Card inconsistency in Fortress of the Stone Giants (ap4, RotR)

[DangerFord]

http://imgur.com/a/BRV7W

The link above is a couple of photos I took of the 4th adventure path (Fortress of the Stone Giants) for Rise of the Runelords. I bought the expansion today at my lgs. Straight from the start I noticed that the package was different; opening up from the top of the box instead of from the side.

When I mixed the cards together with the rest of the box I noticed a VERY distinctive change in color. The 4th set is much darker. I didn't think that was too huge of a deal as some of the other expansions had some slight color change from the box set cards. It hasn't affected too much of my game play as some of the darker colors were from the character add-on expansion, which has a bit of duplicates to the box set and I was able to trick my mind enough to not know what set the card might be from when I encountered them.

Then I realized that the cards are noticeably taller than all the other cards. It's become impossible for me to not notice when a new card is being placed into a location. It's also very difficult to shuffle now, since my hands slip through all the old cards to reach the taller new ones.

I'm wondering if I purchased a different edition since the package opens up differently. Either way, if that's the case, then there's no way that I could have known ahead of time that the cards would not match.

Is there something I can do about this? I'm pretty new to this game but have become absolutely addicted to it. I really love the mechanics and who doesn't love chucking a bunch of dice?! This new development gnaws at me, though. If I can easily predict that the next encounter will be harder than the other cards it kind of takes some of the random magic out of the game.

I hope you folks can help me so I can get back to beating up monsters and acquiring those oh-so-precious boons.

[Troymk1]

Yes you've grabbed a second printing of the AD4 while it sounds like you have the first printing for your other cards.

The first batch were printed in China and showed color variations, so they changed to a U.S. Based printer subsequently

Apart from finding first printings to match your set you're options are either sleeping the cards or just dealing with the backs being different :/

[Nefrubyr]

Troymk1, I think you have it back to front. The AD4 box opens from the top, the cards are taller and darker in colour — this all indicates a 1st printing AD4 and a 2nd printing of everything else. This is probably good news because it will be easier to get 2nd printings of the remaining decks.

DangerFord: buying direct from Paizo will definitely get you 2nd printings; in an LGS you'll need to check for the taller hanging tab, side opening, and "Printed in the USA" on the back.

[Theryon Stormrune]

Troymk1 wrote:

Apart from finding first printings to match your set you're options are either sleeping the cards or just dealing with the backs being different :/

I'm hoping that Troymk1 is recommending sleeving the cards (with sleeves that are not clear on the back) rather than sleeping with them. Most people find that doesn't really change the color on the card backs but sleeving does hide it.

EDIT: Okay, that was an enjoyable read this morning. Thanks!

[Hawkmoon269]

Yeah, from what you describe your deck 4 is from the first print run. You also might be able to trade with someone who has the opposite problem. Like this person. Might be a win for both of you.

[Gwyns Firstborn]

oh wow. i just had this situation two week ago when my group bought AD4. literally the same two issues. my friend said he found the pack for cheaper than normal online so when we opened it to find the cards darker and taller i assumed it was a misprint or erroneous print line. good to see we're not alone. we've decided to just deal with it for now even though its very obvious when the next card is an ad4 card. we were hoping maybe to get ad5 and 6 in darker too so that we eventually dissolve the issue within itself.

[DangerFord]

Thanks for the heads up, guys! I think I'll try returning this set to the lgs and order straight from the website. It would be nice to sleeve them, but that's a lot of sleeves to go through and they wouldn't fit in the box anyways.