By Chris Olds | Beckett Sports Card Monthly Editor

Our annual look at art’s place in the sports card and memorabilia world is coming in the next issue of Beckett Sports Card Monthly and, simply put, we want to know what you think about many a thing in the hobby.

From non-sports and sketch cards to Diamond Kings, toys, photography and more, there’s plenty to explore in the world of art as it’s seen on our collectibles.

Here’s the latest 20 Questions where we seek your take on it all.

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See the rest of the questions … after the jump.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

 By Chris Olds | Beckett Sports Card Monthly Editor

From vintage sets to today’s sketch cards and countless collectable lithograph options, art is everywhere in the collectibles world.

In a future issue of Beckett Sports Card Monthly, we’re going to explore memorable artwork, sets (1953 Topps, anyone?) and artists who we think define the times — both the past and present.

And here’s where we want your help.

If you’re a sports artist, we want to hear from you — whether you paint, do sketch cards, comics, lithos, sculpt or do other types of work. (If you don’t do sports, but are in the non-sports card field, drop us a line, too.) Or, if you’re not an artist — but you collect certain artists’ works — tell us about them.

We hope to profile a few of you in the issue — and we have some other surprises in store as well.

In a comment below, tell us your (or their):

– Name, link to website or  portfolio along with a Twitter handle and/or email.

– and some of your past credits.

– and some of your specialties (media, sports, topics, etc.).

– and some of your influences.

We’ll use this as a launching pad for some of the issue’s inclusions — and a teaser of sorts for some of the surprises we hope to have in store for the issue.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

Join Beckett Sports Card Monthly‘s Bryan Hornbeck and Chris Olds as they rip into a box of 2012 Marvel Premier from Upper Deck in this latest edition of Box Busters.

What will they find inside? Watch and find out …

Join Beckett Media’s Chris Olds as he rips into a box of 2008 Heroes Series 1 from Topps in this retro non-sports edition of Box Busters. 

What will he find inside … besides a 1/1 sketch card? Watch and find out …

(Need a checklist or an OPG for one of the past Heroes sets from Topps? Click here.)

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor

The 50th anniversary of the Mars Attacks will be here shortly. These iconic cards have spawned a movie, toys and many, many nightmares.

It’s a story that people have talked about for a generation.

The creation of Mars Attacks Heritage has already been announced, but Topps announced a surprise addition:

Autograph cards from co-creator Len Brown.

“Never would I have imagined that Mars Attacks would be so popular and its fans so passionate 50 years later,” Brown said. “I’m delighted to be lending my pen to these cards, and hope fans will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed working on the original series all those years ago.”

Brown will sign 550 total cards – 10 foil-stamped parallels of each of the re-issued 55-card base set. These will be randomly inserted into packs and will be hand-numbered.

Brown has had his hand in many Topps products throughout the years. He’s shaped Ugly Stickers, Garbage Pail Kids and Wacky Packages, according to Ira Friedman, Topps VP of Global Licensing.

“He spearheaded many legendary sets, collaborating with artists the likes of Basil Wolverton, Jack Davis, Norm Saunders and Art Spiegelman, among many others– and in his spare time created the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comic book with Wally Wood for Tower Comics,” Friedman said in a release. “We’re thrilled that Len has agreed to add his signature to our 50th Anniversary card set so that fans can have the chance to own an authentic piece of Mars Attacks history.”

Mars Attacks Heritage is scheduled to come out this summer. Along with the re-issued cards, Topps is adding 25 unseen cards to the storyline.

In addition, Topps is adding randomly-inserted 1/1 sketch cards from a number of artists. The Martians are depicted in dark, scary portraits or light and funny poses.

Check out a full gallery of sketch cards below.

Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Chris Olds | Beckett Sports Card Monthly Editor

This year’s installment of The Art Issue of Beckett Sports Card Monthly is nearly upon us and we want to know who you like.

You know, as in artists.

Odds are you have a favorite player — that’s easy — but do any past art-focused card sets stand out to you? Do you have a favorite sketch card artist? How about any paintings or other pieces in the sports world?

Tell us all about them in the comments below. We’ll run a selection of the best answers in the upcoming issue.

We’ll have several interesting stories about artists with sports ties included in the issue — and a few surprises in store similar to last year’s cover art by the famed Dick Perez. (Find the back issue here.) But first things first … we want to know who you like.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

By Andrew Tolentino | Football Editor

Acclaimed sports artist Kevin-John knows a thing or two about limited quantities.

Partnering up with Beckett Media, the collector-friendly artist recently unveiled a 1/1 original Green Bay Packers championship sketch card, which is now up for grabs in a Select auction. The full-color, 8.5″ X 11″ sketch card is the first of its size to be offered through Beckett Select, and for that reason, bidding should be a sight to behold.

The auction ends on Sept. 29, so keep an eye on the BGS-slabbed precedent setter here.

By Chris Olds | Editor

The arrival of a new season of Topps baseball cards can mean many things to many people but it also means the arrival of new Sketch Cards.

Those miniature works of art — original drawings or even paintings done on card-size stock and inserted into packs — can be fascinating to examine. Recently, the meticulously painted works of Paul Lempa appeared on cards found inside mylar, catching my eye, but a pair of sketch cards from 2011 Topps really got my attention this year.

They’re minty-fresh — and mint condition — cards from Birmingham, Ala.-based artist Chris Henderson.

Only they don’t look minty-fresh at all. (Don’t worry. Like Jessica Rabbit, they’re not bad … they’re just drawn that way.)

There haven’t been too many sketches pop up online just yet — not unheard of since they’re found one in every 3,900 jumbo packs. (That’s one in every 65 jumbo cases.) But two of these classics are artist return cards that Henderson himself is selling online.

Topps, along with other companies, allows artists who complete sketches for them to pre-select a small number of cards that will be returned for sentimental reasons — or potential compensation when sold — once the job is complete.

In the case of these oldschool — minty, but drawn looking to be mangled — 1952 Topps-inspired creations of Albert Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki, they are available on eBay now straight from the artist with a $299.95 Buy It Now or a best offer.

Oh, and if they’re a little to mangled for you, there’s also a mint-condition Pujols up for grabs, too. (Click thumbnail for a closer look.)

Sketch Cards are a unique and sometimes controversial inclusion in sports sets — tough times being when fans of photo-realistic sports imagery don’t like an aesthetic approach or when they can’t identify a player.

However, other than Lempa’s carefully painted creations these just might be the coolest sketches yet.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.