Received a letter and sketch card from Sue Lake at Inkworks in just 5 days. The sketch she sent was a really good black/white/red portrait of Samuel L. Jackson done by Steve Oatney.

Thanks so much, I'll try to return the favor by picking up some extra Inkworks products. Collectors should give back to those manufacturers who value and support their customers. Inkworks obviously knows how to do it.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Received a letter and sketch card from Sue Lake at Inkworks in just 5 days. The sketch she sent was a really good black/white/red portrait of Samuel L. Jackson done by Steve Oatney.

Thanks so much, I'll try to return the favor by picking up some extra Inkworks products. Collectors should give back to those manufacturers who value and support their customers. Inkworks obviously knows how to do it.

Sue Lake is LEGENDARY for her fabulousness and fantastic customer service.

I got my five boxes a week ago, and here are the hits (I have seen some of you only got one hit in their boxes, I got three in two of my five boxes)



In addition I got three autograph-redemptions:
Dan lauria
Stana katic
Gabriel Macht

I opened a couple of boxes a while.

Autos
Paz Vega as Plaster of Paris
Sarah Paulson as Ellen Dolan

Pieceworks
PW10 - Sweater worn by Scarlett Johansson as Silken Floss

Sketch

Octopus by Nik

Here's my cards from a box of Inkworks "Spirit", I guess the last of the Inkworks sets.



A nice PAZ VEGA autograph (I really liked her in "Spanglish", the James L. Brooks film) and a really sharp fully rendered color Spirit by Nik Neocleous, one of the very best cards in the sketch set, if I do say so.

So long Inkworks, even at the end, they never let me down...

I opened my first box of The Spirit:

Sarah Paulson auto redemption (The one I was hoping for.)
Babbitt sketch

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
Here's my cards from a box of Inkworks "Spirit", I guess the last of the Inkworks sets.



A nice PAZ VEGA autograph (I really liked her in "Spanglish", the James L. Brooks film) and a really sharp fully rendered color Spirit by Nik Neocleous, one of the very best cards in the sketch set, if I do say so.

So long Inkworks, even at the end, they never let me down...

Wait a minute. You pulled a Vega autograph straight from a pack. I didn't think that was possible. All Spirit autographs in boxes were redemption cards, no?

Or maybe you did send in the redemption and are just showing the card?

No, you are right, the Paz Vega was redeemed by mail.

And since I bought that single box, a large online dealer seems to have ended up most if not all of the remaining inventory, so I've bought 3 cases so far at a pretty steep discount (Even so, I think that will be it. They're cheap, but not that cheap).

Anyway, the first case had a set of the regular 6 regular autographs (no Samuel Jackson), 8 sketch cards, and 7 costume cards (including the dual card)

The 2nd case had 5 of the 6 autographs (no Paz Vega, but the lone box I'd purchased, shown above, had one of hers, so I ended up with another set of the 6 autographs in the end. There were also 8 sketch cards and 7 costumes cards, including the Dual card again. Here they are:

The third case is yet to arrive, but I'll be back here with the results of that one. I am hoping to make a sketch set and get the last 2-3 costumes I need to finish that set. So far from 2 cases and one box, there were a total of 16 sketches and the only duplicate artist was Nick (NIK) Neocleus, but that's OK because his cards were highlights in an overall very well done sketch collection, probably the best one Inkworks has ever issued, for whatever that's now worth. I've actually got three by Nik (one per case and one in the single box) and they are all pretty much finsihed paintings. I'm really hoping for a nice Pence in the next case.

And good news for those who may find these cards at an even better bargain once the exchange deadline of June 30th has passed to redeem by mail for the autographs. To wit, while those autograph redemption cards are soon to be worthless, in the 21 boxes I've opened thius far I've yet to receive more than one auto redemption in a single box. Therefore, because the boxes have 2 hits, every single unopened box should contain an actual sketch or costume card and pretty much every other box will have a sketch AND a costume card. In other words, of the 20 hits per case, about 15 of them are sketches and costumes, meaning about 75% of the high end cards are IN the packs.

With those odds and prices that are likely to drop further still once June has passed, these boxes and cases will eventually dry up, its just a matter of time.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chesspieceface,

Thanks so much for the nice comments on my cards Chesspieceface. And good luck on getting a Pence.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:

With those odds and prices that are likely to drop further still once June has passed, these boxes and cases will eventually dry up, its just a matter of time.

EXTREMELY DEPRESSING
Your comments are 100% right on. I'd congratulate you on your pulls, but these aren't anything out of the ordinary for this product. Inkworks did a fantastic job loading this product with quality from top to bottom, unfortunately for them it appears they bet the farm on this set and it tanked big time, because the movie was a stinker. I could use the economy as an excuse, but we all saw what their Twilight set did in the same economy.

During my last visit to Inkworks, back in March, Allan told me they produced 500 cases of The Spirit and had only sold approximately 150 cases. It's no wonder they had to close-up shop.
By the way, for anyone lucky enough to land a Samuel L. Jackson card, according to Allan there were only 50 of these, so happy hunting.

quote:

Originally posted by Arvin Sloane:
Inkworks did a fantastic job loading this product with quality from top to bottom, unfortunately for them it appears they bet the farm on this set and it tanked big time, because the movie was a stinker. I could use the economy as an excuse, but we all saw what their Twilight set did in the same economy.

I totally agree on the first part of that statement, but not the second. Twilight already had an enormously fanatical following that even pulled in people into our little world of card collecting that would normally not even think of wasting money on cardboard.

quote:

Originally posted by Redemption:

quote:

Originally posted by Arvin Sloane:
Inkworks did a fantastic job loading this product with quality from top to bottom, unfortunately for them it appears they bet the farm on this set and it tanked big time, because the movie was a stinker. I could use the economy as an excuse, but we all saw what their Twilight set did in the same economy.

I totally agree on the first part of that statement, but not the second. Twilight already had an enormously fanatical following that even pulled in people into our little world of card collecting that would normally not even think of wasting money on cardboard.

I don't believe it's relevant whether Twilight had a fanatical following or not. The point is despite the lousy economy they came out and spent money on this set like there was no tomorrow.

quote:

Originally posted by Arvin Sloane:
I don't believe it's relevant whether Twilight had a fanatical following or not. The point is despite the lousy economy they came out and spent money on this set like there was no tomorrow.

I truly believe that The Spirit or even other sets of more popular franchises won't even come close to Twilight because of a following that's so fanatical that they would pay crazy amounts even in a lousy economy.

quote:

Originally posted by Arvin Sloane:

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:

With those odds and prices that are likely to drop further still once June has passed, these boxes and cases will eventually dry up, its just a matter of time.

EXTREMELY DEPRESSING
Your comments are 100% right on. I'd congratulate you on your pulls, but these aren't anything out of the ordinary for this product. Inkworks did a fantastic job loading this product with quality from top to bottom, unfortunately for them it appears they bet the farm on this set and it tanked big time, because the movie was a stinker. I could use the economy as an excuse, but we all saw what their Twilight set did in the same economy.

Yes, quite sad. I bought my single box not too long after the movie had tanked. I intended to see it but it was gone from theaters before I got the chance. Once I rented the DVD, I actually thought it was a pretty good movie, but I am a longtime fan of director Frank Miller so that may have infuenced my opinion somewhat. It sure seemed like this movie (and therefore, card set) was going to be a winner when at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con, people were literally fighting over the 4 card Women of Spirit promo card sets.

Still, I must admit there is no way I would bought 3 cases until in the wake of Inkworks closing shop, the opportunity arose to purchase 3 cases for the same amount as 1 case cost when initially issued. And that's true had I already seen the movie and enjoyed it even more than I did.

The "Inkworks status" thread has pretty every rumination as to what brought about their downfall, but certainly placing so much hope in eventually underperforming movies and TV shows (Dark Is Rising, X-Files II, Golden Compass, Jericho, etc.) couldn't have helped, but addtionally when the autographs were cancelled from Twilight, Kung Fu Panda, and Journey to the Center of the Earth, that seemed to be the kiss of death for those sets too. And that is true of "Twilight" as well, believe it or not, as far as card colletors go. There is no doubt when Inkworks sent on the news release that the autograpns would not be in the set, MANY pre-orders for "Twilight" were cancelled, despite the $100+ price decrease on the case price.

Clearly the incredible interest in "Twilight" cards came from fans of the film, and not the traditional card collector, per se. Something like this also helps us to understand that movie studios do not make comic book inspired films with comic book fans in mind. There are simply not enough comic book devotees out there to alone make the film successful enough to justify the huge budget required to bring the fantastical properties of comic books to life.

I mention this because I do think Frank Miller made the Spirit movie for fans of the classic Spirit newspaper strip (and to a lesser degree, Miller's own work). But perhaps if he'd have made it for movie fans instead, we'd be now posting our breakdowns for Lost Season 4 and Ghost Whisperer instead of continuing this sad eulogy for Inkworks.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:

Clearly the incredible interest in "Twilight" cards came from fans of the film, and not the traditional card collector, per se.

Not only fans of the movie, but more so fans of the books I believe.

Let's face it... the Twilight set is the pet rock of the card collecting universe. Not much there, but it's caused an uproar.

An I'm with you on loving the Spirit. I was a fan of the hero before the film as I love old movie serial type heroes.

i also got 3 cases like chesspieceface i did not think the movie was bad, and i am a frank miller fan. the price is hard to pass up when it averages out in $13-$17 a box range. i thinks its a good card set

case one 8 sketchs ,6 autos , and 6 costumes
Case two 6 autos, 7 sketchs, and 7 costumes

had a few doubles in the 2nd case alone i got two PW5, two PW2, and two PW4 i thought that was weird

1st case my top three fav sketches were a NIck Neocleous, Glendenning and a john watkins chow

2nd case my top three fav. sketches were a Michael T. Sandborn, brian kong, and Nick Neocleous

chesspieceface email me if you might want to trade any or your doubles maybe we can work something out

NOTE TO NICK(S)

To Nick9819:
Once I get the 3rd case, I'll post it here with a final summary that will show what I've got extras of. Is your 3rd case still on the way? If the Jackson autographs are 1 per 10 cases as Arvin Sloane mentioned, we've got about a 60% chance of one of us finding one, if all 6 cases are considered.

To Nick Neocleous:
Thank YOU for the great cards! I've had a couple of the old "Graphixus" UK mags around here which if I'm not mistaken have some of your early artwork in them, so I've been a fan of your work for awhile! Nice to see you've added sketch cards to your impressive resume. Keep 'em coming!

yea i am still waiting on my third as well, the jackson auto would be amazing and 60% is not bad, fingers crossed. do we know what is going to happen to the left overs after the cut off date, will they go to razor

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
NOTE TO NICK(S)

To Nick9819:
Once I get the 3rd case, I'll post it here with a final summary that will show what I've got extras of. Is your 3rd case still on the way? If the Jackson autographs are 1 per 10 cases as Arvin Sloane mentioned, we've got about a 60% chance of one of us finding one, if all 6 cases are considered.

To Nick Neocleous:
Thank YOU for the great cards! I've had a couple of the old "Graphixus" UK mags around here which if I'm not mistaken have some of your early artwork in them, so I've been a fan of your work for awhile! Nice to see you've added sketch cards to your impressive resume. Keep 'em coming!

Thanks Chesspieceface. My God I remember Graphixus magazine, it came out in the late 1970s. I was practically a kid, did some terrible drawings and comic strips in there!

Busted my case pulled

AUTOGRAPHS
Katic(x2)
King
Macht
Paulson(x2)
Vega

Pieceworks
PW1,PW2,PW3,PW8,PW9,PW11

Sketch Cards