Galaxy 4 Sketches

I've been horribly lax with my blog lately, and not because I haven't picked up any Duron pieces- I've picked up a bunch in the past month- but because of personal reasons I've just been a slacker. So I'll try to put a renewed effort into my blog starting today. I'll start with Galaxy 4, one of the best non-sports sets to ever come out. The Vader/Sidious sketch by Mike is one of my favorites, depicting the scene where Vader picks up the Evil Emperor and throws him down the chute to stop him from killing his (Vader's) son Luke. Luke believed there was still good in his father, and Vader proved him right with his repentant act. I love how Mike drew the Ben "Obi Wan" Kenobi sketch- his caricature style is what first drew (no pun intended) me to his stuff.. easily recognized as Ben Kenobi, but the big eyes, nose, and ears giving him character. Finally the young Obi Wan sketch- it was the first sketch I pulled out of the 4th (and last) case of Galaxy 4 I opened, so it was a great start to a case- first box- Duron sketch. No caricature style here- Mike just draws him clean with great lines. I'd have to say the only thing more I'd have wanted in this sketch was the light saber colored in, but I think Mike only used color for his Return cards. All in all, three great sketches by Mike, and I'm glad to have them in my collection.

On another note, I think I read in Mike's blog that he's going to be cutting back on Non-Sports sets to concentrate on other projects, which is kind of a bummer to me, but also understandable. I always look forward to new sets coming out and the chance to pull one of Mike's cards, so if I have to wait a ittle longer, well, that's just part of life. I'm pretty used to waiting. Until next time, thanks for reading...

Jabba and Salacious B. Crumb & Mr Ballsack...

Okay, maybe the guy's name isn't Ballsack, but just look at him and the name seems natural. I picked up these two sketches recently- the "Ballsack" one off the Scoundrel Art Message Board from Darkmatter (Steve), and the "Jabba and Salacious B. Crumb" from a friend (Rob). Salacious B. Crumb- I had seen the character before but wasn't sure of the name, so after someone on Scoundrel clued me in, I looked him up on the Web in the Wookieepedia. Salacious B. Crumb was a Kowakian monkey-lizard known for his shrill laugh and sadistic sense of humor. Jabba found him amusing and offered him the role of Court Jester, allowing him to live if he amused Jabba at least once each day. I'm not sure how Mike does his sketches, but I'm always drawn to the eyes. Maybe he starts from the eyes and goes out... or maybe not. All I know is, the eyes seem to give depth to his characters. Check out the eyes on the Jabba & Salacious sketch- both characters.. along with Jabba's tongue I think they're the signature feature. Anyways, I think they're cool. Until next time, thanks for reading...

Ventress...

I've been hearing about Star Wars Galaxy 4 since November. It's a landmark set for Topps, revisiting the very popular Star Wars Galaxy sets of the early 1990s, but this time with even more hoopla and anticipation brought about by probably the greatest sketch card set ever produced. Most of the best sketch card artist were included in this set, and everyone puts out their best work for Star Wars.. it's the pinnacle of Non-Sports. Artists were able to pull from any and all references including the 6 full-action movies: "Star Wars" (later renamed "Episode IV A New Hope"), "The Empire Strikes Back" (Episode V), "Return of the Jedi" (Episode VI), "Episode I The Phantom Menace", "Episode II Attack of the Clones", and "Episode III Revenge of the Sith", plus the 2008 Animated movie and subsequent TV Series "The Clone Wars". Artist have even chosen to pull characters from Star Wars Books, Comic Books, and Reference Materials. In short, the best of the best Artists doing everything and anything Star Wars. The results have been fantastic. I ordered one case, ended up buying a second case the day it arrived, and a third case a week later. My favorite artist is in the set- Michael Duron- and so far I've only been able to pick up one of his cards from this set- a cool Ventress sketch. His multi-character sketch cards have been selling strong (a Darth Vader and Darth Sidious sold for $110+), so I'll keep trying. In the meantime, thanks for reading...

Clone Wars Returns

When Michael Duron posted on Scoundrel Art in August that he was selling his Clone Wars Return Card sketches for $75 each AND throwing in a bonus sketch, I jumped at the chance to pick up the best of his best. For those who don't know, "Return Cards" are sketches that the artist designate to the company (in this case Topps) to be sent back to him/her to sell on the open market, and these cards are usually the best ones done. I had been lucky enough to get two of Mike's Clone Wars Returns- a three character sketch of Dooku, Ventress, and Darth Sidious (Emperor Palpatine), and a two character sketch of R2-D2 and C-3PO. As bonus sketches I had asked for a Princess Leia and a Padme Amidala. I couldn't wait to get them. The initial picture Mike had posted when selling his Returns was an early one, and the sketches weren't even colored in and finished, but I knew they'd be cool. Then Mike broke the news about his personal problems, so I sympathized with his situation and realized I might have to wait awhile to get my Returns. No problem, as my girlfriend Mandy can attest, I'm a patient man. Suddenly Mike fell off the face of the earth... no posts on his blog, no word from him on Scoundrel, PM and emails went unanswered. Alot of us were hoping everything was okay and were worried. It's not like I exactly know him personally, but we've exchanged emails and had conversations in Scoundrel Arts PM's, so it feels like I do. As September, October, and November went by I was trying not to worry, and then finally I got an email from him in mid November asking what he owed me. I sent him back the info and waited. The rest of November went by, then December, and January.. finally on January 30th I got a package in the mail from Mike.. my Returns were here! My expectations were high, but when I pulled those sketch cards from the package, they exceeded them all. Awesome detail, brilliant coloring, and capturing the essence of each character. Plus the bonus cards were awesome! The Princess Leia Mike had chosen to draw was a scene sketch of her in her slave outfit with the chain in her hand that she used to kill Jabba the Hutt.. and Jabba was behind her dead (I loved the x'd out eyes and the tongue hanging out). Padme Amidala's sketch was her holding a blaster and is a cool likeness- just a great sketch. And, as a bonus for making me wait so long, Mike threw in another bonus sketch- a hilarious Darth Maul sketch. They were worth the wait. Thanks Mike, and thanks all for reading...

Shortround and the Idol...

It's good to have friends. Recently one of mine got into Non-sports- he had been an aspiring artist when he was young and really appreciated the artwork on many of the sketch cards I had aquired- so he jumped right in opening 2+ cases of Indiana Jones Masterpieces and 6 boxes of Star Wars: Clone Wars. Now, it's taken me almost a year to pull my first Duron.. but he did it in his first few boxes. He was opening a case of Indy Masterpieces and I was there when he opened one of the boxes and pulled a Michael Duron "Shortround" from the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom movie. Cool for him and nice for me.. maybe I could talk him into selling it to me. Now like I said, my friend is new to the Non-sports, so he had to trust me. I told him what Durons were selling for online, and we struck a deal. Cool, another Duron to add to my collection. A few days later he called me and said he had opened the second case.. and pulled another Duron. He described it to me and we figured out that it was the Idol from the beginning of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".. not only of the Idol but specifically when Indy was sifting the sand thru his hand to decide how much to put in the bag to counterbalance the weight of the Idol. Very cool. Of course, by now he knew about my Duron collection, so he figured I would want it. He was right. We worked out a deal and I had yet another Duron. Like I said, it's good to have friends. Thanks for reading...

An Alien and the Cute Little Green Guy...

I've been waiting for months for Indiana Jones Masterpieces to be released. My twin brother and I had both ordered a case, so we were going to break them together. At the last minute I hedged my bet.. "wanna split whatever we get?" I asked him. He agreed. It just made sense. What if one of us had pulled a Harrison Ford autograph or one of the other monster pulls? Finally Masterpieces was released. I opened my case and read the odds.. 1 sketch in every 24 packs. Then I opened my first box. It had two sketches in it! A hot box I figured. Wrong. My second box had two sketches.. and the third.. and the fourth. Then my next box had a Panoramic sketch AND two sketches! What amazed me even more was the quality of the sketches. So many beautiful sketches. I was almost done with my case when my brother hit gold... our first Duron. The "Alien" from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull movie. I had opened cases of LOTR Masterpieces II, Heroes Series II, Star Wars Clone Wars, plus various boxes of other products and I had never pulled a Michael Duron sketch. Okay, TECHNICALLY I hadn't pulled this one either, but we were splitting whatever we got.. so that Duron was mine. My brother, knowing of my Duron collection, had to get in his digs... "maybe we should put this on Ebay..." he says. "HELL NO.. that Duron is mine!" was my response. It wasn't much of an argument- like I said my brother knows about my Duron collection.

Then two days later I was set up at a Sportscard show and business was slow. Snails were moving faster than my cards. Lucky for me the guy beside me had boxes of Non-Sports.. Indiana Jones Heritage, Indiana Jones KOTC, Indiana Jones Masterpieces, and Star Wars: Clone Wars. I had alot of luck with Clone Wars when it came out, so I thought I'd try a box... break up the monotony.. change my luck for the card show (I hope). My nephew was with me so we both took half of the box. The cel inserts started showing up right from the start.. in fact four cels in the first six packs. "Maybe a hot box" I thought. Four more cels and two parallels later I figured I was right. All that was left was finding the sketches. I found mine first.. a Dalla Vecchia "Grievous" sketch. Christian Dalla Vecchia may do alot of sketches for sets, but the work is always quality. Then my nephew found his sketch.. and we saw a splash of color... green. A cool Yoda sketch.. by none other than MICHAEL DURON!!! I couldn't believe our luck. So I thought I'd share my luck with all of you. Have a great holiday season all! Thanks for reading...

Mace Windu

What a cool card! Not a ton of detail, not a color sketch, but I love how Mike drew this card. I particularly like the middle of the face- how he drew the forehead, the nose, and the eyes looking to the side. Mace Windu, who's not a main character but definitely a recognizable one, was played by Samuel L. Jackson and appeared in "The Phantom Menace", "Attack of the Clones", "Revenge of the Sith" and of course the new film "Star Wars: Clone Wars". Mace Windu is also a major character in the Cartoon Network series "Star Wars: Clone Wars". Like I said, what a cool card! Thanks for reading...