My Bart Sears Card Collection- COMPLETE!!!

First off, allow me to apologize for not posting here in a while. I've been as busy as can be lately and haven't been able to find the time or energy to put up anything new.
My Bart Sears collecting has been on the light side recently as well, but not completely without anything arriving on my doorstep.
I recently managed to get my hands on another copy of Bart's Cremator #1 cover, which was quite exciting, as it is so very hard to come by these days. As you may have read in my post dedicated to this cover, it is my favourite single piece of Bart Sears artwork, and it felt great to give the new copy the proper laminating treatment it deserves.

I also finally got my hands on this, just last week-

There is a story behind this Overpower Magneto card, a card I've been looking to get a hold of for a very long time. But I wasn't always looking for it, because, back in the late 90's, I actually did have a copy of it. I knew that Bart had done some cards for the Monumental Overpower expansion, but I wasn't absolutely certain if he'd done anything for the other sets. So I grabbed anything that looked even remotely like Bart's work from a comic shop that had a sizable number of the singles from most sets. This card was included in that list.

When I got the cards home, what was first noticeable was the difference in artwork from the two sets Bart produced cards for. The Overpower base set used a colouring method very popular at the time which was essentially paint by numbers with a heavy dose of airbrush. The Magneto card is a perfect example of this, where there are no traditional comic ink lines. Rather, the artist wouldn't even use ink, and would simply draw detail outlines, leaving blacks open and no rendering, see Bart's Overpower Thor card for a better idea of what I'm getting at.

So anyway, after some consideration, I came to the conclusion that Bart did not do the Magneto card, or the Thor card, rather that some inhouse Marvel artist had probably tried to make the art look like it would be Bart, maybe they were even a fan of his! I must say at this point that I was not in contact with Bart by this stage, though I really wish I was. Because, not long after making contact with Bart, he mentioned that he had done the artwork for those Magneto and Thor cards, not to mention the Deadpool one. I rushed back to the comic shop, only to find that they had recently sold their entire collection of Overpower cards to some guy! And so my quest began.

But I now have all of those three cards again, and the purchase of that Magneto card also means that, to the best of knowledge, I now have every Bart Sears trading card in existence.

I thought it might be a good idea to actually list all of the Bart Sears cards in existence, taken straight from the Bart Sears Checklist. So here we go...

#	Details	Company	Year
#1	DC Backing Boards Series 2- Card #50 - r: JLE #1 cover	DC	1989
#2	DC '92 Series 1: #45- Doctor Light	DC	1992
#3	DC '92 Series 1: #47- Elongated Man	DC	1992
#4	DC '92 Series 1: #62- Metamorpho	DC	1992
#5	DC '92 Series 1: #69- Peacemaker	DC	1992
#6	DC '92 Series 1: #154- Invasion! Card A	DC	1992
#7	DC '92 Series 1: #155- Invasion! Card B	DC	1992
#8	DC '92 Series 1: #156- Invasion! Card C	DC	1992
#9	DC Cosmic Cards '93: #124- Despero	DC/Skybox	1993
#10	DC Cosmic Cards '93: #125- Starro	DC/Skybox	1993
#11	DC Cosmic Cards '93: #143- Eclipso	DC/Skybox	1993
#12	X-O Manowar & Turok Promo card - r: X-O #14 cover	Valiant/Upper Deck	1993
#13	Turok Dinosaur Hunter Mail Away card - r: Turok #1 cover	Valiant	1993
#14	Turok Dinosaur Hunter Promo card - r: Turok #1 cover	Valiant	1993
#15	The Dark Phonecard - r: The Dark #1 cover- 500 made	Global Link	1993
#16	Creator's Universe: Pheros Promo card	Dynamic Ent.	1993
#17	Creator's Universe: #60- Pheros	Dynamic Ent.	1993
#18	Creator's Universe: #87- Thrashur	Dynamic Ent.	1993
#19	Creator's Universe: #97- Wolfhound	Dynamic Ent.	1993
#20	Valiant Era 1: #73- X-O Manowar - r: X-O #14 cover	Valiant/Upper Deck	1993
#21	Valiant Era 2: #154- X-O Manowar - r: X-O #15 cover	Valiant/Upper Deck	1994
#22	Valiant Era 2: #230- Turok 1 - r: Turok #1 cover	Valiant/Upper Deck	1994
#23	Valiant Era 2: #231- Turok 2 - r: Turok #2 cover	Valiant/Upper Deck	1994
#24	Conan Chromium 2: #13- Pin-up 2 - r: Conan Portfolio 1 image	Comic Images	1994
#25	Conan Chromium 2: #26- Pin-up 5 - r: Conan Portfolio 1 image	Comic Images	1994
#26	Conan Chromium 2: #42- Pin-up 3 - r: Conan Portfolio 1 image	Comic Images	1994
#27	Conan Chromium 2: #58- Pin-up 6 - r: Conan Portfolio 1 image	Comic Images	1994
#28	Conan Chromium 2: #67- Pin-up 1 - r: Conan Portfolio 1 image	Comic Images	1994
#29	Conan Chromium 2: #82- Pin-up 4 - r: Conan Portfolio 1 image	Comic Images	1994
#30	DC Stars: #21- Metamorpho - r: DC '92 Series 1 card	DC/Skybox/Wal-Mart	1994
#31	DC Stars: #22- Elongated man - r: DC '92 Series 1 card	DC/Skybox/Wal-Mart	1994
#32	DC Stars: #35- Peacemaker - r: DC '92 Series 1 card	DC/Skybox/Wal-Mart	1994
#33	Dark Horse- Comics Greatest World: #27- Titan	Dark Horse/Topps	1994
#34	Wildstorm Set 1: #22- Winter	Aegis Ent.	1994
#35	Hero Special Editions #3- Violator - r: Violator pin-up	Todd McFarlane/Hero	1994
#36	Violator Green Card - r: Violator pu - came with Violator figure	McFarlane Toys	1994
#37	Marvel Overpower: Deadpool- Super Spy	Marvel/Fleer	1995
#38	Marvel Overpower: Magneto- Repel Object	Marvel/Fleer	1995
#39	Marvel Overpower: Thor- Protect Teammate	Marvel/Fleer	1995
#40	Spawn Chromium: #64 - r: Voilator #1 cover	Wildstorm	1996
#41	Spawn Chromium: #65 - r: Violator #2 cover	Wildstorm	1996
#42	Monumental Overpower (MO): Adam Warlock- Soul Gem	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#43	MO: Alpha Flight- Guardian	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#44	MO: Captain America- Sharon Carter	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#45	MO: Henry Pym- Ultron 1	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#46	MO: Hydra- Madame Hydra	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#47	MO: Inhumans- Triton	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#48	MO: Serpent Society- Diamond Back	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#49	MO: Serpent Society- Sidewinder	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#50	MO: Shi'ar- D'ken	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#51	MO: Silver Surfer- Shalla Bal	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#52	MO: Starjammers- Corsair	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#53	MO: Power Card- Energy 8- Dark Phoenix	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#54	MO: Power Card- Strength 6- Thunderbird	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#55	MO: Universe-Teamwork- Black Bolt, Gorgon & Medusa	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#56	MO: Universe-Teamwork- Firestar, Nova & Namorita	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#57	MO: Universe-Teamwork- Supreme Intelligence, Ronan & Kree	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#58	MO: Universe-Ally- Wyatt Wingfoot	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#59	MO: Mission- Fatal Attractions: Misguided Efforts- Rusty Collins	Marvel/Fleer	1997
#60	Marvel Premium X-Men '97 Timelines: #73- Black Knight	Marvel/Fleer/Skybox	1997
#61	Marvel Premium X-Men '97 Timelines: #74- Constrictor	Marvel/Fleer/Skybox	1997
#62	Marvel Premium X-Men '97 Timelines: #76- Kane	Marvel/Fleer/Skybox	1997
#63	Marvel Premium X-Men '97 Timelines: #77- Rama-Tut	Marvel/Fleer/Skybox	1997
#64	Marvel Premium X-Men '97 Timelines: #79- Stryfe	Marvel/Fleer/Skybox	1997
#65	Zoom Suit Promo Set 1: #2 of 7- Zoom Suit #1 cover	Superverse	2006
#66	Zoom Suit Promo Set 1: #5 of 7- Zoom Suit #2 cover	Superverse	2006
#67	Zoom Suit Promo Set 1: #6 of 7- Zoom Suit #3 cover	Superverse	2006
#68	Zoom Suit Promo Set 2: #4 of 9- Zoom Suit #2 cover	Superverse	2006
#69	Zoom Suit Promo Set 2: #7 of 9- Zoom Suit #3 cover	Superverse	2006

I have a new shipment of Bart Sears comics on it's way as I write this, and I'll be doing a full write up of everything in it as soon as it arrives, so come back soon!

Guess what the Postman delivered today? #8

Why, its another batch of comics from my favourite online comic emporium, Mile High Comics!
In keeping with my current desire to track down some loose ends by purchasing possible sources of Bart Sears work, this shipment was another one of those times when there were unfortunately more misses than hits.

As a for instance, you may recall that I recently purchased several issues of Image Comics Prophet Vol. 1, to no avail. Well, I went back to the well and ordered the first four issues of Volume 2, in the hope that the elusive Prophet pin-up might appear in one of them. And that's strike 2! But fear not, the well is not dry yet. There is still the Prophet TPB to account for, which I'll try and get my hands on soon.

Another leap into the unknown (last metaphor, I promise) was the Wizard Special Edition from back in 1992.



This is another item I owned once upon a time, but lost it or turfed it along the way somewhere. Apart from the cool fold-out cover, I vaguely recalled Bart being mentioned in it, and wouldn't you know?

It felt good to win one for a change.

I also picked up a copy of the Zoom Suit #2 Sketch Edition.

As you can see on the cover, it is limited to 1500 copies, and I'm glad to finally own one of those. But that's not all there is to this cover -

If you look closely, there's a randomly placed 'S' just hovering there.
I thought it was funny.

I also got my hands on the three Will To Power covers Bart did. I already own these issues, but they need to be re-laminated and will get that treatment soon.

These covers are interesting in a few ways.

Firstly, Bart has signed each cover as 'SEARSS' -

Bart has often played around with his Signature, but I'm yet to find out why he signed these ones with two S's at the end. (Bart?) NOTE: Bart has since informed me that "I used the 'double S' to denote work that was Sears Studio work." Thanks Bart.

Secondly, Bart's original art for the second cover featured the character 'X' in the bottom right of the page, but was removed by the time the issue was printed. Again, I'm not sure why.

But definitely the pick of this particular litter is this rather impressive item -

I must confess to not knowing about this item until I saw it on Mile High Comics a few weeks ago, which is ridiculous, really, I mean, how the HELL did I not know about the existence of this Ominous Press comic? Appauling...
It has since been added to the Bart Sears Checklist, which has stretched out to 280 individual comics now.

So what's different about this 'Limited Edition' as opposed to the regular edition? Well, apart from it saying 'Wizard Limited Edition 1995' on the cover in stamped gold... nothing at all. Still, that's the sort of item that I simply had to own, no question about it.

I've got another Mile High Comics shipment arriving next week (hopefully) and I'll post more then.

A boy and his Bart Sears toys

It has been a very long time since I've posted here, but that is not to say that I haven't maintained my vigilance in collecting Bart's work. I've bought many comics from Mile High Comics since last I posted, and I'm in the process of ordering 17 more.

But anyway, this post is about Bart Sears action figures (not of the man himself [Mike], but toys he either designed or did packaging art for, or both).

Bart's action figures has been an area that I must confess I have neglected over the years, both in actual buying, and gathering information. But I can happily say that I'm back on the trail. I've fleshed out The Bart Sears Checklist to list every Bart action figure I could find, which stands at a whopping 146 including re-issues and such at the time of writing this.

And I've been buying.

In the last month I've bought 3 different items, bringing my total up to 14. Yep, a long way to go, I know.

The first item I bought was the Sentinel Playset from 1994. I didn't even know of its existence until about 2 months ago, though I've had copies of the artwork for years now.



Next up I got these bad boys. Yes, the condition isn't great, but they were cheap enough. Bart designed the Cyclops figure, and did the Cyclops headshot.



And just the other day, I got this guy, Spy Wolverine. Bart designed the figure, did the Wolverine & Omega Red headshots and the packaging art. Cool stuff.



So there you go... I obviously plan on collecting all of Bart's action figures, but it will take a while. I'd ideally like to get two sets of them, one in mint condition, the other loose. But as it stands, here's what I've got. Most of them are designed by Bart, but the likes of Magneto, Gambit and Mr. Sinister aren't, but have packaging art by Bart.