Top 10 Inkworks Autographs of the 1990s
Inkworks was one of the companies at the forefront of trading cards when autographs were introduced as a regular part of the hobby in the late 1990s. The final few years resulted in the launch of many big lines and signatures from established and future stars. So while there might not be nearly as many autograph cards to draw from as there are today, Inkworks managed to get several extremely important ones in the days before signature box hits.
Here’s a look at 10 of the very best Inkworks autograph cards from the 1990s.
10. 1997 Spawn Movie Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane is one of the most influential pop culture creators of the 1980s and ‘90s. After rising to prominence drawing some of Marvel’s top books, he was one of the co-founders of Image Comics in 1992. His creation, Spawn, was instantly one of the best-selling comics in the industry. Within a few years, the dark character was on the big screen, complete with a set of trading cards. Included on the checklist is one of Inkworks’ earliest autograph cards courtesy of the creator. McFarlane would sign for the company again in 1999’s Spawn Toy Files set. That one is the more affordable choice.
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9. 1999 The World Is Not Enough Desmond Llewelyn
Before Rittenhouse took the reigns of the James Bond trading card license for nearly 20 years, Inkworks held it. While they didn’t make a lot of sets for the franchise, they were the first to bring autographs to the forefront. 1999’s The World Is Not Enough is home to the only Desmond Llewelyn autograph outside of cut signatures. The actor, who played Q in 17 films dating back to From Russia with Love, passed away just a few weeks after his final film’s premiere. To put it into perspective, Llewelyn reprised the role with every actor to play James Bond prior to Daniel Craig.
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8. 1999 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3 Eliza Dushku
Outside of the core Scooby gang, Eliza Dushku’s Faith was one of the most popular characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Her first autograph card is the headliner for the show’s third season set and remains one of the most popular from the show’s run at Inkworks. For those looking for a more affordable autograph card from the actress, there’s also 2000 BTVS Reflections, 2004 Angel Season 4 and the celebrity-driven 2015 Panini Americana.
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7. 1998 Lost in Space Lacey Chabert
Lacey Chabert’s acting career might not be as splashy as a lot of others, but she has put together a prolific resume since first rising to fame as a pre-teen star in Party of Five. She’s continued to appear in movies and TV shows — both in front of the camera and as a voice actress — ever since. Chabert’s most iconic role might be in Mean Girls but her lone autograph card comes from the 1998’s big-screen remake of Lost in Space.
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6. 1999 Sleepy Hollow Danny Elfman
Chances are you could sit next to Danny Elfman on a bus for two hours or stand next to him in the grocery store lineup and not recognize him. Chances are also good that even the mention of The Nightmare Before Christmas or Tim Burton’s Batman and Beetlejuice is enough to get you singing some of his songs or humming a few bars from one of his movies. Sleepy Hollow might not be his most famous film or most memorable score, but it is home to one of the best autograph cards of the ‘90s. Elfman later signed for NECA’s 2001 Nightmare Before Christmas set, although he is not pictured.
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5. 1999 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2 Charisma Carpenter
Another early Buffy autograph from a core character, Charisma Carpenter’s second season autograph is actually available in two options. First there’s the one simply signed “Charisma.” There’s also the scarce full name version. Even the more common one is very popular, bolstered by tougher odds that came when autographs weren’t promised in every box and the fact that it’s from one of the earliest sets for the show. When Carpenter moved on to the Angel spinoff, she signed that show’s season two set as well. Keeping with the sophomore theme, there’s the more affordable autographs in Inkworks’ 2007 Veronica Mars Season 2 set.
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4. 1998 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1 David Boreanaz
Before Team Edward and Team Jacob, there was only Team Angel. Sometimes a villain, sometime’s Buffy’s lover, David Boreanaz was always smouldering in the key Buffy the Vampire Slayer role. Despite multiple seasons here then his own spinoff, Angel, Boreanaz signed just twice. His first happened to come in Inkworks’ smash BTVS Season 1 release.
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3. 1998 Small Soldiers Kirsten Dunst
Before she was Mary Jane in the original Spider-Man, before she was an Oscar nominee, even before she was a cheerleader in Bring It On, Kirsten Dunst has a supporting spot in Inkworks’ Small Soldiers, which was basically Gremlins meets Toy Story. The movie might not have been a smash, but it did result in the actresses lone autograph card to date. Although always popular, it took off again in the hype surrounding Spider-Man: No Way Home. While Dunst ultimately didn’t appear, now that the Multiverse has been established, it’s possible she could in the future.
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2. 1999 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2 John Ritter
John Ritter is on of the great comedians of his generation. His turn as Jack Tripper on Three’s Company remains one of the most memorable ever to grace a sitcom. However, it was a single-episode appearance on Buffy the Vampire Slayer that resulted in his only autograph card. Unfortunately, Ritter passed away at the age of 54 just a few years after the set came out.
This one will keep variation collectors busy. Besides the basic black signature version, there are some with other ink colors.
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1998 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1 Alyson Hannigan
Until Sarah Michelle Gellar finally signed Buffy the Vampire Slayer cards in 2017, this was the show’s top autograph card. Some still might see it as such. Coming from Inkworks’ landmark Buffy debut, it was the key card in launching one of the company’s most successful lines. Factor in Hannigan’s roles in the American Pie films and as Lily in How I Met Your Mother and it’s easy to see the importance this card had both then and now. Even with Rittenhouse getting Hannigan to sign a few more cards in recent years, this one still carries tremendous prestige and value.
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The cards of The Rock and Brendan Fraser from Mummy/Scorpion King are very popular. Inkworks also landed some pretty great directors including Joe Dante, David Cronenberg, and Barry Sonnenfeld. My personal favorite of the autograph sets are the ones for animated series “The Simpsons” and “Scooby-Doo”. For “The Simpsons” over the course of 2 sets, they missed only Julie Kavner (the voice of Marge), but otherwise had cards for all the other major characters and important supporting characters. For Scooby-Doo, they missed only Don Messick (Scooby’s voice) as he’d already passed away, but delivered autographs of the original Shaggy, Velma, Fred, and Daphne. Best of all, every single one of the card I mentioned and all from Ryan’s Top 10 are on-card. Inkworks only used stickers towards the very end of their 10 year run.