so anyone else seen the luke and young vader alternate art cards

does anyone know where they will be available

No.

Nope.

I think lots of folks are kind of expecting them to show up at Comic Con in San Diego as well

I don't recall FFG having a presence at SDCC.

I'm expecting them to show up at Gen Con.

From my perspective, the biggest issue continues to be their lack of communication on pretty much any front (with the possible exception being their direct communication to distributors via in-person talks at expos and such). These promos came out of nowhere and look really sweet...but were also distributed only at a Team Covenant event in Oklahoma without any advance notice given by anyone. Now, if they had put out an "Upcoming Promo" release article for the year, detailing where you could get each of them - probably would be less shock/surprise/outrage. If they had given these more playable characters out at Worlds instead of Mon Mothma (or the BB-8 for Nationals for that matter), people might be a little more understanding.

All that being said, these ARE "free" promos (they came with a $150 entry fee at the tournament, so not sure how free they were) that are additions to the game only and not replacements. They still don't come with the die to actually play the darn card (my single biggest complaint on any die character promos) and they could theoretically print billions of these and flood the market if they wanted to, making the "value" portion of the 3rd party market disappear...but they haven't yet. We have no idea on their plans, we have no idea what is coming next, and we have no idea if we should be ticked off or not. I just view them as cool add-ons that I wish I had. Will see from there.

31 minutes ago, Impulse411 said:

From my perspective, the biggest issue continues to be their lack of communication on pretty much any front (with the possible exception being their direct communication to distributors via in-person talks at expos and such). These promos came out of nowhere and look really sweet...but were also distributed only at a Team Covenant event in Oklahoma without any advance notice given by anyone. Now, if they had put out an "Upcoming Promo" release article for the year, detailing where you could get each of them - probably would be less shock/surprise/outrage. If they had given these more playable characters out at Worlds instead of Mon Mothma (or the BB-8 for Nationals for that matter), people might be a little more understanding.

All that being said, these ARE "free" promos (they came with a $150 entry fee at the tournament, so not sure how free they were) that are additions to the game only and not replacements. They still don't come with the die to actually play the darn card (my single biggest complaint on any die character promos) and they could theoretically print billions of these and flood the market if they wanted to, making the "value" portion of the 3rd party market disappear...but they haven't yet. We have no idea on their plans, we have no idea what is coming next, and we have no idea if we should be ticked off or not. I just view them as cool add-ons that I wish I had. Will see from there.

Their plan is to grow the community and I'm sure just as an afterthought improve sales. I'm also sure some people are just foaming at the mouth to put them down no matter what they do. So to have people complaining about not having anything to complain about seem like something right out of a television sitcom.

I don't understand why all the promo cards have dice associated with them but they don't give you the die. Why not alt-art promos that don't need dice!?!

Like Electroshock?

10 hours ago, WonderWAAAGH said:

I don't recall FFG having a presence at SDCC.

They were recruiting people to have them help demo the game at SDCC this year, so they gonna be there and they have been in the past

4 hours ago, Impulse411 said:

From my perspective, the biggest issue continues to be their lack of communication on pretty much any front (with the possible exception being their direct communication to distributors via in-person talks at expos and such). These promos came out of nowhere and look really sweet...but were also distributed only at a Team Covenant event in Oklahoma without any advance notice given by anyone. Now, if they had put out an "Upcoming Promo" release article for the year, detailing where you could get each of them - probably would be less shock/surprise/outrage. If they had given these more playable characters out at Worlds instead of Mon Mothma (or the BB-8 for Nationals for that matter), people might be a little more understanding.

All that being said, these ARE "free" promos (they came with a $150 entry fee at the tournament, so not sure how free they were) that are additions to the game only and not replacements. They still don't come with the die to actually play the darn card (my single biggest complaint on any die character promos) and they could theoretically print billions of these and flood the market if they wanted to, making the "value" portion of the 3rd party market disappear...but they haven't yet. We have no idea on their plans, we have no idea what is coming next, and we have no idea if we should be ticked off or not. I just view them as cool add-ons that I wish I had. Will see from there.

Team covenant has mentioned they'd have two promos available for the first time for months.

this was known, people just wanted to pretend they wouldn't be official.

and again, it's clear they will be available again. These feel similar to the demo Celebration cards.

5 hours ago, Impulse411 said:

From my perspective, the biggest issue continues to be their lack of communication on pretty much any front (with the possible exception being their direct communication to distributors via in-person talks at expos and such). These promos came out of nowhere and look really sweet...but were also distributed only at a Team Covenant event in Oklahoma without any advance notice given by anyone. Now, if they had put out an "Upcoming Promo" release article for the year, detailing where you could get each of them - probably would be less shock/surprise/outrage. If they had given these more playable characters out at Worlds instead of Mon Mothma (or the BB-8 for Nationals for that matter), people might be a little more understanding.

All that being said, these ARE "free" promos (they came with a $150 entry fee at the tournament, so not sure how free they were) that are additions to the game only and not replacements. They still don't come with the die to actually play the darn card (my single biggest complaint on any die character promos) and they could theoretically print billions of these and flood the market if they wanted to, making the "value" portion of the 3rd party market disappear...but they haven't yet. We have no idea on their plans, we have no idea what is coming next, and we have no idea if we should be ticked off or not. I just view them as cool add-ons that I wish I had. Will see from there.

Why should anyone get ticked off about the existence of promo cards or promo materials? They're nice freebies, sure, but nothing more than that. And these aren't even AA cards, they're the same art as the original cards. Why would there be outrage at all???

With it being Anakin and Luke, maybe another father's day promotion? They did double sided Luke/Darth pilot cards last year for xwing.

7 minutes ago, KalEl814 said:

Why should anyone get ticked off about the existence of promo cards or promo materials? They're nice freebies, sure, but nothing more than that. And these aren't even AA cards, they're the same art as the original cards. Why would there be outrage at all???

Entitlement.

On top of that FFG's promo stuff is printed on cheap card stock. I don't see why they don't have a better in house press for their promo stuff. I'd rather have the nice factory cards than the cheap promo stuff. At least those cards are in English so they can be read.

Well, having seen the foil Phasma up close I can say in all confidence that the plastic promos are pretty damned sexy.

11 hours ago, ozmodon said:

Their plan is to grow the community and I'm sure just as an afterthought improve sales. I'm also sure some people are just foaming at the mouth to put them down no matter what they do. So to have people complaining about not having anything to complain about seem like something right out of a television sitcom.

I definitely agree the community has had quite a bit of complaining/scolding/rage issues, most of which dealt with the well-known supply issues that they had with Awakenings. I still contend that the root concern for everything in reality is the sheer lack of communication FFG has with its fan base. I'm certain people would still be unhappy with the fore-mentioned supply issue, but I think it would have been better to have FFG come out and talk to people directly about the issue in, say, January - instead of waiting to hear about how this would all be fine from a distributor video from his cell phone and uploaded to his store Facebook page. That isn't exactly the stellar communication any company should be shooting for these days, especially when we are talking about the loyal fans clamoring for product. Back on the promo front, I'm just saying that they could head off any potential complaining/scolding/rage issues by saying, "We're making a number of promos for you, the fans. Here's the release schedule and where you can get them. Thanks for being a part of the SWD community." People might still not be happy with every venue selected or card used, but at least they would know when/where they would be coming out.

7 hours ago, jimbobiii said:

Team covenant has mentioned they'd have two promos available for the first time for months.

this was known, people just wanted to pretend they wouldn't be official.

and again, it's clear they will be available again. These feel similar to the demo Celebration cards.

Did not know they had been promoted as such earlier in the year - definitely cool that Team Covenant had some cool swag to go with their tournament. The store has done a TON to promote the game, definitely think they have earned their spot in the upper sphere of SW:D stores in the country. However, I still feel it would be in the best interest of all if FFG just announced, "Here's our promos we are releasing this year and where you can get them. Thanks for being our customers, hope you enjoy these sweet extras." And I'd love to agree that these promos will be available elsewhere and in vast quantities for all...but they haven't said that officially that I can find. Not saying I'm the best internet search person either, but some more consistent official communication would go a long way in alleviating a great deal of potential issues. And I don't mean to sound like I'm knocking them for giving out freebies. I think it's cool that they are doing that. I still think they should come with an associated die (if the card needs it to play) and I agree that the card stock is of inferior quality than standard cards (which they should also fix), but I think it is very cool that they are doing things to motivate and reward the die-hard fans out there. I just would like them to communicate better so the internet is less a buzz with "what is this? what are they don't promoting one private company over all others? how did they get that? that's not right!" and go more along the lines of, "oh, that's sweet...I have a list of all promos for the next 3-months/6-months/year/whatever and know at what events I can get them at. Better plan ahead..."

6 hours ago, KalEl814 said:

Why should anyone get ticked off about the existence of promo cards or promo materials? They're nice freebies, sure, but nothing more than that. And these aren't even AA cards, they're the same art as the original cards. Why would there be outrage at all???

Agree - and I'm not one of those raging, I promise. These ARE freebies and nothing more. Nice, but not essential...especially without the associated dice. The only thing I think people DO have a right to be enraged about is the lack of communication from the company. The supply issue? Had to hear from a bootleg distro cell phone video in order to respond to fan outrage. May the 4th shipping fiasco? More backchannel talk from store owners. Celebration/World promos? Had to hear from distros again. Where is the first-party, direct communication? Where is the follow through to make us see that they are listening and adjusting to the immense popularity of the game? I just think their PR/Communication Department could use some work...I think it would go a long way in making the game long-term viable on all fronts. I still think it will work out, assuming the supply issues can be solved permanently - but this lack of clear communication is a root issue that needs to be addressed.

Just now, Impulse411 said:

Agree - and I'm not one of those raging, I promise. These ARE freebies and nothing more. Nice, but not essential...especially without the associated dice. The only thing I think people DO have a right to be enraged about is the lack of communication from the company. The supply issue? Had to hear from a bootleg distro cell phone video in order to respond to fan outrage. May the 4th shipping fiasco? More backchannel talk from store owners. Celebration/World promos? Had to hear from distros again. Where is the first-party, direct communication? Where is the follow through to make us see that they are listening and adjusting to the immense popularity of the game? I just think their PR/Communication Department could use some work...I think it would go a long way in making the game long-term viable on all fronts. I still think it will work out, assuming the supply issues can be solved permanently - but this lack of clear communication is a root issue that needs to be addressed.

Communicating about supply, which affects everyone interested in the game, and communicating plans about promos are two wildly different things.

6 minutes ago, KalEl814 said:

Communicating about supply, which affects everyone interested in the game, and communicating plans about promos are two wildly different things.

Oh, totally agree...they are separate items entirely and I don't mean to conflate those issues into one thing. I just mean that the issue of communication from them as a company is a consistent issue and needs addressed, in my humble opinion. Their products - top notch. Their game design - beautiful. FFG is doing a ton of stuff right. I just think they could mitigate some SW:D community issues if they talked to the fans a bit more in terms of content and frequency. On the supply front - addressing the issue directly instead of just to distributors behind closed doors at a convention. On the promo front - a promo list of items coming out soon and where they will be available. Some of the FB comments were of genuine love for the promos released (because they look sweet!) and some were more tainted by not knowing these were coming out and confused how a single retailer that was not FFG was handing them out. I just think that taint would go away with clearer communication. I'd also say that people ARE sounding mighty entitled (myself included!), but I just think it would be better for FFG and the community if we had a little more heads up on items like this. They don't have to...these ARE free items and it is their game...I just think it would be better for the community as a whole if they were a bit more open on things like this.

14 hours ago, Mep said:

On top of that FFG's promo stuff is printed on cheap card stock. I don't see why they don't have a better in house press for their promo stuff. I'd rather have the nice factory cards than the cheap promo stuff. At least those cards are in English so they can be read.

I agree.

Promo Character card, since they are not part of a deck of card and do not need to be shuffled, should be of a different material and ultra high quality. Like they did with some plastic character card already. I am looking for plastic or even metal card in the future. This would add value and durability. Eventually adding 1 special card per box would be awesome for those that cannot go to events.

BTW: I'm a Player/Collector: I like equally the playability of a card and its collectability.

@Chakan99939 Agreed. The promo cards should be something special, especially when they aren't part of a deck, or if they are to be part of a deck, at least the same card stock of the other cards in the deck. Their typical print on demand cards though are of a less card stock than the Chinese factory cards. It's rather frustrating. Just a huge pet peeve of mine with FFG. Others seems to be annoyed by the lack of communication.

Have you seen these are selling for $100 a piece($200 a set)?! It's absolutely crazy for what the event cost, they got full boxes IIRC in addition to prize. I really hope that FFG puts these out again in the future in a wider release. Or at least let's us know ahead of time where we can get them.