Where the run starts
INWO shipped at Gen Con 1995 with a 409-card base set. Steve Jackson Games has never reprinted it. Every English INWO card in the wild is from the original 1995 print run, full stop. This makes condition variance enormous and forgeries non-existent (forgers go where there's volume).
What makes the era special
INWO uses a metaphorical card frame — cards are organisations, structures, and events. The 'Pentagon' card and 'Adepts of Hermes' are the most-cited examples online; we tend to source them in MP-and-better since the original collector base used these as conversation pieces, not sleeved play decks.
What we look for when sourcing
Limited Edition cards have a hexagonal symbol bottom-right. Unlimited is plain. We grade INWO cards a half-step lighter than Pokémon-era — the cardboard is a different stock and shows wear differently. A NM-equivalent INWO will show more border softening than a NM Charizard.
- 1995INWO base releaseLimited + Unlimited prints. 409 cards. Single shipment, never reprinted.
- 1996–1997Subgenius + Y2K expansionsTwo expansions; we don't typically carry these.
Every English INWO card is from the single 1995 run, so it's edition, not authenticity, you're checking.