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AndyFish

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Everything posted by AndyFish

  1. Totally understand your point but you're also comparing apples to, well, a LOT of apples. Heritage is a big company, CLINK is not. I hate that they don't have the ability to WATCH an item-- I think that's outright silly, but it's worth it for me to shop with them anyway.
  2. Couldn't agree less-- CLINK is by far my favorite auction site. I set my own reminders-- got a phone with a calendar in it. If something is important enough to bid on it then it's important enough to make the effort. I also use Dr Balls method on my laptop. I win about 90% of the time, and comparing fees, shipping time and shipping fees there is no comparison. I get my CLINK win in under 5 days. I love those guys.
  3. You might get better responses in the Comic Event section-- I heard he moved the show to late Summer or Fall.
  4. It was a pretty well known dealer and one I've bought from in the past. It was a strange interaction. It'll definitely give me pause in buying from him again. I have no problem with someone pricing things whatever they want-- I have a piece in my own portfolio that is overpriced by about 5x but it's one of the very few pieces of my own that I really like. But priced it is-- and if you don't price things -- the entire portfolio I looked through of his had no prices -- and you refuse to give a starting price don't be shocked if I'm off the mark.
  5. I can give you the artist perspective-- Orlando is an easy direct flight for us of only about 2.5 hours -- I was struck by the humidity when I got off the plane-- it reminded me very much of the reaction I had arriving in Tokyo-- just a wall of humidity (I know I'm whining here), but humidity was better than the 12 degree weather I came in from. The VIP night was very nice and low key-- you never know what to expect at these things-- often times other con events I've done brings out some of the worst collectors-- people who will bring sketchbooks or books to sign while you're trying to eat dinner-- this was nothing like that. Super respectful and nice folks. We were setup next to Bill Morrison, Greg Land and John K Snyder-- all good people or friends or both-- we love the 4C Guys and they helped us with some setup while I stumbled around looking for coffee and breakfast. We had a couple of regulars who came in to jump on our commission list and we were only taking a very limited amount of large commissions to keep the quality up. We weren't able to attend the auction but Veronica and I had a friendly wager as to whose piece would sell higher (I shockingly won because her's was gorgeous). I wasn't going to tell her but Bill let the cat out of the bag. The best part for me was the Free Sketch portion-- I had so much fun whipping up free sketches for the attendees-- and we did a boatload of sketch cards which can also be a lot of fun. I was able to knock out a Sketch Cover for Nick Barruci's fundraiser for a fan who suffered a terrible slip on the ice too. Five stars on this show. The CAF Community is top-notch-- we do better at the virtual shows than any other in person conventions we've ever done-- and that includes when we were VIP guests at SDCC -- this show was extremely successful for us and we saw nothing but happy faces from our fellow artists. I had one dealer who kept refusing to give me a price on a piece I was interested in-- I don't love that method of selling-- but to each his own and I ended up saving whatever monies he was thinking. Great show-- I would strongly advocate for it if you are a fan of comic art. Bill and his team knocked it out of the park.
  6. I'm not so sure about this-- I know a lot of artists, and I don't know anyone who is getting this kind of lead time unless they are working for small press. It's common to get a script from a writer and when you look at the due date for your part of it - it's three DAYS away-- many many editors are not doing their job and allow lazy BIG name writers to send in excuses rather than scripts. I see it over and over again.
  7. My I started reading comics in the early to mid 70s, I started collecting them in the late 70s early 80s beginning with BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS- first I was buying SILVER age copies in really excellent condition and at the flea market I would get them at they'd be about $1-$3 a piece. I remember vividly the older comic book collectors who would be hanging around telling my I was throwing my money away by buying junk and I should focus solely on Golden Age Comics. I never even saw a Golden Age Comic until about 1980 when my local shop had a BATMAN #14 in VG shape for $50-- he had it displayed behind the register and I thought it was a coloring book at first because it was so much bigger than comics I was familiar with. He took it down and leafed through it and I recognized one of the stories from that great red Batman Treasury from 1974. I had him put it aside and I scrambled to come up with the $50. A few months later he had a DETECTIVE COMICS #34 in VG/F for $90 but when I tried to buy it (on a Sunday and the owner was off) the guy working the counter said "a kid like you shouldn't be spending $90 on a funny book". But buy it I did and it became a total obsession buying Golden Age Comics. All along the way collectors would chastise me when I'd buy a 60s comic in really nice condition. Fast forward to the mid 80s and professors at SVA in New York were telling me not to get into comics professionally because the industry would collapse and be gone in the next ten years. Well today I've been working full time in comics for 30 years now, my collection is worth well over 1.5 Million (mostly gold) and I continue to buy golden age comics but not for the prices I was, that's for sure. My long way of saying naysayers and doom predictors have been a big chunk of the comics market for as long as I can remember, and if anything it means a collapse of prices would mean a Tec #27 might sell for $500k instead of $4M but I agree with all the sentiments here, comics are unique from stamps and coins because of the emotional connection we collectors have to them.
  8. He strikes without warning-- and he takes the books I'm interested in- -but like the good son he is he offers them to me if I want them. Deal goes both way.
  9. Thanks @143ksk- send your payment via Janet's method above and then email me andy@andytfish.com (don't forget the T) with the details so we can get it going.
  10. 10x14 Commission by me and my wife Veronica-- up to two characters hand drawn full inks-- you pick the characters (no nudity, no risqué subjects-- keep it PG-13 folks) our credits include Spider-Woman for Marvel, Blackwood for Dark Horse, Sabrina the Teenage Witch for Archie and most recently HIDE for Penguin Random House. We use high quality inks and art boards, no sharpies in our work so no fading. $300 plus $15 shipping within the USA and $60 outside the USA -- any overpayment on shipping is refunded. All funds to Jimbo. SOLD to @143ksk
  11. At Godzilla Minus One they played the preview for this, and a theater full of people BOO'd. Not a good sign.
  12. I saw it last weekend, I thought it was great-- a little bit long but a real drama-- I haven't enjoyed a movie like this in a long time. They are doing a special BW release on Jan 12th-- considering the setting BW is a perfect choice.
  13. I use eBay Global shipping as the ONLY way I'll send something overseas-- it takes all the headache off of me. I know its not great for the international buyers but my reasoning is simple-- with this method I can print and ship from home-- easy as it gets. With International shipping I've found its a few rotten apples who spoil it-- the ONLY trouble I've ever had over the years with selling was with International Buyers (before I took to Global Shipping), and my time is valuable. Too many international buyers who haggle on the shipping, then want you to undervalue it (which I won't do) and finally endless emails asking where something is because the bargain basement shipping they chose takes forever. Global shipping takes care of that-- I've had zero problems since I started using it about three years ago. I'd second the idea of taking a vacation to America, provided the seller will do FTF transactions (a lot won't). Otherwise, make some friends with some here and see if they'll handle it for you as a proxy-- but be willing to pay for GOOD shipping and plan on sending the boardie something for their troubles (note: I'm not offering here, I'm not your guy).
  14. So sorry to hear this, but I have faith he will have a good recovery-- he's too good a guy for us to lose him.
  15. We get copies for every book we work on, some companies, like BOOM, send a LOT of copies. They are identical to retail copies in every case and we usually get them about a month before they hit stores. When it's a variant cover we'll get contacted almost immediately through social media so we know it's selling for big bucks on eBay. The vast majority of the time we don't have time to fulfill order requests, it's just not worth it to take the time to package up a comic book and send it out. It's not even worth it to bring them with us to a show. We sell them through a vendor on WhatNot.
  16. CGC states that books should be reslabbed every 7 years or so don't they? Regardless, the process is not archival, so to those fans who think they've sealed a book in a forever encasement there is going to be a day of surprise. Hulk 181 is a great example, I've seen more copies of this book over my course of 40 years of collecting than any other title, and yet it still commands high dollar values. No matter if the market collapses, like Mr Potter in It's a Wonderful Life-- when the panic comes and folks start selling for pennies on the dollar there will be a lot of us waiting there to pounce, enough of us that I imagine pricing will remain competitive.
  17. That looks like production art signed by the creative team-- I'm going to guess if someone bought that thinking it was the original art they are going to be asking for a refund.
  18. The vast majority of scams involve greed-- the buyer offers you some ridiculous price for something to make you afraid of missing the deal. For me, I don't care if we live on the same street, if you buy something through eBay from me it goes through the US Mail and there is no FTF interactions, ever, period.
  19. I'm coming in to this late, and I've not read all 149 pages but I'm always surprised how much emotion is tied to whether or not the latest release of whatever tent pole movie series has come out is a success or not-- and that someone even pointing out they didn't like X movie invites such vitriol. As someone who not only collects golden age comics but works full time in the industry I get asked over and over again by casual fans in my circle what I thought of the latest Marvel, DC or Star Wars movie and they are always shocked when I say I haven't seen it and have no intention of doing so. These movies aren't for me, and that's OK. I can be a Batman fan and not have to jump in line to buy tickets because they've released yet another 'Batman' film. I liked STAR WARS (1977) because I was 11 years old and it was a great summer film. I thought EMPIRE was a let down but by that time I was aging out and could see the plot holes and the bad acting. Don't ask me about every other Star Wars film since because I don't care for any of them, and like the Marvel and DC Movies I have seen it's because a friend dragged me with the enticement of free popcorn and soda. My favorite comic book movies? Probably GHOST WORLD and MYSTERY MEN. Far from popular choices but there they are. One of my closest friends is a complete Marvel and Star Wars Zombie-- and he gets tickets for the latest one the second they go on sale-- I don't belittle him or think poorly just because his tastes and mine don't align. I know when he says X was the greatest movie he ever saw I have to put it through the prism of those non-aligning tastes. But never do I take it personally. Stay civil folks, life is too short to be an angry keyboard warrior.
  20. I'm probably re-iterating what a lot of you are saying with this, and Christos especially-- as an artist who is selective about commissions I'll do-- the best ones are always what do you feel like drawing? At Salt Lake City last year or the year before I had a guy who came up to me with a pile of reference, all of it female manga type art-- and he throws a pile of cash down and gives me incredibly detailed instructions as to what he wants. I hand him back his money and tell him I'm going to pass-- he looks at me like I have five heads. I tell him I'm not going to be happy drawing this and you're not going to be happy with the results. Important to note he chose me after looking through my portfolio of Dark Knights and Zombies/Vampires-- how did he think I fit into his teen girl cleavage theme? On the flip side, the few times I will order a commission I exclusively go with "do what you feel like drawing today" and I've always been happy with it. My wife often commissions with a specific character in mind and I'd say she's happy about 50% of the time. So yes, there is a gamble, but you're paying for a commission and for many of us even if you're an editor of a major company if you over art direct there's a good chance we aren't going to take the gig. The other thing I'm adamant on is communication-- I don't ghost anyone and I don't make up phantom relatives that have died. I keep you in the loop, because that's how I want to be treated. I have a well known artist who still owes me a commission and we're going on seven years now.
  21. I've bought from them dozens of times and have never had a problem. I even have them saved as a favorite seller.