The Fellowship Block - A Question

[Faelach]

I'm a long-time player of the LotR TCG.  I haven't been following the game from the beginning, but I started collecting and playing right around the time of BoHD.

There's something I've always wondered about the Fellowship Block (now my favorite of the 5).

Sam, Faithful Companion (from set 1) has the text "Play Bill the Pony from your draw deck".  Bill the Pony was not released in a set until Realms, which was set three. I've always wondered what the deal was.  What was the use of Sam's text if their wasn't a Bill the Pony?

Now, I do realize there was a promo Bill the Pony (I think it was one of the original promos, out around the time of set 1 - right?) - but did Decipher really produce that Sam simply for the players who had the promo?  If so, that thing must've been selling for insane prices.

I just wondered if anyone could clear this up for me.  I've wondered forever!

Thanks,

-bjw

[simplegarak]

It was largely a sort of advertisement from Decipher.  It wouldn't be the first time they've released a largely useless card as a "hint" of things to come.

[Yanko Markovic]

It's like The Bridge of Khazad-Dum. It plays the Balrog but there wasn't any balrog in fotr. It was a "hint" for cool things to come.

[Faelach]

It was largely a sort of advertisement from Decipher.  It wouldn't be the first time they've released a largely useless card as a "hint" of things to come.

Other than this Sam and The Bridge of Khazad-Dum, what were the others you can think of?

[legolas3333]

Return to its master and the twilight world were certainly more useful after MoM came out, but i don't know any in particular

[Elessar's Socks]

In ST1E such "broken links" were common; I guess it became something of a tradition in that game. At least Decipher didn't print "Where's Guinan Bill the Pony?" or something like this infamous card, which was finally given a use (beyond psychological warfare) in the last set.

[Faelach]

... or something like this infamous card, which was finally given a use (beyond psychological warfare) in the last set.

Haha.  I don't even play the game, but that's hilarious!   How long was it from printing 'til it was actually useful?

[simplegarak]

... or something like this infamous card, which was finally given a use (beyond psychological warfare) in the last set.

Haha.  I don't even play the game, but that's hilarious!  How long was it from printing 'til it was actually useful?

Well... that card appeared in the 3rd set.

It was useful in the last set.  Maybe... somewhere around 20s depending on how you want to count these things.

[chompers]

... or something like this infamous card, which was finally given a use (beyond psychological warfare) in the last set.

Haha.  I don't even play the game, but that's hilarious!  How long was it from printing 'til it was actually useful?

The game was released in 1994, that card i belive is 1995. The last set was was 2000-2001 ish and closed out a lot of unfinished card references. Then 2nd Edition came out.

The last 1st Edition National Championships (1999?) I went to I had spent alot of time putting together what I thought was a good deck. I normally went OK at Trek, finishing 1st to 3rd most tournies in a field of 15-20 players. My opponent, who won the tournament, has designed a deck to win on the first turn. He won the toss, and i never played a card. It was very silly the game had got to that point, but still impressive that he had worked out the deck. Needless to say, Decipher realised it was time to fix the game, printed a final set to close all unfinished cards, and released 2nd Edition. I guess my point is, the fix (http://www.trekcc.org/1e/index.php?id=127&cardID=1382) was only printed because the game had come to an end in its current format. The wait may have been even longer otherwise.

Mot the Barber (linked to that original card) was not released until set 14 of ST2E (2007?) and became one of the most powerful cards in the current meta. About a month ago, the Star Trek Continuing Committee placed errata on this card to reduce its effectiveness. To solve the problem further, the latest set which came out last week, released a new card that ripped the Mot deck to pieces. Just in time for all the Regional, National and World championships. Most players seem happy about it, except the players that only play the Mot deck I guess.

[simplegarak]

... or something like this infamous card, which was finally given a use (beyond psychological warfare) in the last set.

Haha.  I don't even play the game, but that's hilarious!  How long was it from printing 'til it was actually useful?

The game was released in 1994, that card i belive is 1995. The last set was was 2000-2001 ish and closed out a lot of unfinished card references. Then 2nd Edition came out.

The last 1st Edition National Championships (1999?) I went to I had spent alot of time putting together what I thought was a good deck. I normally went OK at Trek, finishing 1st to 3rd most tournies in a field of 15-20 players. My opponent, who won the tournament, has designed a deck to win on the first turn. He won the toss, and i never played a card. It was very silly the game had got to that point, but still impressive that he had worked out the deck. Needless to say, Decipher realised it was time to fix the game, printed a final set to close all unfinished cards, and released 2nd Edition. I guess my point is, the fix (http://www.trekcc.org/1e/index.php?id=127&cardID=1382) was only printed because the game had come to an end in its current format. The wait may have been even longer otherwise.

Mot the Barber (linked to that original card) was not released until set 14 of ST2E (2007?) and became one of the most powerful cards in the current meta. About a month ago, the Star Trek Continuing Committee placed errata on this card to reduce its effectiveness. To solve the problem further, the latest set which came out last week, released a new card that ripped the Mot deck to pieces. Just in time for all the Regional, National and World championships. Most players seem happy about it, except the players that only play the Mot deck I guess.

Oh man, my story with ST:CCG is even longer than LotR...
I barely have any cards of 2E but still loved it because it got so much right.

That Mot became OP is humorous to end for me.

[Elessar's Socks]

Barber Pole was released in October 1996 (Q Continuum); In For a Trim was released in July 2003 (All Good Things). Like chompers said, if it weren't for AGT being dedicated to fixing broken links, who knows how much longer the wait would've been.