Another in the ongoing series of Last Exile devotionals ;) In this case, I took my collection of Last Exile trading cards and had each group specially framed, allowing you to view both the front and back of each card.

The complete set consists of six groups: 18 character cards, 27 story cards (one for each episode, plus an extra for the ending), 9 mechanic cards (with diagrams of the main ships), 9 credit cards (showing the opening and closing credit sequences), 9 puzzle cards, and 9 special holographic cards. There are also supposed to be two holographic promotional cards, though I’ve only ever seen the first one.

I had been accreting my collection sporadically through 2005 and 2006, managing to get seven boxes of cards in all and gradually approaching the full set, before the ever-resourceful ebay dried up and I was left one card shy of a full deck. Then, in the beginning of 2008, an auction went up for a near-complete set that included the card I was missing. I contacted the seller, who offered to send me a spare for the price of postage :) I offered to return the favor by sending the missing cards from the collection he was clearing out, but chose to decline (though if any other LE fans out there are missing cards of their own, the offer still stands: just drop me a line and I’ll be happy to send you any of my spares).

With my collection finally complete, I embarked on the long-awaited project of having them framed :) With the help of my artful sister, we worked up arrangements for each group using poster board and paper placeholders, and brought them in to the friendly folks at Art on 5th (which, by the way, I highly recommend having a look at their Dr. Seuss collection, and the rest of the gallery, if you’re ever in downtown Austin ;).

Due to the complexity of the design (effectively two frames in one, with each card placed in a separate positioner surrounded by matting on the front and back), they were able to complete about one a month. At which point I would go down to collect my prize and hand of the next group for framing ;) In the mean time, I also let them borrow my DVDs (and was able to convert at least one new fan ;D).

Finally, about a week before Thanksgiving, the last (and largest) group was completed. The set now proudly adorns my living room wall :)