The Pro (5finity) - Pack Breaks

I first came across 5finity's sketch card-only packs last year when they issued the March of Dimes Archie series. I purchased a couple of those packs and liked what I saw. Now a year later, 5finity's sets continue to get better and better. And The Pro series is not any different. This set is based on the comic series by Garth Ennis, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and Paul Mounts. The comic tells the story of a prostitute who is given superpowers and is recruited by a superhero group called the League of Honor. I had read the comic not long before these cards came out. It was vulgar, outrageous and over-the-top, but hilarious. And certainly not for everyone.

I originally ordered two packs from an online dealer I found, one of only a couple I know of who will sell the packs unopened. It seems most dealers who purchase these cards like to "rip and flip" (I will blog on this technique in a future post): buy a bunch of packs and then post them on eBay to sell at a much higher profit than by selling the packs themselves unopened. I really like the gamble and surprise of opening the pack and seeing what I get.

The packs contain at least one sketch card with the chance to get special packs that could contain rare artist sketches, hot packs with more than one sketch, and sketches by creators Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti. There were 800 individually serial-numbered packs in the set. Each sketch card also comes in an Ultra-Pro toploader sleeve.



The first pack I opened contained a sketch by C.H. Miles of the character The Saint. It is a recreation of a panel in the comic in which The Saint is flying next to an airplane on the verge of crashing. And yes, his pants are down in the image.




The other pack included a fabulous sketch of the character The Lady by Scott Rorie.




I was pleased with both of these sketches, and they were two of the best I had received from 5finity products. But I have to admit that I wanted a sketch of The Pro herself. Like I said, I'm a bit of a gambler and like the surprise of opening the pack, so I went back to the same dealer and purchased a third pack.

This time is was the second card of a two-card puzzle sketch that included the villains The Adverb and The Adjective. (I also have some thoughts on puzzle cards that I will address in the future.) Again, a very nice card, this time by Remy "Eisu" Moktar. I've looked for the companion sketch of The Noun and The Verb on eBay, but no luck. Either no one has pulled it yet, or someone has but doesn't want to sell it.



However, I still didn't have a sketch of The Pro. So, I decided this collection wouldn't be complete without one, and I went to eBay and found this wonderful sketch by Kristin Allen (who I had received a commission from not long before receiving these). It was a good price, so I was able to add it to the set.



These are all wonderful pieces and I don't think I could have asked for better pulls from these packs. I certainly can't wait for future 5finity releases.