it was listed as being sketched and signed by Bryan Monforte, whom several google searches failed to identify beyond “random dude" (bryan if you’re actually a big artist and happen to be reading this, sorry! but in that case you gotta work on your SEO lmaoo). why he wrote his name in [last name, first name] format below the signature is beyond me lol. maybe it was signed FOR him as opposed to BY him? i’m rlly not sure. handling the card in person, i can tell it’s actually sketched and not just printed.
i don’t mind at all if he rlly is just a random dude! ultimately i bought it because i thought it was a cute sketch, not because i need it to be some famous artist. However it did get me curious!! i’ve checked the seller’s other listings and they have several (read: many) other “unique 1/1 sketch cards” of random pokemon sketched by seemingly random artists, all using this “pokemon fantasy / snowflakes” cardstock. googling those terms turned up basically nothing for me besides the aforementioned ebay listings and also a cardhobby listing for another sketch card. here’s the seller in case you’re curious, and if anyone has more info pls let me know!! thanks E4
I think it’s a random guy selling his art and not any official Pokemon art. I’ve seen it with different IPs, I know it happens a lot in Star Wars. Still pretty cool and akin to buying something in someone’s gallery.
i’m not sure if that’s the case tbh!! here’s some of the other listings from the seller. there are 1900+ listings, not all pokemon related. some i recognized are from he-man, alien, etc
For what it’s worth, I’ve been seeing ads online about people that sell custom blanks so you can draw your own stuff and slab it. This looks like it’s probably one of those custom boxes.
okay i did more digging. seems there’s some sort of con-adjacent(?) “artists collective” that sponsors series after series of these sketch card collections. they post them to kickstarter, commission artists, get very very funded, distribute the cards (?) to backers, and somehow thousands end up with this ebay seller in china lol. probably liquidating the extras that don’t sell at cons? internet sleuthing below:
why do those 80s cards say 2022 on his signature when the kickstarter is scheduled for feb 2026? no clue! i’m mostly interested in why they have to go from arizona to china to be resold lmao.
at this point i sincerely doubt anyone cares but i think this one is mostly solved lol
