GAME SHOW 27!

The Ascended Minion Project Game Show is back for a trial run on tumblr!  (Is anyone still following this blog?)

If so then a few things first:

I have repacks of Steve Argyle cards of all sorts and tons of signatures and prizes.  They are listed on eBay and if you want to buy any of them just email me at ascendedminionproject@gmail.com and I’ll give you a link to the listing.

Two of those packs are being offered as prizes for this game show.

Eleven years ago today was my first ever email to Steve Argyle.  In it I told him about the Liliana of the Veil cosplay I was working on (the first one in the world he ever saw, really!)

Here’s a picture of it…

So… Game Show 27, part 1: How much did the materials cost to make this?  I have it to the penny.  Price is Right rules… whoever guesses closest without going over wins!

Game Show 27, part 2: How many hours did it take me to make this?  I have it to the half hour.  Price is Right rules… whoever guesses closest without going over wins!

Naturally you will have to provide me with a mailing address to receive your prize.

DO NOT ANSWER HERE!  Send your answers to the email above.  I’ll announce the winner on Sunday, October 16, 2022.

I just got informed that my email address was misspelled so I corrected it.  I’m going to extend this game show for one more week because of the mistake, just in case any entries were lost.  The new deadline will be Sunday October 23, 2022.

Long time no see Minions!

It;s been a whole year since tumblr announced its ban on adult content and all of the Steve Argyle blogs abandoned ship in solidarity with so many content creators who were being punished by misguided decision-making.

I had hoped we could rebuild elsewhere, and we did… but so many orphans were left behind.  I just need to check on any Minions who may have been holding candles for us here at home… our first home.

Reblog if you are a Minion who needs us!

I’m still not an official one but I want to show my support!

Q

You can become official by emailing me at ascendedminionproject@gmail.com!

On December 3, 2018 tumblr announced their intention to remove all adult content from any blogs contained therein.  While this decision doesn’t interfere terribly much with my activities there was an avalanche of outcry among the users of the platform that brought some perspectives of the decision that I certainly can agree with.

Most of you who are followers of mine are actually fans of Steve Argyle, like me.  I have been a member of the tumblr community for only the last six years and in that time created a fan club for Steve’s many avid collectors.  It was a lot of fun.

However, I must concede that tumblr has taken a position that is simply against the interests of creative expression and one of the pillars of art.  This simply will not do.  I have decided to join the protest on December 17.  On that day all of my blogs will be shut down for good.

Now I want to point out something important.  Ascended Minion Project will continue.  It does not have a clear future yet (although it seems likely that facebook will be its future home) but keep an eye on the Sketch ‘n’ Skotch group on facebook for updates.  Activities for Ascended Minion Project will not be taking place their but there is a lot of fan overlap so I will make the occasional announcement there.

The Gathering Steve Argyle’s Magic blog may be recreated in another platform in the future, but it will probably be a wiki instead of a blog.

It has been a lot of fun.  Thank you to Steve, Kat, and all of the Minions who helped me make something special.  I hope it will live on!

💜 -#173/22

so pretty!

Welcome to the Ascended Minion Project Clearance Event!

I need to clean up.  There’s just too much of a good thing in the Ascended Minion office.  Thousands of cards and dozens of other things in bags and boxes and binders and shelves.  I’ve spent a few weeks organizing and counting all of the surplus I’ve collected over the last seven years and now I’m ready to share it.

Get your packs here!

I am offering the Steve Argyle Collection Booster to the world.  For $8 (USD) you get 12 cards illustrated by Steve Argyle from across MtG, L5R, Warlord, and others.  There are tokens, binder candy, commons, uncommons, rares, mythics, foils, promos, alters, signatures, artist proofs… and one of those cards (odds - 1:4 packs) could even be like the one pictured above and can be redeemed for some larger item that just can’t be stuffed into a card pack.

Steve Argyle has been a professional artist for over twenty years.  The first few years of his career were primarily spent being part of a computer animation team working on Sony Playstation games.  Possibly the most popular game he worked on was Twisted Metal: Black, and more importantly he created the artwork that was used to illustrate the packaging for both the regular game and the online version.  There are copies of both versions of the game available among the redemption items!

Steve also made cover art for the packaging of two games created by his brother Mark; a card game called Dying Lights and an RPG rulebook for a game called Star Thugs.  There is a copy of each of these games among the redemption items!

During his tenure working on video games he was inspired to finally pursue a career as a freelance fantasy illustrator, the career most people know him for today.  The first client he did work for was a company called Alderac Entertainment Group.  AEG was the producer of a popular collectible card game called Legend of the Five Rings.  Since 2004 he produced nearly 180 different illustrations for the game.  Since this game represents the greatest volume of his published work it also is represented highly in these packs.

There are at least five cards from this game in every pack, and every rarity is represented.  There will be a Ring, common, uncommon, and rare in every pack, as well as either a card of fixed or promotional rarity.  There are signed copies of his very first commissioned illustration, Setai Sensei, among the cards in these packs, and not only that but there is a sealed copy of the Wrath of the Emperor Crane Clan deck among the redemption rewards which is the earliest example of Steve’s art on the packaging of such a product, and the L5R redemption items do not end there!

Between 2004 and 2008 Steve was doing cool stuff like getting published in “d'artiste”, illustrating for Dungeons & Dragons and the Everquest online CCG Legends of Norrath, playing guitar in the band Allyptic, and even getting married to Kat Oertli!

During this time he also began illustrating the second physically-printed CCG in his career, Warlord: Saga of the Storm.  The game did not enjoy significant popularity in this part of the world and was discontinued in 2011.  Singles of this game are hard to come by, but there are as many among the cards in these packs as I could get my hands on.  They are not guaranteed, but maybe you’ll be lucky enough to get one!

In 2008 Steve began illustrating Magic: the Gathering, and chances are very good that this is where you first heard of him.  Most of his fans are already avid collectors of this game so it is not heavily represented in these packs.  You are guaranteed to get two non-rare, non-foil MtG cards.  There are some other Magic cards floating around in the pool, including foils, signed copies, and even an altered card or two.

Liliana of the Veil and Chandra Ablaze are, being planeswalkers, perhaps still the most popular pieces he has made for the game to date, and while there are no copies of those MtG card in these packs, the illustrations do show up here and there, including a signed Liliana of the Veil print and the promotional Jones Soda “Purifying Fire” bottle where Chandra Ablaze first appeared, among the many other redemption items bearing MtG illustrations!

There are a few other interesting, and even hard-to-come-by items in the packs as well as in the redemption items.  I don’t want spoil all of surprise but there is one specific item in the redemption item pool I want to mention.  A game that Steve worked on that never made it to mass-manufacture.  A few demo versions of the game were made in 2011 but they are very rare.  A sealed copy of one of those games can be found here, and maybe you can be among the few Steve Argyle collectors to possess the cards he made for Crossroads!

(Redemption cards expire 7/1/19.  You are responsible for shipping of redemption items)

Is it good luck or bad fortune when a dragon decides to nest on your house? I’m heading out to #GPShizuoka next week, and I’m debating whether to yank some inventory out of my luggage to make room for my oil painting kit.  Any cosplayers going who want to sit for a portrait?

Anyone wanna cosplay as Ruri?  I know it’s an MtG event... but still...

To our awesome boothmate and translator extraordinaire Alice, who helped keep the sketches and card alters rolling with a smile at Lucca with gummy sharks and witty banter.  Thank you again alice!  You’re awesome!  Looking forward to seeing more of your art and music!