For all the recent over saturation of Marvel sketch cards, the Sketchagraphs from Fleer/Skybox (1997-98) and the Custom Cover from Topps (2001-03) don't pop up in the wild today as often as I would expect considering the amount of cards produced back then.

I understand that there were long odds for the 1997 FUSM Sketchagraphs and to a lesser extent the 2003 Incredible Hulk Custom Covers, but wasn't there 16,000 boxes of 1998 Marvel Creator's Collection and 10,000 boxes of 1998 Marvel Silver Age at one sketch card per box? And I can't believe that Topps wouldn't have make a bunch of cards in 2001.

I realize that was some time ago, but even those collectors that left the hobby might have let them go. Are those sketch cards all locked up in personal collections by collectors that don't use the internet? Hopefully a bunch of them didn't end up in kids' bicycle spokes

I had one sketch card from Marvel Silver age and on a trading board around a decade ago I was offered a nice sum for it. So, I sold it. If this collector was being honest he stated he had over 500 of the Marvel Silver Age sketch cards over 10 years ago. If he is still absorbing them, I have no clue. Let's just say he stopped at 500 that is still 1 out 20 in this guys hands.

I bought two boxes of SILVER AGE when it was released, and opened one, which did NOT have a sketch card. The other box is still sealed. So that means there are only 9,999 or less sketch cards available.

I think it was 12,000 of each for Silver Age and Creators Collection. And the 2001 Topps Marvel Legends had hobby and retail (no sketches, but exclusive now valuable base foil parallel cards) and it's thought that not a ton of either was produced.

And sorry to hear that about your missing sketch. I must've opened 30 of these boxes and every one had a sketch, so I think your box was a rare misfire. Probably another box had two sketches somewhere in the run. (Hey, maybe that's your other box!).

Here's a mammoth collection of Silver Age sketch cards. It is a joy to behold:

http://wonged.com/sketches_msa1.htm

Certain collectors gobble them up in the hundreds. :-)

Maybe with the article on Marvel Creator's Collection '98 in the April/May 2018 issue of Non-Sport Update we'll start to see more activity on these sketch cards. It would be great to see more of them.

Never collecting the right thing at the right time is a failing of mine. I have a grand total of one Silver Age sketch, but I did pick up the artist autograph cards if I saw them. I didn't see that many.

Non-sport was still a small market when these came out and even with the local shows, only a couple dealers carried them in my area. I may have passed up some, but if I did it would have been because they weren't all that cheap for the time and I didn't know better.

People that bought these had an appreciation for the art, the artist and the character. By today's standards black and white pencil sketches don't necessarily attract much attention compared to high quality color sketches. I'm sure there are people who wouldn't think very much of some of the Silver Age if they saw them on a table even now. When you don't know, you don't know.

These Sketchagraphs have found homes with knowledgeable sketch and comic collectors. They will come up for sale when individuals die and nobody wants the cards or maybe if someone really needs money. Otherwise I think that those that went to the trouble of getting them are likely to keep them as one of the last group of sketch cards they would ever give up, just because they know all the history that is there.

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By today's standards black and white pencil sketches don't necessarily attract much attention compared to high quality color sketches.

I agree with the attention component. Separately, though, IMO many of the "black and white" sketches from Silver Age '98, Creator's Collection, Marvel Legends, etc are much higher quality than many (not all) of the color sketches of today.

Any why wouldn't they be? Many were created by official comic book artists who worked on the comic books of the characters they sketched. So it makes sense.

Many of those big collectors who "appreciated" the art back in '98 still collect. They're just more particular on what they pick up. It needs to be good art, not just a bunch of color on a card.

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Originally posted by FAN4LIFE:

quote:

By today's standards black and white pencil sketches don't necessarily attract much attention compared to high quality color sketches.

I agree with the attention component. Separately, though, IMO many of the "black and white" sketches from Silver Age '98, Creator's Collection, Marvel Legends, etc are much higher quality than many (not all) of the color sketches of today.

Very true, I happen to also think that many black and white sketches are far superior to the painted/colored sketches that are more common today. You can see details and shading in B/W that just gets painted over in color. I would even go so far as to say that it is harder to do a detailed B/W, but I'm no artist, so others might disagree.

I wasn't talking about myself, but for newer sketch collectors. I don't think that there is any doubt that, in general, colored sketches are preferred over B/W pencil drawings and get higher prices. There are exceptions of course, but color does attract. If they don't know the history of the Sketchagrams and don't know the original artists, it isn't hard to understand why newer collectors might pass up Sketchagraphs in favor of the type of art coming out of Upper Deck Marvel titles for instance. The more expert collectors know the artist names and the history and they are the ones more likely to be holding on to the old masters work.

an old George Tuska interview (re-discovered)

https://sketchcard.wordpress.c...view-w-george-tuska/

There are 3 nice looking John Romita, Sr. Topps Custom Covers sketch cards

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0...2Fitm%2F143143096640