artcollector9

Thanks Gene for coming and for your kind words-- the real heroes are the collectors who lent their beautiful art!!

hint: sometimes when I'm on the phone with various auction houses they sometimes ask, 'so what are you going to (dollar amount) on this lot?'. Don't answer that! Say you don't know. Just bid until you want to stop.

it works well. You are there live and it moves fast for sure. Don't hesitate, know in advance how much you are willing to bid to.

Hi all, I just spoke with Albert about this. He said the auction is legitimate. He said he will make a statement about it when he is legally able to-- but again, all is well the pieces have clear title, and there are NO issues with the pieces. Best Rob

I have this for sale... message for details!

Very interesting. I did two deals with them. Difficult. I had several deals ALMOST happen. One, we were 10K apart (it was a big deal) and they suggested I add in a 60K piece. Really? I walked. Another time I got something that had been photoshopped to remove discoloration. I mentioned it and they offered a credit, no refund. I wrote them 5 times to say how did the discoloration not show up and to confirm they manually manipulated the image. They ignored my emails. I mentioned the photoshop story to a pal and he said the same thing happened to him.

This one was sold years ago, it's not owned by the family. It's a nice one too!

Hi I sent you a message and image!

eBay offers global shipping-- you ship to eBay (usually in KY) and they reship to your customer. The customer pays both shipping charges, but you are off the hook once the piece gets to eBay.

Hi all it's 1967 or so, full almost crude signature. It was published later as mentioned by others... Here is another 1967 piece for comparison.

Gosh is the hotel really that bad? I saw there were bed bugs in some rooms 7 years ago, but nothing like that now...? Any objective advice?

nothing minor about that beauty!!

56840 WOMAN WONDER 7 PAGE STORY-MAD #10-MAJOR GRAIL PIECE!!! $2,500 $924,000 4 Hr(s), 11 Min(s) Of course there's the Mad WW story sitting at $924K My bid of $2,500 didn't cut it...

I think you need to give him a firm deadline (a week?) for the art or a full refund, with an action by you if he doesn't comply (i.e. going public). Then, if you don't get it, do it.

Askin' ain't gettin'....

Not really Bronty, coins, fine art, antiques, and yes comic art sold prior to the internet--it was just a slower sales cycle. We had niche newspapers in all collectible fields, comics had Comics Buyer's Guide and RBCC PACKED with classified ads...plus dealers and collectors sent out sales lists, etc. and of course Pioneers like Russ and Howard Lowery and others brought professionalism, knowledge, and auctions to our hobby. Rob

Great thread so far Terry. I was there at the time, and I assure younger readers that the prices seemed high at the time... Plenty of folks made $350 a week... so a Wood story was 2-3 weeks salary, at least. However, compared with other commodities, comic art has increased much much more. Cost Of Living 1983 How Much things cost in 1983 Yearly Inflation Rate USA3.22% Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 1258 Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 11.00% Average Cost of new house $82,600 Median Price Of and Existing Home $70,300 Average Income per year $21,070.00 Average Monthly Rent $335.00 Dodge RAM 50 Truck $5665.00 Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Sterling Average House Price 34,795 Gallon of Petrol 1.25

Incredible prices. This was the real beginning of our hobby. Russ deserves a lot of credit for organizing these and establishing the market for Frazetta, Wood, Herriman, Raymond, Foster, and others... Rob

This is a great thread. I think whenever one spends $500 or more, it should be a good investment. it isn't fair to my family if I 'blow' thousands of dollars that can't be recouped in the future if need be. I personally love it all..I'm still thrilled by a great sketch, be it by Frazetta or Wrightson or Kirby or any number of artists... I love modest works as well as master works... I recently picked up a Wood cover and a Wood sketch the same week... I collect deep, not wide...that is, I collect a few artists, and I want A LOT of their stuff, e.g. pencil sketches, ink pieces, finished colored pieces if possible, etc. I've loved comics and the art that created them since I was a kid, and I always will...

The moral is " if you can't be trusted in little things, how can you be trusted in big things?"

If he had dealt with this privately, of course it should have and WOULD have stayed private. Once the media got involved, he NEEDED to make a public statement, which he eventually (and wisely) did. It isn't RIDICULOUS to discuss this, and it wasn't 'NOTHING' that a consignor wasn't paid. I consign A LOT of material to various auction houses. It is an issue that concerns ME. Regarding the 8 MIL shortfall a major auction house had with one buyer, it didn't effect their ability to pay consignors... I think you make a lot of valid points...and yes, a lot worse has happened and goes on even today...but this isn't a case of 'much ado about nothing'. This lady got jerked around until she went to the press. Rob

Ruben and Richie, I agree we are a bunch of gossiping hens; BUT: When a well known auction house fails to pay a consignor and fails to proactively deal with the problem, very simply it IS the business of everyone who would potentially consign...or for that matter even bid in that auction houses' future auctions. I think Roger's comments are welcomed, but late...but better late than never. Those who discussed this aren't at fault, let's please remember that.

People aren't being self righteous. Most people's eyes are wide open. IH showed a lack of integrity by not being honest with the lady and in fact attempted to NOT pay her, rather than to contact her with some sort of payout schedule. As a matter of fact, a well known dealer recently owed me 10K and had a problem paying me on time--he contacted me and suggested a longer payout with his apologies--I accepted and appreciated his forthrightness...and we are now square. IH being somewhat uppity and arrogant at times, well, when the mighty and (sometimes) arrogant fall, it usually draws a large crowd.

10% is high for a seller's fee today. They make the money on the buyer's fee. Reed should have addressed the problem himself and not have an underling respond incorrectly. THey should have called the lady and attempt to agree to a payout schedule--she might have agreed. Instead they didn't bother to call or write--pretty arrogant. Now they are screwed.

I've had mixed experiences with them. Once I placed an absentee bid, they lost it, I had a name, she swore up and down she didn't know me, they found the bid, changed the story. Another time I bought a high end piece and they were very professional. Now---who can trust them?? You would have to be nuts to consign to them...I'd be afraid they'd close shop and keep the art, or sell the art and not pay me.