While not entirely new, I’ve noticed more and more ‘custom’ cards that are either commissioned by collectors or by artists. Back in 2020, Topps release their artist reductions of popular Topps designs from the past. 

Recently, I discovered one artist, PiggyBanx (https://www.instagram.com/piggy_banx/) who has grown quite popular for his amazing pieces that take both pop culture, sports, and topical events and produces art pieces that appeal to many collectors.

While these are not officially licensed products, I think they will grow in appeal because of their artistic appeal and in that their popularity is now allowing them to ‘bypass’ the traditional licensing model. For example, we’ve seen products like National Treasures Baseball, which doesn’t have the full licensing but still appeal to collectors because they compensate for nothing having MLB logos with killer patches, relics and vintage players (i.e. Babe Ruth bat relics). 

These art pieces, such as PiggyBanx has resonated with the athletes themselves to the point where they want to do collaborations. For example, recently PiggyBanx did a piece with Step Curry. This made me think that are we posted to see more “art cards” with athletes where not having “licensing” is a benefit? Licensing typically required approval rights from the leagues which I believe can limit their appeal to a broader collector base, which is why I love artists doing pieces of sports, athletes, TCG and comic characters that I love, that blends other mediums (PiggyBanx did an amazing Grand Theft Auto piece with DC comic characters).