First Time Sketch Card Attempt!

[roughwriter]

Okay Guys! I'm going to ask you all to go easy on me, please. I got talked into doing sketch cards for the Flashback '73 set, and I'm worried about their reception. Although I have been contributing gag ideas for over a decade, I am a complete amateur with no formal training. This has been a hobby for me, and I've just been very lucky so far. I never learned to paint, so all my cards are pen and pencil (just like the roughs I've submitted to Topps for all my ideas). Please keep my lack of schooling and my minor league status in mind when commenting on my cards. I tried hard to make them funny and a bit different from the same old designs. I hope you all enjoy them! (And I have 6 Return Cards, if anyone has a special design they want drawn!) - Pete Zies

[drono]

Please keep my lack of schooling and my minor league status in mind when commenting on my cards.

They couldn't possibly be any worse that some of the Topps Baseball On Demand artists cards that go for big bucks.

[Joe G.]

Counselor are you leading the witness? 
Pete welcome to the Wacky world of sketching and I know, like your gags, your sketches will rock!

Okay Guys! I'm going to ask you all to go easy on me, please. I got talked into doing sketch cards for the Flashback '73 set, and I'm worried about their reception. Although I have been contributing gag ideas for over a decade, I am a complete amateur with no formal training. This has been a hobby for me, and I've just been very lucky so far. I never learned to paint, so all my cards are pen and pencil (just like the roughs I've submitted to Topps for all my ideas). Please keep my lack of schooling and my minor league status in mind when commenting on my cards. I tried hard to make them funny and a bit different from the same old designs. I hope you all enjoy them! (And I have 6 Return Cards, if anyone has a special design they want drawn!) - Pete Zies

[vahsurfer]

Pete,

Motion to dismiss, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Send all of them to me to review and I will notify the court of their authenticity!

Richard
#StayWacky

[ToadallyDude]

...I have been contributing gag ideas for over a decade, I am a complete amateur with no formal training...

--- I've always been curious how you and so many other Wacky collectors turned writers/artists were able to get in with Topps and contribute gags, roughs, and/or art?  Did they actually have interviews or call for entries, or did you just have to know someone?

[roughwriter]

--- I've always been curious how you and so many other Wacky collectors turned writers/artists were able to get in with Topps and contribute gags, roughs, and/or art?  Did they actually have interviews or call for entries, or did you just have to know someone?

Persistence bordering on Obsession might be the best way to describe it, at least for me. I began drawing Wacky ideas just for my own personal enjoyment. Soon I had a pile of them, and figured it couldn't hurt to send them in. Jeff Zapata was Art Director then, but my art didn't float his boat, even after Jay Lynch offered me his kind advice and guidance on how to best present my ideas. They sat in a file until Colin Walton took over the reins at Wackys and decided he could use my roughs. I enjoyed a much better reception with him for several ANS series, but was pulled away from drawing by personal issues for a number of years. During the pandemic the enforced isolation got me drawing again, and old friends I'd made back in the ANS days (talkin' to you, Joe Grossberg!) put me in touch with the current staff at Wackys. My new art met a warm reception, and now I try to return the favor whenever I can! If you have ideas, don't be afraid to draw them up and see what happens. If I could pull it off, anyone can! - Pete

[sco(o)t]

Persistence bordering on Obsession might be the best way to describe it, at least for me. I began drawing Wacky ideas just for my own personal enjoyment. Soon I had a pile of them, and figured it couldn't hurt to send them in. Jeff Zapata was Art Director then, but my art didn't float his boat, even after Jay Lynch offered me his kind advice and guidance on how to best present my ideas. They sat in a file until Colin Walton took over the reins at Wackys and decided he could use my roughs. I enjoyed a much better reception with him for several ANS series, but was pulled away from drawing by personal issues for a number of years. During the pandemic the enforced isolation got me drawing again, and old friends I'd made back in the ANS days (talkin' to you, Joe Grossberg!) put me in touch with the current staff at Wackys. My new art met a warm reception, and now I try to return the favor whenever I can! If you have ideas, don't be afraid to draw them up and see what happens. If I could pull it off, anyone can! - Pete

Thanks for that, Pete. Very interesting.

[Joe G.]

Pete it was my pleasure!  Pete is really being too modest, he’s a super talent with a keen eye and quick hand.  Wackys have benefited greatly from his sense of humor!

[roughwriter]

Hi Guys! Since I'm too tech deficient to post any images, you can find a selection of my sketch cards for sale on Ebay right now. I found eight cards from the Flashback '73 set earlier today. Let me know what you all think!

[Joe G.]

OK so my good friend Pete shared with me his treasure trove of Wacky's '73 sketches and asked me to post 'em for all to enjoy.  Now I was always curious to see if there was a limit to how many images you could post at one time.  So here goes 'em all! Let him know which is your fav!

[RawGoo]

Very nice!  If anyone pulls the RawGoo, LMK, I might be interested in buying it.

[quas]

I'm interested in several of the others, if anyone pulls 'em.

[crackedjerk]

Hi Guys! Since I'm too tech deficient to post any images, you can find a selection of my sketch cards for sale on Ebay right now. I found eight cards from the Flashback '73 set earlier today. Let me know what you all think!

Hey, Pete
I like what you've done!  To be honest, I do kinda prefer a more traditional look.  That being said, those have been done repeatedly, so a new perspective is welcome.  Of yours, I think Fang might be my favorite.  I also like the Wormy Packages one as I do like it when the logo of the Wacky is included in the sketch (at least generally, and here it works).  Keep up the good work!

[drono]

Now I was always curious to see if there was a limit to how many images you could post at one time.

I was out of town this weekend and noticed that my laptop has the Attach Image link, but my home PC does not. 

[crackedjerk]

I was out of town this weekend and noticed that my laptop has the Attach Image link, but my home PC does not.

For what it's worth, I swear sometimes I see an "Attach image" link and sometimes I don't.  Not sure why that is the case, but it is a bit maddening.

[zerostreet]

Nice work, Peter!

[roughwriter]

Thank you all for the warm reception! I appreciate the support! I've had a couple of requests for return card sketches, and I have four more available if anyone is interested. Please let me know soon if you are, before I allow multiple sketch purchases. Thanks again! - Pete

[Corndog]

If anyone snags the Blunder sketch, I would love to buy it off of you or trade with you my sketch card.

[ToadallyDude]

Persistence bordering on Obsession might be the best way to describe it, at least for me. I began drawing Wacky ideas just for my own personal enjoyment. Soon I had a pile of them, and figured it couldn't hurt to send them in. Jeff Zapata was Art Director then, but my art didn't float his boat, even after Jay Lynch offered me his kind advice and guidance on how to best present my ideas. They sat in a file until Colin Walton took over the reins at Wackys and decided he could use my roughs. I enjoyed a much better reception with him for several ANS series, but was pulled away from drawing by personal issues for a number of years. During the pandemic the enforced isolation got me drawing again, and old friends I'd made back in the ANS days (talkin' to you, Joe Grossberg!) put me in touch with the current staff at Wackys. My new art met a warm reception, and now I try to return the favor whenever I can! If you have ideas, don't be afraid to draw them up and see what happens. If I could pull it off, anyone can! - Pete

That's really cool.  It's always great to see things like persistence, talent, hard work, etc., pay off for people rather than the tired old "money & connections" thing that plagues the world.  I remember going on quite a few rants about that early in the late-90s Wacky boom when the tides shifted from 'clever collectors' and 'those first to the treasure' getting the spoils to 'the biggest wallet wins'.  Once eBay became a free online (and inaccurate) "price-guide" for the general public to use to over-value their attic finds, too, it was all over.  Anyway... congratulations making the jump from collector to artist like so many of us always wanted to do (and didn't try hard enough or meet the right people).  You rock!

[roughwriter]

If anyone didn't get the classic Wacky sketch card they were hoping for, I still have a few blanks available. I will do single cards for $80. Please contact me if interested. Thanks!

[roughwriter]

Another option for the "cost conscious" would be sketches done on Artist's Sketch cards (Non-Topps) for $40. They still have multi-color printed backs with spaces for autographs and other info, but would be a more affordable way to get the same art. Send me a message if interested. Thanks!