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.

How I Got Here, part 2

The first purchases of my return to non-hobby trading card collecting were a box each of Veronica Mars Season 1 and Veronica Mars Season 2 by the now defunct Inkworks. Each box guaranteed one autographed card and one Pieceworks® card. An interesting addition to the Season 2 cards were the very random insertion of printing plates, the actual metal plate used on the printing press to print the cards, called Inkplates™ and four different autographed Pieceworks® cards.

In those two boxes I received one complete base set of each season. I pulled from Season 1 an autograph card of Francis Capra who played Eli "Weevil" Navarro and a Pieceworks® card of a jacket worn by Teddy Dunn who played Duncan Kane. In Season 2 I received an autograph of Alona Tal who played Meg Manning, a Pieceworks® card of a shirt worn by Teddy Dunn who played Duncan Kane and an Inkplates™card from the yellow printing plate of an image from the show of Charisma Carpenter who played Kendall Casablancas. In addition, I received various insert cards but no complete insert sets.

I really enjoyed breaking open these boxes. It was fun even though the cards themselves used less than perfect images from the show and even though I didn't get any of the best pulls. I really, really wanted a Kristen Bell (@IMKristenBell) autograph. But I was pleased and I had been hooked.

Now the story moves along quite briskly and my memory of the events is a bit blurry, but somehow I came across the existence of Rittenhouse's Batman Archives trading cards. What made these different than the Veronica Mars cards was the insertion at the rate of one per box of an actual trading card upon which an artist had drawn a character from the Batman Universe. Batman is without a doubt my favorite superhero and I absolutely love his rogues gallery. So I bought a box of these off eBay. In that box I received a complete base set of the cards (which I will discuss in more detail in a future post), a couple of the retro-insert cards, a couple of the Dark Victory subset cards and one lenticular card of Ra's al Ghul. But the best part was the Andy Price sketch card of Batman on the Batcycle. I didn't know who Andy Price was but I really dug that sketch (will post image in future post), so I found him online.

And art was now a part of the thrill of this new hobby.

I must go back in time just a bit and say that card was not my first piece of original art. In 2008, I attended my first comic book convention at Mid-Ohio Con in Columbus, Ohio. I had wanted to go for sometime, but it had been held on Thanksgiving weekend, thus preventing my attendance. But in 2008, its owners had sold it and its new management moved it to the first weekend in October. Being only three hours away it was the closest show to me, so I finally got to go. I felt a bit out of place not knowing the proper etiquette, but I made some nice comics, graphic novels and toy purchases. But I also purchased a sketch from David Mack and Sean Forney (will post in future blog), as well as a commission from a local Lexington Artist Kenn Minter. But until finding that sketch card in the box of Batman Archives, I thought the Con was my only avenue for getting original art.

Once I discovered Andy's site, I was introduced to a wide array of other artists. I don't remember how or in what order I specifically learned of everyone on the artist's list to the left, but Andy led to another person who led to another person who led to another person. Then, through Twitter, I followed them and continued to find others. It is to the point that I have been finding a new and wonderful artist every few weeks.

And the best part? A number of these artists are amazingly receptive to their fans, especially on Twitter.

So over the course of the last year, I've been buying non-sports cards that I have an interest in and really cranking up my purchase of original commissioned art. There are so many things happening in the hobby that I have developed opinions on and I will share those throughout the course of this blog. I also will share all the pieces in my collection, trading cards and sketches, and comment on those, as well.

I am really loving this hobby and really, really loving the interactions I'm having with artists and fellow collectors. I think it's a shame to keep all this art to myself, so I wound up here, with this blog.

If you are reading this, thanks for the support. I'd love to hear from those of you I don't normally communicate with. Just connect with me on Twitter @Brad_Duncan. Also, artists... after attending Mid-Ohio Con again this November, I'm hoping to expand next year and attend at least one of the larger shows or a least one in another city, so I hope to meet more of you in person.

And artists and card companies... keep the great work coming.