3 Racketeers

• Status:  Unpublished
• Parody Subject:  3 Musketeers candy bar
• Painter:  Ray Lago
• Concept Writer/Artist:  Frank Santopadre (writer)

History

The preliminary ANS1 checklist that Topps mailed to retailers in early 2004 identified "3 Racketeers" as base sticker #55, but it was not included in the published series for reasons unknown. It was replaced on the checklist by "Snots."

The title was also considered for inclusion in All-New Series 2 in 2005, but this time "3 Racketeers" was dropped because of a complaint by the M&M\Mars company about the parodies of its products that appeared in ANS1 ("Sneakers", "Scarburst", etc.).

Art Stages

Pencil Art The preliminary pencil art for "3 Racketeers" measures 8"x3" on an 11"x7" sheet of drawing paper. The art was sold for $103.51 in an eBay auction which ran from September 20 to 25, 2005. The racketeer characters are an apparent homage to HBO's television series "The Sopranos."

Final Painting The Topps Vault sold the finished art for "3 Racketeers" for $860.00 in an eBay auction which ran from November 10-17, 2005.