At some point, the Space Opera roleplaying game set got a minor re-do of the cover graphics. Both box sets have a black background, with different variations of the same cover art.

The first is by by Gene Day. The later set has art redone by Robert Charrette. I don’t see any difference in the contents. The Robert Charrette set is significantly more common. I probably see them on a 4:1 ratio.

I enjoy comparing the two to see the minor differences, switched ships and aliens.

But the big difference is that the woman got sent back to her room by Dad: “Young Lady! You are NOT going out like that!”

Space Opera in the shop

eBay | Amazon | DriveThruRPG (PDF)

See Also: 

BLUE BOX: The 1st Edition of the Space Opera RPG (1980)
Space Opera roleplaying game: STAR SECTOR ATLASES

The Other Side blog: Review: Space Opera, 2nd Edition (1982)