John E.

I certainly don’t disagree here but the key word is “1 Blank-hole.” I recall going to major cons and seeing hundreds, at least, of books getting signed and then seeing 2-3 of them get flipped on the Bay. And now we all suffer for it. My underlying tone is that the flipping is over exaggerated.

A week ago I witnessed a fan rip into Brett Breeding for charging for signatures and Brett tore into him too. You essentially summarized the discourse between the two in your post.

I 100% agree with this assessment. It reflects my current experience too.

My parents, now we’ll into their 60s, took a huge hit on their wealth during the Great Recession. Both of my brothers did too and in one fashion or another, have had to be bailed on by my parents over the course of 10 years. My parents haven’t been able to recover that. (Neither had my then-nascent retirement fund.) As life expectancy rises as well as health care costs, I don’t expect to inherit anything or much from my parents as they will have spent it all to survive. But I’m from a working class family. If we’re talking two generations of surgeons or corporate lawyers, then please disregard.

Yeah when I saw your TWD page at $1k I thought “Wasn’t that for sale for just a few hundred bucks for a while with no movement?” With the end of TWD just days ago the timing of the auction couldn’t have been better. Congrats.

Heh heh yeah true. I guess the “something in between” is FMV which seems nonexistent today and could stand for “fluctuating market value.” 😴

With the exception of a few lots, that has been my observation on CLink also.

I get what you’re saying. If you put in a $2k bid as the first bidder, then maybe a week before the auction ends the bidding is at $900 which might discourage a latecomer to put in a $1000 bid just to track. That $1000 might just be enough to make him a winner of a piece he doesn’t really want. So why risk it? But on the other hand, putting a $2k (or whatever is a really high bid for the piece) also sets you up for unwanted punishment or price discovery bids which you don’t want either. In my view, if you win something at auction it’s because your competitor didn’t show up or because you overpaid.

I have been following this thread and take a lot of it with a healthy dose of skepticism, but I'm generally convinced that this hobby is seeing it's heyday right now but will eventually come to an end. I don't kid myself that my kids, born in the mid-2010s, will be interested in my hobbies and in my collections. They will find something else, at best (they may grow up to not be collectors). As someone has mentioned here prior, the same thing has happened to antiques and china. Baby Boomers are having a hard time passing on these things to their children, and these things are ending up at antique shops, estate sales, and yard sales, essentially flooding the market. Why should our hobbies, be it comics or comic art, be any different? I go to a lot of comic cons and toy and collectible shows and observe what others buy--from vintage Transformers, G.I. Joes (which I like), to anime statues, and I think, "Who's gonna buy that back in 50 years?" Again, why should comic art be any different? Well, I admit that the one-of-a-kind nature of it is what makes it a appealing but it's the high prices that make it a barrier. Eh, I'm probably not bringing anything new to the table here, but I wanted to share this NYT Op-ed piece about the death of stamp collecting. There are many places in this article where you can substitute stamps with comic art collecting. Article: "Stamped Out"

2-3 years ago I took a framed piece of art to Michael’s to ask a similar question that you have. The clerk, who happened to be the framing manager, actually took the frame apart for me at no charge. I don’t know how much of this had to do with lucking out with the right clerk but you can give it a try. Not just Michael’s but any frame shop.

The listing has been scrubbed from my watchlist too. If you go to CAF’s new market data report, the record is there.

Just got that book signed by Peter David this past weekend 👍

It sounds like the series has ended (or, finished) as opposed to canceled. I remember a few years ago at Image Comics Expo, Kirkman said he had enough story to go 300 issues (or he said he planned to go 300 issues). This was at the time All Out War came out. I wonder if he burned out. As far prices are concerned, I guess there is now a finite amount of work (not including new covers made for trades) where collectors can decide what’s the best out there instead of waiting for something cool to come around or a new character. I’ve also been seeing more Tony Moore art selling out there.

Yeah I’d say it lands under “partial background” or “some background” which roughly translates to “Don’t expect much for your money, kid.”

I pride myself in identifying early 90s work but this one has me stumped. I agree with everyone that this has trading card art all over it. It’s not one of the Marvel Impel or Skybox releases. So I just spoke to Bob Budiansky who supervised the early Impel cards about it and he doesn’t recognize it either. So maybe not a card at all?

Yup I alerted the buyer. Bought at the full asking price. eBay will show no best offer was accepted so not spoiling anything. I thought the page might be worth $1100. So wrong was I.

Well, since we’re showing off our Vince Lockes Dawn of the Dead VHS cover commission.

Dear Boardies: I have a Jessica Jones sketch by David Mack on auction on eBay. It's pen and ink on 9" x 12" Bristol Board. Auction ends late Friday night, June 14. Here's the eBay link Also, I just put up on a 10-day auction: a Krysten Ritter Jessica Jones San Francisco Comic Con poster measuring 18" x 24". It is signed by David Mack. Here's the link Season 3 of Netflix's Jessica Jones premieres on June 14!

Dear Comic Art Addicts: I have a Jessica Jones sketch on auction at eBay that ends late Friday night, June 14. Season 3 of Netflix's Jessica Jones also premieres on June 14. Here's the link In addition, I just added a Jessica Jones/San Francisco Comic Con poster signed by David Mack. It's a .99cent starting auction for the next 10 days. Lookie here

Cool. Between that and the Maxximized 22 cover the owner has been killing it. Wonder if it’s the same owner of the Lady Death cover ?

Okay other page I wanted was the Captain America #241 page vs Punisher. I pegged it at $3k because no one wanted it at the $5k CAF asking price. Hammered with a snipe at $5,750.

My real want was that Deathlok #6 cover. I pegged it at $4k and it hammered at $4075. I got cold feet at the $2700 mark when it kept going up and up those final minutes. Maxx 1/2 page ended at $2066. I put in an obligatory bid to push it up a bit. Good deal for a nice and rare Maxx page, but you are essentially paying for one image which might have been the reason it ended “low.” I’m not certain but the Maxximized cover may have hammer lower than the retail...or slightly higher. If so, not sure what the profit margins look like after fees, etc etc. Lady Death cover did better than I expected before the start of auction. $7k+. It had legs right out the gate. A memorable cover from the 90s. A nice price but I don’t have any clue to the cost basis Speaking of the 90s, I pegged the Bane of the Demon page at $600. Hammered at $576. I guess $600 would’ve been me but I just wasn’t feeling the Tom Palmer inks. I like Baretto or Hanna inks over Nolan’s pencils. Owner was asking $1500 OBO on eBay. I’m glad I didn’t bite then. Darwyn Cooke Catwoman page ended at $885. Great price. It sat stale on a dealer’s site for $1700. My sincere condolences to the consignor of the Don Newton 1st Jason Todd Robin splash. Ouch. Had I known I would pushed it a bit higher. The Batman Year 100 owner was asking 11k for that page on eBay. $7700 is still good, but I think it would have fetched that 11k on Heritage as it had in the recent past. Unless it was a Heritage buy

Yes, just PayPal. Though per Bird’s experience it might not be in effect yet. Just bought 3 trading carding for a whopping $3.57 to finally complete a set. I was thrown off to find out that the seller did not accept PP but rather standard debit or credit cards. I was irked because PayPal is where I keep my play money. Just glad it wasn’t $357. For purchases of $99+ I’ll use PP Credit (even if I do have the money, Vudou ) but I won’t be able to if the seller selects “managed payments.” As to avoid thread drift, at least there is a chance for seller’s who buy their own stuff to finally feel a pinch. And Managed Payments may help a seller eschew PP fees, but it may drive away buyers/customers who rely on PP, esp PP Credit, ostensibly buy a flip on pure credit and pay off the balance with the profit.

I was just recently notified through an eBay policy update that fees would not be refunded when there is a return. Not that I’m happy about it but I read it as a deterrent against “fraud” against eBay. Edit: just looked it up. If a “buyer” (because it could be you) makes a return, and you refund their money, you will not get back what you paid in PayPal fees.

This is my understanding too. Learned it via a couple of OA veteran collectors at an OA panel.