A Burt Reynolds Auto!

I have been amigos with Greg over at Plaschke, They Sweater is Argyle for quite some time now. I read his blog long before I got back into collecting, and ultimately his blog is the reason I decided to start my own. 

Greg has also been a big influence my television show viewing. His post on quite possibly the greatest TTM return ever got me to watch Parks and Rec. Which, in turn, led me to start collecting all of the Parks and Rec autos. A goal I am still attempting to complete. 

Greg also suggested I watch Archer. I took him up on this suggestion and instantly fell in love with the show. Of course, I had to go out and pick up some of the cards from the set, which you can see here. However, it wasn't until recently that I actually began my pursuit of the 15-card autograph set. 

Thanks to Greg's magic powers in finding crazy good deals on eBay, I am now the proud owner of my very first Archer autograph. 

I was able to secure this bad boy for the price of a blaster, simply due to the smudged autograph. While it would be nice to have a perfect autograph, I cant complain abut the imperfection or the price of the card. 

There isn't much out there in terms of Archer/Burt Reynolds videos, so I would suggest that you just watch the entire series on Netflix.

Thanks again for the heads up, Greg! 

Hey, I'm Alive!

Hope all is well with everyone out there in the blogosphere!

As you may have noticed, I have been missing for just over a week. For someone who once made it a habit to post every single day, the last week or so has felt pretty empty. However, my absence is justified, and I wasn't just being lazy.

You may have heard that I got a tutoring gig over at my college. I've been tutoring English, History, Psychology, and just writing in general. (You'll have to find somebody else to ask if you need help with math :o) It has been an immensely enjoyable experience so far, if not a little overwhelming. Actually, I'm not sure if overwhelming is the right word. It hasn't been overwhelming in a bad way, but more of a time consuming activity that I really enjoy doing.

Anyway. The tutoring staff has dealt with some turnover heading into this semester. Some of the longest tenured tutors left because they finished up with school. Other moved to other colleges. Basically, there is a ton of new faces in the tutorial center, with me being one of them.

Everything was fine to begin the semester, however another veteran tutor had to leave because it conflicted with her schedule at school. Then, another tutor left last week with no prior notice. That left about six of us to cover all of the hours during the week. That wasn't bad in itself, but then two of those tutors had to go and get sick this week.

But I'm rambling. Basically, I have been the go-to guy for tutoring this week, because of my willingness to cover and my availability. Long days in the tutorial center and long nights doing homework have essentially led to my demise.

That said, I would not change a thing about the last two weeks. Working in the tutorial center has genuinely been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life so far. I mean, I actually look forward to getting up and going to work. How many of you can say that?

*Life story ends here*

Now that I have justified my absence, lets get to talking about cards. More specifically, cards I owe people. Even more specific, cards from the box break.

I shipped about five packages late last week, but was interrupted while putting the rest together. (You guessed it, I got called into work). I sent out some emails over the weekend confirming address for a few of you, and I also mentioned that I would be shipping on Monday. That never happened, so your cards are still sitting here waiting to be packaged up. I guarantee they will all be shipped out tomorrow morning. If you haven't received cards from the break yet, or if you haven't been contacted my me, please email me so I can confirm the shipping address. 

I apologize for taking so long to get them out. It was really not my intention, but I guess life happens. Let me know if I can make it up to you somehow. 

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I have also had almost zero interest in my Mystery Packs. I figured 50 cards, mostly inserts, parallels, #'d cards, and one with some hits would garner some more interest, especially since I was selling them for $5.00 including shipping. I guess I was wrong.

If I don't get anymore inquires for them after this post, I may just ship them of to a few various bloggers that I enjoy doing business with. 

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Finally, here is the flan Archer Sketch Card I never got around to posting. I'm sure this doesn't interest many of you, but sketch cards are quickly becoming a favorite of mine. 

This particular card went to my buddy Dikran as part of his birthday present, but I could definitely afford to get him a few more. Well, I can't really afford it money wise, but I should probably return the favor at some point. 

Krieger: Hard at Work

A couple of days ago I showed of my very first 1/1 Archer Sketch Card. It was a true 1/1 meant for distribution that I bought directly from the artist. Fortunately, I was able to get a hold of the artist and secure a couple more cards on commission.

This one came out so good that I may go and purchase a few more. Krieger, voiced by the great Lucky Yates, just may be my favorite character in the series. It was important for me to secure a sketch of his at one point or another, and luckily I was able to do that. I know it's not the "real thing", but it was still done by one of the artists from the set. I still have my eyes set on a few more sketches currently up on the bay.

This sketch comes from Season 3, Episode 8 of Archer, entitled, "Lo Scandolo". It may be one of the funniest episodes I've watched, and Krieger's kooky personality is on full display.

Wait, I Had Something For This...

A couple months back, I ponied up and purchased my first Archer sketch card. I became a big fan of the hit FX show after another fine recommendation from Greg over at Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle. After binge watching all four seasons, I decided it was time to give Greg some competition for these 1/1 sketches. Here's what I got.

This fantastic card features the main man himself, Sterling Archer. Though I was looking at a few other sketches at the time I purchased this, I opted to go with a card of the main character. This is actually the first sketch card I've seen in person, and I can honestly say there they will become a much larger part of my collection going forward. 

The card depicts a scene in just the second episode of this show, which happens to be on Netflix for those interested. Archer is training Cyril for field work, when he decide to shoot some ice at him from a slingshot. It ended up hitting the hooker Cyril was dancing with at the time, but I'll let you watch the show before I give out any spoilers. You can see the shot this sketch was taken from here. 

I actually bought the card from the artist himself, as he was the one who listed it on eBay. As the Artist Proof sticker suggests, this card was never placed in boxes and distributed. I talked a bit about the difference between Artist Proofs and non-Artist Proof cards with Greg a few months back at the Dodger game, so my memory is a little foggy. 

After I purchased this card, I contacted the artist/seller to see if he had anymore he wanted to move. He did not, but he was willing to do some custom sketches for me. The price he quoted was more than fair, and I had two customs made up. But, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see those. 

Archer Base Set: "You Look At These And Tell Me They're Not Perfect"

Well...almost perfect. But we'll get to that.

The important thing is that I finally got my hands on the Archer base set from Cryptozoic. If you are not familiar with the show, take a look at the clip below.

It is seriously one of the funniest shows on TV today. If you have a Netflix account, go binge watch all four seasons like I am currently doing. I only 7 more episodes until I have to figure out another show to devote my life to.

But back to the cards. The card you see above features a shot from the opening sequence of the pilot. The cards feature a simple design with elements based on the opening credits. The set consists of 72 cards, each with a quote from a different character on the back. But like I said, the cards are not always perfect.

I'm not sure who Laura is, but I am positive that the quote belongs to one of Archer's love interests, Lana Kane.

Lana, the shirtless one, also happens to be the source for the quote I used in the title. In fact, that quote came directly off the back of this card which features a scene from the final episode of Season 3, Space Race: Part II. 

Although Archer is the central figure of the show, Dr. Krieger may be my favorite character. According to his wikia page, his first name is Algernoop. That is news to me, but Algernoop Kreiger is an 80 name in my book. 

The show is just filled with outrageous characters and scenarios, but Kreiger may be the most bizarre. Whether he is producing clones of himself, drugging the other employees of ISIS, creating cyborgs, or creating a a sexbot named Fister Roboto, Krieger may be one of might just be one of my favorite TV characters of all-time. 

As of now, I only have the base set completed. However, I am currently in the process of getting my hands on some 1/1 sketch cards from this wonderful show. 

Until then, I'll just have to sit and wonder why he was dressed as Hitler.