If You Love Horror, Here's a Couple of Companies Here to Help

It's amazing how people get away with donning costumes on one day of the year that they'd get stared at and talked about on any other day. But it's Halloween so it's all good.

Although most card releases you find in your local hobby shop and at the neighborhood box retailer are geared at families (even though it's probably adults who are buying them), there's a pair of manufacturers who aim to please horror fans. And they hold back no punches in doing so.

Monsterwax has been around for almost two decades and has always specialized in genre sets. Recently they released the Shock Stories/Urban Legends dual set (two separate sets in one package), which focuses on popular tales that have been told and distorted over and over again. The all-art set harkens back to the golden age of horror comics, offering depictions that are often grotesque and sure to outrage teachers if they were bargained about at the back of the classroom.

Each of the two base sets has 50 cards for 100 total. There's also a variety of inserts including 51 Shock Stories 3D parallels, sketch cards, printing plates and special prize cards that can be redeemed for such prizes as original art. Here's a link to a full article from Non-Sport Update Magazine on the set.

Previous Monsterwax releases have focused on classic horror movies and TV shows, The Night Stalker, old science fiction novels that are being turned into mostly crumby summer Hollywood blockbusters and even a hyper-patriotic set released in the wake of 9/11 that delved into some of recent history's atrocities. The company's next set is another dual one, this time focusing sci-fi novels The Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The set is scheduled to arrive sometime in the spring.

Terror Cards XL has focused primarily on individual card releases that center on autographs from both classic horror icons and faces familiar to those who follow the current indie horror scene. Past and current offerings include reasonably priced signatures from Kane Hodder (Jason from the Friday the 13th series), Ben Chapman, Joe Bob Briggs, Gunnar "Leatherface" Hansen and Debbie Rochon.

The company ventured into sets and packs with the aptly titled Terror Cards. The 50-card set focuses on more than a dozen indie feautres and includes autographs. You can order all available Terror Cards XL items directly from their website via Paypal.

Build Your Own Set: Mad Men Autographs

The critics, the Emmy voters, the Golden Globe voters and the show's rabid fanbase may love Mad Men, but there's not a lot of hobby love for the show or its stars. While I think the look of the cable show would carry over beautifully to cards, something tells me it probably won't make the hobby leap. So that leaves fans to comb through checklists and find cards of the show's stars.

Being a fan of autographs, I did just that. The results? Despite having a big ensemble cast, only two of the main players have appeared on certified autographs before.

The first is of the beautiful Christna Hendricks who plays Joan Holloway. Her autograph comes from Inkworks' Firefly set from 2006. Hendricks guest starred in two episodes of the short-lived Joss Whedon show.

The other autograph in the "Build it Yourself" Mad Men set is of Vincent Kartheiser who plays the young and motivated Pete Campbell. Kartheiser signed for Inkworks' Angel: Season Five set back in 2004.

So while a couple of the show's bigger stars have signed in the past, there's no Jon Hamm, January Jones or any of the other main cast.

I'd love to see a Mad Men set somewhere down the line. I won't hold my breath, but if someone like say, Breygent, is considering it, here's one vote for the license.

Is This the Worst Sticker Autograph of All Time?

Browsing on eBay, I came across this card from 2005 Playoff Prime Cuts. The card design overall is very attractive. The alternating game-used pieces show that they're just not oversized single relics posing as a dual. It's got an all-time great. And it has an autograph.  What the heck is going on with that autograph?

I've got a few beefs with sticker autographs, but a big one is the fact that often they don't hold the entire signature. This is probably the most extreme example I've seen. It looks as though a good half of Aaron's autograph is gone, a victim to the edges. Add to that a bit of apparent smudging and you've got one immensely disappointing card.

Although I understand Aaron hasn't been of the greatest health in recent years, which would affect his signatures, it doesn't excuse Playoff for letting this one out there. It's called quality control. If something isn't at it's greatest, it should be removed from distribution. I feel bad for the person who pulled the card. It'd be great without the autograph and amazing if the scribble was even half an inch higher. But as it stands, ick!

Replacement Report Card: Dexter: Premier Edition Costume Cards

About a month ago I got a couple of costume cards from Breygent's Dexter: Premier Edition that had an entire edge lifting due to some bad glue. This is a very common problem that Breygent has been very quick to correct for those requesting replacements.

The cards I sent back were DC2, a shirt worn by Astor, and DC8, a uniform shirt from Debra Morgan. They looked something like this:

Here's the exact two cards I received as replacements:

The Debra card is something of a non-issue. But look at poor Astor. The once full costume swatch has been replaced by a swatch the size of a Chicklet and pretty much destroys the ascetics of the card's otherwise cool design. Am I missing something here? Is this some sort of trim variant? The card does have an overlay that I don't think my damaged full-swatch card had so I guess to that end it is something of a variant.

On the plus side, Breygent did graciously include a couple of extras, which I always appreciate when sending replacements considering the effort and cost - even if it is menial - when you're expecting something in good condition. Inside the package were two packs of Ghost Whisperer: Seasons One and Two and a Promo 1 card for the upcoming Ghost Whisperer: Seasons Three and Four set.

"The successful criminal brain is always superior."

Give yourself a cookie if you know what movie it's from.

The actor who played original on-screen nemisis of James Bond, the nefarious* Dr. No has passed away. Joseph Wiseman, a good Canadian boy, was 91.

Born in Montreal, Wiseman appeared on nearly 100 TV shows and films between 1950 and 1996. Amongst the highlights: The Twilight Zone, The A-Team, MacGyver and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. But Wiseman will forever be connected with the Bond franchise and his role as Dr. No.

Despite a huge checklist of signers over the years for their Bond-themed sets, Rittenhouse Archives was never able to produce a Wiseman autograph. But that doesn't mean there aren't any cards of the classic villain. The card below is an insert from Rittenhouse Archives' James Bond: Danger Liaisons. Art and Images is a 20-card set that features Photoshopped versions of the franchises' most notable heroes, villains and Bond girls. Printed on canvas cardstock, the cards were inserted 1:40 packs and serial numbered /350. For a complete gallery of Art and Images cards, click here.

*I felt the need to insert the word nefarious simply because it has been a long week and odd words are fun on long weeks.

Will an Extra "Hit" Make 2009 Topps Sterling Any Better?

Yesterday Topps announced that an additional game-used jersey card #'d/25 will be included in each pack of 2009 Topps Sterling at no additional cost. Is it going to make a difference? In the grand scheme of things, I doubt it.

Changing things up a bit from last year, Topps is doing away with player-specific packs and opting for themes instead like "Triple Crown Winners" and "Charter Hall of Fame Members." Get ready for more letter windows for jersey swatches, I'm guessing.

Jersey cards are done. Slap two swatches, five swatches, eight swatches and whatever serial number you want and not many people are going to care. There's literally millions of these things out there. Yes, some look nice and I'd love to have them in my collection but they're so plentiful none standout anymore unless they've got a massive swatch, colorful patch or some other gimmick that's likely based on real rarity instead of an arbitrary number on it. Sorry, but an extra plain jersey card isn't going to make me consider this release any more.

Then again, I'm not the market for these. The almost $250 presale price for five cards could net me a box of 2010 Topps Baseball, a box of 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights and probably both the 1982 Topps and Topps Traded sets. It's a no-brainer for my collecting habits that focus on sets and old-time rookies over generic "hits." So for those who like the chase and are all right with spending $250 on a pack, will this added content make you consider this set any more than before?

Gallery: 1982 Donruss Diamond Kings

Nothing much to say. It's been a busy bit. Enjoy some beautiful cards in this inagural set of Diamond Kings:

Nashville: Day Three - An Evening With Steve Martin and Friends

I want a banjo.

That's what I've deducted after catching Steve Martin (yes, the same Steve Martin who did stand up with an arrow through his head some years ago) in concert at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium last Sunday.

I'm pretty clueless when it comes to Bluegrass. If it wasn't on the O'Brother What Art Thou soundtrack I probably don't know it. Mixing comedy with some great music, Martin showed the crowd that he truly is an entertainment genius. Even more impressive was how he stepped back and let his backup band, The Steep Canyon Rangers, own much of the musical portions of the show. A few other friends also stopped by for a song or two.

I was a little concerned when I found my seat. When I bought it, I figured being on the floor in the dead center of the stage would be a good thing. Normally it's not. And while my seat wasn't horrible, the balcony at the Ryman hangs very low so much of my peripheral vision was the low ceiling of sorts above me.

The seats were hard wooden pews. Between that and the stained glass windows that were a mere walkway behind me, I should have expected a religous experience from the evening. While not quite that powerful, I do have to say that it inspired me to wanting to play a banjo and becoming a musical storyteller for my future grandkids. So maybe I'm thinking 20 years in advance but at the rate I expect to learn an instrument, that's how long I'm going to need.

The evening began with John McEuen, one of the founding members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Whether he was on the banjo, guitar or fiddle, McEuen played the role of master storyteller, warming the audience up with jokes and winning their hearts with stories of country music legends.

After McEuen finished his set and a crew had a chance to ready the stage with a couple of posters and hook up the cameras as the main event of the evening was apparently being recorded for a TV special. As Martin hit the stage I realized that he hasn't aged much since I first became a fan as he hung with the Muppets. But then I had a second realization and that was that he probably aged young and is only now looking his age.

As you'd expect, Martin cracked a couple of jokes and set up some more before breaking into the first part of his set. When I was going to pick up my tickets this afternoon, a group was coming out of the auditorium and one person mentioned the concert to their friend. The friend had a hard time accepting the idea of Martin as a musician and immediately began recalling choice movie clips that are now 25 years old. I was greeted with similar hesitations from people when I told them how excited I was to see Steve Martin in concert. While I would've been disappointed if he didn't include some gags in his show, I wasn't concerned. Funny people are funny in any situation.Martin is a performer. Laughs were a guarantee.

He's also a damn fine picker on the banjo as well. I'm not going to pretend to understand the mechanics of playing, but he sounded great as he played songs that were original to him all the way until the encore where he brought out leagend Earl Scruggs.

While Martin is a standout banjo player, he still let the Steep Canyon Rangers shine. More often than not, Martin was happy to step aside and let the youthful group of five take the spotlight. Winners of the "Emerging Artist of the Year Award" at the 2006 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, the band brings a happy sound that felt both traditional and modern to me. They're multi-talented too. Before the show began I went to check out the souvenirs where Rangers fiddle player Nicky Sanders was covering. He seemed a little flustered seeing as how his chance to psyche himself up was being spent selling T-shirts and explaining that the autographed Steve Martin posters were on their way.

All-in-all, seeing Steve Martin live was a big highlight of my trip. He's been a legend on the screen that I've looked up to my entire life. To see him live, even if not in the environment that I'm used to seeing him, is something I'll never forget.

And, yes there is a card tie-in here. Martin had an autograph card in Inkworks' Looney Tunes: Back in Action set from 1993. It's a pretty horrible picture of him, but nonetheless it's a reasonably priced autograph of one of a generation's most popular actors. The card used to sell consistently in the $50-60 range but since the release of Razor's Ink Vault and Ink Archives sets, the card can now be found for about half that if you look hard enough.

Box Break: Razor Ink Vault (Part 2) or Box Break: The Seeker: The Dark is Rising

To succeed in business you need to look ahead and take risks. With the success of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it led to a bunch of classic fantasy series getting adapted for the screen. Inkworks followed suit, licensing sets for several of these properties. My guess is it was a matter of throwing against the wall and seeing which ones stuck. Unfortunately it was too late once Twilight hit. With the likes of the under-performing The Golden Compass and The Seeker: The Dark is Rising causing Inkworks to take big hits, the non-sport manufacturer eventually went under. And while I'm sure they did the best they could given their own limitations, The Seeker is but a one-card chase for me.

I'm a big fan of the HBO series Deadwood. And on Deadwood Ian McShane is my favorite aspect. So when I saw that he was signing for The Seeker, I knew there was one card I really wanted to have. Unfortunately for Inkworks, one card doesn't make many sets popular.

The set is based on the theatrical adaptation of Susan Cooper's novel. Despite a solid cast of cable stars like McShane, Six Feet Under's matriarch Frances Conroy and Doctor Who's Christopher Eccleston, the movie was a muddled mess to watch and a bomb at the box office. Predictably, the set was a dud as well.

The base set consists of 72 cards broken down into several confusing subsets. Outside of your standard profile and storyline subsets, there's a bunch at the front of the set that lay out the film's mythology. The checklist choice makes it all somewhat confusing as the story part normally lays out the plot so that the various subsets that go a little more in depth at least have some context.

One thing the subsets do achieve is showcase many different sorts of card designs, some of which are gorgeous and others are plain ugly. My favorite cards in the set are those of the Agents of the Light profiles. They mix striking images with a light-colored background and a simple yet affective text bar at the bottom. These are in contrast to the horrible looking story cards that waste a ton of space on two sets of borders. This leaves little room for the picture itself. With these cards all my eyes see are the wasted space.

The chase aspect of the set is highlighted by one autograph and one Pieceworks costume card per box. Although this wasn't formally announced, I haven't seen any breaks that didn't follow this pattern. The autograph design is typical Inkworks: horizontal layout with plenty of room for the signature. My autograph was of Gary Entin as Paul Stanton. I haven't heard of him. His filmography thus far isn't exactly spectacular either. Among his film credits are Rest Stop, Color Me Olsen, Whore and Rest Stop: Don't Look Back.

My favorite cards in the set are the Pieceworks. Although I don't chase after too many costume cards, the ethereal design of these cards standout amongst an otherwise bland set. I pulled a swatch of a jacket worn by Frances Conroy as Miss Graythorne. 

The Seeker follows the Inkworks insert formula to a tee. Signs of Light is your nine-card foil puzzle. Eternal Enemies is the slightly tougher to pull six-card set and Hidden Symbols is the one-per-box set. While I don't mind consistency, Inkworks followed the same pattern for a decade with almost every release. Occasional exceptions existed but they're not the norm. I can't tell you how many times I've busted a box of Inkworks products and gotten a puzzle piece of someone's arm, or in this box, half of someone's hair. The puzzles look good completed but I'm rarely motivated to do so with the underwhelming assortment I generally start out with. I received the predictable amount of predictable inserts. In fact, I beat the odds slightly and got two Eternal Enemies cards instead of the expected one. 

The Seeker is one of those sets hobby history can use to illustrate the company's demise. It's a set that required a risk to even be made. But in the end it followed the same predictable pattern as many of Inkworks' other releases. While there is little Inkworks could have done to make the set a hit based on the poor performance of the film, perhaps a little shakeup in the construction of the set might have brought a few more collectors into the mix. This is a boring set that, for me, was all about chasing a single card.

Inserts

• Autographs:1 (A-GE. Gary Entin as Paul Stanton)
• Pieceworks Costume Cards: 1 (PW5. Jacket worn by Frances Conroy as Miss Greythorne)
• Eternal Enemies (1:17): 2 (E3, E4)
• Hidden Symbols (1:23): 1 (H1)
• Signs of Light (1:11): 2 (S7, S8)

 To see further breakdown stats and more images, click here.

Thomas the Tank Engine Coming to Cardboard

Upper Deck has signed with HIT Entertainment to make cards based on everyone's favourite over-priced train: Thomas and Friends. (Source: Toy News Online)

The first release is slated for a 2010 street date. Toy News is reporting the big draw will be Pop-Up Cards and Stickers. Tip for Upper Deck: I can already get books with hundreds of Thomas stickers for my son for a buck. Keep the price low.

The big news for me isn't that Thomas is getting a card set but rather the fact that Upper Deck seems commited to going after the kid market. And we're not talking tweens here either. Thomas appeals to my almost three-year-old. If the price is right, I do suspect that father and son might be ripping and sorting together if he's still into Thomas when the set rolls around.