The Kindness of The Hobby

I received an absolutely amazing box in the mail yesterday from a fellow collector of Archer sketch cards. We met on the Blowout Forum thread dedicated to these cardboard gems and I reached out late last year to see if we could work out a deal for some of the remaining artists I need to complete my Master Set. I knew Dan's collection dwarfed mine in sheer number and completion and prying tough artists away is never a sure thing.

Dan was willing to part with a couple I really desire and need. However, he simply sent them over without asking for anything in return. I must find him something, even if it takes a while, as the gesture is too kind and too much!

Vince Sunico -- a much needed rare artist -- is the mastermind behind this fantastic Lana Kane in bed creation. I love how the blue background and her top add color to the piece and the vibe behind the pose is different than most of the Lana sketches I come across and/or own.

Vince might have contributed 20 sketches at most to the product so finally ticking him off of my list is a serious relief.

The second item in the package is another important addition to the collection. This artist is not technically a rare artist in the set and likely drew over 30 sketches. While not a ton, it should not have taken 10 years to locate one. However, Dan has over 25 of them in his collection so I quickly realized after learning this why it took me ages to add Mike Vasquez to my PC.

Vasquez is not only a new artist to my chase, but Janelle Gillette enters the fold for the first time as well. She is Ray Gillette's sister-in-law and appears one time and one time only, Season 3's "Bloody Ferlin" (Episode 9 of that year).

While her time on the show was short, her character had some great lines and played a fun and interesting role in that episode and Archer's place within it.

Vasquez has a really unique style in that I believe most of his sketches are portraits and he focused heavily on one-offs and characters who sometimes did not even appear in much of the sole episode they were in. He signed the reverse on each of his sketches and included the character name on the front, at least for the minor characters he crafted.

I was in for one last shock as I flipped over the Sunico sketch to find a pretty Artist Proof sticker! The sketch alone was more than enough, but to have it be an AP was just amazingly generous on Dan's part!

A million thanks once more for the truly incredible and once in a lifetime gift!