How do you price a sketch card?

In short, it takes a lot of experience and homework. I've mentioned this before, and it still holds true: There is no magical formula for determining what something is worth, or will sell for. You have to make some concessions for some of what follows. Imagine the exact same artist draws the exact same sketch for different products; or imagine two artists of "similar collectibility" draw the same character for the same release. Among the many criteria:

• The artist. Probably the most obvious, but some artists are simply more desirable than others. Some have a huge following and their cards will routinely sell over $500 USD minimum. They are usually rarer artists, for a number of reasons--not involved in too many sets; don't produce a lot of cards in any given release; some may have gained popularity after they exited the sketch card world and became more involved in the comic industry. There are a ton of reasons, but if an artist has a distinct style and consistently produces good work, chances are someone somewhere collects that artist.
• The character. Probably the second most important. This is one criteria with a ton of exceptions. But in general, a Wolverine will sell better than, say, Urthona. Jean Grey will sell better than Shanga the Star-Dancer. Indiana Jones will sell better than a generic Thuggee guard. This can be highly variable, especially when a collector collects specific characters (like I do with Rhino and Firestar).
• Male versus female. In general, a female character will sell better than a male character. I have my suspicions why...
• Costume. It's no secret that characters, especially in comics, can have a ton of costumes over the years. There are different universes, different artists, different story lines, different movies. Some costumes are simply more popular with some collectors. (I'm thinking of you, Savage Land Rogue and Slave Leia!).
• The property. Marvel or Star Wars is likely going to sell better than, say, Nosferatu.
• Does the character "belong" in the release? This one is a bit odd, so an example probably works best. I collect Rhino sketchcards, among other things. I am more likely to pay more for a card from Masterpieces or Premier or Metal than from, say, Guardians of the Galaxy. The Guardians was tied to the film release, and Rhino was nowhere near that movie. I commissioned several Rhino vs. Irom Man APs for the Iron Man 2 release and still feel weird about it.

  

• The method of distribution. This dovetails somewhat into the property one above. A set released in box or pack form that can be bought in a store (brick and morter or online) is likely to be more popular on the secondary market than a set released through a Kickstarter or GoFundMe campaign. Would you rather have something from Empire Strikes Back or Old Man Like Ron? Conversely, something like an ePack achievement can go for more as there is a difficulty factor in obtaining one.
• Is it an AP/Artist Proof, Artist Return, Artist Exclusive, 6-back, etc.? These are, ostensibly, cards provided to artists as part of their payment. Depending on the manufacturer, artists can sell them as commissioned blanks, and others will draw whatever is relevant to the release and sell them that way. For Topps, as in the case of the 6-backs, these were cards that an artist would designate to be returned back to them that they could sell themselves. Regardless of how we refer to these special cards, artists typically spend more time on them than a card inserted into packs. They are also able to sell at their usual going rate, so APs can oftentimes cost more than a pack-inserted card on the secondary market. Rittenhouse also provided larger uncut cards to artists, so they had a larger area to work with.
• Is it a case incentive? A few manufacturers have released case incentives to entice buyers into buying whole cases. I tend to think more about Rittenhouse when it comes to this one, though they are not the only one. Rittenhouse had specific artists produce case incentive sketches for people buying 3- or even 9-cases at a time. These are all well done and usually sell quite well (especially if in their original Rittenhouse holder with the sticker). Many Rittenhouse case incentives were also uncut as well.
• Price of a box or pack. Marvel Premier sketch prices will typically be higher than, say, Marvel Annual.
• Color vs gray-scale or b&w. Generally, color sketches are expected from collectors these days, and I think mandated from card companies on most sets. There are some exceptions, like the three Star Wars Black & White sets, or the earliest sketch sets where cards were done in pencil or inks only. But for modern sets, collectors are usually going to pay more for a full-color sketch.
• One character versus many. Is it just Cyclops, or a team sketch of the original X-Men? Composition and arrangement of characters is a big aesthetic point in this one, but it can be a factor.
• What's the background look like? Is it some simple clouds, a detailed cityscape, or nothing? All things similar, a detailed background will usually win out.
• Photorealistic versus cartoony. Collectors and most manufacturers have expectations these days around having photo-realistic sketches. I think some artists do fantastic cartoony work. I'll put up a Locoduck or Agnes Garbowska against anyone. But some collectors do prefer one over the other, and it can sway costs.

  

• Characters versus scenes. Characters are 99% of the sketches we see. However, there are some artists that excel in landscapes and scenes. I think back to some of the fantastic Hoth battles, or some of the Lord of the Rings battle scenes I have seen in the past.
• Characters versus vehicles or weapons. This one is tricky, and maybe seen more in Star Wars or Star Trek sets. I know some collectors who collect only vehicles, and some artists who do a fantastic job with them. Similarly, some will do a run of, say, just light sabers.

  

• Single or multi-panel cards. Multi-panel cards give more real estate for artists, and they are typically more rare in a given release than single-card sketch cards. That may automatically make you think panel cards are more collectible, but some collectors find it more challenging to store or display them. So there is a balance to take into account. This is also applicable to cards larger than standard-size, like uncut cards or even the 5x7 cards from some Marvel sets.
• Single versus puzzles. This used to be more of an issue in past years where manufacturers would split up puzzle sketches for pack insertion. Lately we have seen more and more where all pieces were packed together. Years back it was a feat to track down two- or three-piece puzzles, and could be expensive (especially if someone knew you needed that third piece to finish it off!). But much like the multi-panel cards mentioned above, there is simply more room to work with on puzzles so they can be sought after.

  

• Themes within a release. I remember for 2009's Spider-Man Archives from Rittenhouse, Sonny Strait did a handful of cards with characters in a variety of themes. He did some in space, some in a bobble-head style, and some with an off-card "thwip" to the face of the subject. If collectors are interested in the theme, they will be willing to pay more to add to the collection.
• Timing of real-world releases. This one is a bit abstract. In short, we saw an up-tick in interest in the Scarlet Witch when WandaVision came out on Disney+. Similarly, when the Avengers: Age of Ultron came out, more people seemed to be looking for Ultron sketches. These sorts of things tend to die down over time, but the reality is that seeing a character on the screen can increase interest in sketch cards.
• Is the character on the "banned list"? Sometimes characters are not licensed to be included in some sets. We see this in Marvel sets more than other properties. It is typically because the manufacturer or distributor do not have the licensing rights to produce cards with those charactrs on them. However, those characters sometimes slip through the cracks and make it into packs. Because of the perceived rarity, these can sell quite well.
• Uniqueness - Part 1 He tends to be a punchline, but look up Ryan Waterhouse sketches. He did a ton of repeat sketches for some Indiana Jones releases several years back. And Lord of the Rings. And Halo. But he is sort of the extreme end of it.

  

• Uniqueness - Part 2 Be aware that sometimes companies will give artists a restricted list to draw from. It can vary from company to company, but Topps may offer limited screenshots to use as references (like some of the pre-release Star Wars film sets); yet other releases have characters pre-determined for the artists. This creates a large number of, say, Magneto sketches from a particular set, or the same likeness of Lando sketched a lot.

  

• Is it from an "official" set? By this I mean does the card come from a manufacturer (regardless of how it was distributed--boxes, KickStarter, etc.) or is it on the artist's own cardstock, also known as PSCs, ACEOs, and probably some other names. If the exact same artwork is done for an official set versus the artist's own blanks, the official one will sell better.

If you read the above, you'll see I use the words "typically" or "generally" a lot. That's because there are always exceptions to all of these rules. All it takes is two people interested in a particular artist, or someone needing that final sketch for a master set, to drive prices past expectations.

Note I tried to stay away from listing "how good a sketch is" as a point above. As cliched as it is, art is very subjective. One of my favorite Lando cards is done in construction paper (OK, so technically not a sketch, I suppose). Likewise, there are some very popular artists I'm just not into. That's fine. As I always say, collect what you like.

I'm sure I missed several other factors. Let me know, and I'm happy to include them!