Lee B.

Nice job channeling Ron Graham! Who is Ron Graham, some of you newer collectors might be asking? Ron routinely cut up strip art in the 1970s to sell individual panels, and was proud of it. You can see one of his inimitable ads from the Buyer's Guide for Comic Fandom here (courtesy of Glen Gold), if you click on the Facebook link in the upper-right-hand corner of this page: www.comicartads.com Toward the end of his life, Ron was featured on the TV show Hoarders, and it was a typically sad episode. Best, Lee

I would imagine that the auction didn't see a lot of action in the first few days, so someone contacted the seller privately and asked to "buy it now" for $1,000. The seller agreed, changed or relisted the auction in coordination with the prospective buyer, and the sale was made. It wasn't an excellent move for a seller looking to maximize value, but for a seller who needed money and was getting anxious about his auction (even if it had a lot of watchers), it makes a little sense. Definitely a bummer for other folks, but it happens. Sorry Drewsky! Best, Lee

Thanks for the kind words Sean! I appreciate the thoughtful and respectful debate that has occurred in this thread. I think if a "flipper" posted a recently acquired piece on eBay with a low opening bid and no reserve, then the flip would not be as galling to some, assuming that there was no shilling going on to create hidden reserves. When a flipper assigns a price that is multiples of what it sold for quite recently, I find myself agreeing with folks who believe this behavior does not enhance the hobby. There are less obvious and obnoxious ways to flip art, for example, assigning a more reasonable price (e.g., 20% mark-up) to a truly "under-the-radar" piece that still allows you some profit, and offering the piece privately to a collector who has that kind of art on his or her want list. Best, Lee

Hi all! I'd like to encourage you to reach out to Jason if you have any 1970s Marvel British art that you haven't shared previously through CAF or other outlets. In addition, you should reach out to Jason if you have any 1970s Marvel British art and are perhaps slightly unsure of the credits for the art. Jason possesses awesome knowledge of who did what based on his analysis of art styles (even less-mature drawing styles of artists early in their careers), as well as direct interactions with many of the artists who worked on these books. Heck, I think it would be fun to post examples of 1970s British Marvel art in this thread, even if you know who did it. For example, this (partial-scan) 1976 spread from the Titans comic was drawn and inked by Dave Hunt. Best regards, Lee

You are right! There was another Swan/Hunt page in the same weekly auction that went for closer to $300, and I was thinking of that page. But even at $400, I thought this page was a pretty good buy. Best, Lee

Now this is a flip I can get behind. I was shocked by the closing price on that Heritage auction. A page like that should have gone for at least $400. $549 might be pushing it a bit, but it is within the range of non-offensiveness. Best, Lee

Thanks Andrew! I just deleted someone. And it wasn't you, who I have been following for a while. Best, Lee

Can anyone tell me how to un-follow a gallery? Thanks, Lee

Wow, great stuff! That Carrion page is especially nice. Good luck!

Thanks! Personally, I would have splurged and bought the John Buscema Sub-Mariner #24 cover for $350.

Good evening! I just uploaded another complete, 16-page catalog to my ComicArtAds website. It is the first catalog from the 1990s that I have uploaded. It was published in early 1993 by Gaetano De Agostino. I think the catalog has a really interesting variety of high-quality art, including a cool selection of John Romita Sr. Spider-Man comic strips. You can see the catalog here: http://comicartads.com/content/comic-art-catalog-1-gaetano-de-agostino-1993 Enjoy! Best regards, Lee

Good morning! Just wanted to let you know that I have an eBay auction ending tonight for a nice page from Untold Tales of Spider-Man, featuring a big action panel of Spidey: http://www.ebay.com/itm/112445911217?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 The current high bid is $12.50. Thanks, Lee

Hi all! The Iron Man and Kung Fu pages have sold, and I have lowered the prices on the Hero for Hire and Superboy pages. Please let me know if you are interested. Thanks! Best, Lee

That's odd. Were these actual sales, with the winner(s) immediately listing their Comiclink wins on Comiclink with a higher BIN price, or is something else going on?

OK, I'll admit it, I've never seen Flip Wilson and Geraldine Jones together in the same place....

But seriously, Conan art seems popular for attempted flips. Here's another: https://comiclink.com/Auctions/item.asp?back=%2FComicTrack%2FAuctions%2Fbids.asp%3Fpg%3D4&id=1175749 Sold for $650 last month. http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-SAVAGE-SWORD-OF-CONAN-101-p32-ORIGINAL-COMIC-ART-Horror-gga-sleaze-cgc-/192207732267?hash=item2cc0793e2b:g:09gAAOSwX61ZNJBA If you missed it then, you can buy it for $3,625 now! And I love how the item description evolves from "erotically charged" to "sleaze". Seems appropriate. Best, Lee

Here's my Flip of the Day!

Always!

Sometimes getting your money back out of a piece is a success. For me, at least!

Hi Twanj! This is definitely an attempted flip, and I don't think the seller is doing anything unethical. I think I'll change the name of the thread to reflect the attempted nature of this flip. I agree that these listings are a dime a dozen, but for an obscure splash like this, I think it's interesting to know what it recently sold for. Thanks, Lee

Good morning! I follow art sales fairly carefully and am constantly impressed by the ambitions of art sellers to turn a quick profit. I admit to having done this in the past, but on other occasions my attempts to "flip" art have been disasters where I have lost money. It's a fact of life, and I'm not passing judgement, but I think it might be helpful to less experienced collectors to highlight instances where art is being offered at multiple times of a recent sale price. It's a free country (sorry Vodou!), and sometimes you do get a real bargain and can resell at fair market value to make a quick profit. But not always. So, I'd like to highlight a page that I normally would not be interested in, except for the disparity in pricing over an eight-month period. $478 in November 2016: https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/fred-carrillo-the-savage-sword-of-conan-170-back-cover-original-art-marvel-1990-/a/7141-94184.s?ic4=OtherResults-SampleItem-071515 $1,800 today: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Savage-Sword-of-Conan-170-MARVEL-1990-Original-Art-Back-Cover-Fred-Carrillo/232232885875?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41376%26meid%3D513b07248aa245e2a7a5ca7a1923c056%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D162543243450&autorefresh=true Cheers, Lee

The Iron Man and Master of Kung Fu pages now are on hold. Thanks, Lee

Thanks Jay! I have some wiggle room on the prices of the Hero for Hire and Kung Fu pages, if you or anyone else is interested. Just let me know.... Cheers, Lee

Thanks Steve! I am hoping this art is attractive to profligate spenders.

Good evening! I just listed four nice pieces of art for sale in my CAF gallery: Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #9, page 21 (NEW PRICE--$1,200) Master of Kung Fu #34, page 11 SOLD Iron Man #92, page 23 SOLD The New Adventures of Superboy #7, page 4 (NEW PRICE--$225) Please let me know if you are interested! Thanks, Lee