Banty Red

 Today is going to be fairly short and sweet.  Banty Red is a essentially a fantasy brand created by a collector who likes to create small pieces of art work.  I do not have any connection or affiliation to the maker of these cards.  I am simply a fan of the work.

These cards have been around for several years now.  I don't have extensive knowledge of the company or the collector who creates them, but I will link the website and let you know that he currently offers a handful of these via weekly ebay auctions.  Apparently these cards are each hand crafted and take some time to make.  They seem to be picking up steam more and more, gaining acceptance from a wide array of collectors.  To strip it down as basic as you can, these are custom cards.  However, these are some of the nicest custom cards I have run across to date.

This example is one of a handful of Steve Garvey cards I have been able to win that are Banty products.  This one is blank backed and very reminiscent of the old Hires Root Beer set from 1958.  

Collecting these is a slippery slope.  I want to see more new and fun designs, but I also don't want to go broke buying them.  To my knowledge, I have only missed 1 type of the Garvey cards released, but that one sold in excess of $100!  That is a pretty steep price for what is essentially a fantasy card, but as I stated before, these are true works of art and the are not the cheap, mass produced junk a lot of people are selling.  If you have never seen these before, I urge you to check out his auctions.  Maybe find a lesser collected player and grab one.  Some go as cheap as $10.  I bet you will not be disappointed.

Banty Red