Ironmandrd

It's not a twist--it's confirmation. Albert indicated he recovered most of them--so some have ended up in HA and some in his sale inventory. No mystery.

If you handled it correctly (respectfully, politely, good naturedly, etc.), I think there's a good chance that Bob would draw a headshot or head/shoulders Tony on it for free Unless you caught him at just the right moment or he was in an especially good mood, I doubt he would draw something more elaborate.

HAH! I didn't even look closely.

As I recall from the video and extrapolating based on the small sampling, getting Mrs. A and getting a bottle are likely the worst draws one could have gotten--next up would be a B minus level villain like Firepower or B level villain like Blizzard. While I'm sure Layton did more Iron Mans than anything else, I'm sure he did at least one of a bunch of villains of varying popularity (like Ghost, Blacklash, Melter, Titanium Man, Mandarin etc.), he probably did a few Dr Doom ones (one is barely shown in the video) and a few superheroes (a Hulk is shown in the video).

I was in the same boat. I saw the promo video and some of the non-Iron Man figures that were drawn and didn't want to take the chance.

Half the time I could practically hear what the bid was from the auctioneer in the background--but yes the Rep would say it's at [$] and/or tell me the next bid increment ("it's at [$], do you want to bid" or "do you want to go to [$]") and I would respond. An obvious note--no one is using/computing/adding the Buyer's Premium for you -- the Rep is basing everything on bids. So you would deal with the BP in whatever way you want (I usually just guestimate it beforehand factoring in the likely max I'll bid--which I may blow through in the heat of the bidding).

I just cannot see OA being slabbed other than sketch covers to both grade the comic and authenticate the artist or maybe comic book sized sketches to authenticate the artist.

I forgot I owned it! But seeing this thread I suddenly recalled I had it and went back to the original auction site to get a pic. It was such an odd piece (and great use of blacks/whites) that I wanted to see where it ended up, not realizing that my two digit tracking bid would carry the day.

I know no facts and have not reached out to Albert so pure speculation. Maybe there is an agreement out there (signed or being negotiated) that restricts Albert from making a public statement without somerthing occuring first (which is in the works) or without the other party approving the language (maybe between Albert and the current owner who unknowingly bought the art from the thief years ago and they are splitting the proceeds pending recovery from the thief). It could be that Heritage is also a party given the unusual facts (and that they would want to protect themselves).

My art is all mainstream Marvel but here is an odd piece I saw at auction a few years back and put a tracking bid on it which turned out to be the winning bid. It's by Everette Hartsoe.

I agree. Phone bidding works fine. You give them all your lots ahead of time and the day before they call you to make sure your number is working. If the lots are separated by too many in between, after the first batch is done they'll hang up and they will then call you back for the next batch of lots. I try to work out with my Rep as soon as he calls what my vocabulary/word choice will be and what I am planning ahead of time on each lot right before we get to it (eg, "jump in as soon as lot opens" vs "don't jump in as soon as lot opens and let's see where it goes"). Sometimes I use "bid," sometimes I use "yes" and I tell the Rep what words I'll use when I'm thinking about my options or when I'm done/out. Sometimes the Rep has helped by reminding me that a cut bid was available and I've used it (but it has never won me the piece). But as stated above, it still moves fast and you need to know your mind ahead of time. If it's just down to you and another bidder, then being on the phone can allow you a few extra seconds as the auctioneer will check with your Rep if you want to bid again and won't close the lot. That being said, I have recently switched back to HA Live internet bidding and that has also worked fine (I won my last 3 pieces that way, all of which had aggressive live bidding) (Note, I was on a desktop not on my iPad or iPhone).

Pre-auction estimates cited in a Fine Books Magazine internet article: Frank Frazetta Escape on Venus Painting Original Art (1972) (est. $500,000+) Gene Colan and Bill Everett Iron Man and Sub-Mariner #1 Cover Original Art (Marvel, 1968) (est. $100,000+) John Romita Sr. Amazing Spider-Man #55 Cover Doctor Octopus Original Art (Marvel, 1967) (est. $100,000+) Brian Bolland Batman: The Killing Joke Story Page 1 Original Art (DC, 1988) (est. $75,000) Jack Kirby and Paul Reinman X-Men #1 Story Page 5 Original Art (Marvel, 1963) (est. $75,000) Jack Kirby and Ayers Tales of Suspense #75 Splash Page 1 Captain America Original Art (Marvel, 1966) (est. $75,000) Wally Wood Weird Science #22 Cover Original Art (EC, 1953) (est. $75,000) Dave Gibbons Watchmen #7 Nite Owl's Hovercraft Cover Original Art (DC, 1987) (est. $60,000)

Interesting that there were complete 70s books with covers for sale as late as 1998.

For a signature auction? I can’t see that - if the bar were so low then there would be few instances that they would charge their standard rates.

Chances are much greater that it is original card art and not an image from a comic.

And the Thor #258 cover sold on HA in Nov 2015 for $26,290 not $33k. (and between the two I prefer the #253).

The never ending Saga of the Donnellys. A few further random thoughts: I think they likely do part cash/part trade a fair amount (as opposed to straight sales.) Rich is not as tough to deal with as Steve so if Rich has the art you have a greater chance of getting it - although Steve has much, much more art than Rich. A fair amount of their art on CAF and their website is already sold/traded but isn’t marked that way.

One thing that I haven't seen anyone mention is that while it wasn't written by Miller, as I recall that issue packed a punch story-wise and so is memorable for that as well---DD striving in vain to stop the Hulk and getting beaten up badly and the Hulk jumping away at the end with an agonized cry. Good issue.

Some random thoughts: Surprised someone would think that was John Buscema. And doesn't look like any JB prelim I've ever seen of this. It doesn't look like any Neal Adams, Marie Severin or Gil Kane prelims I've ever seen either. And why would someone write "This is Spider-Man"? I wonder if it's an editor's mock-up.

I don't know any real specifics about this auction but it's not "bought and paid in Europe" if the buyer in LA buys it and it gets delivered to an LA address (and HA has an office in CA so CA taxes apply)

Revised that a bit - I know of a few bidders who bid advance proxies with HA or bid late at night and forgot about the BP (several times involving 5 figure pieces).

That is nuts IMO based on that content. That is more than most of his prime 70s Avengers non-splash pages have gone for.

That was probably purchased for between $3k-$5k

I agree that fully prime Palmer ended in the 70s. I thought his work with JB on their second Avengers run, while not nearly the same as their first run and not as consistently good, still had some nice work at times which was reminiscent of their first run--so to me Palmer still had flashes of his prime during that run, just not consistently. Once the book was turned over to Paul Ryan and then later Steve Epting, I though there was a much bigger drop off in the perceived quality of Palmer's work inking Ryan and Epting (maybe it wasn't all Palmer of course but the combination of Ryan/Palmer and Epting/Palmer).

I agree. I have seen that with items they consigned to ComicLInk.