Bad Assery Boba Fett

 

I came across the artist John Soukup/Kettle Art on Raz’s blog, his art style is quite unique and very popular. One of the things that makes his work standout is because he is not afraid to use multiple mediums together or to repurpose cards. Most of his official sketch cards are well outside of my budget but I was able to take advantage of some late night auctions and a mislabeled card.

 

I came across some very cool Boba Fett cards and jumped on them. The first is a multi-medium repurposed card where Soukup painted Boba Fett on a separate piece of cardboard and then attached it to the front of card #210 from the 1980 Topps Empire Strikes Back set. The original card showed Boba Fett in the carbonite freezing chamber but he was blurred a bit behind fumes so this is an amazing upgrade over the original card.

The second card is amazeballs, I have never said that about a card before but this one deserves it so I am going with it. Again he repurposed a 2011 Topps Update Jose Batista card for what is really just the coolest art card that I have ever owned.

 

The card is multi-layered, a 3D card, and Soukup is not satisfied with just having multiple layers but he uses them for the best results. Boba Fett’s body is painted on the top of the Batista card with the solid red painted around it. Level 2 is the arm with the blaster and level 3 is the boulder he is hiding behind. The arm is pinned through the card and moves up and down. Taking a page from somebody from Boston’s South End, this card is wicked-cool.

 

For the introduction to John’s work I have a package for Raz. I don’t have your address and I tried to send an email to you but I don’t know if it was the correct email so if you can contact me I will get the cards sent your way.

Exquisite's Triptychs Are Quite Cool

In a recent preview Upper Deck showed off the upcoming 2013 Exquisite Football, why it is a 2013 product I don’t know. They are even including 2014 NFL Draft picks in the release, but anyway…

 

Upper Deck is always trying to step up their game and in this release they are including Triptych Signature Cards, a tri-panel hand painted booklet card. Each panel is hand painted and together they make an entire scene, which is signed by the player.

Upper Deck Is Bringing The Masters To 2013 Goodwin Champions

Upper Deck is finishing up the final touches for the release of 2013 Goodwin Champions next month and as pieces are coming together they are posting up preview images. One of the hits in the release will be the hand painted “Art of the Ages” cards, a modern artist’s rendition of works from the masters like Leonardo Da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet on a 2 ½ x 3 ½ card sized canvas.

 

I minored in Fine Art while earning my Graphic Design degree and this is now one of my favorite Upper Deck inserts, I am glad that they decided to take a step away from the norm and go with something unexpected.

 

There will be around 300 “Art Of The Ages” cards, each a one of one card. A checklist has not been released so I do not know who the participating artists are or which masterpieces will be included.  With Vincent van Gogh’s “Self Portrait With A Straw Hat” being included in the preview images I am hoping to see at least one of his three “Nights” paintings, I am also hoping to see Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” and anything from Umberto Boccioni during his Futurism period.

Happy Birthday Bob Ross

 

Today would have been Bob Ross’ 70^th birthday; even 17 years since he passed away he still is remembered for his show “The Joy of Painting” that ran on PBS between 1983 through 1994. Many of us grew up learning about happy little trees watching his show and I dreamed of being a painter when I grew up.

 

Ross was born in 1942, in the thick of World War II, and with many supplies being limited there were no major sports card releases at that time so I went with the next best thing, a release by TCMA Ltd. Beginning in the 1970s TCMA released a number of “retro” sets that highlighted players from the 1930s and up, which included a couple of different team sets and minor league teams. In 1983 TCMA created two sets based on 1942, a 1942 Play Ball set and a 1942-46 St.Louis Cardinals team set. I used the Cardinals team set for the template because it was a pretty plain card design that allowed me flexibility to make it an art themed card.

 

I hope that where ever he is now he is surrounded by happy little trees and mistakes that turned in to fluffy clouds.

Topps Is Using Guerrilla Marketing (Wisely) With Valor Football

What does Topps have in store for Topps Valor Football?

 

 

For the past month Topps has been teasing about a new product, even opening a special Twitter account, but until last Wednesday it has been quotes and a mysterious “V” logo. Since Wednesday though it has now been a steady flow of preview images for the upcoming Valor Football set scheduled for release early next year. So far a base card and 5 autograph cards have been posted up.

 

Topps has turned to guerrilla marketing with this product, releasing just enough to keep us coming back for more and I have to admit they are doing it right and they have my full attention. I am keeping my eyes open for each new Tweet, hoping to get insight to another part of this artistic set. Well played Topps!