4 Light side & 8 Dark side).

Reflections: A Collector's Bounty (or more commonly Reflections I) was also released at the same time of the Enhanced Jabba's Palace pack. This set was originally meant to be a remake set released in 1999. We did not find any information as to why it was delayed in its release. However, it did generate some buzz due to releasing 114 new special foil cards for collectors. Sources used for this blog say that this pack was released as an attempt to clear more product surplus, but we have not found any official or primary sources that confirm this.

June 2000 saw the release of the the Star Wars CCG Third Anthology. The Third Anthology was the third and final Anthology set from Decipher. It came with a storage box, two Jabba's Palace booster packs, two Unlimited Premiere booster packs, two Special Edition Starter decks (one light, one dark), and 6 exclusive premium cards. It also had a checklist of all Star Wars CCG cards published at that point and a Special Edition Glossary/Rule Book.

The following month, Decipher released the Death Star II Limited expansion pack. This set had 182 cards and included cards of common, uncommon, rare, exclusive rare, and ultra-rare varieties. This pack also focused on Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. This set did have a few starter decks produced as well.

The final Decipher release of 2000 came with Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck in October. There were 6 different versions released in different boxes. Each box contained 6 Jabba's Palace Limited and/or Enhanced Jabba's Palace Limited packs and 20 exclusive new cards (10 light, 10 dark).

1999-copyright Star Wars Enhanced Jabba's Palace CCG Box (Sealed), C-3P0

1999-Copyright Star Wars Enhanced Jabba's Palace CCG Box (Sealed), Boushh

2001

The first release of 2001 was Reflections II: Expanding the Galaxy. This set included new foil versions of previously released cards, and was once again an attempt to rid Decipher of surplus cards. It did generate some buzz thanks to its 105 foil cards and was the first set to include cards based on the expanded universe and introduced 54 new premium cards. It also introduced combo cards to game play mechanics, however, this new strategy didn't affect game-play much.

2001 also saw the introduction of Phantom Menace elements. The first expansion pack to do so was the Tattooine Limited expansion pack. Originally Decipher wanted to use this set to focus on the Skywalker family, but Lucasfilm had other plans. The production company and license owner requested for the game company to mix the two trilogies. Therefore, the Tatooine pack included characters from Episode I such as Padme, Qui-Gon Jinn, Darth Maul, and a young Obi-Wan Kenobi. It also introduced pod-racing. A draw back of mixing the two trilogies was that including Anakin Skywalker could cause problems since Darth Vader was already an established character. This problem actually led to no Anakin cards ever being printed by Decipher. Due to having fewer cards and a large print run, the Tatooine expansion pack is the easiest to find and purchase.

Coruscant Limited was the second Phantom Menace pack released. Characters introduced were Queen Amidala, Mace Windu, and more. The packs focus on the Senatorial conflict also made this a powerful strategy tool for winning matches. As of today, it is one of the rarest sets to get thanks to a small print run.

Between Coruscant and the final release, Decipher released its third and final installment in the Reflections series, Reflections III. This set contained a total of 100 foil cards and 100 unique premium cards.

2001 Star Wars Reflections III CCG Collector Booster Box Factory Sealed

Decipher released its final expansion pack, Theed Palace Limited, in December 2001. This set focused on the final battle for Naboo in Episode I and introduced the Darth Sidious card. At the time Darth Sidious was not the same character as Emperor Palpatine or Senator Palpatine in Decipher's eyes. This card still proved to be a fan favorite, and the three personas remained separate until a rule change in 2021.

2002

Despite the popularity of the game and the buzz around the second Star Wars prequel, Lucasfilm decided to not renew the licensing agreement with Decipher. Instead the film company, allowed Wizards of the Coast to take over the licensing agreement and began producing the Star Wars Trading Card Game. This lost of the license meant that Decipher could no longer produce expansion packs.

As a response, the formation of the Star Wars CCG Players' Committee was announced in January 2002 by then Decipher CEO Warren Holland. This group continues to this day producing fan-made expansion packs, running tournaments and leagues, and maintaining updated rules for game-play.

Closing Thoughts

This game while it has decreased in popularity still has a strong player base. As of right now, the Star Wars CCG Players' Committee still has a working website that you can find here. Whether you're a veteran player or a new player, Standpipe Antiques has several set from this card game including factory sealed sets.

Special Thanks & Note

This blog post was also made possible by a ton of volunteer researchers, writers, and editor's who took time to archive, fact-check, and maintain a variety of fan-run sources which you can find below. We fully recommend going to the sources for further reading.

Sources for this blog post include

Star Wars Fandom: Wookieepedia's Entry for Star Wars Customizable Card Game and related entries

 

Wikipedia's entry for Star Wars Customizable Card Game

 

The Star Wars Customizable Card Game Players' Committee Website

 

“Game news & updates.” from The Duelist published by Wizards of the Coast

 

An archived Decipher Product Timeline