New Banner!!!

Ah, yes.  As promised at the turn of the new year, I have created a new banner.  I'm retiring the MCM Customs Series 1 cards for the time being.  As with anything professional, I reserve the right to unretire, retire, unretire, retire, and unretire them as I please.  I'm sad to see Tiger, Bill, Monica, and Kobe go, since they have been faithful...er, well, to me...but it is time for a change.  I present to you

MCM Customs Series 2:

Charlie Sheen Framed Adonis DNA Relic

>>> Could I call myself an honest blogatorian and not have a Sheen card? I think not.   The hard part was narrowing it down to just one Sheen-ism to go with. Ultimately, I had to spoof the A&G DNA cards with his "Adonis" claim. Duh, WINNING!

Tony Parker and Brent Barry Divorce Dual Cuts Cut Signatures
>>> They have cut autographs from just about everything - Contracts, checks, index cards...why not divorce papers.  Not my best card design effort, but a dual cut on one side is tough.  I couldn't pass up a spoof with that picture though.

Heads Up Brett Favre
>>> Series 2 without Brett Favre is Topps without gimmicks - inevitable but we'd rather they just go away.  I labored over Favre for way too long, but I think this card works on many levels.  I'm glad I scrapped my original idea of a "Textfractor".  The design just seems to fit.  I mean, Favre with a big head...why didn't that come to me sooner.  Searching for random clipart helped me come up with three little cartoons.  For those who don't have super vision, the cell phone screen says "Im hott 4 U xoxo".  This would be my favorite of Series 2, but the next card is just too good.

Lindsay Lohan Sparkle Variation
>>> I was forced to come up with a fourth card since I went vertical with Series 2.  After digging through TMZ for the right subject, I settled with Lohan.  This card is by far my favorite card of Series 2.  I think I did a hell of a job in getting the design close only using PowerPoint.  I started with the picture of Lohan and wanted to spoof something with the team name of "Stealers" or a Record Breaker for "Best Steal", but those seemed too cheesy.  Then the sparkle just kinda came out when looking at the Shapes in PowerPoint. That's two 4-point stars with slight transparency and a soft-edged circle in the middle.  The simplicity of the card is what I like the most.  Of course, I had to get a bonus jab in with the prison bars in the circle. 





The Lohan is simple, yet effective, and the Sheen is appropriately over-the-top.  The Parker/Barry combo was almost too obvious, and Favre with a big head is, well, accurate.  The candidate list for Series 3 has already been started with Lawrence Taylor.

 I'd love to hear thoughts on the new banner.