This is the proper place for these two posts:
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Shelby's first name, Elizabeth, was seen on the personnel card in the Second Edition of the Star Trek Customizable Card Game I used to collect. It was put out by Decipher, Inc. until 2007, when they went bankrupt. Turned out that the CEO's brother-in-law had stolen nearly $2 Million from the company, which sadly led to it's unfortunate demise.
Decipher would do that a lot, by the way. They would make up names for people and starships they released as part of the game, if they did not already have one. It was pretty interesting!
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And then I wrote this one in the last half-hour:
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Actually, Decipher still exists, but they are a shell of their former selves. They now produce and distribute a card game called Fight Klub. I have no comment about that, I just wanted to clarify that the company is still in business. They just no longer make the Star Trek or Star Wars CCG's. Which is a real shame!
I went to the website that discusses at length the embezzlement of Decipher that took place over a ten year period, the CEO's sister married a man who was made a Vice-President of something, he then proceeded to practically rob them blind within the next decade. And in that time, the first edition of the Trek CCG was discontinued and a second edition took it's place. Once again, I have no comment about that.
The incident that really ground my gears was in 2005, when a 2E expansion was announced, then put on indefinete hold, and was not actually released until over a year later. I tell you, I was furious at this, as well as many things that were going on, including Decipher's dealings, or lack thereof, with their base of customers.
However, they made a small recovery and limped along for two more years. They ultimately discontinued the Trek CCG in late 2007, due to the financial crisis within the company, thanks to Warren Holland's brother-in-law, who pulled a Bernie Madoff and stole nearly $2 million, efficiently ending the CCG's existence.
Today there is a website called the Continuing Committee, they attempt to keep the Trek CCG alive by making virtual card sets available. For free. That means you have to print the cards out on paper and cut them out to the correct specifications. Tell me, who REALLY wants to go through all that? I don't bother with it, myself. It's not worth the time or the energy.
In closing, I just want to say, a big hearty thanks to the scumbag who made all this possible. The greedy money-grubber who made the great corporation Decipher go belly up and bankrupt and took my playing card sets away from me and all the other pitiful Trekgeeks who can't get a date on Saturday night.
His name: Rick Eddleman. Remember him always. They brought him to trial, he was convicted on all counts. He now sits in prison for embezzlement, most likely a minimum security country club resort for white collar criminals. They gave him 12 years.
Good riddance ya lame, lousy lowlife criminal!
Addendum to the above story:
I re-checked the information, and it was actually close to $10 million that Eddleman embezzled from Decipher. Plus, he was only sentenced to six years in a minimum security country club resort for white collar criminals, not twelve.
I also read the post on TCC's message board entitled "Decipher's Financial Troubles". I used to post there myself, but I spoke out against injustice and formed my own opinions (instead of just rolling over on command like many of the mindless sheep that would regularly post there) too many times for the moderator's taste.
So they banned me, I am now an outcast. And some Canadian imbecile who admitted to being a communist and who also called President Obama a socialist in one of his rambling manifestos on TCC was allowed free reign, nobody ever censored or banned him.
Now, that makes me just a little bit angry. The fact that I was no longer allowed to freely express my opinions about the Trek CCG and about Trek in general was extremely maddening, especially after we all found out why Decipher was having the problems it had.
Well, I say, good riddence Decipher. And good riddence TCC. The Star Trek CCG is dead. That's all there is to it. It died a slow, horrible, agonizing death after there were no more physical card sets being produced anymore. I sure as hell am not going to sit there and cut out virtual card images and paste them on cardboard, like I said before, I have neither the time nor the patience for that kind of thing!
More later, maybe.
I hate to see a once good company or
org. fall, but it happens from to time, often from "improvements" the new head honchos implement.
I take comfort in the fact that nature abhors a vacuum, and as long there is a bubble (demand) for x,
someone will rush in and make sure
no vacuum exists inside that bubble.