ParamagicFF

I love his art, and good for him if he can get those prices.  I wish I could have a piece, but it's unfortunately well outside of what my art collection is worth.

There's nothing "abusive" about getting what you can for your product and time.

For that type of shipping I would have declined the purchase unless it was something I absolutely had to have.

With the gap between the winning bid and the next highest I feel like they would have had no choice but to take that as a smaller loss.

They couldn't hold you to paying an unadvertised fee.

Kindt's XO is one of my favorite books I read every month, and I'm not a "superhero" guy. It definitely helps that Valiant has paired him with excellent artists, particularly the first arc.

1 hour ago, SquareChaos said:

I do believe that there was merit in the idea... but there is too much 'telling' and not enough 'showing' with regards to the narrative we're supposed to swallow. It just stretches credulity too far - The Joker gives an 'I'm the victim / we're all the victims' speech in a courtroom that looks set up like a press conference and half of Gotham somehow lines up behind him. The only explanation we get for this is a tossed in reference to 'SJW' and a painfully worn out stereotype of a 1%er wealthy jerk spouting some nonsense about how he has made so much money off of everyone's misery. The more I've thought about the actual storytelling in the book, the more heavy handed it is, the writing is insisting when it should be attempting to convince me.

You're absolutely correct, Murphy does kind of shoe-horn a lot of modern sociopolitical topics together. It bothered me less than it does in some instances, but it is far from elegant. 

I really enjoy Rick Remender's writing, which admittedly can get borderline preachy. I think Murphy has a more ham-fisted way of doing it to be certain. I'm just interested enough to see where this is going that I will keep picking it up.

10 hours ago, SquareChaos said:

Personally... I'm out - all of the hype in the world, but I could only get through 2 / 8.

The premise for this book appeared to be good for a lot of mileage, but Murphy is just nowhere near subtle enough as a writer to take it where it needs to go. I just can't buy into the story line being presented, it comes off farcical more often than not (yes, even for a comic book). I will say, while the story as presented has let me down pretty hard, Sean isn't afraid to go big with his art, and that does pay off pretty well almost uniformly throughout the issue, so it does have that going for it.

I get where you're coming from, but I don't find it quite so off putting. I absolutely love the art, and feel like it's worth buying for that alone. His cityscapes attention to detail definitely make what could've been talking head panels interesting. 

With the way he is instituting his plan at the end of issue 2, I am certainly a little confused about this characters moral alignment.

Joker being a parallel for those who suffer from untreated mental health disorders getting wrapped up in the system was very interesting to me. To see him get treated and then champion a good cause could've made for something worth a very deep dive. But with his villainous methods sticking around, I don't think there will be much to go on.

12 minutes ago, Hudson said:

Is there a separate line you need to use if you purchased through groupon???

Will call line instead of ticket line.

Oh boy, the will call wait for Groupon makes the savings not really worth it. 

Have an extra Friday ticket I bought through Groupon. My wife will not be able to attend with me after all. If anyone needs a last minute voucher let me know. I believe I would have to give it to you in person.

On 8/26/2017 at 1:39 AM, wombat said:

There is a groupon for tickets. 

 

https://www.groupon.com/biz/baltimore/baltimore-comic-con-central-baltimore

 

 

Thanks for the heads up! Procrastinating paid off!

Welcome back! Not that we know eachother, but welcome none the less!

3. I concur that the big 2 are publishing junk these days. I've been off them for about 5 years now. Hoping to come back at some point and find that the Marvel line is great again like I did back in 2007. Then again I liked the first few months of the New 52.

6. I agree that cameos are first appearances. But if I have to choose which one to own, I want the first FULL appearance.

8. I moved from a state that had Whataburger and Jack in the Box, to one that had neither. I don't know what I was thinking.

I would love to own a few of these, however the price point is way too high for me to enjoy them. 

2 hours ago, Polirer said:

I actually called comic bug. There's a couple ways to get your hands on a copy. Mike even said he'd cherry pick a 9.8 for me. I bought $50 of TPB of other Remender books. Or on their eBay site they have other packages. So definitely buy it direct from comic bug, instead of buying it second hand for $75.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm interested in this cover purely as a fan, but am not interested or already have what's in their ebay store.

I'm not familiar with this store, did they just take an over the phone order via credit card?

2 hours ago, valiantman said:

If there are actually anywhere near 20,000 readers for the new X-O series (who don't wait for the trade), that would be insanely good for Valiant.  Few of their titles sell 10,000 monthly... and some are closer to 5,000.

Trades are a very big seller for Valiant, but the focus is on the monthlies.

Hopefully people are catching on to it. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of Kindt readers came over for this release. His writing coupled with the announced art team seems like a no-brainer. 

21 hours ago, ygogolak said:

 

X-O Manowar goes from 60k for #1 to 20k for #2. I think that's a good indication of readership and what a high incentive cover can do for sales.

Isn't this a little unfair since #2 is ordered before shops know sales or actual readership of #1?

Obviously #1 sales were inflated because of incentives, but to drop off that far doesn't speak to the quality or reception of a book that wasn't in hand yet.

I think this is a great feature, even if it impacts images. We only need to see the part of the image/text to know what the reply is in regards to. This would definitely help when viewing on mobile.

If you are buying comics with the notion of grading/reselling then you should not be buying from an online retailer, ESPECIALLY not a discount retailer. If condition is of high importance then I personally think you should go buy in person, or work out a mail order arrangement with a company where you specify you are ordering high grade comics. It's simply not worth the headache of being unsatisfied and attempting to do any sort of return shipping. 

Significant creasing or tears would warrant me using a different retailer in the future, and probably sending an email to the previous retailer informing of the fact and why. Maybe they will offer a replacement, but I wouldn't expect it.

Definitely alphabetize the books. You will already have them broken into quite a few subcategories, this could lead to a lot of confusion. Keep it simple, and clearly label major titles. 

I hope you didn't already accept those trades and take them home. I get that you can't take legal action, but you can certainly go to the public.

You are getting completely hosed on prints that are selling for close to what his originals go for.

I hate to see someone who can afford Ross originals getting scammed into prints for the same price.

3 hours ago, thethedew said:

Generally speaking, yes.  So long as one leaves Wriggle Room.

I've been in intermittent contact with a CAF'er for years now over a NFS piece he -fairly- recently purchased in the $100-$200 range.  Our last conversation ended with him floating the idea of selling somewhere in the $1,500 range, "but even then, I might still say 'no'"

I thought that communication was generally fair, giving me a target price which might be considered, but still not committing to a sale.  I did not feel slighted by the extreme increase in expectations (as the piece has been framed), but the result was a respectful quieting of communication, which was probably the intent anyway.

I also felt the communication was possibly instructive as a possible way forward should I ever be in his shoes.  He was upfront about his warning of Not Committing to Anything, which I maintain is fair.

I actually really like this approach. Yeah, I could see it being frustrating if the potential buyer offers to pay that price and the seller still says no. But I think for the most part, it goes without saying that the seller would accept an astronomical figure if it was thrown out, so why even talk about that? There are of course exceptions to everything, but I feel like that is a fair generalization.

The approach you mention is almost to say, "I don't want to sell, but if I did this would probably be my fair price". It lets the potential buyer know if he would be able to even afford it, and what he could keep available should the item come for sale. It also shows a certain relationship in the negotiation. I think it would be very friendly of the seller to approach the situation like this!

8 hours ago, Panelfan1 said:

Great thread.

I often get emails enquiring about pieces in my gallery.  As I have been pruning my collection and focusing more .. most of what I got left are keepers, so I ask the person to make an offer. 

If I get a request for an item that I am looking to move out, I usually have a price range that I provide.  For example -  $1000- $1500 range.  Or $300- $500.   This gives the buyer something to work with.  Its tough to make an offer with no context.

The reason I dont offer the range for items I hope to keep - is that I am afraid it will sell.  Sounds crazy now that I am typing this - but its honest.

I try and remove the NFS statement that CAF puts on automatically - because I love interacting with other collectors.  The NFS is too stand-offish. 

On the reverse side - afer seeing all sorts of art show up at auction after seeing it listef on CAF as NFS or permanent collection - I realize that it's worth making offers on these kind of pieces.  You just never know.

This is why I have decided to message people politely despite the NFS status. I've seen so many things with a "NFS" status but prices mentioned in the description, or comments. I've also seen the items show up on ebay. I feel like it can't hurt to express interest.

Thank you all for your feedback, this has been an excellent, and healthy discussion.

On the particular piece in subject, I happen to come across the last sale price, and since I don't think I could offer something in multiple of that, simply informed them of the fact, thanked them for their response, and complimented their collection once more.

I've only bought art from creators, which presents many less challenges than other collectors.

On 4/24/2017 at 10:47 AM, SquareChaos said:

I have to assume there is a correlation to whether or not people are still reading new comics, and how much they're willing to put into the pursuit of nostalgic art.

Definitely. I know when commissioning an artist my favorite current books/longtime favorite books I'm still reading compete for the subject matter. After Marvel completely soured Spiderman for me I no longer request him, or really have as much interest in those pieces.

Just now, Weird Paper said:

My collection is a collection. It's not inventory. If somebody asks about a piece, I tell them I'm not actively trying to sell it, but they are welcome to make an offer. I've accepted such offers before -- both cash and trade offers -- though not frequently. If that offer is market value, or "I know from auction records you paid this much, so that's what I'll offer you" forget it. Chances are, I bought it for market value, and unless I've soured on it for some reason, or deemed it no longer viable in my collection (upgrade, etc.), there's no reason other than financial desperation that I'd turn around and sell it for that.

I completely get that, and that's how I would feel as a seller as well I imagine. But the only way to know is to ask/offer. This wouldn't sour you on dealing with a potential buyer in the future would it? I know I wouldn't write someone off all together for making an offer lower than I'd like, but I'm interested in others thoughts. I just want to make sure I use some proper etiquette when going about these things. I appreciate all the feedback.

Heroes and it's not even close IMO.

Heroes has been my favorite convention, hands down. The variety of artists and how available they are is unmatched. Really wish I could make the trip this year, but I've recently moved even further away. Awesome Con is practically in my backyard and I doubt I'll be going. It seems more like a pop-culture con when Heroes is ALL about the creators and fans. It's so common to strike up a conversation with creators and other fans hanging around. 

5 minutes ago, Mr. Machismo said:

I typically respond that way to inquiries on NFS pieces. It's not listed, but I'm always open to hearing offers. The onus is on the person inquiring to make said offer since it's not technically on the market. What irks me is when people reach out unsolicited and refuse to state an offer price when requested.

Anywho, I've both bought and sold pieces this way. Sometimes you run into people who are looking for market value or below, and others a FMV multiple. That's why, personally, I don't write people off based on verbiage. 

Thanks for the tip. So you don't think someone offering FMV when prompted for " the right price" would sour you on dealing with them? I should preface that I am assuming FMV based on similar pieces. Im certainly no expert.

3 minutes ago, Twanj said:

If you are contacting someone then they have all the power in the negotiation. 

If something is worth $300-400 and you offer an extra $100-200 on top of that, it's not even worth them packing up and shipping it if they like the piece. It's easier to just keep it and keep enjoying it. 

I can certainly see that. But for someone like me who buys art in that price range, that's still a 25% or better return. If it would take a double FMV offer to move it, doesn't that go without saying? Maybe not, I'm quite new to this. I certainly agree they have all the power.

I should mention I'm not looking to negotiate some killer deal in all of this. Just looking at a way to approach these situations without offending or hurting a possible relationship with the owner. After all, if we share the same taste in art it's possible we could end up with other possible transactions in the future and I would hate to sour that. I know some people's collections scale from the low hundreds to the many thousands, and I have a hard time approaching that I suppose.