Editor's Note: Apologies if this has been discussed to death, but I figured covering old territory may be necessary as we regenerate.
I was too cool in middle school for Magic the Gathering (or maybe my Mom wouldn't let me player because of demons or something) so my trading card experience was fixated on Star Trek: The Next Generation Customizable Card Game, released originally by Decipher in 1994. At the time, I had no job and no allowance so I only had a few starter decks I got for birthdays or saving up whatever I made from mowing my neighbor's yard. I remember making a very of-the-times custom box from a shoebox covered in duct tape to hold my precious collection--I still have that if anyone wants a photo, haha.
Fast forward to a few years ago when I discovered a new coworker was also a big Trek fan! He also played the game, and he was actually good enough to win some tournaments! That is when I discovered the resell market and websites like The Continuing Committee and the wonderful people that have kept the game alive all these years. I spent more money on eBay (and a few semi-sketchy websites I had never heard of before) than I am prepared to admit, but it was all worth it to fulfill a childhood dream: I now own the entire TNG bridge crew and Enterprise D cards, something I could only salivate over as a kid.
We played a ton of great games over lunch breaks and I learned that all of my favorite cards are weaklings compared to the later expansions, as appears to be true of all long running card games. Eventually he moved on and I had nobody left to play with, but I still occasionally pull out the collection and go through it to relive the nostalgia.
The only major downside is that the popularity had dropped off pretty hard by the time DS9 and Voyager expansions came out, so while the market is flooded with affordable copies of the original run and the few early expansions I remembered, trying to collect the equivalent primary-ship-and-main-crew cards from my other favorite franchises appears to be completely beyond my financial range.
So, that's my story. Did anyone else play and/or collect? Anyone still involved in the modern incarnation?
Back then downtown Chicago had a cards and comics shop called Lower Decks. They would put TNG CCG cards in one of those sort of candy-type vending machines where you get a few cards for a quarter. I got the "Lower Decks" card out of that machine at the Lower Decks shop.
A friend stole my Borg Cube card and I never forgave him.
I have a bunch of Borg Cube cards if you want to trust a stranger on the Internet with your mailing address.