The Lost Files- 2015 Sioux Falls, and Rio Grande Valley NBADL

With still three of the 2015 artelopes unaccounted for it is finally time to give up the ghost on two more. The third will be coming in a future post as well being it went to an NFL, and well. The season ended for this team in the playoffs at the hands of my favorite team the Denver Broncos. Enough about them though, lets get to the business of ending hopes on a return for these two requests shall we?

Sent in early November the Vipers have once again been a no return. I've been hopeful as in the past Rio Grande Valley teams have been awesome in returns. For some reason the Vipers are some weird sort of hold out.

Not exactly my best work on this request. The idea is a snake biting a basketball, being the team plays in the NBA Developmental League. With the season still on I am not about to give up hope, and plan on sending an e-mail to the team soon in hopes of getting a contact for better results.

Another team that hasn't sent a return the last two years is the Skyforce. I have to admit that this one stings a little. When the team played years ago in the CBA they were simply incredible in their returns. Things have changed though since becoming an NBADL team.

The idea here is three people at night watching a flaming basketball going across the night sky. The reason for the flaming ball is it is the team logo, and I thought people watching it at night just seemed cool. Kind of a shooting star type of thing. Much like the Vipers, Sioux Falls will be getting an e-mail in hopes of getting results.

With only eight business cards missing in both the NBA, and NBADL combined. My goal it to lower that number to below five before this season closes out. I will be doing the e-mail thing for all eight as I have already taken one shot with artelopes, and four never responded.

Artelopes- 2016 San Jose Sharks

With hockey season in full swing I started the year off by sending out four artelope requests. As usual these were with the full intent on lowering the seven missing NHL teams down to three. So far the Chicago Blackhawks nailed it, and lowered the number to six. After the success I am now hopeful that things will get even better.

Why I still haven't attempted the teams shark eating the hockey stick is beyond me. I did atleast do something a bit more shark related this time. After doing the teeth around the envelope that personally wasn't really that good.

In the return category as you can see were pocket schedules, and no business card. Three of the version 2 schedules to be exact. While I didn't do a scan of the center I will let you know that it is a small poster of #88.

With tons of season still left this won't be my last attempt at getting a business card from the Sharks. The next attempt might be led by an e-mail to the team in hopes that it will increase the odds of finally adding the Sharks into the NHL business cards.

Artelopes- 2016 Chicago Blackhawks

If my first return of 2016 is any indication of the way this year is going to be. It is going to be a great year that I am looking very forward to.

Deciding to try something new I came up with the artelope above. Originally I was thinking about doing the darkened cityscape for the bottom half. and bringing it into the Indian head logo with the feathers.

Things changed though as the wife, and myself went out to breakfast one morning. While there I noticed the managers tie had a design like the one across the bottom. I liked the look, and thought that it would be cool to use but mixing it up. Instead of those colors I made each line the colors used on each of the feathers on the team logo. Then keeping with the new theme I went old school on the team logo, and did the 'C' with the tomahawks.

As I said earlier, "If my first return of 2016 is any indication of the way this year is going to be. It is going to be a great year that I am looking very forward to." The reason is as you can see, the Blackhawks nailed the return with the much needed business card.

Thanks to the Blackhawks the hockey collection is down to six missing from completion. Hopefully that number will go lower as there are two artelopes pending a return from Arizona, and Boston. Hopefully one or more of those will net a return something like this one from Chicago.

The Lost Files- 2015 Charlotte Hornets, and New Orleans Pelicans

As part of my huge year in sending out artelopes. Once again I made attempts to finish off the NBA business cards by sending requests to three of the four teams still missing. While the New York Knicks sent schedules, but no business card. The Hornets, and Pelicans left The Cat high, and dry.

For the Hornets I thought going with the nest look, but creating the combs out of the teams purple, and teal colors.

When I was younger, and more of a basketball fan. For a spell the Hornets were my favorite team. Thinking about my history with basketball has been a weird ride. Growing up I was a Nuggets fan, then Jazz for a bit. This was followed by the Hornets era, and my current no favorite team. Maybe if I had a favorite team I'd be more inclined to watch, but I don't have one so we may never know.

For the second straight year the Pelicans have been a no show in the return category. This year's attempt was a design that I spotted on the team website. With my artwork still improving I have to say it ended up decent, but not as good as I'd hoped.

I'm considering an attempt to the team that is not an artelope to see if the results are different. With basketball in full force it might be worth trying both these teams now that the holiday season is over.

Artelopes- 2015 New York Knicks

Contained within the last batch of artelopes sent out in 2015 was this bad boy to the New York Knicks.

Not knowing which direction to go I figured why not run with the cityscape? I've attempted the look a couple times, and honestly still need to work on improving it if I try it again. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if the idea does pop up again at a later date. Hopefully by then my drawing will be even more improved than it currently is.

Going in the Knicks were one of four teams still missing from the NBA business card collection. As you can tell they are still one of the four teams missing from the NBA business cards collection. What they did send were two of these schedules that will make it to the traders list at some point.

2015-16 Reno Bighorns

In December I went into full assault mode on the NBA Developmental League. It paid off as the wantlist for business cards for the league took a serious hit, and leaving me with only five teams still unaccounted for.

One of those requests went to Reno, and the Bighorns.

My inspiration for the artwork on this envelope was the famous Reno sign as you enter the casino area of town. Personally it turned out exactly as I had planned when dreaming the concept. With my limited drawing ability it is rare that an artelope turns out hoe I wanted it to.

Reno sent what has to be the best response from any of the teams in the league. The round logo at the top is a sticker. Below that is another sticker in the #RENOPROUD, and then a schedule, and the highly sought after business card.

 If it wasn't for another return that has still yet to be shared. Reno might have the best return from all the 2015 artelope requests. I should give it numero uno as they did send a business card, and the other request didn't, but I just can't do it. Even though they aren't number one I have to say thank you so much Bighorns for an awesome return.

Ottawa Senators Business Card

During the month of December I threw out an offer in hopes of lowering the business cards from my wants. Three people responded, and one was just a give me your address. Not knowing what to expect I was pleasantly surprised when three business cards for NHL franchise the Ottawa Senators arrived.

The Senators were awarded to Ottawa in 1990, and began play in 1992-93. Consistently a contender in the NHL the team has won four division titles, and appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals once.


Currently the team stands at 18-15, and are 6th in the Atlantic Division.

Artelopes- 2015-16 Texas Legends

Since joining the NBA Developmental League a couple years ago the Legends have been a thorn in my side. In 2013 I got one schedule, in 2014 empty, and then came this year. Sending out the following request.

Previous attempts were much like this one. I always seemed to use the team logo in some form, but with a very small deviation. The change this year adding the Texas state flag into the center star. For some unknown reason I just love putting the Texas flag into a team from Texas's logo whenever possible. It has been very rare occurrence that I wish could be done more often. I guess it being so rare adds to the coolness factor when I do get to use it.

The Legends finally nailed it by sending out a pocket schedule, and the much sought after business card. If you look at both you can see the inspiration for the artelope artwork front, and center. Both are fairly simple designs, but I like the game action shot chosen for the schedule. It's not many times you get to see an action shot of the tip-off on a schedule.

Not shown, but on the back of the business card was the smartphone barcode thing. I'm not sure if these are still popular in the remainder of the world, but around here they never did seem to catch on. I'm not sure if you still need the app to make it work, or not as like I said it just never caught on in my area.

Artelopes- 2015 Chicago Bears

After some not so great years in getting back returns for mailings sent slightly before or after Thanksgiving. I decided that with all the teams still missing in the business card collection. It would be worth a shot at sending out some requests. When you are missing football, and basketball teams you are left with little option, but to continue taking the chance year after year.

One of those as you can tell above was the NFL team Chicago Bears. Dreaming up ideas for the Bears has been an adventure I keep struggling with. I can't explain it, but for some odd reason NFL teams have been difficult when it comes to artelopes. While the drawing on this envelope turned out exactly as planned. It was still something that just didn't feel great to me.

Sending back four of the above pocket schedules. Chicago did great in the schedule category, but sadly have still left me missing a business card. The failure at adding a card still leaves the NFL at seven teams until having a complete league. Adding more teams will have to wait until next fall as currently only one artelope is still lingering.

Even without adding the Bears I had great year in getting business cards from NFL teams. The Giants, Panthers, Titans, and Buccaneers. If I can get that type of results in 2016 I'll be thrilled.