Original OverPower

The Original OverPower expansion debuted in August 1995 with 346 cards (39 Character Cards, 195 Special Cards, 27 Basic Universe Cards, 42 Mission Cards, 28 Power Cards, 9 Universe: Teamwork Cards, 6 Universe: Training Cards).

What is Original OverPower?

It was like if Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were poker playing maniacs. It was a small, but powerful, universe the world was introduced to in Starter Decks and Booster Packs: Power cards, Universe cards, Mission cards, and Special cards. OverPower offered beginner and advanced game options with the Battles Only and Battles and Missions. Strength teams began to throw their muscle around. The power of the teamwork card reared its head. Only two people in each power type had an eight: Professor X and Magneto in Energy, Wolverine and Sabretooth in Fighting, and and Thing in Strength. Dr. Doom, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Venom were the powerhouses of the game. Some might call them baby steps, but only if it was a baby Hulk!!!

Distribution

Cards were distributed in:

• Booster packs of 9 cards
• Booster boxes of thirty-six 9 card booster packs
• Booster packs of 17 cards
• (Booster boxes of twenty-four 17 card booster packs -- unconfirmed)
• Starter decks of 55 cards
• Starter boxes of 12 starter decks
• Collector's gift set of 2 starter decks and four 9 card booster packs
• Dual starter deck combos of 2 starter decks

Starter Decks

There are 6 starter decks for Original Overpower, each of them had a deck of 55 cards (51 for the Draw pile and 4 Character cards), 7 Mission cards, Rules of Play booklet, Quick Reference Card and a "Collect All the OverPower Heroes & Villains" card.

• Clobberin' Time (Thing, War Machine, Spider-Woman, Thor)
• Deadly Foes (Sabretooth, Deadpool, Hobgoblin, Dr. Octopus)
• Heroes Assemble (Silver Surfer, Punisher, Colossus, Beast)
• Lethal Allies (Dr. Doom, Carnage, Omega Red, Rhino)
• Mutants Unite (Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Bishop)
• Sworn to Protect (Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Jubilee)

All Japanese Tournament re-release

Around the same time that Image OverPower came out, there were starter decks released in Japan with a Japanese translation of the Rules of Play booklet.

New Special Card codes

With the Original OverPower release, the following Special card codes were introduced: AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO AP AQ AR AS AT AU AV AW AX AY AZ BA BB BC BD BE BF BG BH BI BJ BM BP