The following was posted by Decipher's Kyle Heur last week concerning the State, National, and Provicial Prizes that have been delayed for so long. I apologize for not posting this earlier. State/National/Provincial Prize Information

I'd like to address the status of the State Championship prizes, hopefully this will answer questions concerning the completion of this project and the prizes that will be sent to our champions and runners-up.

At the end of last year, we met to discuss the 2000 Championship Circuit. Our goal was to create a larger and more inclusive tournament structure than existed in 1999. The State/Provincial/National level of tournaments were created to serve that purpose. A high-caliber tournament in your local scene that got you to the next level of tournament play.

We decided that rather than provide the trophies we have awarded in the past, we'd create an award that would be more visible and portable. Something the winners could carry with them to tournaments and events that would identify them as champions. Thus was born the State/Provincial/National trophy binders. Our goal was to honor both first and second place winners --over 500 awards!

The design of the trophy binders got into full swing to try and get them finished by the time the tournaments started. However, from the beginning we realized that we probably would miss the start of the events because of how soon that level of the Championship Circuit started (March 17th for those of you that forgot). The artwork alone was going to take some time to complete and get through the approval process with Lucasfilm and Paramount. The second challenge that we faced was finding a company that could produce a quality product (trophy quality). Our sights were now set to have them completed by the time the State/Provincial/National events finished (May 31st).

Missed that deadline...

As the summer progressed and the Regional Championships got underway, projects started to pile up. I'm not saying that the trophy binders for States/Provincials/Nationals should have received a lower priority, but in the tumult of everything going on, that's exactly what happened. Matters of urgent importance (can anyone say DecipherCon 2000) that had to be completed on time were given priority over those that were already late. This, of course, was something that never should have happened. The trophy binders should have received the attention they deserved.

All along there was a recognized need to finish the binder awards, and steps were taken to make that happen; it just was not given the same sense of urgency that other things were given. As months went by, the phone calls and emails from you, the players, started to pour in. A growing sense of urgency mounted and the project was finally put under a microscope to determine how we could complete this project.

About 1 month ago, the entire project was ironed out and all the loose ends were tracked down. We are currently waiting on the first proof to arrive from the printer (which should be next week). Once that is in house, we have but to approve the quality (please let it be perfect!!!) and have them start printing. They say that the printing process will take about 20 days. Now with Christmas in the way, it looks as if we are looking at a January date to get these into the hands of the people who deserve them.

So that is the entire history of the State Championship prizes, long and complicated, but the entire story. We have a dedicated person working on this project now. He has kept the database of all the winners up to date with all their mailing information, and will be on the front line when those binders finally arrive to coordinate them getting right back out the door again.

If you are a State/Provincial/National winner or runner-up, the best thing you can do to make sure that your prize gets to you as quick as possible is to email bojo@decipher.com with your current contact information, including:

? Name:
? Tournament you played in: eg, Minnesota/Star Trek CCG
? What place you took:
? Address:
? City:
? State or Province:
? Zip or Postal Code:
? Country:
? Phone Number (mandatory for non-US prizewinners (required by delivery services):
? Email address:

We have most of your information already, but if you have moved since the end of May, it would be in your best interest to make sure we have your updated mailing information.

Now, you might ask, what exactly are you going to get?

Each State/Provincial/National winner and runner-up will receive a custom-made 4-pocket binder with unique art for the game you play (Star Trek CCG, Star Wars CCG, or Young Jedi) on the cover. Each binder holds about 80 cards and has a custom foil-stamp on the front cover with the type of event you won (State, Provincial, or National) and the place you came in (Champion or Runner-up).

In light of the fact that is has taken us an extraordinary amount of time to get each of you these trophies, we will be including in each of your packages a special surprise bonus as a thank you for being so incredibly patient with us. I won't ruin the surprise just yet, but be sure to look for this when you get your trophy.

Again, I would like to apologize for the delays in getting you these magnificent prizes. It was not our wish that you'd have to wait this long in receiving what is due to you. Lesson learned. We will endeavor to work harder to make sure something like this never happens again.

Kyle Heuer
Rogue Leader
December 1, 2000