Ink & Antiquities #1, Cam Wall

Ink & Antiquities

    This is to be the first post in a series designed to allow old-school magic players to show off their favorite parts of their collection. We spend so much time and effort collecting, altering, hunting, and gifting and I would like an outlet for people that feel like it to share that with whomever feels like reading about it. No type of collection is wrong, be it fully altered, not altered, a full set of beta or a stack of revised cards you feel are special because you had them in your youth. Like many things we do the point is connecting with each other. 

Typically this would be done in more of a text interview style, but I asked Cam to share a bit about his in the wrong channel of a discord chatroom, so I am summarizing his favorites for this first one. 

Without further adieu, Cam Wall's hand drawn rectangles and accompanying

words.

How it began 

    Cam is not your typical OS magic player. He is considerably detached from the value and collecting aspect of the game compared to a lot of players. He is much more interested in cards that have a meaning or were gifted to him by close friends. I am not sure if he coined the phrase "its about the gathering" but he certainly lives by it. 

Odin's Chosen (aka Shawn's chosen)

The first card Cam shares with us is his "Odin's Chosen, 2nd place" strip mine from Shawn's Ragnarök event in Seattle. Shawn typically has some type of award that goes to his few favorite decks with no specific criteria. Cam's was awarded for having a fully altered Atog deck. 

A couple of Cam's favorite characters in science fiction

Cam and Quail have a confusing relationship from the outside in. Not a day goes by where you don't read "Quail Sucks" from Cam. That said I see it as teasing your crush in elementary school. I am not sure if these were gifts or trades or something else, but no one doubt's Quails proficiency with a posca. 

Art Nouveau, a late 19th century style

    Cam says he loves Art Nouveau, and that he finds this one by Kyra particularly stunning. He used to run a blue red Machinegun deck with mana vaults, triskelions, and copy artifacts, and this was part of that core. (for the uninitiated, machinegun decks are based around spending these artifacts then returning them to your hand with cards like hurkyl's recall to use again) 

Its not anime, its Pacific Rim

    Perhaps the set with the most emotion around them, Cam's birthday bots. Gifted to him by Park Cofield, Quail, and Nick Viau. Notably Quail loves when you mess with his art, so cam brightened up the green one. 

More Quail and some Pez birthday commissions from Nick V

    If anything is clear, it is that Cam is a sci-fi and Marvel nerd. The top two done by Quail, bottom two done by Nick Viau for Cams birthday, commissioned by Pez.  

Cam likes aggro, from Q and "Aaron's Daughter" 

    On any given day you can find cam raging against the machine. (If the machine's name was swords to plowshares) 

Cam has better birthdays than most

    Another birthday alter, this one from Tony, is particularly awesome. 

The rare artist's own

    I think a lot of people who make things end up making mostly for others and not frequently for themselves. This can be by chance, or because they are critical of their own work. Anyway, These are two of Cam's rare "I did them and kept them" cards, and some of the favorites he has ever done. 

Cams face when he has to play EDH

This one done by David Velasco, a portrait of Cam waiting for someone to take an incredibly long turn in EDH. Being put on a card feels like an old-school right of passage. 

free cards and friendship

Cam explained that he absolutely had to have these when he saw them in James Portello's deck pic early in the old-school altering culture. James mailed them to Cam for free, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 

Cam finalizes with the fact that this is really only like one percent of his alters. Cards don't frequently stay with him for long, often finding their forever home a trade or gift after. Thanks for sharing Cam! 

If you would like to do an Ink and Antiquities of your own collection, let me know!