rotembk

EB is the CAF+CGC forums equivalent for collectors of screen prints (gigposters, movie posters, fine art and street art prints, etc.) and pop-art.

Indeed F&F pricing if I ever saw one... If you already screw over your fans that much, how about at least show some decency and at least leave them with the protection of a business transaction? Kyle, I don't know you and I'm not a fan of Capullo so I don't care about you enabling his crazy behavior, but keep some shred of dignity and common sense. If after taking so much of your money an artist still wants to nickel and dime the PayPal fees, then you're better off grossing them up for the fees and have the benefit and peace of mind of the PayPal buyer protection (which is more important the higher the stakes and the crazier the artist). And I apologize for saying it, but if you're an EBeaner as I suspect, you should have already learned that you can't -- and sometime probably shouldn't -- have it all. I completely understand the excitement of starting to collect OA and the sense of having missed out on so much given how late into the party you are that you're trying to grab as much as you can so that you don't miss any more, but I seriously suggest you slow down, step back and take a breather or else you risk making very significant acquisitions that you'll end up truly regretting. Certainly in case like Capullo, where given his pricing I think it's a safe bet these pages will still be there in a couple of weeks or even a month. Edited to add: And keep in mind, in the trajectory you're going, your next step is buying in auctions such as HA and Clink, where you'll end up paying even more money because you'll have to duke it out with other people, and some of these other people have dipper pockets (or entered into this hobby a while back ago such that they have other pieces they bought relatively cheaply and can use to trade up), and you may regret even more not having the money you spent right now (on what may be less important pieces in retrospect).

And the owner of a nice selection of the vintage MTG art posted here, including Chaos Orb, makes himself known on CAF.

I'm not sure if we're talking across one another, but what I was trying to say was that if you're the only one buying from Capullo and you buy the one cover for $50k then there's a higher likelihood that at some point Capullo realizes that if he wants green paper more than watercolor paper he needs to start lowering his asking prices (especially if he sold the crown jewel first), and then the first buyer gets the short end of the stick. Sure, Capullo may be stubborn and crazy enough to decide that anything that doesn't sell for his asking prices will be buried with him, and then anyone that buys at any price will come out ahead, but how likely is that? As for Simonson, please correct me if I'm wrong but he's not selling period as opposed to willing to sell for ridiculous amounts of money (especially because I assume people already tried that), so unlike Capullo it's really a matter of principle rather than marketing strategy. Of course, if the Capullo cover is your holy grail and you have the means and no intention to ever part with it, then all the above is irrelevant.

The crazier the prices the more likely that whoever buys now at the asking price will be eventually burned, but as you said best of luck to anyone who decides to jump into the water.

I've made that point a few times here on the boards before. I worry about repeating myself, so I'm glad it was new to one person, at least! Thanks for listening! Funny how as a comic book collector who used to buy both the single issues and then the TPs I used to be upset when a TP reused one of the single issue covers rather than give me a new one (wanting more of a justification for paying again for what I basically already owned), but now that I own (or consider owning) some cover artwork I'm more than happy for the TPs to reuse a particular cover (and I know some people here had the same happen with a splash page that became a cover).

Maybe you should address this to Julie?

Already up to $7,000 ($8,365 inclusive of the bp).

Good point! They are indeed claiming it's a prelim. (I got a little too exited to bust out the photoshop) I thought in his first message on this point Joakim indicated that the prelim HA referred to was actually uncovered several years ago and is a different piece. Edit: Just to clarify, I'm not even a Carl Barks fan, just found the particular discussion to be interesting.

Donato Giancola apparently still has some originals left here. Prices seem sane on a standalone basis but I don't know how they fare once you factor in the popularity/importance/lack thereof of the cards which they illustrate.

I think the Dave Johnson is one of the best but can't find a picture of the original art (I do believe he still works mostly traditionally).

Anyone else thinks the coloring of the Silvestri cover contradicts the line art itself? It seemed to me that the ground beneath Batman was basically erupting in an explosion and engulfed in flames, but the colored piece instead shows cool ground (maybe someone figured in retrospect that it'd make the composition too busy?).

Silvestri (someone really should add the thought balloon "if I'm out here, then who's driving the tank?!?"): Matt Wagner:

More boot action anyone? Care of Dave Dorman.

Another day, another variant. Simon Bisley's is up for sale on CAF and on eBay (carrying a $6,500 BIN).

Kryptonite laced boot spikes. Available in your local army surplus store.

You're asking us when you can go and ask the source!?

There's also a Tony Harris variant cover it seems. Now you have at least two equestrian Batmans to choose from.

Interesting . Thanks for pointing out his work.

Yes, and more specifically when you're a less accomplished artist who doesn't have more lucrative work lined up.

Better buy those covers now before they're priced at $65K a pop at the next SDCC.

And here's your chance at the Bermejo cover. Splash Page Art accepting offers above $7.5K.

I don't see the digital artists working on MtG and the like ever going back to traditional. It seems to me, and I'll caveat that I have no art background/education so this is just my impression and I could be totally wrong, that most of the images involve the type of special effects that are hard to replicate in traditional means (and I don't even know how easily it would be for artists that only ever worked digitally to learn the requisite skills), certainly not in any efficient manner given that most MtG cards are churned out in a manner of hours or couple of days. In addition, unlike comic book art where we grew up with the distinction between the b&w original art and the colored published pages, I don't see people that collect MtG art buying original art that doesn't look like the printed image (certainly not for the same prices). Finally, the ability to sell original art seems to me to be less of an incentive in this market, where the secondary source of revenue is selling prints of the card art (almost every artist sells on their website prints (limited or not) of their full card inventory). In the case of comic book art no one buys prints of the original art. Most of the prints you see at comic book cons are either of prior popular commissions or art specifically created to be made into a print and sold at cons; you rarely see prints of the original art for published work and at most you can find a print of a published cover with the logo and other obstructing elements stripped away.

I decided not to spread myself too thin, so I gave up trying to get into the vintage MtG etc. art market. There're some specific artists I like who I keep track of but that's it. And by the way, the Black Lotus sale is not really new, it happened in 2012 and the article is from the same time. Maybe this is a good place to let New Yorkers (and residents of the greater area) know that Donato Giancola is having an open studio this weekend (Saturday and Sunday). There're always sketches, drawings and full paintings for sale, and even if you're not interested in buying anything, having the opportunity to see the works of a real master in person is enough. Details here.

These days Chris Rahn sells most of his original paintings on ebay and the better and more important ones fetch him quite a price. Since I've been tracking him, his biggest auction ended in $14,544.99.