Baseball Cards, Topps

Topps 2009 Sketch Cards, 1/1: A Mistake?

Early this week I gave a glowing review of Topps 2009 Series 1, but posed the question: “Is this too much of a good thing?”

I may have my answer: Topps introduced the sketch card into the 2009 series 1 set, and I loved them.  They’re gorgeous pieces of art, and the lovely people that search packs cannot find them.  This is why i’ve pulled 3 of these, yet have yet to pull an autograph.

After searching the internet for the artists, here are a few:  Scott Barnett, Rich Molinelli, Brian Kong,  Don Pedicini Jr., Jim Kyle, Justin Chung, Paul Lemba, Chris Henderson, Ingrid Hardy and Dave Hobrecht.

Yet, there is a problem, a huge problem — a problem that I cannot look past. This problem is calling these cards one of one, because they absolutely are not. To maintain full disclosure, I’m attempting to sell one of these cards and the reason I’m this cheesed is because it’s costing me money, sort of:

Each of these three sketches is of Ty Cobb, by the Artist Dave Hobrecht.  It’s fairly clear to even the untrained eye that they’re all drawn from the same source picture, and realistically the only difference is the shading.  Each of these cards is supremely beautiful, but to call any one of them a 1/1 is an insult to the intelligence of a card collector.

To the Left is all three sketches combined together using the MULTIPLY function in your favourite image processing software. What the multiply function does is allow you to see the differences in photos.  You’ll still have to look for the lines, but i’ve left the three photos slightly off-center to make it easier.

Needless to say, it’s fairly clear that the artist worked from the same sketch with the possibility of even working off a single sketch and a transfer sheet. The picture to the left shouldn’t look this crisp, ever.  Even the best artists would have trouble duplicating the perspective and exact placement if they weren’t working off a transfer.

Other baseball card enthusiasts have expressed anger with the fact that two artists did the same player  — I’m okay with that. A Ty Cobb by Hobrecht will be different than one by Brian Kong, and both will be stellar.

My problem lies in how the cards that were not inserted into the packs were RETURNED to the artists for them to sell, keep, whatever, as part of their payment. These cards sold on Ebay as early as February 5th! Topps Series 1 wasn’t released until the  10th of February (possibly the 7th). Keep in mind they sold on ebay on the 5th, which means they were probably listed around the end of January.

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The people who bought these cards prior to the release undoubtedly assumed they were true 1 of 1s, rather than what comes down to essentially a variation card. How could Topps possibly let an artist sell part of their “set” prior to the official release date of the product?

I’m having a rather large issue with the Artists being able to sell their product, as a Topps product.  The product is on Topps cards, but was not inserted into a case. What if the artist still has 50 un-used Topps sketch-card backs sitting around?

I understand the idea of a hand drawn card being technically a 1 of 1.  Even if the artist traced, and provided no additional stroke work, it wouldn’t be an exact replica.  Let’s assume Hobrect traced/transfered the outline of Ty Cobb from card to card, as they’re all almost identical.

At this point, is the card a 1 of 1 if there are 2 others out there that look exactly the same but have a different background? To me that sounds like a short print, or a parallel — not a one of one.

To argue that it is a one of one, is the equivalent of arguing that each game-used card is a one of one because it contains a different peice of jersey or bat. It’s like arguing each autograph is a one of one, because no two signatures from the same person are exactly alike.

If I was an artist and received sketch cards back, I’d immediately sell them on eBay too — so that’s understandable.  Why on earth would Topps let this occur is beyond me though.  Hobrecht has managed to devalue his own cards by immediately listing his “short prints” prior to the actual cards being pulled. I was beyond excited to pull a card by Hobrecht until I realized that by one of one, it meant — He drew the same picture at least 3 times and they all look the same but have different backgrounds.

In Conclusion, the sketch card is a beautiful card and I hope Topps keep it up.  However, allowing the artist to sell the cards Topps returned to him prior to the actual release date is downright idiotic. Topps should either pay the artists in full and keep the spare cards, or they should force the artists to keep their cards until series 2 is on sale.

I cannot stress my anger enough in allowing the pre-sale of inserts, let alone the pre-sale of inserts that are remarkably close to the cards that were actually inserted into the packs.

Topps customer service has been absolutely no help, either — lovely.

March 23rd revision: I received a quick email from Hobrecht, the artist who drew the Ty Cobb sketch cards.  It seems as though I was incorrect suggesting that transfer paper was used, and instead he actually took the time to lay down each Cobb by hand.  While I still disagree with Topps and their methods, it’s nice to know that they weren’t traced.  I’m still on the fence as to whether or not I’d consider these one of ones — especially with the new eBay listing showing a different artist using the same Ty Cobb reference photo.