Hi everyone!!! It's a whole new year, new century, new decade, new millenium... Whew, did anyone think we'd make it this far? I just wanted to give you all monthly updates as to what's going on around the Star Wars and Young Jedi community. I figure this would be a great month to get this started. *Star Wars CCG- By now everyone's already got ECC and are anxiously awaiting EJP. Man I can remember the controversy surrounding EJP. It was big mess with my fellow Squadron Members. For those of you that haven't had a chance to get your hands on the new ECC cards, you can catch all of the info on them at the Decipher Website. Additionally, if you're looking for a really good deal on ECC and EJP, try J&B Cards (www.jbcards.com). I bought a box of ECC for $105 (which is about $70 cheaper than retail!). I'm not giving J&B props because I work for them or anything... I just figured I'd let you all in on a good deal. Lot's of you have already seem some of the new EJP cards as well. I can envision a nasty little Abyssin Deck with Court Of The Vile Gangster. Why Abyssins you ask? Well, if you toss in Any Means Necessary to grab Boba Fett then toss in Joda Kast, you can Hidden Weapons to your hearts content! And, with the 3 destinies your 4 power Abyssin's are giving you, you can really put the hurt on those hienous Harvest Decks. "Mr. Lars meet Rancor. Rancor EAT Mr. Lars." Don't even get me started on Mara Jade. You thought Hunt decks were outragious with just Vader. Wait 'till she gets loose. Releasing at the same time as EJP is Reflections. Now, understandably, Foil cards have taken a pretty sound beating with Endor (I have tons of those crappy Foil Speeder Bikes that I can't get rid of :(. ). However, wouldn't it be totally cool to come out with a foil Darth Vader? "Yes, I do make millions of dollars, and here's my foil Vader to prove it!" DSII is also on the horizon. Believe me, I can't wait to get a hold of some new Star Destroyers I can't use. :) *Young Jedi CCG- They fixed the foil problem with this expansion. Now all the foild you'll get are actual rare cards. Highs with the expansion: I love the pictures... Very nice art! Lows with the expansion: Too many redundant cards. Example, In Complete Control/ Take Them To Camp Four. What up with that!?! If I'm gonna buy cards, please let them do me some good! How many of you have collected enough points for the Foil Anakin? As far as a Foil Sebulba for tournaments... I'm still waiting on getting a sactioned YJ tournament into Big D in order to get it. I figure I'll have him for the tournaments next month. *Tournaments- I've got 4 Tournaments planned for this month: 2 Star Wars and 2 Young Jedi. You'll notice a change in the locale... I've selected to run these tournaments directly at selected restaurants. By doing this I avoid the local retailers. !!!So, if you want to come to my tournament, just show up at the restaurant, not the nearby card shop!!! The reasons for this change up? 1) By eliminating the "Middle Man" (the retailer), I'll be able to offer more and better prizes. You see, as of late, many retailers have fallen into the rut of trying to make money off of tournaments, thus, they've scimped on prizes. This is unacceptable. 2) I feel it adds a sense on equality with all card shops in the area. Now, no one retailer has total access to a tournament. 3) The more room in a restaurant. I know how you feel trying to find a place to play after you've been paired up. Many retailers simply don't have the accomodations to adequitely run a sizable tournament. Finally, 4) Food! It is not fun trying to play your way through a 6 game tournament on an empty stomach. By playing at a restaurant, you have access to all the food you want, right there at the tournament. Sure you'll pay a little more, but, it's worth it! Here are the dates, times and locations of this months tournaments: --Star Wars CCG-- Saturday Jan 15th, 2000 10:30am Melo's Pizza in Livermore. Entrance fee: $10.00 3 rounds (6 games) Prizes: Cloud City & Endor Boosters. A hand made Plaque and T-shirt! Stop by here on your way to the San Jose tournament later this evening! Saturday Jan 22nd, 2000 11:00am GodFather's Pizza in Rancho Cordova (Sacramento) Entrance fee: $10.00 3 rounds (6 games) Prizes: Premier Unlimited & Endor Boosters. A Hand made Plaque and T-shirt! --Young Jedi CCG-- Sunday Jan 16th, 2000 12:30pm Melo's Pizza In Livermore. Entrance fee: $10.00 2 rounds (4 games) Prizes: Jedi Council Boosters. A T-shirt. A Hand made plaque. Sunday Jan 23rd, 2000 12:00 noon GodFather's Pizza In Rancho Cordova. Entrance fee: $10.00 2 rounds (4 games) Prizes: Jedi Council Boosters. A T-shirt. A Hand made plaque. Directions to Melo's Pizza: From the I-580 take the First St exit. Go south on First St. Turn left just before Burger King. Find Safeway, Melo's is close by. Directions to Godfather's Pizza: From the I-50 take the Zinfandel Dr exit. Go north on Zinfandel Dr. Turn left onto Folsom Blvd. Godfather's Pizza is on your right. Call me if you need more help with this. >>>Recruitment call!!!<<< If you're interested in being a tournament director, please let me know. I am in desperate need of regular tournament directors for Star Wars CCG and especially Young Jedi CCG. Requirements- You have to be able to run AT LEAST one tournament a month... Being able to run more is a definite plus. You must have a good grasp on how to play the game. You'll be asked to make various and often unothodox rulings. What you'll get- A cool Tournament Directors kit. You'll also be in line to be a Squadron Member. If you want to be a Squadron Member (or a Jedi Council Member), please see me, I can make it happen. *The Website- As you might have guessed. There hasn't been very many updates to my website in recent times. This is because I just got the Microsoft Frontpage software and I'm in the process of rebuilding the entire site using the software. This will take some time... But, when it's done, it'll be impressive. I am also looking for people that have experience with websites to help out. I'm very particular about what goes on the website, but, if you can handle my anal retentiveness, then, you'll get your name along with mine on the front page of the site! *Listserve news- The Alderaan Listserve has been a great success! I owe it all to you guys for making it happen! However, I really encourage you guys to make more use of this tool! There are now 37 people on this listserve that can hear you... Let 'em know what you have to say. If you wannna ask a question? There are 4 Squadron Members here to help, plus loads of other excellent players. Looking for somebody to play with? Stand up and shout! Lot's of us are also dying to play! Wanna trade? So does everyone else... What better place to trade than right here in NO Cal! Also, if you know of other people that have email and aren't on the listserve, let 'em know about us. This is one of the best places to get the latest scoop on what's going on in the Star Wars CCG world! *Upcoming news- February is going to be BIG!!! The Grand Slam Event is scheduled for Feb 19th and 20th at Mountain View. February will also see a special Lightsaber Tournament in Livermore! The Grand Prize: A Lightsaber prop! Thanks for listening! Hope to see you all this weekend or next!