Inkworks, the company that brought us great trading cards for Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Serenity, went under last March, a victim of the lessening economy. Which is  a damn shame. They made some great products, and president Allan Caplan really enjoyed his work.

If you're still looking for those last few cards to fill in your collection, apparently their remaining stock was purchased by Factory Entertainment, a company that has been selling cards through eBay for a few years now. They've created a site to list their inventory at inkworksarchive.com, but everything there (plus lots more) gets sold through their eBay store. No Firefly cards, not a lot of Serenity, but plenty of others from their biggest franchises.

For a look back, check out my interview with Inkworks' Allan Caplan from 2006.

Don't miss out! Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:

Inkworks Firefly Free Card Offer P-i
P. O. Box 1160
Morrisville, NC 27560-1160

One request per household, please. Here are the details.

It's a beautiful set. Made with care and attention to the series, it does a nice job of rounding the whole thing up as a great science fiction series and as a pop culture phenomenon.

The basic set of 72 cards includes cards for the ship and each major character (and some recurring minor ones), three cards for each episode ("Storyline," "Memorable Quotes," and "Credits and Comments"), 9 "Cosmos in Conflict" cards that depict the various ships in the series, 8 "Behind the Scenes" cards with images of Joss directing and tidbits from the cast, and a checklist card.

Visually they're stunning. Cast in browns and golds they are lush and crisp, cards Inara might display in her shuttle. Each card has a front and back image and for the most part they are well chosen.

The complete set also includes:

9 foil "Firefly Forever" cards, one for each crewmember, that assemble into a puzzle.
6 foil "The Battle of Serenity" cards which showcase Mal's last battle with the Independence
3 "Partners" box loader cards (one per box)
1 "Outlaws" case loader card (one per case)
11 Autograph cards:

Nathan Fillion – Malcolm Reynolds (*redemption card)
Gina Torres – Zoe Warren
Adam Baldwin – Jayne Cobb
Morena Baccarin – Inara Serra
Jewel Staite – Kaylee Frye
Sean Maher – Dr. Simon Tam
Ron Glass – Shepherd Book
Michael Fairman – Adlai Niska
Gregg Henry – Sheriff Bourne
Christina Hendricks – Saffron
Jonathan M. Woodward – Tracey (*redemption card)
UPDATE: According to Inkworks, both autograph cards are now available for redemption.

And there's a full-color collector album and an uncut sheet of the "Firefly Forever" puzzle.

Promos:

P-1 (General Distribution)
P-2 (available in the April/May Non-Sport Update magazine)
P-i (free card offer on Inkworks.com)
P-UK (pictured, available from The Collector Zone, the retail store of Inkworks' UK distributor)

Although the Firefly cards will be available starting tomorrow from retailers and distributors, be awre that the manufacturer is already sold out. What's out there is out there.

Order 'em from Poplollies, FanDone, 258 West Authentic, eCardsDirect, UK Trading Cards, and more.

* The Nathan Fillion and Jonathan M. Woodward autograph cards were unavailable at press time. Here's some tips from tialessa on what to do if you get a redemption card:

If you pull a redemption card, the best way I've found to send it/them in is the following:
*Don't write on the redemption card itself (I like to keep mine in my collection) – write the information on a post-it note and stick it to the card OR the slip sleeve you've put over the card. I've also used an address label on top of the slip sleeve before.
*Ship the card inside a slip sleeve and top loader and send it out as soon as you can – Inkworks fulfills redemptions in the order they're received.
*Ship it in a bubble mailer & get delivery confirmation (yes, I'm a little paranoid). If you do this make sure the package is 3/4" thick or else the post office won't let you send it via first class mail. If you're overseas you can always send via Registered or Signed For or just send it via AirMail.

Give Inkworks a few weeks to fulfill your request (if they have them in stock, you should have yours back within a couple of weeks) and email them.

Don't panic, that just means they've all been bought by the people you'll be buying them from. Firefly cards started shipping this week for their retail debut next Wednesday and Inkworks has already sold out their stock. From Inkworks' PR guy Andy Modlin:

"Retailers and distributors will still probably have product for a little while longer, so Browncoats don’t need to panic.  However, clearly this isn’t a product that is going to gather much dust on the shelf so they shouldn’t wait around to place their order if they want to collect the cards."

Meaning if your store sells out, they probably won't be getting any more. Word to the wise. You can preorder 'em at Poplollies,  258 West Authentic, eCardsDirect, UK Trading Cards, and more.

And don't forget, I'm giving away a free Firefly P-1 promo card every day up to the release date.

The autographs will be from:
Nathan Fillion – Malcolm Reynolds
Gina Torres – Zoe Washburne
Adam Baldwin – Jayne Cobb
Morena Baccarin – Inara Serra
Jewel Staite – Kaylee Frye
Sean Maher – Dr. Simon Tam
Ron Glass – Shepherd Book
Michael Fairman – Adlai Niska
Gregg Henry – Sheriff Bourne
Christina Hendricks – Saffron
Jonathan M. Woodward – Tracey

Woo hoo!

Current best guess as to release date is May 17, according to Inkworks, "to spread out the upcoming Inkworks products." Also, check back for an announcement about the Firefly promo cards I've been giving out. They're about to get a lot more frequent, and there's more free stuff coming.

According to the Inkworks site, the Firefly collectible card set now has a release date of May 3rd. Patience, travelers. Patience.

P-1 (General Distribution)
P-2 (available in this month's Non-Sport Update magazine)
P-i (free card offer on Inkworks.com)
P-UK (UK Distribution)

The P-UK card (pictured) can also be ordered from The Collector Zone, the retail store of Inkworks' UK distributor.