stinkininkin

On 2/20/2022 at 4:35 AM, romitaman said:

The What IF #1 cover was never considered to be drawn by John Buscema when i owned it 20+ years ago.

Most people felt it was Ron Wilson (and top notch inking....most likely Sinnott)

 it is a nice looking cover.

Thank you! I never got a John Buscema vibe off that cover! No idea who actually drew it myself, but I don't get the Buscema attribution.

On 1/16/2022 at 9:23 PM, Ted_L said:

Looking at Heritage, the X-Men #95 cover went for $155K in 2016, but apart from that I"m not aware of any higher non-Spidey Kane art.  Of course Giant-Size X-Men #1 would easily break that record if it went up for sale again.

You're right of course about those key Xmen books. I forgot about them and they would easily be top tier value examples. With first appearances all the rage these days, I'm guessing the @delekkerste cover for Tomb of Dracula #10 would be another coveted and extremely expensive Kane cover.

I don't track Gil Kane art as closely as some other artists, but I'm thinking that Kane/Sinnott FF 143 cover at 150k is a new high water mark for non Spidey Kane art. Does that sound right?

Sorry to be "that guy", but I'm thinking this list is probably in need of an update based on general current trends (and I say this as someone who thinks the Secret Wars 3+ million sale was a total outlier). But yeah, have at it...

On 1/13/2022 at 2:49 PM, DeadpoolJr. said:

Yes, OA is the new hot thing for Chinese billionaires doing off-shore money laundering. Some might wonder why comic art verse traditional things like real-estate or fine art, but it makes sense once you realize this is the result of the cultural export and popularity of the MCU in the Chinese market. 

So in OA, six figures is the new five figures.

Prices seemed shocking to me across the board, Secret Wars pages aside. And as alluded to by a previous poster, private sales on quality material is probably all but dead at this point. It's auction only, or the gnawing feeling that you are leaving money on the table in a private transaction, no matter how generous an offer appears. 

On 10/23/2021 at 8:03 AM, comix4fun said:

Thanks Scott, 

All that time negotiation contracts and reviewing cases, looking for the thing that can go wrong, to try and protect against it just makes me lock-up mentally on deciding to send it off. If a piece is of out of my control not having it covered if it's damaged or lost is scary with unique items, for me. Hard to break that mindset once it's locked in. 

I guarantee that if I had to package up and mail all the things I had Gordon work on over the years, as well as worry about the return mailing, my anxiety would have been orders of magnitude higher. Your concerns are not unreasonable.

Well, I'm guessing this topic is going to get shut down at any moment. Before that happens...

...For what it's worth, I've used Gordan Christman numerous times. He does good work, but it can take a while. I will sheepishly admit it never occurred to me ask about any insurance he carries. It's a fair concern in hindsight. Gordan is local for me, so I guess it felt safer than shipping art off to another city or state. Not logical I suppose, but over the course of 15-20 years of restorations, I've never had a problem. Chalk it up to good luck, which is much cheaper than insurance. Until it's not.

On 10/22/2021 at 1:07 PM, Nexus said:

I've now heard from both the underbidder and the winner. I was actually informed about it by the underbidder...I wasn't watching and had no idea. Even to me, this was insane.

Treating it as an outlier and it won't affect our pricing of his art. Obviously, if this turns out to not be an outlier, then we will have to re-examine. But for now, maintaining status quo.

Outliers become the norm with frightening regularity and speed these days unfortunately (for collectors).

On 10/19/2021 at 8:21 AM, vodou said:

Not me*. I sold back then too (but not since  ) but always bought...

so...no regrets  

 

*Though some might claim I am for other reasons 

Well, I said 99% of collectors, not 100%. And "better" art is relative....

Of the 132 watching me, several have been watching since 2005! That's a little bit creepy. 

On 9/30/2021 at 9:40 AM, vodou said:

It's okay. This is the one I bust the bank for:

Both are excellent examples of why nostalgia should never be confused for quality art! 

On 9/16/2021 at 8:04 PM, BCarter27 said:

Wow! What a surreal messed up day this show was...

My buddy Hoss and I had to brave Port Authority at the crack of dawn. At least Dunkin was open.

Once out in Jersey, we missed our stop. On the walk over, I fell, sprained my ankle, and tore up my hand. And we had to sprint across a highway and hop the median! It was either that or get Lyme's disease from the tick-ridden field of head-high grass the GPS said to walk through.

So, Comic Art Con organizers... PLEASE switch to a different venue that's easier to get to from Manhattan. LOL

We drag ourselves up to the dealers' room. Whaddaya mean cash only?! Sigh...

OK, we finally dig into some art! Here are some pics of random stuff that caught my eye-
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/M191EebjlvPByhPd1lyoboZ4GrP9RoC9SdHKReA5yPR

The JPGs have the dealer name. Go ask them about any missing prices.

Big ups (Do kids still say that?) to @Sideshow Bob for purchase advice. (But big bags of poop for bailing on us!)

@AnkurJgets the Gold Star for the show by helping me with a deal. Mistah J, you're the best!

Great seeing some familiar faces. I wish I could have chatted with more folks, but we had to RUN for the bus! On my bad ankle! The bus was then involved in an accident. And we were moments from being attacked by a meth head who thought I stole the $40 he lost. Hoss then made the adult decision for us to call a Lyft... and take it all the way back to the city.

Btw, the only thing to eat in walking distance of the show was a KFC. Yes, the fast food chain that's so dumbed down, they dropped their real name and settled for three letters. And I'm vegan. Yeah, that was fun. You haven't lived until you've put together a meal of KFC sides.

So let's work on a new venue. I was sorely missing that nice restaurant inside the old location.

But thanks to Albert Moy for bringing this bad boy... Walking out with this made the whole mess worth it:

@stinkininkin  Not enough good things to say about this page!

Cool page! Glad you got something you wanted. I remember when the $1400 asking price (pencilled in the upper right) for brand new art seemed pretty bold!  

On 9/16/2021 at 4:34 PM, bluechip said:

CAN'T FIND THE ORIGINAL POST OF THIS--

 

   On 9/16/2021 at 11:29 AM, stinkininkin said:

Collectibles that any guy off the street would probably recognize, and yet still down (after a big run up I guess). All the while, the only hobby I ever took any real interest in out of pure love and completely devoid of investment considerations, original comic art, seems to be just about bullet proof (so far). What are the odds?

 

While I am a big believer in the "collectibles that any guy off the street would probably recognize" that belief does NOT extend to brand new stuff created in order to be a collectible.  Anything that touts itself as a "Limited edition" or "variant", "dealer incentive", "exclusive" or has the word "collectible" printed right on it.  Same goes for sports items used or worn and/or signed with the express intent of being packaged and sold as a collectible.   

 

If true, that's a worthwhile distinction I hadn't thought about. Sounds right to me.

On 9/16/2021 at 6:28 AM, delekkerste said:

Yes.

My friend invested in 10 Rally offerings and was down on 8 of them at one point. IIRC, the biggest loser was the Michael Jordan 1984 signing day jersey, which, even after rebounding 15% in the latest trading window, is still down 38% since Rally first sold it in January 2021. 

The 1985 game-worn Air Jordan 1's are down 45% since being offered in November 2020. The 1996 game-worn Air Jordan 11's are down 25% since January, and that's even after rebounding 20% in the latest trading window. 

There are plenty of offerings with minus signs in front of them...Hermes Crocodile Birkin bag down 22%...2014 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti wine collection down 24%...1993 Jaguar XJ220 down 36%...1980 Lamborghini Countach down 37%...signed copy of JFK's Profiles in Courage down 27%...Signed 1st edition The Great Gatsby down 32%...2000 Pokemon booster box down 30%...2003 SP Authentic LeBron James autographed rookie card down 35%...

Collectibles that any guy off the street would probably recognize, and yet still down (after a big run up I guess). All the while, the only hobby I ever took any real interest in out of pure love and completely devoid of investment considerations, original comic art, seems to be just about bullet proof (so far). What are the odds?

Thank you! Nice pics, and some very nice art!

On 9/13/2021 at 10:18 AM, delekkerste said:

Maybe @stinkininkin can confirm, but, I believe that Torpedo head honcho John Dolmayan was Jim Lee's best man at his wedding and they have a relationship together that goes way back. 

I'm willing to confirm, only because both John and Jim have talked about this and their friendship publicly on social media. They are very good friends.