Help Support An Artist

Tonight I want to talk about a fellow artist who I have talked about before here, Mike James. A couple of years ago I had done an interview with him and he donated a John Wall sketch card so I could give it away on my blog.

 

Now he is working on his first independent set, something close to his heart, called “Welcome to the Show”. I did not know this but Mike was a sideshow performer for years and that is what the theme of his set is built upon. To reach his goal of releasing the set he has set up a campaign using Indiegogo to bring the set to reality.

 

I have backed the campaign (I did the two pack perk) and while I do not have a personal connection to Mike James I do love his work and completely support him on this endeavor and I am posting this in hopes that others feel the same way about supporting him.

 

If you are interested in supporting him take a look at his Indiegogo campaign page.

The Art Gallery: 2010 Chicagoland Collector's Expo Batman

This month’s Art Gallery display comes from comic book artist Russell Lissau. The Batman sketch card is from the 10^th Anniversary Chicagoland Expo in 2010 where Lissau was there as a guest artist.

 

Lissau has worked on a number comic books and is currently attached to the indie publisher Pop! Goes The Icon out of Las Vegas where he works on the Omega Comics Presents anthology and the new series Old Wounds. Some of his past work includes Batman Allies, Origins, Shrek and Strawberry Shortcake.

 

This card was created using a blank card, the info piece is a separate insert so the sketch card has a blank back. I love that Batman is in stealth mode where you only see his eyes instilling fear in to the criminal. The card was initially set at $4.95 but the seller dropped it to $0.99 and I jumped on the opportunity. The seller also had a very cool Al Capone sketch card by Jay Shimko but someone outbid me in the last second by a stinking $0.25.

What I Did At Space Camp

I used to be a set builder but a couple of years ago I stopped. I still work on the occasional subset or insert but it is rare and I still do have a couple of sets that I began but that is even rarer. But if it is a set that I am interested in I will put some focus on building it, but with less urgency.

One of those sets is 2002 Futera Red Dwarf. I love this show and can watch it over and over again. For a show that is basically just four characters hurdling through space it is quite humorous. The base set is only 64 cards plus a Chrome subset and three base inserts plus some very rare memorabilia cards and autographs. There are also small sets (Most are 4-6 cards) that were included with each season’s DVD release though these are not part of the base set.

 

I am currently 12 cards short of completing the base set (8, 13, 20, 29, 30, 36, 45, 52, 57, 59, 62, 63). On the positive side I do have one memorabilia card from the set plus two autographs of the cast that were released in other products.

The Chrome insert is a 32-card checklist that is made up of a variety of cards including the ships, characters and monsters from the series. I only have a couple of these.

The other three inserts are Chole Annett Photoshoot, she was named on of FHM's Top 100 sexiest women of 2002 so yea, I guess that makes total sense to create an entire insert set based on her when she only appeared in 15 episodes.

There is the Sylain Despretz Artwork 6-card set. Despretz is an artist who worked a bit on the show in various capacities.

The next set is SMEG, which is used in place of swear words. The 6 cards in this insert set really seem to be random.

 The set does have autographs and relics but they really were pretty limited. I only have one memorabilia card from the set, one of the more common relics, Holly's Poloneck. To explain a bit, Holly is short for Hologram, the ships control computer.  This relic is from the Norman Lovett Holly though there were two different regular Hollys and then there is Queeg, an alternate version of Holly.

I do not have any autographs from the set but I do have autographs from two of the characters. The first is Hattie Hayridge who played the second version of Holly. This card is from a promotional set that also included a couple of very bad ass Jeremy Bulloch autographs (First and Second) that I would love to some day add to my Star Wars collection.

 

Anyway, back to Red Dwarf. This is the silver ink version of Hattie's autograph, there is a gold ink version too.

The other autograph is Chris Barrie who played Arnold Rimmer, one of the main characters. This card is from the Tomb Raider sets where he played Hillary. I would love to have one of his Red Dwarf autographs I found it easier to pay a couple bucks delivered for his Tomb Raider card versus $200+ for a Red Dwarf autograph.

 



 

 

To build on yesterday's post, I am bummed because I was the set expert and spent a number of hours updating the Red Dwarf set on Zistle earlier this summer. 

And Another Good One...

About a month and a half ago I had written a post about Zistle. I have been part of the Zistle community since January 2014 and in that time I have added well over 3,000 cards including images. I have remained rather active on the site using it to catalog my growing Griffey collection as well as a good portion of my collection and I went through spurts of activity on the forum.

 

Earlier this year Beckett filed a lawsuit against Zistle claiming copyright infringement in regards to the checklists that were being used and at that time the owners of the site went quiet, which was expected due to the lawsuit. There have been no updates and Josh and Ashley were not even posting on the forum or updating new sets. I tried contacting them to no avail. I was going to begin transferring my Griffey collection over to Excel in case Zistle went down but a recent find has come to light and we finally have an answer.

 

No information has been announced but Zistle has been bought out by Beckett.

 

 

 

 

Sometimes Yes And Sometimes No

Have you ever skipped picking up a card of a favorite player because there is something or someone else you don’t like also on the card?

 

I have had a couple of players I would prefer to not have in my collection for various reasons; like I dislike the team for whatever reason. You will not find an Oklahoma City Thunder card in my collection because they were the stolen Sonics, I also will not have any Pittsburgh Steelers because I am still sore about Super Bowl XL (I still think the refs stole the game from the Seahawks).

 

Specific athletes will also not be included in my personal collection. Mike Vick and Barry Bonds are two guys I just cannot get behind but the biggest villain of all is Alex Rodriguez. He has so many strikes against him I view him as the human version of the number 13, a number I dislike with a passion. That he wears the #13 is just a coincidence.

 

There are only a few cases that I will include a team or player in my collection and that is a direct cause from my OCD and completest issues. I broke from the norm recently when I ordered the Topps Now #474 card, a card that includes both Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Correa. The reason I ordered the card is because of my need to own every 2016 Topps Now card depicting the Mariners and there he is… A-Rod in a Mariners uniform of course this was before Topps issued an error card and Rodriguez isn’t even on the card front.

OK Wait For It...

Leaf Live was introduced to the world not long ago with the release of a memorial card for Gene Wilder with very mixed reviews. I did give in and purchased one against better judgement and have not gone back, not that I have a problem with the service I just haven’t seen any of the cards that have been released so far as cards I want to add to my collection.

This week Leaf goes for another memorial card with the release of a Harambe card… go ahead, I’ll wait while you face palm.

Those who do not remember Harambe was a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo who was killed on May 28^th by officials after a monther was an irresponsible parent and expected everyone else at the zoo to keep an eye on her 3-year old because her attention was elsewhere for 10 minutes while her son climbed in to the gorilla’s enclosure.

Now why would they decide to make a card 4 months later, well it appears that someone at Leaf felt that internet memes somehow equate popularity. DOFH does not mean there is a sudden fever pitch and this card should not have seen the light of day.

Why Yes Topps, It Is Your Bad

When Topps offered Topps Now on-demand printing it seemed like there was a universal understanding that the card would only be offered for 24 hours and would be printed and delivered within a timely manner, apparently “without error” was not included in the unspoken agreement.

 

I just received my Carlos Correa/Alex Rodriguez card and whoops the wrong picture was used. Instead card #474 was printed with the images of card #483 which is Mookie Betts and Nomar Garciaparra. The text and date are correct on the front of card #474 as well as the correct back but the wrong image and team logos were used. Card #483, which is supposed to have Betts and Nomar is correct without error.

 

I was torn on ordering this card but in my need to be a completest I bought it so I would have the complete Mariners set for the 2016 Topps Now set not to mention I only paid $6.99 on a pre-sale through an eBay seller so it isn’t as bad as paying the $10 cost through Topps’ site. So far Topps has not made an announcement on what they plan to do with a correction, or even if they will do a correction.

 

And for those in Florida, hunker down and stay safe.

Do You Know Anything About 1933 Sport Kings?

If you have a card that you are uncertain of its origin or even if it is authentic is it ok to sell as long as you list the card as a reprint?

 

I ask because I purchased some vintage cards earlier this year with the intent of going through and adding some to my collection while others were to be sold or traded. When I received the cards they went in to a binder without scanning them or even taking a second look. The binder was packed away to get ready for my move and now that I am settled I am pulling cards out to scan them in and once I saw a close up scan of this vintage card I have begun to have questions. Sadly, I purchase these cards over 6 months ago so contacting the seller and asking for a refund is well out the window.

 

I have been sitting on the edge between just accepting my screw up and holding on to the card so it does not return in to anyone else’s hands who might purchase it believing it to be real (like me) or re-selling it but listing it specifically as a reprint.

 

I know I can submit it to PSA or Beckett for verification but I have a strong belief that it is fake and I find it hard to spend more money on top of what I spent to purchase the card just to back up my belief of a fake.

 

I have since listed the card stating that I do believe it to be a reprint but to leave the decision up to the potential buyer but I am feeling stressed over it because I am worried that someone may turn around and sell as real. I considered marking the card as reprint but if for some reason the card is real that would damage it and ruin any future potential sale but if I don’t it may be misrepresented.

 

If there is someone out there that can help in any way it would mean a lot to me and help me make a decision on the cards future.

 

I own other 1933 Goudey baseball cards but this is the only Sport Kings that I have so can not compare it straight across but base it versus a baseball card. It appears to be the right size and paper type, similar weight, aging and expected damage. The ink seems to be consistent too. The back also seems legit, besides the copyright logo.

 

Now, here are my concerns:

1. The front has a sort of coating over it that is reflective where none of my baseball cards between 1933-35 do not have that kind of coating.
2. While it is not visible to the eye, when the card is scanned there are lines that appear on the face and arm which in other Sport Kings I have viewed online this should be a smooth and creamy coloring.
3. The marks on the chest are visible to the naked eye and to me seem like printer lines, again it should be creamy in color.
4. The black border around the Sport Kings Gum logo is almost a perfect stroke, something you wouldn't expect in 1933.
5. The copyright on both the front (Bottom right) and back (Bottom right) is blurred and should be clear

 

 

A Couple Of Wise Guys, Eh?

 

Jason and Randy Sklar are twin comedians who have made appearances in some wonderful shows including Back on Topps, a web-series based on the Topps company. I have really enjoyed their work so when I saw them included on the checklist for this year’s A&G I planned on picking up at least their autographs and relics and honestly they did not set me back too much so it was an easy decision. I am still watching their stuff so if anything special shows up I may add them to my collection too.

One Of My Most Original Cards

In the past I have discussed my affinity for Japanese culture and in some ways has affected what I collect as related to certain players or cards.

 

In November 2013 I won a 2013 World Stars Toreka 24k Gold Kogei Shadowbox Koji Uehara autograph card from a Beckett contest. The card came from Brothers Inc, a Japanese company that creates the World Stars sets which are some of the most unique cards available.

 

One thing they do has become quite common in certain products, purchasing cards on the secondary market and creating a new card. In this case they are purchasing Ogura Hyakunin Isshu poem cards which are used for a playing card game called Uta-garuta for their 2015 World Stars Toreka release.

 

Hopefully I have this information correct, if not I appreciate any help so I get things right. The Oguara Hyakunin Isshu is one hundred poems by one hundred people and was organized into a book in the 1200s. The poem cards are now used based on a card game called Karuta that was created in the 1700s, but I don’t believe that the actual game Uta-garuta was created until later and even now they still play the game and have a National Championship every year. When Nintendo was founded in 1889 they created similar cards but for a card game called Hanafuda.

 

As for this specific poem card I have no information about age because the back only says “Classic Japanese Card”. Looking closely at the card it looks to be hand colored, the bottom red border above the gold foil border is definitely water color and looking at the samurai’s right eye and right shoulder appear to be drips of red water color paint. The paper of the card is aged and has been played before with some areas looking like there is staining from oil, most likely from the skin so I assume it has been held before. I believe this card is most likely pre-war but I would love to actually have a time frame.