I decided a few weeks ago I wanted to refocus my sketch collection. I wanted to focus on what I like the most- the cartoony/comic sketches by artists like Mike, and sketches of my favorite character- Yoda. I ended up selling some of my photorealistic sketches, keeping a few of the ones near and dear to my heart, and also some of the rare ones that I've picked up over the years. Meanwhile, I'm always on the lookout for sketches by Mike.    
   Maybe two or three months ago a member of a Star Wars group I'm in on Facebook was selling a bunch of sketches and I was lucky enough to pick up three sketches by Mike. I asked the seller if he had any other sketches by Mike and he did- three keepers. They were all fantastic. So when I refocused my collection I thought I would take a chance and contact the seller again to see if I could pry one of his keepers away from him.

I offered up one of my better rare sketches in trade and he parted with this stunning beauty- a Revenge of the Sith Widevision Obi-Wan and Anakin lightsaber battle sketch. I've always been a fan of widevision sketches because of the size- more room for the artist to work and be creative. This sketch hits all the high notes with me- a color sketch, great characters, emotion, lightsabers (always a plus for any Star Wars sketch), and I love the background... and all on a widevision card. I gave up a lot, but I couldn't be happier with what I got in return. 

   Thanks for stopping by and reading! 

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   Another in the Indiana Jones 'movie in 5 cards' series, this is the Temple in 5 cards Part One sketch card from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." It's from the opening scene with Indy and his soon-to-be love interest from the movie, Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw). Capshaw is more well known now as being Steven Spielberg's wife. She was somewhat of an unknown when she was cast in the lead, having only a few minor acting credits to her resume. It's easy to see why Spielberg fell in love with her- she's beautiful and smart.

   In the scene, Indy is at a Shanghai Night Club (Club Obi Wan) meeting with Crime Boss Lao Che, exchanging the ashes of Emperor Nurhaci for a large diamond, the Peacock's Eye. Indy is poisoned by Lao Che, who then shows Indy the antidote- a vial with blue liquid. A struggle ensues, the diamond and the vial fall to the floor, and chaos follows. The antidote keeps slipping thru Indy's hands or gets kicked along the floor, all the while Lao Che's henchman are trying to finish off Indy with a machine gun. 
   Mike's sketch is when Indy and Willie were hiding behind a large gong using it as a shield from the gunfire. Anyone who has seen the film knows Mike captured Willie perfectly in this sketch- from the dress to the hair but especially her mouth (she was always whining loudly). Perfect card to start this series. I have been lucky enough to pick up one more card from this 'Temple in 5 cards' series, so keep checking back for that post. Until then, thanks for reading!
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   Back again to where it all began with my collecting of Mike's cards... Middle Earth. This is card #2 in the Fellowship of the Ring project that Mike did for me, Frodo Baggins with the Ring of Power. 

   "I will take it. I will take the Ring to Mordor. Though I do not know the way." 
A meeting of the best-of-the-best Elves, Dwarves, Men, a Wizard, and one Hobbit to decide the fate of mankind, and the smallest member of the group volunteers to take the Ring. 
Blind faith. Willing to take the Ring even though he didn't know where he was taking it. And Frodo had already been through so much, just recovering from being stabbed with a Morgul blade by the Witch-king of Angmar. And now volunteering to take the One Ring deep into Mordor to destroy it. Ooooh- I can't wait to find out what happens lol.
Until next time, thanks for stopping by and reading!
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   Today is July 8th, Mike's birthday. So today's post is about the last art piece I bought directly from Mike. I was checking out Instagram late one night when I saw this custom Darth Vader comic book cover by Mike. He posts a lot of older pieces, so I thought that's what this was. To my surprise (and delight) it was a new piece and he was offering it for sale. He had just posted it and nobody had commented.

   I hurriedly typed in a claim for it and I got it. A killer Vader cover (pun intended). I didn't ask Mike, but I take this cover as being a twist on Anakin's slaughtering of the Tusken Raiders when he was rescuing his mother. Maybe not- maybe Mike is saying Vader liked to kill Tuskens after what their kind had done to his mother. Either way, I think it's awesome. 
   Well, that wraps it up for this post. A happy birthday to Mike and also to my nephew Brandan. Thanks all for stopping by and reading!
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   The Clone Wars 2008 set holds a special place in my heart because it was the first ever Star Wars product I opened. I had discovered sketch cards the years before,  so when I heard a new Star Wars movie was coming out the following year and the card set for it included sketch cards I definitely wanted to try some. I had collected sports cards and opened those kind of products for 20+ years, and they were expensive. I asked my local card shop owner about ordering a case of Clone Wars 2008 and he quoted me $280 for an 8 box case. Huh? REALLY? $35 a box? That cheap? I ordered a case, and in retrospect probably should have ordered 2 or 3 at that price, but I was happy to be able to get one. 

   No, I wasn't lucky enough to pull this Darth Sidious sketch from that case, but any chance I get to pick up one of Mike's cards from that set for a reasonable price I jump on it. I believe this was an EBay pickup. I did have some luck in the past few weeks in finding a few more of his cards from that set. But I'll save those for another post. Until then, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a comment or question, and always looking for more followers! 
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