John E.

That’s a beauty!

That Herb Trimpe Wolverine is a perfect example of what @comix4fun means by the perfect pairing of artist with a character they are associated with. I’ll wager that you can get a fast $300 for it, but if you have the patience, possibly $500+ for it. Who’s the artist of that Batman ‘89 piece? ps - whoops - I think credit for artist/character goes to @MIL0S Though what Chris says is spot on too.

I never had a large of collection you as did, but because of storage issues, my collection hovered around 800-1000. In the last 5 years I started selling them at various venues from eBay to local comic shows. And yes, this was all to buy art! A month ago, I just sold half of my collection (maybe 45%?) of 300 books to a dealer for 60 cents a piece. It stung selling them for so cheap but it was a huge relief to unload them. My lament was that I wish I had given him more of my book because our landlord is selling the house we rent, forcing us to move out of the Bay Area and likely to another state altogether (I heard NYC is cheap, maybe we'll move there :P) As an aside, I thought I had one more year to sell the rest of the collection via the ‘Bay, which would have earned me more than 60 cents a pop; but yeah, the time it takes to list, pack, and ship is such a waste if you compare it to minimum wage, but I do enjoying selling. Furthermore, I was able to streamline the process to make it more time and cost effective. Anyway, what you say is true in some respects: the back issue market is nearly dead. It's not worth saving comics, or buying them altogether. And I don't treat them as delicately as I used. But I say "nearly dead" because the local dealer I sold them too can't keep enough inventory. He has done very well selling random back issues at comic cons. Last year he had no interest in my collection, now he was desperate for anything. Congratulations on selling that bulk. I did see the listing.

The con is only limited to 1000 attendees and recall reading somewhere on the site that only so many would be presold online with a batch available to purchase on site. I wonder if your situation has anything to do with that? Maybe @comiconxion can help out?

I’ll be there.

I’ll be going to the LA Ultimate Show. I hope there will be a separate thread for a roll call.

It’s very likely a summer economic stimulus. The summer is very slow for sales. Not a coincidence that this coupon coincides with the upcoming 4th of July holiday. People are outside grilling not on their computers.

No coupon used on my part because everything that i'm interested in is on auction

That looks like Tim's work. Besides, I don't think anyone would dare try to counterfeit his work--it's too detailed. I don't know the exact reason why Tim never drew for the Big Two. I can only speculate that he's too much of an independent spirit to work with "meddling" editors and deadlines, much like Martin above states. And like Martin S. says, his anatomy was off back in the day, though now he's a master. And yes, the Eric's anecdotes about Tim's runaway eroticism holds true, but fear not of throbbing phalluses on your commissions, Tim has toned it down nowadays with conventions becoming family events. He will, however, draw you some real nasty s***t upon request. I'm attaching a pic of a sketch cover that Tim drew for me four years back for reference. I don't own it anymore.

Hmm. I had it on my watch list for a few days (maybe three?) and I was surprised it hadn’t been snatched up. But you know, maybe my memory falters after tracking so many pieces. It’s just weird that I could have sworn it was up for about 72 hours. But like you said, it doesn’t matter as long as you got it in time.

100% agree. I’ve always liked the McHulk and they go for a fraction of the McSpidey. I’m sure there will be a run on that bank now.

I’d say you got lucky when you saw it when you did. It had been posted for a few days already. It was priced to keep causal collectors at bay, but not so high that any motivated collector could have snagged it. Again, congratulations.

Very cool cover. It’s no wonder that the take down happened so quickly. Congrats on acquiring this grail.

That looks like a pen and ink example. I've owned one convention sketch of Tim's done in pencil. If he knows he's doing a pencil-only piece, then he'll do a tight drawing with shade--something that is not meant to be inked. I know what you mean by "underrated," but in what respect? Anyone who knows Tim Vigil's work and who likes detailed art puts him in the rank of Master. I know I do. But if you're wondering why there isn't more hoopla about him, it's because he's never drawn for the Big Two, which is why he doesn't have wider recognition (re: demand). If you love his stuff, then go for it. Take this free advice for what it's worth: I've been less enthusiastic about his superhero work. Tim really excels in horror. If you go for something in the superhero genre, I'd try to stick close to horror/grotesque as possible, e.g. WWBN, The Joker, Killer Croc. You know, monster looking stuff. Lastly, I've seen some female hero stuff of his that didn't do it for me.

Just curious, and so not to start another thread, but is the toning due to exposure to light, or will the paper tone nonetheless over time because (I assume) the paper itself isn't acid free?

As far as I know, assuming nothing has changed recently, CGC will slab “witnessed” art, not published art, or art that hasn’t been witnessed. They certainly don’t slab anything that measures 11x17. Even 9x12 seems big to me; I thought their dimensions were smaller, like magazine size. I believe all this information is on their site.

Glad this worked out for him. Still waiting for my pieces to show up on auction with $1 starting bid and no reserve. Last September a CAF acquaintance of mine bought a cover from the Donnellys at a show and months later I found the cover still up for auction on eBay via Coolines. Not great housekeeping on their part.

And of course, when I read your anecdote, the first thing that popped into my was: "What's that?" "It's Japanese." "How do you know?" "I bought it in Japan." So disregard that whole "Bruce Vain" thing at the end of the clip!

Chuck, I think you just had your "Bruce Wayne" moment.

I have shipped to France and its surrounding countries via eBay without any "problem." If I remember correctly, I shipped a sketch cover to France and it didn't arrive when it should. I called USPS to inquire and to make a long story short, the recipient had to pick it up from customs, but that didn't seem to be a problem for him and was happy overall. I think that's the worst experience I've ever had internationally. If you ship via eBay, you and your buyer automatically get a tracking number. I have see a disclaimer at mailing label time that says that "tracking is not available in this country" but it always tracks it. I don't know about buying insurance for int'l delivery because I've never tried. It's my understanding that if you want insurance you must ship Int'l Priority Mail and I think you can't buy more than $200 worth. There may be more flexibility (or not) if you ship Priority Mail Int'l EXPRESS. Shipping overseas always makes me anxious but it has turned out well each time. Just make sure you pack well because it's a long bumpy ride from here to there.

I’ve never known Ron to have a rep. Ron has always sold his art at his con appearances, not that that’s a good indicator of NOT having a rep.

Ron has doubled his rate due to his resurgence in popularity thanks to the upcoming Infinity War film. His convention sketches are $200 for a single figure in pencil with minimal background. This a flat rate whether you want it on paper or a blank sketch cover. Not sure if he’ll do 11x17 though for that much. If you want a commission talk to him at the con. I can’t speak to his reliability or otherwise, but you know how it goes with at-home commissions. Ron is a super nice guy so don’t be shy to approach him and ask.

Yes; the last one I saw go up for auction was Buzzsaw (late last year? Jan of this year?). Starting bid was $399.99 and ended without any bids. I didn’t see it relisted.

Just FYI: the cover was sold at the show.

What makes most sense to me is that not every one is interested in sharing or showing off. I have other collectibles besides OA (I'm sure we all do) that is pretty cool or unique but I have no desire to post them anywhere or receive kudos for them. I imagine it's likely a similar thing to others.