In What Order were the Sets Designed / Printed / Released ?

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In What Order were the Sets Designed / Printed / Released ?

Post by cataclysm80 » Sun Sep 29, 2013 6:54 am

I'm trying to track down what order the sets were released in because I like my collection to be arranged chronologically. I know it was English Revised, and that Italian Edition should be next. Which was next, French Limited Edition or German Limited Edition?

Most of French Unlimited Edition (all but 11 cards) has a 1994 copyright, so I think it would be the first foreign white border set released. Was Italian Second Edition released before German Unlimited Edition? I'm pretty sure that the Italian Second Edition second printing with the bold copyrights would be last.
Last edited by cataclysm80 on Wed Nov 20, 2013 10:06 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: Foreign Revised release dates

Post by dragsamou » Sun Sep 29, 2013 7:05 am

cataclysm80 wrote:I'm trying to track down what order the sets were released in because I like my collection to be arranged chronologically. I know English Revised was first, and that Italian Edition should be next. Which was next, French Limited Edition or German Limited Edition?

Most of French Unlimited Edition (all but 11 cards) has a 1994 copyright, so I think it would be the first foreign white border set released. Was Italian Second Edition released before German Unlimited Edition? I'm pretty sure that the Italian Second Edition second printing with the bold copyrights would be last.
Hi

If my memory serves me right, regarding Black Border it was:
Italian (Released October 1994)
French (Released March 1995)
German

For the White Border, as I didn't collect those, I'm not sure, but I think it was:
French (Released June 1995)
Italian
German
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Post by cataclysm80 » Mon Sep 30, 2013 2:45 am

Yes, those months and years match what I had seen on what I think is an older version of the Librarities site. ( http://www.magiclibrarities.net/magic-s ... index.html ) Additionally, it lists German Limited Edition as being released in 1994, which I think would put it in between Italian & French if French Limited was released in 1995.

Tav

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Post by GlobalBoosterHunter » Mon Sep 30, 2013 2:49 am

Thanks for that, I suppose I had better have a look at my spreadsheets and see what order I had them in, it did concern me for a bit , I shouldn't have to move too many boosters around though.

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Post by dragsamou » Mon Sep 30, 2013 6:34 am

cataclysm80 wrote:Yes, those months and years match what I had seen on what I think is an older version of the Librarities site. ( http://www.magiclibrarities.net/magic-s ... index.html ) Additionally, it lists German Limited Edition as being released in 1994, which I think would put it in between Italian & French if French Limited was released in 1995.

Tav
Hi Tav

This link is indeed from what should have been the third version of Magiclibrarities. But, regarding German Limited Edition it says being released in 1995 not 1994. I hope that some German and Italian Members can help with the exact released dates, at least you have the French ones.
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Post by cataclysm80 » Mon Sep 30, 2013 6:50 pm

Hmm, I looked again, This page http://www.magiclibrarities.net/magic-s ... index.html shows 1994-??-?? for German Limited. Another page shows German Unlimited as 1995.

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Post by dragsamou » Mon Sep 30, 2013 7:03 pm

cataclysm80 wrote:Hmm, I looked again, This page http://www.magiclibrarities.net/magic-s ... index.html shows 1994-??-?? for German Limited. Another page shows German Unlimited as 1995.
Sorry, my mistake, look at wrong page, anyway I hope someone will provide a release date for German and Italian, cause I try to find a precised answer, but impossible to find on the internet. And I only own the French Set BB, never collect the others.
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Post by Neuron » Sat Oct 05, 2013 5:14 am

I have the same problem with the chronology, as I try to sort anything possible chronologically.

I don't know anything about release dates, but if the cards were printed in the same order as they were released, dragsamou is right. Italian bb has the same copyright line font size as Fallen Empires, the other ones the later standard size. With German bb, Wizards had chosen a bad translation company and when they found the recent translator he had trouble to correct the cards until the very deadline. French wb must be the first wb because it has copyright 1994, the others are 1995. Italian wb white cards have the same dark textbox background as all bb and French wb. Beginning with English 4th it becomes brighter. German wb was even printed after finishing English 4th as German wb Llanowar Elves has the flavour text which was first introduced in English 4th.

This kind of combination comes to an end when it's about foreign 4th Edition. Were the three first languages printed before or after Spanish and Portuguese black borderd and/or white bordered? How is it explained that Spanish was introduced before Portuguese? (The only I can think of is the bigger Spanish market). Was Japanese whiteborderd printed before or after Chinese and/or Korean?
These questions really need to be answered on release dates.

And where to locate CE/IE and PT New York 1996 Decks? I have read in several places CE was already released in 1993. I query whether that's right because the backs are looking too modern to be printed before foreign Ice Age. But I may be wrong. In this case, I'm thankful for corrections :-)

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Post by dragsamou » Sat Oct 05, 2013 1:48 pm

Neuron wrote:
French wb must be the first wb because it has copyright 1994, the others are 1995. And where to locate CE/IE and PT New York 1996 Decks
Copyright, doesn't mean that much as while French White Border cards are 1994, except 9 with a 1995 Copyright, they were released in June 1995.

Trying to find precised released dates of some Editions or Extensions is a real nightmare

Regarding CE/IE Pro Tour NY, you mean the Release Dates of them ?
December 1993
http://www.magiclibrarities.net/752-rar ... index.html
http://www.magiclibrarities.net/753-rar ... index.html

Pro Tour New York Collector Set was released in 1996.
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Post by Neuron » Sat Oct 05, 2013 10:21 pm

Hi dragsamou,

thank you for your reply. For the release dates, hasn't Wizards documented them? Maybe someone who has connections to some employees could ask.

The copyright 1995 on French Revised is very interesting. At least, we can say that the cards were designed before the other languages, as the white cards have the old mana symbols. I sort my cards after that to show the development.

Is 1993 for CE sure? Where does the information come from? I mean, it would be very strange - yet not impossible - if Carta Mundi printed the cards on an advanced press they would use only again in 1996. To my mind the backs of both CE an IE look as modern as Mirage.

I assumed that PT 1996 was released in 1996 :wink: , the question is: If you have cards from foreign Ice Age, PT 1996, and the four versions of asian 4th, how to order them chronologically? Here it's probably necessary to know the exact month of release.

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Post by dragsamou » Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:46 am

Neuron wrote:Hi dragsamou,

thank you for your reply. For the release dates, hasn't Wizards documented them? Maybe someone who has connections to some employees could ask.

The copyright 1995 on French Revised is very interesting. At least, we can say that the cards were designed before the other languages, as the white cards have the old mana symbols. I sort my cards after that to show the development.

Is 1993 for CE sure? Where does the information come from? I mean, it would be very strange - yet not impossible - if Carta Mundi printed the cards on an advanced press they would use only again in 1996. To my mind the backs of both CE an IE look as modern as Mirage.

I assumed that PT 1996 was released in 1996 :wink: , the question is: If you have cards from foreign Ice Age, PT 1996, and the four versions of asian 4th, how to order them chronologically? Here it's probably necessary to know the exact month of release.
Hi

Anything on this website has been verified and is 500% sure. WOTC documented very few things, and this website is doing their job for years :)
Finding the exact month of a release, is a real nightmare, it can take weeks, monthes or years and for some, I still don't have an answer, cause ,no one was able to provide one including some WOTC employees.
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Post by Neuron » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:32 am

Anything on this website has been verified and is 500% sure.
All right, then the big mystery is: Why is the resolution on CE/IE far better than on many following editions? Maybe we should discuss this in an extra thread.

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Post by cataclysm80 » Mon Oct 28, 2013 4:51 am

This list is in the order that the sets had their designs finalized (sent to be printed). It may not be exactly the same as the order they were released.

start with no copyright date
Alpha
Beta
Collector's Edition
International Collector's Edition
Unlimited
switch to slightly larger art box
Arabian Nights
Antiquities
switch to tilted T tap symbol
Revised
switch to Large 1994 copyright date
Legends
The Dark
Summer
switch to Medium 1994 copyright date
Sewers of Estark / Arena
Nalathni Dragon
Fallen Empires
black cards switch to text box without "chinks"
Italian black border
switch to Small 1994 copyright date
switch to tilted card with arrow tap symbol
French black border
German black border
Armada Comics promo
switch to Small 1995 copyright date
Windseeker Centaur
Ice Age promo cards (including Fylgia & Prismatic Ward)
switch to new white mana symbol here.
Italian white border 3rd
switch to lighter textbox color
French white border 3rd (Has Small 1994/1995 dates, 1994 cards copied directly from French FBB)
German white border 3rd
English 4th
English Ice Age
Italian The Dark
switch to new font here. now has dot instead of slash over lowercase i & j
Italian Legends
Italian Ice Age / French Ice Age / German Ice Age
English Chronicles
French Renaissance / German Renaissance
Italian Ranaissance
Italian 4th / French 4th / German 4th
Spanish black border 4th
Portuguese black border 4th
Spanish Ice Age / Portuguese Ice Age
Homelands (first set simultaneously released in all languages)
Rivals Quick Start (designed late 1995, released July 1996, Shepherd Poorman is slow)
switch to Medium 1996 copyright date
Chinese 4th (designed before Japanese, released after Japanese sold out, Shepherd Poorman is slow)
switch to Small 1996 copyright date
switch to text box with same width as art box
Japanese black border 4th
Korean 4th

I feel this list belongs in this thread. It is a work in progress, but should be pretty close to accurate.

Here is an image to show what the "chinks" are. Revised (on the right) has them circled. 4th Edition (on the left) does not have them.
Image

There is more I'd like to say on the subject, but no time at the moment.
Hopefully soon.

Tav
Last edited by cataclysm80 on Sat May 03, 2014 8:04 pm, edited 15 times in total.

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Post by Neuron » Mon Oct 28, 2013 11:49 pm

There is more I'd like to say on the subject, but no time at the moment.
Hopefully soon.
I'm really exited how you are going to reason this order exactly.

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Post by cataclysm80 » Sun Nov 03, 2013 4:25 pm

I started with the English sets in order of release date, which is fairly well documented. Unlimited & Arabian Nights were released about the same time, but Unlimited uses the smaller art box like previous sets, while Arabian Nights was the first set to use the larger art box like subsequent sets.

Next I inserted design changes into the list as reference points. Art box size, tap symbol changes, copyright style changes, text box changes, white mana symbol, and font changes. As you can see, there were a lot of changes in the first few years. These changes show a progressive improvement.

Next I put Italian & French black border into the list as we have release dates for those. I was not able to find an exact release date for German black border, but I did find several Germans who claimed it was in the fall of 94, also the Librarities link posted earlier in this thread indicates a 94 release for German black border. We know that Italian was the first foreign language for Magic, so that places German black border solidly between Italian & French.

We know that Summer was printed in the Summer of 1994. Looking at the cards, Legends and the Dark have lighter colors like Revised, while Fallen Empires is Darker. It looks like Summer should be between them, and that fits the copyright style also. Furthermore, Dave Howell was the production manager from Alpha through The Dark and he has said that Summer was after he moved to another position in the company. (Side note: a brand new production team using a new card design system may go aways towards explaining the number of errors in Summer as it seems to be the first set they worked on.)

Of coarse French white border was designed after French black border. The old white mana symbols and 1994 copyrights seem to indicate they did French white border directly after French black border as the German & Italian 3rd white border have newer mana symbols and 1995 copyrights. It seems to have been designed right away, but it's release wasn't until summer of 95. As all previous sets had sold out, I imagine they were confident French black border would also sell out and a French white border would be needed. The release of French white border was probably set for summer to give black border some time to sell. This is an example of the order sets were designed being different from the order sets were released.

To be continued...
Last edited by cataclysm80 on Thu Nov 21, 2013 4:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

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