Jim Colson

Jim Colson was one of Decipher's first Squadron Members, listed as Gold 5 FL in the Dagobah region from Huntsville, Alabama. The fan site's Squadron Members table marks him Retired after Decipher's SWCCG run.

Colson at DecipherCon 2000

After DecipherCon 2000 he played in the post-con hallway games recorded by Brandon Baity. He answered Decipher's call for Squadron Members in 1996. For almost a year he was the only tournament director in a three-state area of Dagobah and Yavin 4, running monthly events in Huntsville, Birmingham and Nashville. He was also a Star Trek CCG Ambassador.

In their own words

I was first introduced to CCGs by a friend of our family, who gave me my first Star Trek CCG starter deck. (They didn't even know how to play the game) I sat down and figured out how to play over christmas break in 1994. I played Star Trek CCG until Star Wars CCG came out. I became one of the first Squadron members (Gold 5) when I responded to the Decipher "Call" 1996.

I was the first and only Tournament Director in a 3 state area of Dagobah/Yavin-4 for almost a year. I ran tournaments in Huntsville, and Birmingham, AL as well as Nashville, TN every month.

I am also a Star Trek CCG Ambassador. I collect LOTS of stuff, Cards, Action Figures (Old and new) Stamps and Coins and Boy Scout Badges. In my Free time, I volunteer as an Adult leader for the Boy Scouts of America and I also do volunteer work for my local Church with my lovely wife, Michelle, who I met while completeing my Engineering Degree at Texas A&M University. In my "Real" life.. I work full time for the US Dept of Defense as an Engineer. I speak French fluently, and posses a BA in French along with my Engineering Degrees. Michelle and I LOVE living here in Huntsville, Alabama Home of the US Space and Rocket Center - Space Camp USA! Jim Colson

Service

Dates	Service
August 1999 – January 2001	Squadron Member Gold 5, Dagobah region; Huntsville, AL; Decipher profile page
	Tournament director, monthly events in Huntsville, Birmingham and Nashville
	Star Trek CCG Ambassador, Decipher
	Ran events at Gen Con, DecipherCon and regional conventions
29 June 2002	2002 Dagobah Regionals tournament director (announced, with Matthew Reed)
31 October – 3 November 2002	Announced 2002 World Championship places at the DecipherCon 2002 awards
	Card games director, Dragon Con
	Players Committee representative on a visit to Decipher's Norfolk offices at the end of the license period
Dec 2002 – Aug 2008	Volunteer Coordination Advocate
Aug 2008 – Feb 2017	Collecting Advocate (Prize Support until Sep 2008; Prize Support and Collecting from Sep 2008 until Feb 2012)
2 August 2003	2003 Tennessee State Championship tournament director (Outer Limits, Franklin)
14 June 2003	2003 Alabama State Championship tournament director (Deep Comics, Huntsville)
2004	Dagobah Region Flight Leader

Decipher recruited volunteer Squadron Members in the 1990s to promote SWCCG locally (tournaments, demos, player support).

Appearances

Date	Outlet	Title	Role
24 April 2022	BoardMatt	Star Wars CCG INSIDER Stories, History & Collector Tips from the legend Jim Colson	interviewee

2022 interview

In a 2022 interview Colson said he came to SWCCG from the Star Trek CCG and pre-ordered six cases of Premiere. His first tournament, in Huntsville, drew two players who drove up from Tuscaloosa. His monthly circuit in Huntsville, Nashville and Birmingham included the first tournament Steven Lewis played. Kyle Heuer told him he had run more tournaments than any other Decipher volunteer. He also ran events at Gen Con, DecipherCon and regional conventions, and he later became card games director at Dragon Con. At the end of the license period he visited Decipher's Norfolk offices as a Players Committee representative and took some boxes of material for the PC.

Colson explained "Premiere Blue" cards as Premiere cards printed without the yellow ink. He said Cartamundi's Belgian plant was at capacity in the mid-1990s. The Star Trek CCG's first expansion, Alternate Universe, spent most of a near year-long delay in customs. Moving some printing to PBM Graphics in the United States gave Decipher closer quality control. He said Premiere, A New Hope and Hoth were developed at the same time, and that volunteers playtested Endor about six months before its release. Before the license ended, Decipher consulted him about relic cards containing cut film cells, and it had discussed selling factory-graded cards. He said the DecipherCon Corellian Corvette and Imperial-class Star Destroyer tournament foils were given one per attendee, and that leftover copies went into the next year's regional tournament kits. Reflections Gold was playtested only inside Decipher. He said Defensive Shields were a middle path short of a second edition. That work "became moot" when the license ended. Asked what would have happened if the license had continued, he said there would have been a SWCCG 2nd Edition. He said it would have used one card back, as later games such as WARS TCG did.

Collecting

Colson kept vinyl velcro convention-booth cards, including a Death Star and Chewbacca. An oversized Chewbacca convention-booth card in Andy Talaga's collection came from Colson.

Photographs

• 
  Jim Colson, Gold 5.
• 
  Colson in a Gold 5 Squadron Member shirt. Still: BoardMatt.
• 
  Colson at Aron Eisenberg's autograph table, DecipherCon 1999. Photo: Decipher.

Tournament Results

Date	Event	Format	Finish	Dark	Light
12 November 1999	DecipherCon 1999 Japanese Sealed Deck	Japanese Sealed Deck	51st

See also

• SWCCG Memorabilia
• BoardMatt
• Darth Grader

• BoardMatt
• Star Wars CCG Insider Stories with Jim Colson (transcript) (BoardMatt, 2022)
• SWCCG 2nd Edition
• Silver bullets
• Squadron Members · Anagrams · Creators of SWCCG · Radio Free Decipher
• Corellian Engineering Corporation (fan site)

External links

• Decipher SWCCG Squadron Members (Players Committee reprint). Preserved copy: Internet Archive