LOTR Evolution Aftermaket Customs and Coloring

[Guest]

[Bryanjs14]

Hey there everyone,
Well, today was one of the those days where you are asking yourself where all of the stuff you are expecting in the mail is and then you go out to your mail box and it is STUFFED full with bubble mailers.

Two of those bubble mailers contained my aftermarket colorings I had done for the LOTR Evolution set



Amazing huh? Seriously, if you have a Cummens or one of RAM's card SEND THEM TO THEM, their aftermarket work is amazing!


If anyone else is having aftermarket work done, or has already please post the pictures here!

[kbmum]

Wow, those look great!  I've been considering getting a few of my sketches colored, but I'm holding off until I'm sure I'm done buying more sketches.

Do you have scans of the cards before you sent them to the artists?  I'd like to see the before-and-after sketches.

[Bryanjs14]

I do not have a sketch of the Cummens.
However, I was going to sell the RAM and even had it on ebay for about an hour then changed my mind and sent it to him for coloring, so I was able to dig up the Ebay scan I made of it

[kbmum]

Not being an artist, it's sometimes hard to imagine what a sketch will look like once it's colored.  That helps a lot.  Thanks!

[EmpPalpatine]

4/7/2006 - A PUBLIC Admittance of me being wrong to Topps

Something happened this week that turned bad. Recently I was asked for an aftermarket coloring job and also was commissioned to do a 9x12 inch drawing. The client whose name will remain out of this is a very good friend. He also asked if I could draw on a Star Wars Revenge of the Sith Card BLANK that he had. NO MONEY was exchanged for this card, it was just as I stated a gift. If anyone is offended by this I'm sorry. It was only a card for a friend that was never meant to be seen. On a side note I am really upset by this as it seems that a simple lapse in my judgment has caused myself a great big headache. I love doing these cards.  I finally found something I'm really happy doing and seem that there is always someone who wants to ruin it for me. I know I was WRONG. I just want to be able to keep doing what makes me happy. The Card was purchased at SDCC 2004
and was blank when he got it, and when I got it. After doing some pencilling work I saw some grooves arise but figured that because it was only a favor that was not supposed to be seen that I would finish it up for him anyways. After completion I should have told him I'm keeping it cause of the grooves.  I just wanted to say this as I feel terrible about what has happened and hope that everyone can forgive me.

Rich

[EmpPalpatine]

edited for spelling cause I suck at it.   

[sketchqueen]

Rich,
 You should not have to apologize. I feel for you - I think we've all been in situations where something we've done with good intentions turned sour, but don't let this moment affect you for any longer than a moment. I think your artwork is stunning and can only wish I owned a piece of it (I'll get one yet! I will!!) so don't listen to the critics trying to ruin your spirit. There's a song I listen to everyday (I won't mention title and artist cause it's a little religious) but the gist is to listen to your own heart and spirit and not let others tell you what you're worth.

[Kyle_Babbitt]

Hey Rich,
 You should not have to apologize. When an artist sends out their cards after they finish them and Topps puts them into packs it is no longer their property. It should make no difference if you drew on a 5 by 3 note card, or an official blank or erased Topps revenge of the sith card. I love your work and i am looking forward to you working on future sketch card sets whether it be by Topps or Breygent. Any card company should honored to have you as an artist. As i beleive it was YOU Jeff, Kayana, Cat, and Cynthia that truly sold this set. KEEP ON ROCKEN!

[Bryanjs14]

You know I love the work, one of only two Evolution cards I am keeping is the color orc you did. It is great and you know I am not a big fan of the comic looking sketch cards, so it says a lot about what I think of your work when I decide to keep only two cards and one of them is yours.

I think that the whole situation was blown a little out of the ballpark...and I am not going to say anything else about it. It was my fault that this happened, and I truely am sorry for it. I did not think it would cause a problem if I posted the card on here, and truthfully, I only did it because it really was just an incredable sketch card. I bought a blank card at comic con last year from a dealer and it sat in a safe for almost a year before i remembered I had it, when i sent Rich my Orc card, I also commissioned him to do a 9x12 full color sketch from the Duel of the Fates scene in Episode 1, after numerous e-mails we began im'ing each other and talking on a daily basis and we became pretty decent friends. I asked him if he would like to do a Padme sketch to add to my collection and I sent him the blank card I got from comic con. Because of the 9x12 and the aftermarket orc coloring he offered to do it for free as a favor for the business I brought him so I could not pass it up. I made the mistake of posting it on here for everyone to see not thinking of the fallout that would happen because of it, as I said earlier, I only posted it to show how great of an artist he is. Well, some artists did not like that he did a ROTS card and contacted Topps about it. Rich now has the card in the mail back to him because of all of this. That beautiful piece of art is going to be destroyed because of a couple people. You know, it really stinks, but It just acts as a reminder that some people really are pretty nasty people. I love your work Rich, I hope you do aftermarkets for LOTR again, because I am thinking of buying that other orc you told me about and sending it to you to be the 3rd card I keep from the set.

[neko]

Well, some artists did not like that he did a ROTS card and contacted Topps about it. Rich now has the card in the mail back to him because of all of this. That beautiful piece of art is going to be destroyed because of a couple people. You know, it really stinks, but It just acts as a reminder that some people really are pretty nasty people. I love your work Rich, I hope you do aftermarkets for LOTR again, because I am thinking of buying that other orc you told me about and sending it to you to be the 3rd card I keep from the set.

Um...Bryan...no one knows who contacted Topps...All of these companies watch these boards and with the buzz and traffic generated by the LOTR cards, all it takes is for an intern or someone else affiliated with the companies to say something. I find it kinda harsh that you jumped to conclusions like that. The problem was not his art, the problem was he was not approved to work on the card. I have had numerous requests to do work on Heritage cards.. I can't, why? Because I did not work on the Heritage set. I am not approved to work on the cards. What Kyle posted is somewhat incorrect. The card itself is a licensed product the image on the card has to be approved before they hit the streets. As do the artists. All artists working on Official Star Wars projects HAVE to be approved before you can work on it.Now what happend here again is unapproved artist doing unapproved work on an licesen ed trademarked item and who is now, unfortunately paying the price for it. All i can say is I am sorry this happend to Rich he is a good guy and a popular artist, as seen with the LOTR set.

[Kyle_Babbitt]

Well, some artists did not like that he did a ROTS card and contacted Topps about it. Rich now has the card in the mail back to him because of all of this. That beautiful piece of art is going to be destroyed because of a couple people. You know, it really stinks, but It just acts as a reminder that some people really are pretty nasty people. I love your work Rich, I hope you do aftermarkets for LOTR again, because I am thinking of buying that other orc you told me about and sending it to you to be the 3rd card I keep from the set.

Um...Bryan...no one knows who contacted Topps...All of these companies watch these boards and with the buzz and traffic generated by the LOTR cards, all it takes is for an intern or someone else affiliated with the companies to say something. I find it kinda harsh that you jumped to conclusions like that. When I saw the card the other day I contacted Rich within minutes. The problem was not his art, the problem was he was not approved to work on the card. I have had numerous requests to do work on Heritage cards.. I can't, why? Because I did not work on the Heritage set. I am not approved to work on the cards. What Kyle posted is somewhat incorrect. The card itself is a licensed product the image on the card has to be approved before they hit the streets. As do the artists. All artists working on Official Star Wars projects HAVE to be approved before you can work on it.Now what happend here again is unapproved artist doing unapproved work on an licesen ed trademarked item and who is now, unfortunately paying the price for it. All i can say is I am sorry this happend to Rich he is a good guy and a popular artist, as seen with the LOTR set.

I dont want to start an argument, but if Rich is getting burned for this then how come every artist doesnt have to get their aftermarket images approved? To me seeing a darth maul or luke skywalker on a ROTS card done by an approved artist is far worse then a non approved artist doing a sketch on a card for a friend. Are you saying i cant take any of the ROTS sketch cards that i own and do with them as i please? they are my cards, i can burn them, rip them up, or have my 3 year old cousin marker the hell out of them. The only way i can see this being wrong is if Rich tried to pass it off as a legit card, and that he was an approved artist. Which i have seen absolutly no evidence of.

[kbmum]

I think it has more to do with the fact that Rich isn't an approved artist for that set, but is an approved artist for another Topps set.  Had he drawn the sketch on a blank Star Wars card that he owned and kept it for himself, no one would have objected because he has the right to do with his property as he wishs.  But since the sketch was given to someone else and ended up on a public forum, Topps may have taken the stand that it would appear he was an artist for the set.

[neko]

To me seeing a darth maul or luke skywalker on a ROTS card done by an approved artist is far worse then a non approved artist doing a sketch on a card for a friend.

That is actually a violation of the contract for the ROTS cards as it was stated that they were only to be characters from ROTS and there actually was a list of characters we had to work with. Just because the cards are out does not mean the contract and everything in the contract expires. Perfect example is that we cannot draw Saruman on LOTR cards unless it was approved.

 

I think it has more to do with the fact that Rich isn't an approved artist for that set, but is an approved artist for another Topps set.  Had he drawn the sketch on a blank Star Wars card that he owned and kept it for himself, no one would have objected because he has the right to do with his property as he wishs. But since the sketch was given to someone else and ended up on a public forum, Topps may have taken the stand that it would appear he was an artist for the set.

Exactly. Someone obviously saw it and the action has been taken by Topps. There have been unauthorized cards by unauthorized artists on ebay and probably the same thing has happend... the auction will be stopped  and then I am guessing that artist has to deal with Topps and, in some cases, probably Lucas Film. Believe me that is a list you do NOT want to be on.

At any rate it, sadly, happend and by keeping it going it must be like pouring salt in the wound for Rich.. we should  move along now