AKA Rick

I hope Spider-Gwen just becomes a better character by the nature of evolution and not force fed by Marvel/Disney and the marketing machine trying to tell you to like it by their design and over-saturation. Although the concept is much like any other spin-off variation on an existing character, the character design and storytelling can separate it from being deemed an easy cheap-shot imitator or flash-in-the-pan if done right again.

I know that "reserves" have such an ugly stigma to them. Many bidders refuse to nudge their bids up to hit a reserve, in hopes that the piece doesn't hit the reserve and then the seller is then pitched on lower offers or buyers hope it'll be re-solicited at a lower price. So, I understand the concern for not using reserves and the appeal of the No Reserve auctions where bidders know a piece is guaranteed to sell, "going, going, gone!" and will find a new home. It's that aspect that I like no reserves and am personally willing to roll the dice, feast or famine... but then again, I don't have pieces valued in the tens of thousands of dollars nor an acquisition cost of a piece I want to guarantee covering. I do love the fact that with a no reserve auction the marketplace generally does take care of the value, 'tho of course if an auction is not well publicized, prices can be disappointing,butr if there were 2 passionate buyers, it could be elating to a seller to see abnormal pricing above and beyond expectations. Mike's system sound simply like what might be called a "safety net reserve" or using a golf term, a mulligan, where if things aren't going the way anticipated, he's able to rectify it and essentially everyone in theory walks away happy. He gets his piece back, the auction house gets their fees, no harm, no foul. Of course the underbidder(s) contending for the piece may have legitimate concern and complaints of it not being a true fair marketplace environment, so I can see that standpoint too. I'll be forthright myself 'tho in that I've always had very pleasant experiences with Mike, in fact a few of my favorite pieces I've bought from him at reasonable prices, and he's always been gracious to speak with and deal with, so I hate to see too much negativity towards him and this news wouldn't impact my future support of buying from him or even bidding on Heritage (I actually only bid what I'm comfortable with anyway).

That is the general opinion on the impact or difference within the Walking Dead mythology... TV versus Comic Book? So, if a character is deceased in the TV show VS alive in the comic book Vice Versa And even after death, do you think that certain characters remain iconic such as DALE who (I'd assume this is not revealing any spoilers to fans who've been watching the show and reading the book) is dead but played a key role in so many tales of zombieland, so that the comic books with their 1st appearances or artwork featuring the characters still retains their value or maybe even increase due to nostalgia? I thought Abraham was a great character in the comic books, maybe not so much on the TV show, but wonder what his impact is on the collectibility of the comics and original artwork.

I am looking for 3 specific pages by Joe Prado and Ed Benes with Alex Lei on the art team: Birds of Prey (January 2005) Issue #76 Page #10 http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=652729 Birds of Prey (January 2005) Issue #76 Page #20 http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=652728 Birds of Prey (January 2005) Issue #76 Page #22 http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=652727 I know they were all on eBay over a decade ago sold by seller Comiconart!! who is Ed Benes art dealer/rep. How I know is I got distracted and outbid on the auctions since there were a sequence listed so while one was ending another one was closing, so it was hard to check my bids on every auction ending sequentially. AND also the cover by JASON PEARSON Birds of Prey (January 2005) Issue #76 Cover http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=652746

I think for new books that are taken off the stands, unread and graded, a 9.8 is probably the industry standard for a high grade since the book goes from printer to distributor to retailer to collector with some room for error (damages) but generally it's a reasonable expectation to get at least a 9.6 for most books, so a 9.8 becomes the best of the bunch, not necessary as elusive as finding high grade vintage books (but today's moderns are tomorrow's vintage) but important to many collectors nonetheless. It's been somewhat proven that the highest of graded examples of any collectible, be it a coin, stamp, card or comic usually commands good multiples in value to it's substandard peer.

I hope that Maggie isn't taken out. She's popular on the TV show, 'tho I like how the comics and show need not parallel (and hope that keeps Glenn alive on TV). I think if there is a death in #150, Lydia is taken out, to then put Carl back on track to build a relationship with Sophia, and continue the war against Alpha by killing her daughter.

Hopefully in theory you buy stuff today that goes up at a faster pace than the Hush pages and are maybe able to trade up to one or sell off certain pieces to then buy a Hush piece where your cost basis is lower than the actual sticker price. I feel the same way about certain art which is beyond the realm of affordability as far as market value to willingness to spend cash. I categorize Byrne Uncanny X-Men; Miller Daredevil; McFarlane Spider-Man; Ditko Spider-Man; almost anything Jack Kirby and a few other runs in that realm. I'd sell/trade 'tho to secure some pieces, so hoping to do "upgrades" in the future that way.

I feel that the Loeb/Lee/Williams/Sinclair "HUSH" is going to be looked upon as one of the most classic storylines of Batman and comics in general, where the prices will keep on going up since it seems rare to find pieces available in the market for sale and most are in private collections of fans who love 'em. In that, I'd personally rather have a Hush panel page over any Capullo cover any day because the artwork means more to me than being just an aesthetic pin-up of sort. It's one of the finest examples of great storytelling. I only wish I'd gotten into buying artwork when Albert Moy had pages available years ago.

Hard to criticize him for pricing as he does in terms of original art values being very subjective, as they're not "priced to move" in terms of general affordability compared to his peers, but Capullo seems to be a rather smart business man in controlling the supply/inventory to the demand in pricing what he wants (what it will take) for his artwork, knowing buyers have no other options to secure his artwork from other sources. He may end up one of those "he who dies with the most toys, wins!" stack of unsold art as the marketplace may be unwilling to pay what he wants, but at least he's maintaining rate integrity and for those who end up taking that leap of faith and paying the asking price, hopefully there's never a future fire sale where he drops prices and market values adjust downward. I wonder however, if he has worked with inkers to split original pages, and going through the inkers might be a better route for collectors.

He does have a unique recognizable style, so isn't a cookie cutter artist, which I do like and can appreciate. Not being a hardcore fan, there's some pieces I like better than others, and other pieces not so much at all. As far as reputation with fans beyond the portfolio, I think he's hit and miss as a personality based on who knows what. I recall hearing he profanely said "F' off" to a fan simply asking for an autograph at the Heavy Metal booth at Comic Con a few years ago, yet when he was at the Las Vegas Comic Expo a few years later, he was doing free sketches all day for fans with a friendly disposition.

Are the "Danger Girl #1 Chromium A-Go-Go" variants worth much these days? At one time they seemed sky high, but I feel they've fallen a bit and if anything are worth a lot less than their pinnacle years ago.

Yea If a book moves because a "spec" site likes it, that's a bad reason to invest. If a book moves because of a media deal, key issue, or rarity, that's a good reason to invest. If it's a comic book that's a bad reason to "invest". +1 Every time someone uses the word 'invest' in regards to comics, I can't help but chuckle. And 'movement', that's another one. 'Movement' "Some sucker on eBay bought a copy! Get yours ready!" This +1000. Traditionally, an investment is something that generates income while it is held and speculation is something held in anticipation of gains when it is sold. So, comics, gold and tulips are not investments they are speculation. Bonds are an investment. Stocks could be either one. Neither is a bad thing, but the strategies for maximizing returns are different for each. This is a great article, that helps explain the nuances in the distinction: Investing vs. Speculating QFT- "So, if you buy something with the expectation or hope that you can eventually sell it to someone else for more than you paid, that’s a speculation. ... Overall, we can describe ourselves and the way we participate in the market any way we want. It’s more important to be aware of what exactly we are partaking in, and are honest with ourselves as to why we’re doing it. " The key is that neither are "wrong" just different and apply different rules. If you look at your comics as a financial instrument, then you need to understand what sort of financial instrument they are and how best to maximize your return. For me, I don't see comics as a financial instrument. They are a hobby. However, I don't have a problem with people that do see comics as a financial instrument and behave ethically toward that end. I like them because they buy my comics in which I have no interest. For me, my investments are in my portfolio and my comics are in my closet The article talks in circles really, basically how the author chose to phase things. Investing: Pay yourself first Well, the old way was easy to tell. An investment is something that pays you. So is real estate an investment? It can be. If you purchase a house or a building and then rent it out, the answer is yes. Of course, if the income doesn’t cover your expenses, then it’s a bad investment. ... The same can be said of buying artwork, or any other collectible, and yes, even an education. You may get back what you put in, and maybe more. And then again, you may not. On the other hand, buying a business fits the classic definition. The caveat, of course is that that how “good” an investment depends on how much profit is derived from owning it. Taken out of context, the quoted portion may seem confusing. However, the point is pretty straight forward, artwork and collectibles are generally not an investment because they don't pay income while you hold them. Any gains are realized on the back end when they are sold. But, they could be investments if they were able to generate income while you held them e.g. artwork in an art museum that generated revenue. But in the end, it's all semantics. I'm not here to defend the article. If someone wants to call them investments, I don't have a problem with that, I just don't agree with them. The biggest barrier not too many people discuss about with collectibles being investments and comparing them to the stock market is... 1) VALUE A) With stocks, generally you can go online or to your broker, look at the buy/sell price and know the value. What people are asking, so you can buy at that price. What people are offering,so you can sell at that price. The spread between the value price and the offer price usually isn't that wide, so, for example, right now AMAZON stock has a Bid Price of $649.94 for which you can sell it or right now, and an Ask Price of $650.50 for which you can buy it for right now. B) With comics, there's price guides. The guide is a reference too, often not so accurate. It's not a catalog you can order from. It's not an offer sheet you can sell off of. You can go online to the CGC GPA or eBay "completed/sold" or any auction house's website to see historical precedent of sales figures, but you'll find wide ranges, so it's rather vague at times The spread with comics is all over the map. Just because you see a book at a comic shop, convention or online with a price tag, does not mean that is the value. It's the sales price for which they are "asking" but the fact of the matter is it remains unsold as you see it in front of you, so it's somewhat clear that it's not the value, otherwise it would be sold. So, the "Bid Price" would be the price you could sell it for, and most dealers/resellers offer fractional amounts to their "Ask Price" 2) SELLING A) With stocks, once you decide to sell, you can pull the trigger with your broker on most stocks (sans penny stocks on the sheets) and your sale will be complete within the day if you're willing to accept the stated market value. If you have hundreds of positions and thousands of shares, it doesn't matter how many you have, you can generate revenue very quickly. If you have junk stock that's fallen out of favor but still is listed and has value, you can sell it. There's no prejudice nor humming and hawing by the buyers trying to negotiate you down. B) With comics, once you decide to sell, you'll have to find a buyer. Sure, you can dump product to get it snatched up quickly or sell at a discount to a dealer, but that's not actualizing maximum value nor profits (or often times losses). If you have a collection of comic books, and you want to sell them to buy a house, therefore maximize your profits, you'll have to take a lot of time to sell each book one by one yourself, it's a laborious process. You not only have to wait and find the buyer, but if you sell on eBay for example, you need to take photos, write the listing and fulfill the product. If you are in liquidation mode, you'll fastly find out just how bad an investment collectibles can be if you need to sell everything, the trash with the treasure. If you have books that went from cover price to dollar or quarter bin at the stores and you try to sell 'em to the stores, some will flat out reject buying them (dead inventory takes space, space equals rent, rent is an overhead cost) or offer you pennies on the dollar for which you paid, by the bulk like $0.10 each or $20 for a long box. Some will flat out refuse even for free ('tho you can donate 'em or give them away rather easily, but for this discussion about "Investing" it's not applicable an option to essentially throw an asset away) 3) TAXATION A) With stocks, you have capital gains and losses, so if you pull out short there's a peripheral benefit of a tax write off. If you have a portfolio, it's easy to transfer those assets to your heirs in the event of your passing. B) With comics, if you take a bath on a book, you can't write it off, but in the same breath if you gain, you don't have to pay taxes on that, so long as it's hobby income and not scaled to a level where it's considered a business, then it's just like stocks to a degree, just a lot more paperwork to keep track of each transaction's acquisition cost and sales revenue. Imagine yourself as a passionate collector with a huge collection in the sunset of their lives. When you want to sell off your collection with a huge value, you're going to have to figure out how to report that income. If you happen to not want to deal with it and is that proverbial winner, "the guy who dies with the most toys" and leaves your valued collection to a spouse or heirs who don't/didn't share the same passion and now need to liquidate, it becomes their burden. Not quite as bad as leaving a time share property in your will as a financial albatross, but you'd potentially turn over in your grave if your heirs saw your treasure as trash and dumped it or sold 'em off to an unscrupulous dealer offering fractional valued payouts, plus they'll have to deal with the capital gains. 4) STORAGE A) With stocks, you don't typically hold your certificates, so it's held for you securely, shy of a technical fiasco, it's resistant to theft or damage. It's organized and easy to see what you have. B) With comics and collectibles, you have to store your assets. Make room for them and put them in a safe environment to maintain the condition and organization. The bigger your collection gets, the more irritating it can be. If you have a small home and a family, it competes for space which would generally be assigned for necessities. It's exposed for theft or damage. If you want to insure it, that's another policy and fee you need to pay for. If you rent a storage locker, that's also overhead. If you collect toys, action figures and statues, you'll probably be in worst shape in the future since they're so condition sensitive and often bulky, taking up room to store as well. I speak from the experience of having a garage full of $15 priced retail action figures that I see selling/offered with a $3 price tag and no buyers, and my ego is keeping me from taking a huge loss, for which I'd be better off donating them for a tax write off than putting forth the efforts to sell them one by one. So, as you think of your comic book collection as your 401K or part of your investment portfolio, remember and keep in mind just how difficult it can be to turn your assets into cash when you need it.

Out of curiosity, do you know what the wholesale cost (per book and if there's any set-up fees aside from commissioning an artist and getting Marvel's approval on the image proposed to be used) is for a retailer to purchase 3,000 of a comic book from Marvel to do a special print run?

He just released a Holiday Print if you go to his website, it's FREE as his gift to his customers with a purchase during the holidays http://jscottcampbell.com/ He also has original artwork, remarked covers for sale in the $500-700 range.

Print run is WAY HIGH BRO. Long enough to see this on Midtown's shelf when I travel there, once every 2 years. Very few Midtown variants have risen in value. I do think regional releases, those LCS variants are generally a bit more niche. Sure, they're priced higher than the normal comics, but as far as general hobby respect, they seem to be a bit less sought after. They feel like reprints and manufactured collectibles that a store commissions an artist to do, and places an order with Marvel to make all in the name of creating a demand for a limited edition, where traditionally there's more of a chase for variants or the old school way where a comic is printed, goes out of print, later becomes popular, then sought after.

I'm new to this thread. My bottom line is, I love the Green Arrow #47 variant cover. I bought a black unopened bagged edition of the comic, opened it and did find that cover, in color. Is that all of the fanfare? Someone mentioned to me at the store that maybe for that cover, other variants existed. I'm not interested in chasing original sketch covers per se. What I am interested in, is if there's variations of this Tim Sale cover. Whether it's in B&W, a "Sketch Variant", or anything besides the color one I have. Does anyone know more info. Thanks!

COA's in general are only worth as much as the paper they're printed on. Anyone can photocopy a COA or create something regal looking with a signature vouching for it's supposed authenticity. Always consider the source of the COA and the reputation of the name backing it up. So, to me, marketers who aren't known that tout COA's to instill confidence in their potential customers coupled by bargain prices usually are red flags for fraud. If a deal sounds too good to be true, the majority of the time it is. You need to only spend what you're willing to throw away and lose at that point if in doubt. It's better to be safe than sorry, pass than fail. The hardest situations are when a piece is priced at market value and there's no red flags on it's legitimacy and it ends up being fraudulent.

The Walking Dead continues to maintain it's popularity if not increase. I think most who read the comics watch the TV show, but I don't think most who watch the TV show read the comic (many in fact don't even know that the comic book exists and existed first). I'm impressed by the maintenance of the prices/value. I think with a comic that's going onto a decade and over 150 issues is more than a flash in the pan, and it's one of those series where the body of work is consistently good with the same creative team for the most part, and no new writers undoing histories written in the past, resurrecting the dead or altering character traits as you see in super hero comics. It seems like the minimum for any page is about $300. The interesting values to follow are those which are inflated due to the villain, be it the Governor, Nagan or now Alpha... once defeated, maybe soon forgotten, and replaced by a new nemesis more evil, I wonder if the values/prices would reduce. Also, for popular characters who've passed such as Abraham for example, if Michonne, Carl, Andrea or Jesus were to get written off, what would that do to the values.

OA is tough because it truly is one of a kind. Comics can be replaced. Most of them anyway. The problem with Original Art is that it's true, as collector's it's hard to sell pieces knowing that they more than likely can't be replaced with the exact one of a kind piece. But, there's a few realities and facts that motivates collectors who aren't flippers, dealers or resellers per se but those who casually jettison pieces from their collection. 1) We can't afford everything we want to own in terms of just buying other OA, with that sometimes you need to sell (or trade) in order to buy. 2) We often regret buying pieces for any number of reasons, so as our collections grow, we scale back and reduce the bottom layer. 3) Most OA collectors are artist driven, so many times you'd get one piece by an artist as a placeholder or find a "better" piece to upgrade to, and then sell off the inferior piece. It's true 'tho, about some art that keeps going up in value such as pedigree names like Neal Adams, Steve Ditko, John Buscema, John Romita, Gil Kane, Jack Kirby, etc. - - but sometimes it's almost like trading stocks... Some look at it as getting out of one position that is high priced and does grow in value, but maybe seen as slower than another speculative position to secure at a lower price that's anticipated to go up at a faster rate. So, maybe some are trading in their Frank Miller's for Mike Mignola's.

I think the more interesting stories may be the opposite question: 1) Any book you sell at it's peak only for it to crash down and you gleefully look back now knowing you could re-acquire that same book for a fraction of what you sold it for? 2) Any book you bought at it's peak, only for it to crash tremendously in value? I remember when Alpha Flight #106 when Northstar came out of the closet revealing his homosexuality back in 1992 was reminiscent of the 1989 Fleer Baseball Bill Ripken "F-Face" card where the media took the story and publicized it to the point where non-hobbyists were trying to secure these collectibles, driving up prices fast and furious only for them to subsequently fall to earth.

I really liked that page as well. Bid on it, but was blasted out of the water. I think I got doubled up on, in that my valuation (what it's worth to me) was around $600.

New Lighthearted Sub-Topic... how cute or cool was this page: George Tuska and Frank McLaughlin Justice League of America #153 Page 12 Julius Schwartz Original Art (DC, 1978). Julius "Julie" Schwartz, the man who shaped the Silver Age of DC comics, is featured on this page with some of the characters he helped bring to life! The JLA have accidentally traveled to Earth-Prime. In a bit of meta-storytelling, page features an image of the actual cover of Justice League of America #151, as a citizen shows them that they are just comic book characters on this world. http://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/panel-pages/george-tuska-and-frank-mclaughlin-justice-league-of-america-153-page-12-julius-schwartz-original-art-dc-1978-1-/a/121547-14211.s?ic2=mybidspage-lotlinks-12202013 I liked it but couldn't love the price tag of over $1,300. ...and on a related topic question: What are people's opinions generally about the Heritage Signature FLOOR auctions VS the Heritage Signature INTERNET ONLY auctions VS The weekly Heritage Internet Comics Sunday as far as sellers consigning or buyers bidding? For some reason, as a buyer, I usually focus on the Signature Floor auctions, then get so fatigued, I sometimes am burned out to muster up the enthusiasm for the Signature Internet Only auctions (coupled by the fact that those consignments are a tier below the floor auction offerings, and then sometime get too busy to even remember to check in on the weekly Sunday auctions. As a seller, I did submit consignments for both the Signature Floor as well as the Signature Internet. I don't doubt the power of a featured live auctioneer environment with multiple methods for buyers to bid, be it through the phone, internet or in person without really any chance of getting sniped (good for passionate buyers and great optimized opportunity to realize the highest price for sellers). The Signature Internet, I sort of have mixed opinions on. To me, it's sort of like if you buy tickets to a big concert, and you only care about the headliner, you may skip the opening act to focus on the main event. In that way, as a seller, I'd be a bit concerned by a similar attitude towards the material that goes into the Signature Internet and how buyers may participate or perceive consignments. I do like the fact that, again, it's difficult to get sniped through Heritage's online internet bidding system that I believe refreshes the clock everytime a bid is placed, allowing time for other bidders to consider buying a piece, so there's no sniping. And for the Sunday weekly Internet auctions, I've seen nice material there but also a lot of sub-par consignments and hear a lot of collectors don't even check to shop the lots weekly, so speculate it could be a forum for buyers to find good opportunities, but maybe not so great for sellers for the most part, especially if offering consigned material valued in that sub-$300 estimated range.

When I went to a Heritage Auction to bid in person, they did a nice job providing food and beverage while the auction was occurring. A really nice touch by Heritage.

I'd assume the buyer of the original cover had to buy the color guide to have the complete set of the original art process. OR it could be the runner up non-winner of the original art cover who just wanted to go home with something and it got bid up between the same two vying for the GL/GA #76 cover. I'd be surprised if anyone else but the top 2 bidder were the ones pushing that price up of essentially a colored small copy of the cover which doesn't even look too remarkable to command nearly $10k.

I like the GL/GA at least 2x as much by artist and composition, so it seems to make sense, especially since GL/GA #76 is a stronger book than Amazing Spider-Man #98 as a published comic book too, in many collector's eyes. These prices are easy to look at and compare to one another but if you really sit back and think about it, the GL/GA is the cost of buying a house in most non-metropolitan cities and at least half a home in major metros like LA, SF, etc. - - and the Amazing Spider-Man price can buy you a home in most rural towns outright. Lots of cash for a few oz of paper that 'til recently probably didn't cost an arm and a leg, so I'd imagine the sellers are experiencing huge return on investment profits... Congrats to the sellers for pulling money off the table!