Misadventures in Dominia
August 4th 2011 23:39
Leela: This was a mistake.
Zapp Brannigan: A sexy mistake.
Leela: No, a regular one.
-- from “Love’s Labors Lost in Space,” Futurama season 1
Ever noticed that many online card stores have a specific section for misprints and miscut cards? Alpha Beta Unlimited, one of the best online stores, has misprints from as far back as Fallen Empires and as recently as Zendikar, suggesting that the printing process may never be entirely under control.
When I was looking through some of my cards, I found I had a lot more misprints than I ever expected. Not so many of the spectacular kind such as the aforementioned store carries, that have colored blotches or are noticeably off-center; but many cards are actually slightly off-center on a close examination, and some of the cards from my copy of Duel Decks: Knights vs. Dragons have slightly faded rules text. I’m not sure whether there have actually been more misprints in recent sets than usual or the number in my collection is just the result of chance, but if it were up to me, this is something I’d look into.
You wouldn’t want to have too many misprints because it makes your product look amateurish; it would also be unfortunate if the real mistakes, the collectible mistakes like the blue Hurricane or cards with the wrong back, became less valuable because the product became generally crappy and less in demand overall. I want to emphasize that there’s not really any indication globally that this is a real risk, but it’s important to remember that every element of a product needs to be subject to overhaul when necessary – that includes the game rules, the art style, and even something as mundane as the printing process.
Zapp Brannigan: A sexy mistake.
Leela: No, a regular one.
-- from “Love’s Labors Lost in Space,” Futurama season 1
Ever noticed that many online card stores have a specific section for misprints and miscut cards? Alpha Beta Unlimited, one of the best online stores, has misprints from as far back as Fallen Empires and as recently as Zendikar, suggesting that the printing process may never be entirely under control.
When I was looking through some of my cards, I found I had a lot more misprints than I ever expected. Not so many of the spectacular kind such as the aforementioned store carries, that have colored blotches or are noticeably off-center; but many cards are actually slightly off-center on a close examination, and some of the cards from my copy of Duel Decks: Knights vs. Dragons have slightly faded rules text. I’m not sure whether there have actually been more misprints in recent sets than usual or the number in my collection is just the result of chance, but if it were up to me, this is something I’d look into.
You wouldn’t want to have too many misprints because it makes your product look amateurish; it would also be unfortunate if the real mistakes, the collectible mistakes like the blue Hurricane or cards with the wrong back, became less valuable because the product became generally crappy and less in demand overall. I want to emphasize that there’s not really any indication globally that this is a real risk, but it’s important to remember that every element of a product needs to be subject to overhaul when necessary – that includes the game rules, the art style, and even something as mundane as the printing process.
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