jsylvester

On 10/21/2021 at 8:27 AM, Peter G said:

I suppose I love it for what it is too - Nostalgia and all but that stocky Wolverine and the ridiculous pose is just too cringe worthy.

Don't see anything cringe about it but everyone’s different. Love everything about this and remember all these characters intersecting. That Kingpin is awesome! Lots of other late 80s and early 90s stuff in this auction too.

On 9/6/2021 at 8:36 AM, Timely said:

I don’t think there’s much of a relation between the two. Sure, you can pump up that one if a kind piece, but it’s not widespread. It only really affects the one piece and may slightly affect similar pieces. There is no grading company to manipulate and you can’t keep pumping out the same piece 50 times a year like you can a mass market item like games and comics. I’m not worried.

I thinK the smart money already got out of graded comics and games. A lot of them coming to OA so might actually help prices.

On 10/13/2021 at 7:54 PM, Peter G said:

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/jim-lee-punisher-war-journal-promotional-illustration-original-art-marvel-1988-/p/7248-163001.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

 

Comically disappointing

I love it but also love War Journal

On 6/21/2021 at 11:37 PM, Bronty said:

Private sales have gotten worse, haven’t they?    Maybe that’s natural as prices go up but it definitely feels harder to find a reasonable buyer or seller privately than it used to be . 

Prices have gone so high I’m hesitant to even list art with a price. It’s just so much easier to send to auction.

On 6/21/2021 at 11:22 PM, Infamouspure22 said:

I have a pretty iconic Byrne piece that I am considering sending to auction.  Real life stuff like kids college tuition, cars, etc. are here so it might be time.  My reasoning isn't just because of the high auction prices (although thats the main reason lol)

Private sales can be an ordeal.  They involve so much posturing and negotiations and I definitely don't want to go through all of that if its already hard enough to let my favorite piece go.  The whole dance of me naming my asking price and providing comps and the interested party trying to dispute my valuation is tiresome, stressful, and at times insulting.  So yeah, if I ever let my Byrne go, I would most likely send to auction to realize its full value.  But if a legit buyer comes at me with an offer I can't refuse, then that works too lol.  But it seems there are only a few serious collectors that do that any more these days.

Guys that know me, know the piece I'm referring to.  I am just speaking re my viewpoint on the topic so please don't ask which piece.  I won't confirm or deny

Selling privately is the worst which is why I’ve never done it. I’ve put feelers out on selling a couple pages in the past and deals never happen. I shouldn’t complain though as those pages have gone up multiples. 

4 minutes ago, vodou said:

A specific piece under negotiation, which is okay if it's salient points in play, or 'the market' as a whole?

Both. To be fair I always thought the market was high and it was a gut punch when pages from certain stories doubled or tripled in a small timeframe. Ive seen a lot of these jumps in the past and can understand they feel risky so see it both ways.

9 minutes ago, vodou said:

That's too many times to count now with that. Who are these mystery collectors trying to steal all your prizes away for a quarter market?

I was only explaining that everyone had a choice. Not naming people and can’t blame them for trying. I’ll admit I’ve tried talking the market down while trying to buy privately myself. 

35 minutes ago, Rick2you2 said:

Sure they have a choice. They could not buy it. There is a lot of other art out there, you know, and with the epidemic nearing an end, there may be a price drop as people buy different things. In today’s Wall Street Journal, it was reported that we are coming out of this recession in a way not seen before. That may be the case here, as well.

Of course collectors have a choice not to purchase art. I’m talking about the collectors that are secretly trying to buy pages while saying prices are too high publicly. I’m fine with a pull back or correction. I’ve been waiting for a correction for over a decade though so I’m not the best predictor. Maybe the whole art market free falls. Either way I’m holding onto the art that is nostalgic and special to me.

18 hours ago, Xatari said:

I really think we may just be scratching the surface of the hobby. I would not be surprised to see another “leveling up” over the next year or two, especially on first appearance stuff. It’s the main focus on what I collect. 

We’re in the middle of reaching a new baseline now. Everything is reminiscent of 2011/2012 from the comic book market to the OA market. 90s OA once snubbed is being snatched up like I’ve never seen. Everyone’s saying prices are too high yet buying privately. Once collectors know the higher prices are the market norm they’ll have no choice but to accept it themselves. 

Just now, JadeGiant said:

That sounds like the opposite of a problem to me 

I should clarify it’s more a problem that my wife wants a renovation and she sees the current prices  Im doing everything I can to hold onto everything. 

6 hours ago, Hockeyflow33 said:

They're not mutually exclusive. Not everyone loves the same thing and not everyone is spending $1k+ on a page. For those that limit their spending to a few hundred bucks per page you really need to search out quality art at an affordable price. 

I understand everyone has different budgets but that doesn’t mean you can’t buy what you love. It would be nice to own a cover but if that’s too expensive buy a panel page. All I’m saying is pages you love don’t need to be expensive. I got plenty of pages inexpensive though they’ve shot up. My problem is I dont sell since I love every page.

On 10/18/2019 at 12:14 PM, Peter L said:

Hi All,

I would use Camscanner on my iphone to take nice photos of original art to post.  However I just upgraded to the new iOS and to the new iPhone 11.  I transferred my backup from my old phone to my new phone.

Before when I used camscanner, there was no watermark.  Now there is a watermark.  The only solution from camscanner was to pay a lot of money to get the new app upgrade.  If I use my old phone, the watermark is still not there.  

Has anyone encountered this problem or know how to get around it?

I just purchased the Workforce for $250 and it was worth every penny. Does a way better job and researched the hell out of everything. This all in one with the extra large bed is way less than regular scanners as I think they think customers will use the printer and buy ink so the scanner is a loss leader. 

On 5/29/2021 at 6:41 PM, Xatari said:

@KingOfRulersI guess it would depend on what you consider once in a lifetime.  I’m talking about pages from the first appearance of major characters. I just don’t see Moon Knight, Shang Chi, Kamala, Miles, Spider-Gwen etc pages coming up every few months. 

First appearances, early appearances, and pages from iconic storylines will continue up as you just don’t see them available. Artists from particular periods on particular characters will also do well. 

On 5/30/2021 at 9:29 AM, KingOfRulers said:

Or a quality collection that's built with patience, rather than haphazardly throwing money at something.

Of course, if you want to build the grandest collection of them all, money will indeed do that. Just throw more and more money at it. A billionaire throwing $1B into any collectible will find they have a magnificent collection, even if they significantly overpaid for every piece. They're a billionaire, so they still have billions to spare. Most people aren't billionaires or even millionaires though.

I understand the emotionally driven, "needing it now" phenomenon. Tomorrow is never promised, so enjoy as much as you can today. But for me there's a balance between needing it now and patient, disciplined spending. In my opinion, most people let the "needing it now" side of the equation drive their bidding. And not just their bidding on art, but their entire financial life. I suppose that's among the reasons that most Americans are in poor financial health, living in perpetual debt with far less than $10k in savings. 

I like Graham Nolan’s Knightfall OA. I was going to purchase a lot of pages 12 years ago but decided to be patient so only purchased a few. The prices went up every couple years so I kept passing on pieces waiting for a correction. Now those pages are sold to other collectors that are holding them long term. Looking back I should have done a bundle deal but no one can see the future. I never thought OA would be where it is today. I knew it would hold its value but never thought it would catch on to this extent. 

On 5/29/2021 at 6:20 PM, KingOfRulers said:

I'm not okay paying above market for any collectible, anytime. My opinion is that the phrase "paying above market" is synonymous with "paying too much". Why would I want to ever pay too much for anything? 

While these days my objective isn't to flip art for a quick profit, I'd like to have the reasonable expectation that if I had to resell immediately, that I could break even.

There's a bunch of "once in a lifetime" pieces that hit the auction block every couple of months.

Everyone values a page differently. What you feel is expensive or above market might be a deal to someone else. That’s why I’ve never listened to anyone that tells me I overpaid. I wouldn’t own anything if I listened to other collectors.

On 5/26/2021 at 3:47 PM, Sharkey said:

Yes, an ASM 300 CGC 9.8 newsstand with Todd McFarlane sig sold for $25K on Comiclink last night!!! Crazy. And a regular 9.8 sold for like $7,000 and change. Hard to see in any version of the multiverse how a Todd signature and newsstand could make an $17-18K difference in hammer price.... 

so many speculators are in on this “market” as there are so many collectors with comparable 300 books. The smart money would use this opportunity to get out and funnel the money into OA. I’m seeing this now. I just wonder at what point do prices get so high to where everyone runs to the exit at the same time.

On 5/26/2021 at 12:28 PM, jjonahjameson11 said:

I say this tongue-in-cheek...it's not them, its us.  OA collectors are slow on the uptick (with a few exceptions) and we have ourselves to blame.

Comic guys are after 1st appearances and keys, and they pounce as soon as there's even a rumor about a character being optioned for a TV show or movie. 

How do OA collectors react?  Well, they react very, very slowly by comparison and perhaps in a year or two the OA guys will start to collectively move on the characters' 1st appearance or OA containing subsequent appearances by that character.

I don't want to generalize, but this seems to be the well-established pattern of OA collectors over the 20 years I've collected OA.

This is also due to the fact there’s more speculation with book collectors wanting books to go up. Many OA collectors are using this time to try to acquire everything on the cheap while talking OA down. I’ve been approached privately recently about my art. The same people never mention they want this art publicly let alone comment. I’m just waiting for these groups of collectors that supress values to turn on each other when values go higher. 🤣

On 4/19/2021 at 9:12 AM, jjonahjameson11 said:

Same stuff was said in 2012, when we saw record breaking prices on the McSpidey covers and other artwork.  It was the high-water mark year for prices for a while, but we're definitely in another price boom now.   

Yup, I went on a buying spree that year. There was so much quality 90s pieces in 2012 especially from the Shamus collection. I just don’t see anything from my 90s childhood lately. It seems the higher prices aren’t bringing art to market at least the stuff I love. I’ve tried tracking down particular storylines only to find other collectors that don’t ever want to sell.

On 5/21/2020 at 8:01 PM, cbmitch said:

So what about the 5 page preview in marvel age 97 vs darkhawk?  Those five pages are right out of the comic book.  Should darkhawk #1 be considered a reprint?  Playing devils advocate here in case that isn't clear....

Actually that leads me to another question. I own the cover to Adv Superman 501 along with some interiors. I read the first appearance to Superboy was Adv Superman 500 in some places and 501 in others. 
which is correct?

appreciate the help!

On 5/14/2020 at 10:25 AM, valiantman said:

So, it's a great piece of art - but when you combine something great with something "not exactly true", it subtracts from the greatness and is generally a "negative vibe" on what should be great. 

A fantastic piece of art with what is known about it, without overstating anything, is all positive.

"My baby is the best baby in the whole world!  He's the cutest, most precious, never cries, doesn't poop, and said 'Mama' on the day he was born!"

Proud mothers should try not to decide everyone else's opinion of their baby... it causes more groans than grins.

 

I don’t know what I said that isn’t true. I came here for advice since I didn’t understand your rules and will state it’s the first published appearance as a few collectors here have advised. I’m not trying to create a negative vibe. I’m not even selling it so could truly care. I just wanted to display it. I’m glad I did. Could you imagine what would happen if I stated first appearance?! You guys would roast me for years!

On 5/13/2020 at 11:03 PM, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

What about the ashcans? Do they pre-date Wizard?

Published in 1993

On 5/14/2020 at 10:25 AM, valiantman said:

So, it's a great piece of art - but when you combine something great with something "not exactly true", it subtracts from the greatness and is generally a "negative vibe" on what should be great. 

A fantastic piece of art with what is known about it, without overstating anything, is all positive.

"My baby is the best baby in the whole world!  He's the cutest, most precious, never cries, doesn't poop, and said 'Mama' on the day he was born!"

Proud mothers should try not to decide everyone else's opinion of their baby... it causes more groans than 

On 5/14/2020 at 10:12 AM, valiantman said:

Here's another Pitt page described by Heritage as "early promo" and dated by Keown as '92:

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/dale-keown-pitt-and-timmy-bracken-full-page-promotional-illustration-original-art-1992-/a/7084-92186.s

I actually bought that and heritage couldn’t tell me whether it was published

On 5/13/2020 at 1:31 PM, Grails said:

Comic book terminology aside you have the first published image of Maxx. Even though his story in Darker Image had already been completed. 
Also, if you won this piece in 2013 for 13k, you got it for a steal! I missed that auction as I was traveling.

Thanks! I thought 13k was high at the time but kept going as I love it.