In the most recent X-Band podcast, ChronicleChamber put the question to Phanfare boss Glenn Ford that has been on many people’s lips and keyboards - where are the Phantom Gallery Series 2 trading cards?
First advertised in Frew's 80th Anniversary special back in September 2016, these cards have been a long time in the making and quite a number of phans and some collectors are starting to wonder...
To save you loading up the podcast and fast-forwarding to the 2:00:30 mark (although you should totally listen to the whole interview, as it is an absolute ripper!), the key take-aways you need to know are:
Glenn is as keen as anyone to see the Gallery Series 2 trading cards come out!
All the artists’ work has finally been submitted – some was finally supplied as much as 12 months overdue
Biographies and other information for the back of cards is all that needs to be done now to have the series completed and ready for print. Glenn plans to attend to this over his Christmas “holidays”
The cards will definitely conclude the Chuck Dixon / Graham Nolan story Death’s Dark Path that was begun in Gallery Series 1 (1996), with the same enthusiastic creative team
The Storyline cards will have the story on the front and back of those cards
The Artists cards have been drawn by experienced Phantom artists
There will be a range of Chase cards and Gem cards to go along with the standard set. These have previously been described on the Phanfare website: there are different levels of chase cards. Level 1, the ‘less rare’ of them all, will be foiled; level 2, foiled and embossed; and level 3, foiled, embossed and debossed! Featured artists include Romano Felmang, Alex Saviuk, Lindsay Walker, Rafael Espi Lopez, Douglas Klauba, Walmir Amaral de Oliveira and Sal Velluto
The top Chase card will be a very special Sy Barry card; only one of these will be available for every two boxes produced
Phans will be able to purchase the cards by the pack, by the box or by the carton. They will not be sold by the individual card – you will have to actually “trade” to get complete sets!
The cards will be available in newsagents, select comic book stores, online through Frew and Phanfare, and at conventions
There will be a special 6 card set that are only available with the purchase of a carton of cards – think the Phantom Country cards from Dynamic Series 2
An accompanying binder will be available to store them in – 9 cards to a page
So there it is - all the latest updates straight from the horse's mouth. From this phan, I'm not necessarily disappointed that the cards aren't out yet - it means there is still time to save some cash for when they launch!
