My Sketch Card Project

It's inevitable.  Everything boils down to supply vs. demand.  And when something interesting and cool hits the market, it's only a matter of time before companies cash in and flood the market.

However that's not necessarily a bad thing if you're on a tight budget, like myself.  I've been collecting sketch cards since I reentered the hobby back in 2008.  That's when I pulled one out of a box of 2004 Topps Heritage Star Wars and was instantly hooked.  In short, I went crazy and busted a bunch of boxes in an effort to get my hands on more.  If you're interested, I've showcased them in a previous post.

That same year, Topps inserted sketch cards into their Stadium Club product.  Unfortunately, boxes of this product were pretty expensive and single sketch cards were commanding prices that were (and still are) way out of my league.

I eventually added acquired my first sketch card of an athlete last year... thanks to AJ a.k.a. The Lost Collector.  He drew this custom Kurt Suzuki sketch card for me:

I'd love to eventually collect one sketch card for each of the baseball players I collect.  Until recently, this goal didn't seem plausible.  But thankfully, Leaf's 2012 Best of Baseball product has solved my problem.  They've made it possible for collectors to buy reasonably priced sketch cards.

A quick eBay search shows that you can find pack pulled, portrait sketches of HOFers for under $6 delivered.  At the last card show I attended, I found one of Greg Maddux.  It wasn't exactly $6, but I didn't break the bank either.

Behold my recent card show acquisition:

This led me to track down this Steve Carlton sketch card off of eBay for $12.33:

Three players down... and four guys to go: Rickey Henderson, Jackie Robinson, Tony Gwynn, and Thurman Munson.


Happy Sunday and sayonara!