ROUGH ART

Long before a sticker was printed, wacky artists had to submit concept sketches to the higher-ups at Topps for approval.  These sketches are called "rough art" and served as guides for the final wacky paintings.

Although most of the original paintings still exist, the roughs were often tossed out with the trash after a series was completed.  The Cover Ghoul Rough Art apparently spent some time on the floor, as there is a shoeprint on the back.

Until recently, the only existing roughs were from the 12th through 15th series, along with some vintage xerox copies from the 9th through 16th series.

Then Topps shocked the world, auctioning off thirteen 3rd series roughs a couple years ago.

Below are the original series roughs which have surfaced so far.  I am confident that others exist in the hands of collectors, and hopefully we'll be seeing more in the future.