San Diego Comic-Con Mystery (Breygent Marketing) - Pack Breaks

When I first learned of the special Mystery Packs being planned for San Diego Comic-Con by Breygent Marketing, I knew I had to get my hand on these packs. At first it was unclear how available these would be, but before SDCC, Tom at Breygent assured collectors that the packs also would be made available after SDCC.

Breygent had already seen some success with their Cartoon and Golden Age of Comics Sketch Packs, and now they were moving into the television and movie arena with pack-only sales. (Please check back to this blog for a future post about pack-only versus box trading card sales.)

My interest mainly lay in the inclusion of Dexter Season 3 trading cards into the set. So, in the hopes I would be lucky enough to snag one or more, I purchased three of the regular 3.5"x2.5"-sized packs. But as you are probably aware if you have been reading this blog, I also am an art fan and love the sketch cards. So, I decided to take a shot on one 5"x7" sketch pack.

Collectors were told that the sketch packs would include one sketch from the following possible sets: Cartoon Sketch, Golden Age of Comics, Sci-fi Horror Posters and Woodstock Generation Rock Poster cards. Truth-be-told, I was really hoping for a Sci-fi Horror Poster sketch. I'm a movie buff, have taken some screenwriting/film production classes, write scripts as often as I can and work part-time in a movie theatre so I can see as many films as possible for free. I even have an ever-growing collection of movie posters. So, you can see my interest in that particular set.

When I received the packs, I could tell right away that I had one metallo-gloss card in the Mystery Packs, as these are noticably thicker and heavier than the other cards. Because the Mystery Packs held the greatest possible reward (in my opinion), I decided to open the 5"x7" sketch pack first.

Breygent Marketing 5"x7" Mystery Sketch Pack

Truthfully, I've yet to be disappointed by a sketch from a Breygent product (unlike other companies). And this card left me feeling no different. In the pack was one sketch card in a sturdy top-loader and one promo card for an upcoming set. I received this beauty by Tim Shay, who has done a number of cards for other Breygent products. I have never heard of the film The Green Slime, but the image looks so crazy, I might have to check it out. Also included was a promo card, showing the movie poster for Night of the Living Dead.

Sci-fi Poster Series sketch by Tim Shay

Sci-fi/Horror Poster Series Promo Card

Next up were the Comic-Con Mystery Packs.

Breygent Marketing San Diego Comic-Con Mystery Pack

I knew that the metallo-gloss card was probably a costume card from one of the television series or movies included in the product, I decided to open the thicker/heavier pack first. When I pulled it out of the pack, I saw the promo for Dexter Season 3 first, so I knew the card was one of the Dexter ones. So far, two out of two. The card itself was #D3, a piece of wardrobe worn by Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan. Because these cards are much thicker and heavier, I thought the square through which the cloth is visible would be covered in the same covering of the remainder of the card; however, Breygent did the best thing by having that square uncovered so the fabric is open to the touch.

Dexter Season 3 Promo Card

Dexter Season 3 SDCC Metallo-gloss Costume Card

With two packs left, there were no noticeable differences so I just opened one at random. For the past few months I have begun collecting art that I commission from artists I talk to on Twitter and others whose work I admire. Beck Kramer has become one of my favorite artists, but I have yet to commission her for whatever reasons. However, I can't wait to own a piece of art she does especially for me. Because of this I was mightily surprised when, after pulling the card out of the pack and setting the below promo card to the side, I saw her name written on the back of a sketch card from the Cartoon series. On the other side was an adorable sketch of Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Cartoon Sketch Series Promo Card

Cartoon Sketch Series Casper the Friendly Ghost Sketch
by Beck Kramer

Three packs in and I had received a great Sci-fi poster sketch, a Dexter costume card and a Cartoon sketch from one of my favorite artists. I figured the fourth and final pack, another regular-sized Mystery pack, would probably be a dud (although, seeing what is being pulled from these packs makes it difficult to think there are any duds). So, I opened it up and pulled out the cards, seeing first another promo for Dexter. At this point, it didn't matter what the card was, I was four-for-four since the Dexter cards were the ones I was truly interested in. When I flipped it over, this is what I saw:

Dexter Season 3 SDCC Jimmy Smits Autograph Card

Really, there is only one Dexter card in this set better than the Jimmy Smits autograph card, and that is the Michael C. Hall autograph card. I was very excited with this pull; well, I was very excited about all the pulls.

Another thing worth noting is the identification of the packs and cards as being SDCC cards. The Mystery Packs have the SDCC logo on the front, while the 5"x7" sketch pack does not. The Jimmy Smits autograph card has the SDCC logo printed on the back of the card, but the metallo-gloss, the Cartoon sketch and the Sci-fi sketch do not. I believe that the metallo-gloss Dexter cards are going to be limited to the SDCC packs, so there should be no confusion there; however, the two sketch cards may not be limited to the SDCC packs. Because the sketch cards are possibly ones that were to be included in their respective sets, they did not have the SDCC printed on them. But they did have a small logo sticker applied to the back. Here is a scan of the one that was on the back of the Cartoon sketch card and is just like the one on the back of the Sci-fi sketch card:

SDCC logo sticker

I had really, really hoped that I would get my hands on some of these packs, and once I did, Breygent did not let me down. I am so pleased with these cards, I have ordered some more that should get here this week. Breygent is doing right by the collecter with these new pack-only sets and are coming up with some very innovative cards, as well.

Can't wait to get the next batch of packs.