Multiple works of art

I used to draw as a kid and took it back up last year for my newsletter about vintage sports cards. I draw either a "grail" or favorite card for each collector who takes the Drawn to Cards Q&A.

From the A3 pop-up collaboration, these acrylic blocks feature soft chibi illustrations arranged in paired compositions.

The artwork translates beautifully to acrylic: vibrant, crisp, and surprisingly dimensional despite the compact format. Compared to the cork coasters, the heavier color fills here better support the fine linework and decorative backgrounds.

These acrylic blocks do not use stands. They’re designed to stand upright on their own, resting on their long edge. Because they’re wider than they are tall, they’re naturally stable when displayed this way.

A small item, but one that displays far better than photos suggest.

A fun oddity with the Nyanki and Villian blocks are the character scaling — Pururun appears noticeably smaller, while Yattarō is depicted as the tallest of the three - and despite Ko’on no Kami being taller than Karamaru, the block has them standing at very similar heights. It’s not accurate to the source material, but it’s a merch-art choice favoring composition over canon proportions.

Original Art of Mickey Mouse Ball and Card

Starting the A3 posts with the cork coasters, since these are a good example of how concept vs. execution can land a little differently.

The illustrations themselves are lovely — classic A3 chibi proportions, soft celebratory poses, and a really nice sense of balance across the sets. The concept images do a great job showing off the linework and character groupings, and honestly? On paper, these look fantastic.

In-hand, though, the lineart is extremely thin, and the cork material absorbs detail more than you’d expect. As a result, some of the finer illustration work gets a bit lost unless you’re looking at them up close or under good lighting. From a distance, they read more as texture + silhouette than detailed character art.

That said:

• They’re officially licensed (SOTSU/A3)

• The designs are consistent with the rest of the A3 lineup

• And they’re absolutely still charming as collection pieces

These feel very much like “display-adjacent” items — not bad, just subtle. If you love the artwork, the concept images will always show it best; if you love the existence of the item as part of the anniversary ecosystem, they still earn their spot.

Not everything has to be a knockout to be worth archiving. 🙂