#minion 105

[kfortson]

I’ve been stalking this Rey alter from the Steve Argyle/TCG Player partnership with a mania that would make Supreme Leader Snoke proud, and at last, it is in my clutches. Together, she and I shall rule the galaxy!

[kfortson]

It is always a pleasure to see Steve and Kat at west coast Grand Prix. They have got Grand Prix line management down to a science, churning through alters and signings while cheerfully interacting with everyone. This time I pre-ordered an alter and went full-on artist’s choice to see what wildness would spring from Steve’s brain meats, and this bookish lil’ guy was the hilarious result. 

[kfortson]

Greetings from GP San Jose! As always, ‘twas a pleasure seeing Steve and Kat (and Randy Gallegos, in the neighboring booth). For this Illusory Ambusher alter my only request was it not terrify my kids, and the 10-armed huggy monster was as big of a hit with them as with me. :)

[kfortson]

I’ve collected a lot of sweet Steve Argyle stuff but didn’t have an artist proof of his. First time I’ve seen this style from him, and it turned out amazing. The double-signature is especially neat on this one.

[kfortson]

Steve kindly (double!) signed several other sweet cards I included in the package, as well as an LSV elemental token that has its own distinct double signature. He added some fun tokens (also signed!) to the package, and to top it off, he too the initiative to touch up the background on my Minion ID. I had sent the card with the request that he write in my new ascended number because (1) my penmanship is terrible, and (2) I am horribly compulsive. It was a bloody nice addition!

[kfortson]

At last, my collection of Monastery Swiftspears is complete! A fine Portuguese gentleman whom I met through Pucatrade.com, Jose, hooked me up with the  Lança Veloz do Monastério I needed to finish off a collection in one Swiftspear in each printed language--and the Portuguese one is foil, no less! Big thank you again to Jose for his patience in making those arrangements.

Jose sent me the card a couple of months ago, but I asked Steve to sign them before I posted them here; he did even better and double-signed them! The first photo shows the gorgeous double-signed foil Lança Veloz do Monastério and the second shows the happy family, together at last. (With a few twins and quadruplets in there, obviously!) As Justin pointed out, though, this isn’t technically complete because I only have simplified Chinese, not traditional Chinese as well...so that shall be the next leg of my journey!

[ascendedminionproject]

The Fall 2015 Ascension Campaign was the first of its kind.  After posing the idea that Ascensions would be granted on a set schedule there was some initial excitement but an unexpected lull in activity.  There was only one Minion making an active campaign attempt... so naturally they were the front runner for the voting process.

I have some other Minions I am watching and they are automatically candidates for Ascension when the conditions are right... including this time, but I am going to follow the public vote this first time around and give the first ever ascension up to public campaigning and voting to Minion #105.

What you don’t know is that Minion #105 was already on my short list of Minions I was watching.  Some excited posts following GP Las Vegas 2013 were enough to get on the radar, as well as informing me about some trivia I collect... like the fact that Somberwald Sage can be found in Spectrum 20 and the identity of the eventual owner of Steve’s hand drawn playmat for the Mariah Pagliocco charity event at GP Portland last year!  Also getting fifth place in the nigh-impossible Game Show 15 didn’t hurt!

You may think it was all about running unopposed and the table was tilted, but Minion #105 was already on their way here.  And here is the part where I announce that you are now Ascended Minion #26!

[kfortson]

Ascension Campaign, Ch. 8: The stAMP of approval

I’ll conclude--or at least pause--with stamped items that I especially enjoy.

When I first became a minion, I had mentioned that Conjured Currency was my favorite of Steve’s Magic art. That was before I knew of the promo Ponder, and before Monastery Swiftspear or the promo Thalia had been published, all of which have since overtaken it, but I still quite like Conjured Currency. Justin sent me this stamped set to commemorate minionhood. The AMP stamp looks like it was made for this card; it fits in perfectly.

I also love the way the AMP stamp fits with the art on the Line in the Sand L5R tin. I’m sure many of you remember the “Mastermind” contest to match artist proof fronts to the sketches on the back. That contest was just a wee bit challenging (and also quite fun). The prizes were really cool, too. My fifth place finish wasn’t particularly impressive, but I was super-excited about this box when it was first shown as a prize, and delighted to have won it. The artwork is fantastic, and I like to think the character is Monastery Swiftspear’s L5R sister. I should also thank Justin once again for donating this to the game show and getting it signed by Steve!

Thanks for sticking with me in this tour through my favorite items in my collection. I hope you’ve enjoyed it; I’ve certainly enjoyed reliving some wonderful memories (and okay fine, I’ll admit it, I enjoyed the excuse to brag a little...)!