A Good Week

It's been a good week. I was able to work two deals on the Scoundrel Art Message Boards for two Michael Duron sketches including the one of Gollum in this post (thanks to Gary Krock- "diamond" on the Message Boards- for a smooth transaction). This week also brought me a Cave Troll bonanza, including my new favorite- the one with the Cave Troll chasing Gimli (that's one BIG hammer). I had seen this card on Ebay with a higher "Buy it Now" price than I wanted to pay. Luck was with me as the card didn't sell and the owner relisted at a cheaper price (more in my price range) that I quickly snapped up. This one came from "across the Pond" from the United Kingdom- the second Duron sketch that I've got from the U.K.

You may have noticed a trend with my Duron sketch cards- so far I've only bought Michael Duron sketches from Lord of the Rings Masterpieces. This is not from a lack of trying to buy from other sets, it's just bad luck and bidding against other Duron collectors with deeper pockets (you know who you are out there.. Mike and Ed in particular). As I've said before, it's understandable being that Duron's stuff is the coolest out there. I also bought Mike's "IT CAME FROM THE POND" sketchbook from his site and I'm waiting to get it in the mail.. looking forward to it. Speaking of his site, check out his Marvel Masterpieces 2 preview- he did some absolutely amazing sketches for that series. He hasn't posted on his site for awhile, but his last post said he was sick. Here's a shoutout hoping that you're feeling better soon. Thanks for reading..

Dave

Bling Bling..

Okay, maybe it's not exactly bling-bling in the traditional way, but my first Michael Duron color sketch deserves a grand title. That goes double for the sketch card of the Fellbeast and Nazgul about to attack Frodo.. when I got this sketch card it immediately became my new favorite. Unfortunately, that title will be short-lived, as I just recently purchased a sketch card that (as soon as it arrives in the mail) will become my new fav. You'll have to come back in the near future to find out which one that is.

I have to say I had one of my biggest Ebay disappointments one morning this week. I had checked out all the current Michael Duron sketch cards and nothing new had been put on that day (that was still available), but for some reason I decided to check "completed auctions" to see what Duron's had recently sold. I almost broke into tears when I saw the card on the top of the list. I haven't purchased any of Michael's Star Wars cards, but that's because I have yet to see one on Ebay. There was one on the top of the list.. a Princess Leia in the garbage chute with the garbage monster staring at her with love in his eye.. and it sold on a "Buy it Now" for $13!! THIRTEEN DOLLARS!!! Uggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghz. Another Princess Leia one sold later that day (also on a "Buy it Now") for $15!! Double Ugggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghz! Ya win some ya lose some.. but some of those losses really hurt. Thanks for reading...

I've Got a Beautiful Pair of.......

I've got a beautiful pair of.... Michael Duron sketches- and I got them in the mail today (see enclosed pictures). Two more "oldies but goodies" from the Lord of the Rings Masterpieces series. The first is Frodo holding the Light of Earendil in the cave of the giant spider Shelob. You gotta love Frodo's hairy feet- they look about size 15's on his 3.5' tall body. Just a wonderful drawing by Michael Duron. The second is a stoic pose by Gandalf holding his staff (lots of lonely nights on the road so what else is a Wizard to hold?). I picked both of these up from the same seller on Ebay (always save on shipping whenever possible people- one of Ebay's golden rules for buyers).

I ripped my second case of LOTR Masterpieces II the other day. Sorry to say no Duron's, but I did pull a sweet Patrick Hamill that I put on Ebay and it sold for $150 via a "Buy it Now" within an hour. Two case of Masterpieces II and two Patrick Hamill's. I can't really complain since I've sold the two for $200 and $150, but I'd love to have pulled a Duron. More soon, but for now thanks for reading...

Dave

What a Bargain!

What can you get nowadays for a dollar? Chicken nuggets at Wendy's, a 1/4th of a gallon of gas, or a 2-liter of pepsi (if it's on sale)... May 11th must have been my lucky day because on that day I got a Michael Duron sketch card for .99 (picture enclosed). I'm calling it an "oldie but a goodie" since it's from 2006 (yeah, real old huh? lol) and he signed it MikeD instead of his newer handle of Michael "Locoduck" Duron. May 11th was bonus day- I also picked up a Leah Mangue from the same ebay seller for $5.50 that ironically was also a Gollum sketch. Maybe it was Gollum Discount Day or the first annual Smeagol Sales Spectacular and I didn't know it, but whatever the case I was one happy camper. I'm going to venture a guess that it'll be the first and last Michael Duron sketch that I find for under a dollar... but then again who knows? Only 362 days til next year's Smeagol Sales Spectacular. More to come, but for today thanks for reading...

Dave

Indiana Jones Crystal Skull Case Break

So I got my case of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on Thursday and couldn't wait to tear into the boxes, hoping for a killer sketch card or at least one of the big autographs from the set. I opened my first box and got... nothing. No sketch card and no autograph. I called my buddy who had opened a case the day before to see how many dud boxes he got.. none he told me. So I opened and opened and pulled 7 sketch cards including this amazingly detailed one by Leah Mangue (picture enclosed), but no autographs. Personally, I put more stock into the sketch cards than the autographs, but odds stated on the packs that autographs were 1:78 packs, so who knows- maybe my box was supposed to have Harrison Ford or Steven Spielberg or George Lucas. I was pretty bummed. A call to Topps Customer Service the next day did nothing to alleviate the mood- they told me: "We don't guarantee anything so we won't send you anything extra". I felt a little cheated. So I checked the internet for message boards to tell the world about how Topps treats their customers. This isn't my first run in with Topps- I've collected sportscards for 20+ years so I've had to contact them before... thing is, with sportscards they're usually fair with me, but now with non-sports they're giving me a hassle.

My luck changed today. I just won two Michael Duron sketches on Ebay, so I'll be posting pics as soon as I get them. I'm also sending out thanks to Leah Mangue- I emailed her to ask her about the card I pulled and she was very gracious to return my email with extra information that I could use in my ebay listing. Check out her website at: http://www.lmangue-art.net/ . Thanks for reading...

Dave

For all you Michael Duron fans out there who bid on ebay, you make it very tough for me to add to my collection.. but that's understandable, and it makes it more of a challenge. I won this one about a week ago (picture enclosed), so pulling this one out of the envelope today only wanted me to add more Michael Duron sketches to my collection. What I like about this is sketch is it's a 3 for 1 deal- 3 characters on one card.

On a disappointing note, Topps has pushed back the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull card set another week. Luckily the promos for the product now say Topps is putting a "Hot Box" in every Hobby case. So we'll have to see if that pays off. There's only one thing I'm anticipating more than getting my case of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...

Thanks for reading. Dave