Really good way of putting it!
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When I first saw these cards, I too was under the impression that they were commissioned by an official or adjacent TPC artist. Why else would PSA officialize their autograph?
I think this is a slippery slope. There are thousands of TCG-adjacent artists who regularly sketch, paint, etc. Pokemon and MTG cards as commissions. Is PSA really in the business of authenticating any artist who signs trading cards?
I can see why folks want sketches of their favorite Pokemon when access to official TPC artists is near impossible in 2025. Regarding the price, I think this is just typical hypetrain behavior. As more come out of the woodwork, supply will meet demand.
I am less enthusiastic about the artist more-or-less ripping official illustrations. It makes perfect sense why they would do such a thing, as these original illustrations elicit a feeling of nostalgia, but from an ethics perspective, it rubs me the wrong way.
When I commission art from an artist, I expect them to fully express their creativity. Some art mediums require a level derivativeness (e.g., jazz musicians stealing licks and improvising over them; illustrating Pokemon requires the artist to borrow the character designs), but artistic plagiarism is often out of necessity of the craft and limited in scope.
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There has also been a TON on shilling on these auctions to inflate the value.
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This all started with three Steelix sketches that got auctioned off by Probstein, they all did very well… I thought the sales weren’t real, but they were paid for. And off we went.
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I don’t think Sirius Starr was ever a Pokemon artist FYI
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Fourths original post seemed more concerned with his art being tracings of official pokemon art and I was responding to that and that alone.
The PSA thing is a whole 'nother thing which I agree with your sentiment. Similar to PSA slabbing a fake mario pikachu card because it has an auto on it or CGC authenticating those fan made ‘tournament cards’,
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There seems to be a weird push lately for pokemon “celebrities” to get PSA authentication. I can only guess there was a nudge to their fanbase who went to town asking PSA to add them.
Strange but I guess some absolite Z lister Hollywood stars will be on the registry too.
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I don’t see anything wrong with this. Most of the arts are requested commissions specified by the buyer to draw a certain existing artwork.
The “issue” here is that PSA decided to encapsulate these commissioned pieces, which gives premium to the cards as any other graded stuff.
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I pretty much agree with everyone else, I don’t blame the artist for hustling and I have nothing against them personally. The bigger issue here really is the arbitrary nature of PSA auto recognition combined with the general gullibility of Pokemon collectors.
However, I do think copying another artist’s work without credit, as @niece pointed out, isn’t the best practice––regardless if it’s “requested” by the buyer or not. But the point of my post wasn’t to say “copying art is bad” but rather that people need to be aware of what they’re purchasing.
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FWIW, this is not a PSA exclusive issue. CGCxJSA also slabs their Auto/Sketch.
As someone with some weird stuff signed, I like being able to have everything consistently slabbed. But it would be nice if these companies could do more in educating people or providing more information on the slabs.
I think this card I got slabbed is a decent example of what could be done. 4 different voice actors were all listed as “Pokemon Cast”. Jason Paige was listed seperately. Effort taken in identifying who these people are/why someone would have them sign something. Of course they still drop the ball with actually identifying them. Literally nothing is listed when you look up the cert.
I think a great middleground would be providing more insight on the who/why of the auto either on the slab or when you check the cert. Allowing for more things to be slabbed while educating people so there is less blind following of a slab.
Kouki Saitou - TCG Illustrator
MODUWA - Fan Artist
Veronica Talyor - Voice Actress
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My King!
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As an artist myself, this feels incredibly lazy. There’s not much separating them from the slop on Instagram where people trace TCG or Sugimori art.
My favorite part of the TCG is seeing artists interpretations on the different poses and scenes that you can put a Pokémon in. Lets take Snorunt for example (because of course it has to be), it’s such a simple Pokémon, making it more difficult to find unique ways to draw it or make poses for. Despite being such a simple Pokémon, there’s so many different ways that artists have drawn it. I really like when Pokémon runs campaigns where we get new merch that’s not just a Sugimori standee.
Just tracing Sugimori art and adding hatching is just incredibly lazy. I wouldn’t feel self fulfilled putting my name on it. If I’m buying an illustration from an artist, I would rather commission somebody like our residential artist @cyberurchin who’s going to make a unique piece that’s not just copying the heavy lifting somebody else has done.
When I was a kid, I would put a piece of paper on the CRT and trace my favorite Pokémon, I should get PSA to authenticate those too some day.
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If PSA is authenticating any auto it might be a nice time to get me a stagecoach meowth.
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agree with you 100% on this.
This dude only got big because of networking with big sellers and breakers.
“His art” is boring to me.
Something like that thread where Magic artists do their own interpretation of Pokemon is super cool and is the complete opposite of this guy.
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If @smpratte applied himself to have his auto in the database, it would be accepted. As above, its what that Cookie guy did, and i assume Moduwa too.
At the end of the day, PSA is authenticating it was drawn by Moduwa, I don’t see the issue with that.
The secondary market price is another conversation, but thats also not Moduwa’s problem. It makes sense for his comission price to be in line with the “market price” too, otherwise his comissions will be flooded with people applying, with the sole purpose of flipping; which is also not what he wants!
It’s the same reason why all comissions now also have to have the comissioners name and the date.
Bottom line, the cards look good. Its an interesting thing to display.
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Honestly, a grading company should not be grading smpratte autos either.
If you arent notable enough to have a Wikipedia page, you should not be notable enough to have your auto graded.
At least, that’s the standard used at PFM Grading incorporated.
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time to get @smpratte verified
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What if I sketched some lopunny’s?! 
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Thanks for the share. As a child of a visual artist, I SUCK at drawing, I can do it but take far too long for the output. For that reason, I’m always starting with a tracing of things and I gotta say, this is rubbish. If an amateur like myself can be bothered to significantly alter a copied work, then a “professional” should certainly be held to a higher standard. My op.
Edit/addition: It’s clear that they are NOT tracings, but again, if it’s not original concept… I just don’t see the artistic value, and therefore, the uniqueness of the work.
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Am I the only one who now wants to watch Scott’s (smpratte) attempt to draw some Lopunny? 
Greetz,
Quuador
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