Note: Today's card is no longer in my collection. It comes from 2017 Galactic Files Reborn, which I believe is the last official Star Wars set that Mike participated in. For those who don't know and in case I didn't mention this before, Disney, which purchased the Star Wars franchise in late 2012 from George Lucas for $4.05b, decided in 2015 that for Topps Star Wars products they only wanted photorealistic sketch cards. For me, it completely changed my view of the hobby. While I appreciate the art of photorealistic sketches, they don't excite me like the cartoony sketches. There isn't much creativity in the photorealistic style- it's more of a drawing/painting contest. And while it produces a lot of great looking cards, it removed all the creativity from the product. Gone were artists I loved: Mike, Nina Edlund, Katie Cook, Jon Morris, Val Brazier, Chris Eliopoulos, Jeff Chandler, Brent Engstrom, Brian DeGuire, and a slew of other great cartoony artists that I am forgetting.

   Today's card is Dengar the Bounty Hunter who, I believe was first seen on film in The Empire Strikes Back. I bought this card off eBay and fully intended to keep it. But when a good friend agreed to trade me another more rare Duron panoramic sketch, even though this Dengar wasn't part of the trade this good friend collects Dengar sketches so I sent it to him as a gift. I believe it's the first time I ever gave away a sketch by Mike. I asked his permission to let me use it for this post, and he graciously agreed. 

   As for the style, per Topps' rules their sketches have to be photorealistic, and I think Mike did a fantastic job on this one. You can tell it's one of Mike's sketches, but in some ways it doesn't feel like one of Mike's sketches- if that makes any sense. One thing it does is shows Mike's versatility. My two favorite things about this sketch are: #1) the nasty look on Dengar's face, and #2) the background. The background is nothing elaborate, but it adds a level of depth to the sketch. 

   That's all for this week. Thanks to my good friend Derek for letting me use a picture of his Dengar sketch. And thanks to all for stopping by and reading!

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