Hi all,

I was thinking about creating a blog that cover the history of Inkworks and it's original incarnation as Graffiti.

I know Inkworks has most of its products listed on it's official website - Though I'm not sure how long that will be around for reference?

I know I could trawl Jeff Allender's awesome Checklist site for Inkworks-Graffiti releases but it could take a long time.

I think it would be a nice tribute to one of the best manufacturers we had in Non Sport history.

Plus hopefully a thorough reference for collectors. - All thoughts/suggestions, +/- are weclome

Well said. I enjoy a site like that.

I believe GoldenEye may have been the only issue with the Graffiti imprint. Seem to recall hearing Allan Caplan formed Graffiti sometime in the summer of 1995 and NSU did a feature on him later in the year. I'd have to consult my back issue and articles archive for the specifics.
Sounds like a intriguing project.

One way to trawl is to Google "inkworks site:nslists.com"
.

Really? One of the best? When Inkworks went bankrupt, he sold off thousands of cards to Razor instead of offering them to his loyal customers. Don't waste your time. Just my opinion. There have been and are now better companies putting out some of the best non-sport cards ever produced.

quote:

Originally posted by wvfan:
Well said. I enjoy a site like that.

Thank you Should be a fun project.

quote:

Originally posted by sthomas:
I believe GoldenEye may have been the only issue with the Graffiti imprint. Seem to recall hearing Allan Caplan formed Graffiti sometime in the summer of 1995 and NSU did a feature on him later in the year. I'd have to consult my back issue and articles archive for the specifics.
Sounds like a intriguing project.

That's very useful to know! Thanks for the help. It should be an interesting endeavour.

quote:

Originally posted by allender:
One way to trawl is to Google "inkworks site:nslists.com"
.

Thanks for link I'll be sure to check it out.

quote:

Originally posted by beamer:
Really? One of the best? When Inkworks went bankrupt, he sold off thousands of cards to Razor instead of offering them to his loyal customers. Don't waste your time. Just my opinion. There have been and are now better companies putting out some of the best non-sport cards ever produced.

From personal experience and the awards won, yes I'd say one of the best. Like everything in Non Sport it's all a matter of personal taste/opinion. A massive card giveaway would have been a nice gesture but I imagine a decade long business going into liquidation would want to make as much money back from its remaining assests as possible. No doubt revenue from this played a part in handing out final pay cheques to the loyal staff too. Yes, many great companies have come along since, Cryptozoic being a new personal favourite. They look set for the kind of Non Sport success as previously experience by Inkworks.

quote:

Originally posted by beamer:
Really? One of the best? When Inkworks went bankrupt, he sold off thousands of cards to Razor instead of offering them to his loyal customers. Don't waste your time. Just my opinion. There have been and are now better companies putting out some of the best non-sport cards ever produced.

What exactly constitutes a "loyal" customer? I bought tons of their Simpsons cards and less of others, but zero Bond, Buffy, or Lost cards not being a fan of those properties.
Should I have been offered their remaining Simpsons cards but not the others? Should Buffy and Lost fans been offered those, but not the stuff they didn't buy. How would such a sale have even worked?

Going solely by the cards they issued while they existed, Inkworks is easily among the greatest non sport companies of all time, hands down. Cryptozoic, for instance, will be extremely fortunate to offer one third of the cool sets Inkworks put out when all is said and done. Only time will tell, but I'd be careful praising them too much now, Beamer. What if they also go bankrupt someday and do something you don't personally agree with? You'll have a lot of retractions of praise to issue since it seems that one desperate act at the end would instantly undo all of their good works, at least based on how you seem to see things.

I would welcome a blog about the history of Inkworks, TCOO. Those were some good people who made cards that were often great. That is how they should be remembered.

quote:

Originally posted by beamer:
Really? One of the best? When Inkworks went bankrupt, he sold off thousands of cards to Razor instead of offering them to his loyal customers. Don't waste your time. Just my opinion. There have been and are now better companies putting out some of the best non-sport cards ever produced.

I'm sorry, but Inkworks went bankrupt What makes you think they had a choice where their stock went? They were probably instructed to move it in as big of lots as they could to pay off debt.

quote:

Originally posted by Chuck Bartowski:
when Inkworks went bankrupt, what makes you think they had a choice where their stock went? They were probably instructed to move it in as big of lots as they could to pay off debt.

That's what I always thought would have happened. Or what TC00 said about pay checks for their staff.

I never praised Cryptozoic. Re-read the posts. As for loyalty, collectors spent millions on cards, then Inkworks dumped them. This caused he values to plummet. So people who have these cards, like me, have cards that could have retained their value. But because they put so many cards on the market, it killed their value. And think about it. If all these cards were supposed to be in the wax, how did razor wind up with hundreds of thousands of cards? And not for nothing, Inkworks cards were good. They weren't great. Breygent and Rittenhouse make the best cards out there. You can't compare them.

quote:

Originally posted by TC00:
Hi all,

I was thinking about creating a blog that cover the history of Inkworks and it's original incarnation as Graffiti.

I know Inkworks has most of its products listed on it's official website - Though I'm not sure how long that will be around for reference?

I know I could trawl Jeff Allender's awesome Checklist site for Inkworks-Graffiti releases but it could take a long time.

I think it would be a nice tribute to one of the best manufacturers we had in Non Sport history.

Plus hopefully a thorough reference for collectors. - All thoughts/suggestions, +/- are weclome

GREAT Idea - sure inkworks ended in a bad way, but not because they wanted to just that they took a few gambles on films that didn't work - if they could have hung on Twilight might have saved them. Great with promo's and uncut press sheets (which I wish others would do) they brought alot to the hobby. Others have now taken on the mantle and smaller firms are coming in but inkworks played a big part in recent trading card history.

Actually with all of their remaining stock I wonder if Inkworks could have done a 'mystery pack' product which would have righted the ship. I'm sure they would have gotten a lot of flack for it, but it may have kept 'em in business.

Then again maybe Alan was ready to retire. . .

I personally liked Inkworks, and all that they did for the hobby at shows and such, but despite any opinions you can't deny that they brought a lot of product to market, did a lot of marketing for the hobby, and innovated in the hobby as well.

Let me say that Inkworks was one of the best non-sport companies ever in the hobby and Allan was one of the nicest people you could ever meet.

The question that keeps bugging me is not why they sold off the warehouse full of inventory, the answer to that is obvious, but how they had a warehouse full of inventory to sell.

Every company that makes a set has a few extras to cover unforseen events but Inkworks had thousands of autographs and costume cards in there.

Anyway i have no desire to go down this road all over again, i still think the full history of Inkworks should be told, it would make a great book and i still think that whilst they ran they were one of the best companies the hobby has ever seen.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
The question that keeps bugging me is not why they sold off the warehouse full of inventory, the answer to that is obvious, but how they had a warehouse full of inventory to sell.

While Inkworks did have more than I expected in their warehouse, every time a manufacturer closes there is A LOT of merchandise that hits the streets (or disappears out the back door). With FPG it was cases of cards, Collect-A-Card it was stacks of gold cards, Sportstime - autographs and other rare chase, Star pics - autographs, etc, etc. . .

Other companies have sold lots of product out the 'back door' including stacks of autographs.

. . . ultimately I'm guessing that Inkworks tradition of redeeming cards forever lead to them having more inventory than people expected, which garnered criticism. . . whatever the case excess inventory including rare cards is apparently a 'manufacturer thing' and not an 'Inkworks thing'

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:

excess inventory including rare cards is apparently a 'manufacturer thing' and not an 'Inkworks thing'

Oh yes i was not suggesting for a moment that Inkworks were the only company to do this. It does make a complete mokery of putting a price on a card though when you are never sure how many of that card actually exists.

quote:

Originally posted by beamer:
I never praised Cryptozoic. Re-read the posts....

Inkworks cards were good. They weren't great. Breygent and Rittenhouse make the best cards out there. You can't compare them.

Fair enough, Beamer. Cryptozoic is one of the companies making a splash currently, so I incorrectly assumed you counted them among the companies making better cards than Inkworks ever did. I apologize.

As for the companies you've mentioned specifically, I do think both Rittenhouse and Breygent are superb, but I don't think Breygent has made enough sets to be compared with Inkworks yet, sorry.
And while Rittenhouse has a long track record, I don't collect many modern sci-fi TV sets which is a huge part of their catalog, so I don't rank them quite as high as you, although that's really just a matter of personal preference as I do acknowledge that their Star Trek, Stargate, Farscape, and Bond sets to name just a few were beautifully made.

With that said, the Razor Vault auto's have been absorbed and a great many Inkworks autos still hold excellent value, and whatever that monetary value is, the cards were usually always beautifully designed with comprehensive autograph sets and innovative insert cards not the least of which were some excellent sketch and costume cards.

Here's a question for collectors:

If you could have an "archive" set of one of every card issued by any manufacturer which company's master set would you choose?

(From say 1996 to now to catch Rittenhouse and Inkworks from the start and to not make it a no brainer since an archive set of Topps non sports cards since their inception would be jaw dropping!). Obviously Rittenhouse, Inkworks, and Topps would be high on the list, but I would imagine Breygent and Artbox would get some votes, too, and maybe even others I'm not thinking of. Me personally, I think I'd have to go with Inkworks, possibly Topps for all the Star Wars autographs.

I believe Breygent has produces 25 different sets so far and they are working on 3 or 4 more licenses right now. I don't know how many card sets Inkworks did, but I still don't agree. Inkworks made very nice cards. I have master sets of Justice League, Robots and Family Guy Star Wars. I love the sets. But I also have master sets of Spartacus and Battlestar Galactica from Rittenhouse and Wizard of Oz , Dexter and Tudors from Breygent. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Someone famous said that once... So it's all good. We each have our opinions, some good, some not so good. I still love to collect cards and I hope I have another 40 years left to collect.