Article updated 10/10/`6 to remove Chris Koning and add Yeldarb.
Article updated 8/21/16 to add Daniel Contois..
Article updated 8/2/16 to add Cathy Razim.
Article updated 7/7/16 to add Rich Molinelli.
Article updated on 6/26/16 to add Lowell Isaac, and remove Mark Pingitore.
Official Topps sketch artists began receiving their blank sketch cards this week for the Garbage Pail Kids 2016 Series 2 Prime Slime Trashy TV set. The photos posted by some of the artists on Facebook show OS 1 character Tee-Vee Stevie is used as the artwork for the back of the cards, sticking to the television theme for the set. Also of note is the green nameplate on the regular sized sketch cards.
Confirmed returning for Topps are 18 sketch artists from the last series, 2016 Series 1 American As Apple Pie; Simone Arena, Michael Barnard, Neil Camera, “GPK” Dave Dabila, Vincenzo “Chenduz” D’Ippolito, Cecilia Granata, Jon Gregory, Robert Jimenez, Matthew Kirscht, Chris Meeks, Lily Mercado, JM Monserrat, Sean Norvet, Steve Potter, Chad Scheres, Denis St. John, Dan Burn Webster, and Jeff Zapata. There are four artists who were part of 2016 Apple Pie and will not be returning for this series. Veteran GPK artists Layton DeJarnette, Brent Engstrom, and Mark Pingitore will not be completing sketch cards, along with popular artist Dustin Graham who mentioned he should return in 2017. Engstrom and Pingitore will continue to paint finals for the set.
While 2016 Apple Pie hosted the largest artist sketch lineup to date, Topps is blowing that out of the water by adding at least 16 new sketch artists to the mix. The confirmed new artists so far are; Daniel Contois, Sobot Cortez, Jason Crosby, Patrick Giles, Dennis Gortakowski, Kelly Greider, Jason Heil, Marisol Henriquez, Lowell Isaac, Ryan Moffett, Rich Molinelli, Barry Nygma, Cathy Razim, Matt Steffens, Magnus Von Robotsson, and Yeldarb. Patrick Giles, Jason Crosby, and Daniel Contois have drawn for other Topps brands in the past, while Lowell Isaac, Rich Molinelli, and Cathy Razim are veteran artists. The remaining new artists are well known GPK fan artists who have been drawing GPK characters for years. The one mystery is Yeldarb, who while that is Bradley spelled backwards, no one can quite figure out who this artist is. This brings the known total of sketch artists to 34 for the new series.
In addition to increasing the artist lineup for the next series, Topps also made a controversial policy change for artists when it comes to their Return Sketch Cards. Return Sketches are sketch cards artists are allowed to keep and sell individually themselves. In previous GPK sets Return Sketches could be approved by Topps management via scan/email, and could be completed after the set’s release. New rules put in place by Topps now forces artists to complete all their Returns prior to the set being released, and they also now have to mail the returns in for approval from Topps. Topps will in turn mail back the cards once approved. Many artists were not happy with the changes because it not only forces them to rush on the return sketches that are generally more intricate than a normal sketch, and artists are worried about lost sketch cards in the handoff from them to Topps and back. Because of the changes, sketch artists have been actively offering commissions for their Return Sketches. Be sure to reach out to your favorite artist quickly if you want one of their Return Sketches for the upcoming set before they sell out.