Merry Christmas To All

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all, I hope you are having a wonderful holiday.

Here Comes Santa Claus

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse

Except it is Christmas Eve in Brooklyn (Wizard Magazine promo) and Santa looks like he is going to stuff your goodies down your throat while his elf calls you a hump (WTF is a hump?).

Countdown 'til Christmas The Art Gallery- 2014 Breygent Kringle Kards

I worked as a retail manger for over a decade, mostly for Toys R Us, and I worked up to 90 hours a week between October and February, so I was not big on the holidays. From 1993 through 2002 I never had a regular Thanksgiving dinner; every Christmas Eve was a 5 am to 7 pm shift and the day after Christmas I was back at work at 5 am getting ready for returns. Then January and February were inventory time. It is fair to say, I actually disliked Christmas and it took a couple of years after I left retail and two children being born for me to begin to enjoy the winter holidays.

Now I love this time of year. Christmas carols, twinkling lights, cold nights, Rankin/Bass Claymation and Santa cards. 

This month’s Art Gallery display comes from the 2014 Breygent Kringle Kards release. The artist is Anne Cain, who is more a digital artist but did a wonderful rendition of the traditional Santa Claus. When I saw this card I was hooked, I have been watching it for awhile and when the seller lowered the price, I finally decided to add it too my collection. The seller initially sent the wrong card, a similar card by Anne Cain but not the one I wanted. I have purchased from the seller before and we worked out a resolution that worked for both of us.

The Kringle Kards set was mainly a sketch card set, with each artist giving their own artistic interpretation of good old Saint Nick. There are some amazing styles out there, it is wonderful seeing the different looks Santa has.

Coundown 'til Christmas

In 2000 Beckett wished their employees a Merry Christmas with an exclusive Santa Claus card. I always thought employee exclusive cards are cool and now this Santa card resides in my collection.

Merry Christmas To All

Merry Christmas

 

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Christmas

Here Comes Santa Claus

Today is Christmas Eve, the big guy has done his prep work, the Naughty and Nice list has been checked twice and the sleigh is being loaded up for his annual trip around the world.

 

The story of Santa Claus is based on the Christian Saint Nicholas, who died in 343 AD. He was known to help children and their families, so he became a patron Saint of children. In the last 1,670 years his story has evolved and his appearance has changed. He is no longer seen as the Bishop of Myra but now a jolly old elf who laughs of in spite of himself.

 

Around the 1200s he became the “gift giver”, he then began to take on a more fictional-like appearance, larger than life and the long white beard. The Germans visualized a character with a red, fur-lined suit (though evil). In the 1800s he evolved even further to the point where we begin to recognize the Santa we all know now. The caricaturist Thomas Nast is credited with introducing the modern Santa in the late 1800s.

 

Santa Claus, while based on a real person, has become so mythical in stature that there is no single accurate description. Because of this I decided to sit down and take a look at some of my favorite popular culture depictions of Santa Claus, both good and bad.

 

 

Jolly St. Nick

5- The Grinch Santa (After his heart grew)

4- Rankin Bass Santa Claus

3-Tim Allen in the Santa Clause

 

2-Norman Rockwell Santa Claus (The Coca Cola version too)

1-Edmund Gween in the Miracle on 34^th Street (1947 version)

 

 

 

 

Evil Bastard Santa

5-Robber Santa in Friday After Next

4- Billy Bob Thorton in Bad Santa

 

3- The Grinch Santa

2- Santa’s Helpers (Export Santa) in Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

1- Robot Santa Claus in Futurama

 

 

Dis-Honorable Mention

Greenpeace Santa

 

 

Merry Christmas To All... And To All A Goodnight

I would like to wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas


As Santa Claus finishes the tail end of his journey, according to NORAD he is currently in Anchorage, Alaska, I am focusing completely on some of his special cards that have graced the collecting community from his 1952 Topps Rookie card to a handful of autographs and memorabilia cards.

His Topps autograph and relic cards (along with the '52 Topps rookie) found their way in to my collection a couple of years ago when Topps released an 18 card Santa Claus set in 2007. After Christmas Target had the sets on sale for around $5 each, not a bad deal for 16 base cards plus an autograph and memorabilia card of everyone’s favorite jolly old elf.

By far the Upper Deck Holiday-Worn Jersey employee card is my favorite. The card was handed out to Upper Deck employees and special customers in 1998. The reason I like it is because it is a jumbo oversized card at 3 ½” x 5” and Santa’s “jersey” relic piece is the size of a half dollar. I actually leave the card out on display all year long along with my Ken Griffey Jr Santa Hat relic card, another jumbo relic card from Upper Deck.

 

Ho Ho Ho... Merry Christmas Relic Style

It is now a little past Midnight here, I wanted to take this time to post up a few of my favorite Santa Claus cards that I have picked up over the years. There have actually been quite a few “Santa Claus” inspired cards over the years, mainly in the early 90s when companies like Action Pack, Pro Set, Edge and Pacific included various Santa Claus cards through out their releases. In the 1998 Upper Deck took things a step further and released Santa relics.

I will begin with the first Santa Claus relic card, originally released by Upper Deck in 1998; this card is oversized at 3 ½ “ X 5”. This card was created for Upper Deck employees and special customers only. I bought this card 9 years ago for $20 and I thought I was being ripped off at the time but I wanted to have the card for my son’s first Christmas. The card has become very rare and when you can find them now, they are selling for well over $100. < LINK > If anyone knows how many were released please let me know.

The second card is my Ken Griffey Jr “Santa Hat” card. This card was part of a special holiday release by Upper Deck in 1999. The cards are also oversized, 3 ½” X 5”, and I believe there were 3 cards in the set, Griffey, Kobe and Garnett. This set is also rare but if you are interested in buying one I suggest waiting until after Christmas when the prices drop.

About 6-8 years ago I came across a Santa Claus autograph card created by one of the major manufacturers (I have forgotten which company though). The card has popped up for auction from time to time but I have always lost out in the end. While I still hunt for that elusive Santa autograph, Topps has made things a bit easier for me in the mean time when they released the 2007 Topps Santa set which included 18 cards total, including a 1952 Topps Santa Rookie, a Santa Claus autograph and Santa relic card. I picked the set up in Target after Christmas that year for like $5 on clearance.