Jabba the Hutt Sketch Card by John Soukup (Topps Galaxy Series 5)

I have quite a few sketch cards in my collection, but up until now I have gotten all of them directly from the artists. That kind of sketch card is just a (relatively) inexpensive way to purchase original art. But there’s another kind of sketch card: ones that were part of an “official” set from a company like Topps. Basically, the card companies hire artists to make sketch cards that will be included at random inside packs of preprinted collectible cards — a nice little bonus you might get if you’re lucky. A lot of these end up on eBay, and they tend to sell for a LOT more than a sketch card commissioned directly from the same artist would cost, which makes absolutely no sense to me. That’s why I’ve never gotten any until now. Even when I’ve found some that I like, they always end up going higher than my budget.

But that wasn’t the case with this one, as I ended up winning it for just $15.50, which is actually a good price even for a non “official” card. I’m not sure what the deal was. The person selling it gave the wrong name for the artist, which might be part of it. Artistically, I think it’s great. He did it with paint, and possibly a brush pen. Jabba’s tongue is actually a piece of paper that was glued to the card, which I thought was kind of funny.