OrangeCrush

If this is actually in reference to Campbell's statues that are up for pre order, you really should look at the value of many of Sideshow's statues released over the last couple years before making that jump. Thanos EX is selling for close to double the original amount. Same for Harbottle's Red Sonja, Huntress, and many others. And many Prime 1 pieces and XM pieces are doing even better than Sideshow's value wise. Even tho investment really plays no role with my statue collecting, I would be a VERY happy man right now if that weren't the case. The value of many high end statues have absolutely exploded, especially older Sideshow pieces. My Predator Maquette EX by itself would fetch around $5k right now. And given how hot Campbell is in the comic market, I don't see why anyone would expect anything different with his limited edition statues, especially when they look as drop dead stunning as they do. Sideshow has raised thier game to a whole new level over the last couple years and Abbey Chase and The Little Mermaid look gorgeous. So it really doesn't matter what song I sing at this point. I am sitting pretty either way.

I have some of the initial Hellina Nude covers that were done in black and white. A few of those were actually quite tastefully done and as long as that is the case, I think nude covers can be great. The really sleazy erotic covers that are done by companies like Boundless Comics, which actually is the company producing new Hellina comics now are definitely not for me. They produce title like Belladonna. Even some of EBAS's work is just not for me. My father was a big pin up collector so I grew up really appreciating pin up style artwork. Again, as long as its tastefully done, I think nude comic covers can be great. Alex Ross's Vampirella #1 is a great example. And I feel the same way about nudity with other mediums as well. I own a couple nude oil paintings that are absolutely beautiful and some of the nude photography done by photographers like Russel James & Aurum Lights is absolutely breathtaking. For those that are unfamiliar with Aurum Lights, you should really check out the Milky Pin-ups & "Splash Heroes" series. Its some of the coolest digital photography I have seen to date. They do hundreds of real splashes with colored milk and then combine the best splashes in Photoshop to create the final image. "Splash Heroes" focuses on female super heroes. Here are a couple examples: They actually have 4 of the Splash Heroes pictures available as limited edition prints. If you buy 3 you get a 4th one free. I purchased them and they are definitely beautiful prints. Unfortunately, they haven't released any of the other pictures. I was hoping they would release the whole series as limited edition prints, but its almost been a couple of years now and they haven't released any additional prints. I can only assume that they just didn't sell well. Such a shame as having that full series in a set of limited edition prints would have been amazing.

Its sales like this that make me realize there are certain aspects to comic collecting I will never understand, no matter how hard I try.

Couldn't agree more on this one. I have not had a good run as of late regarding the quality of the books I purchased on eBay. Lots of them have small dings and imperfections that were near impossible to see in the pictures. Most would likely score in the 9.4-9.6 range if I sent them in. I guess it just depends on how much spare cash you have and how important certain books are to your collection. Personally, Hughes is pretty high up on my ladder in regards to artists I really like so I am always looking out for good deals on his books. I don't know how others go abut using eBay, but I do advanced searches and then bookmark them. That way I can check a lot of different artists on a regular basis fairly quickly.

Forgive me father for I have sinned. I mistakenly assumed it was ok to post 1:15 variants in a thread dedicated to regular comics. Happy now? Can we put it to bed yet?

Jesus, give it a rest already. Again, the point has already been made, lol. I guess some people just love to argue.

I did read the OP and stating that he wasn't talking about 1:500 variants doesn't automatically equate to all variants, at least not to me. If he had meant all variants, why not just say it as opposed to singling out super rare 1:500 variants? I am pretty sure it could have been stated in the same amount of space. And again, I didn't read the last 93 pages. That was my entire point, which you CLEARLY missed, that I wasn't going to read 93 pages of a thread to figure out what could have easily been stated in the initial post. And I think the point has already been made. To bring this up yet again is just being argumentative.

Ouch, those were some expensive drinks, lol. That being said, I had a similar experience so I understand all too well. I had a house fire back in 2008 and lost everything and I do mean everything. Not a single thing was salvageable. I was fully insured so I was made whole financially, but it was still absolutely devastating as I was a collecting junkie and had put decades into many of my collections. Plus I had things like original pieces of art and over 15 years of photography negatives that could never be replaced. I was so devastated I swore I would never collect anything ever again. Roughly 3 years later I wound up buying a single Michael Turner print on eBay, just on a whim. Receiving that print in the mail basically reawakened the collector in me and I proceeded to spend like $15,000 over the next 3-4 weeks, rebuying many of the comics, statues, prints etc. that I had lost in the fire. I think my mailman thought I was having some sort of midlife crisis as I was getting like 10-15 packages a day for that first month. Strangely, it actually wound up being very cathartic. Each collectible that I wound up replacing made me feel a little bit more whole again, if that makes any sense at all. And I have been collecting again ever since. I guess its just in the blood for some people. Anyways, welcome to the board! Sounds like you got some solid books to start things off again.

Gotta say, I am usually not a big fan of GIF posts, but this one got a laugh from me. Classic, lol.

If I had an Action Comics #1, a Wonder Woman #1 or any other comics that had a value of $50,000 or more, I would actually consider re-slabbing every 7 or so years. For every other comic on the market....well, thanks but no thanks CGC. There are FAR better things for me to spend my money on than re-slabbing my comics. I am perfectly ok with the level of degradation that will occur with my slabbed comics during my lifetime.

Its all good and I certainly appreciate the heads up if that is in fact the case. Again, I was just stating that if the original poster really wants to keep this thread focused on regular comics and not variants, he should really make that clear in the initial post for the thread.

If thats the case then the original poster should make that be known in the very first post in the thread. I'm not about to go reading 90+ pages of posts to see if its ok to post up a few 1:15 variants.

My grave would wind up being like the Atari ET burial site.

Yeah, I was aware of that but even taking that into account, I would think they would have been much easier to track down. I see many copies that are 1:500 & 1:1000 more than I do some of Parrillo's 1:15's. Obviously it depends on the size of the total print run just how rare ratio variants are, but I still never would have guessed those comics would be as difficult as they were to track down.

Yeah, that will likely include many of Dynamites early Red Sonja statue. Sideshow's new Red Sonja statues make those older Dynamite statues look asolutely atrocious. I could see him tossing those in the hole with me, lol.

Because I don't buy statues for investment purposes. With some collecting hobbies investment plays a key role in my purchases and with some hobbies investment plays no role whatsoever. Again, with statues investing plays no role whatsoever. I honestly couldn't care less what happens to the value of the statues I purchase as I have no plans on ever selling them. I buy them purely for my own enjoyment. My son will be deciding what to do with my statues when I am dead and buried and I could say the same thing about many of my other hobbies as well. Again, some hobbies I collect purely for enjoyment and other hobbies investment plays a key role. For example, some of the hobbies I have where investment plays a key role include bullion/coins, comics, original art, limited edition prints (which I now limit to limited editions made up of original pieces of art. I don't buy limited edition giclee prints anymore.), etc. Some of my hobbies that I partake in purely for enjoyment include antique/vintage cameras & lenses, antique/vinage Kodak memorabilia, Polaroid SX70's, vintage Belstaff & Barbour jackets, limited edition playing cards, wildlife stamps, etc. If investing played a key role with my statue purchasing, there really wouldn't be much of a difference, short of the fact that I dont think a crash is imminent with the high end statue market like I do with modern comics and the modern variant market. And technically I didn't sell my Campbell comics/sketchbooks to buy the Campbell statues. I was planning on selling my Campbell comics and sketchbooks before Sideshow had even announced their Campbell statues. So it just wound up being lucky timing in regards to buying the statues. I still would have sold most of my Campbell comics and sketchbooks even if Sideshow had no plans on making new Campbell statues and I still would have purchased the Campbell Sideshow statues even if I didn't sell his comics and sketchbooks. Again, the timing with the two was just pure coincidence

There really hasn't been a crash yet so why would anyone expect comics from an artist who is arguably the most popular artist in the comic industry right now to drop in value at this point? I wound up selling a large portion of my Campbell comics and sketchbooks because I believe a crash is inevitable at this point and I don't believe any artist will be immune from that crash. And selling at the very top, value wise, is EASILY one of the most difficult things to do when it comes to investing, wether it be with comics or the stock market. I have seen people lose a lot of potential income due to thier inability to sell. They hold thinking its going to continue increasing in value and many times it doesn't. I don't see Campbell as an exception at this point. I simply see him as an extremely popular artist that is doing very well right now selling high priced variants and such. If you think that trend is going to continue for years and years to come and that his comics are just going to continue to rise in value...well, your certainly entitled to that opinion. I for one do not believe its going to continue, which is exactly why I decided to sell when I did.

I never said it was a sustainable market. In fact, I have stated many times that I believe there is a major crash coming for the modern comic market and especially for the variant market. Many of the signs that led to crashes in past markets are now clearly evident with modern comics, but that doesn't mean there isn't money to be made in the meantime. One can make money off of modern comics. You just have to be knowledgeable on what is hot and be willing to sell while such comics are hot. For example, J Scott Campbell is easily one of the hottest artists in the market right now, both in regards to the value of his comics already on the market and also in regards to the amount he is able to charge for his new variant releases. While I am still a big J. Scott Campbell fan, I decided to sell off most of my Campbell comics and sketchbooks like 4 months back as now is a great time to sell Campbell's comics due to thier being so popular right now. The prices I got on many of my auctions exceeded my expectations, some by significant amounts. Plus I am planning on buying all of Campbell's Sideshow statues so the money I made selling his comics and sketchbooks will help pay for the statues. I already have Abbey Chase and The Little Mermaid pre-ordered and he has 2 more statues from his Fairytale Fantasies line coming down the pipeline (Tinkerbell and Alice in Wonderland) and I am sure there will be even more after that. I will definitely be buying every statue he releases from that line. Its just a shame he doesn't produce the limited edition prints for that line anymore. Plus there is a store exclusive version for The Little Mermaid statue that I am hoping to pick up as well. So again, this was really the perfect time for me to sell Campbell's comics and sketchbooks due to his level of popularity right now. And I definitely made a decent amount of money in doing so.

Yep, the key to really making money in the modern market is selling ASAP while the comics are hot. People that hold on to modern comics will likely wind up losing money. You really have to be quick on your feet and be willing to sell right away if you want to make money on modern comics. Again, you basically want to sell a comic while its still hot and given how many quality variant covers that are being released now on a regular basis, the time frame in which a comic remains hot is getting shorter and shorter as there are always new covers hitting the market that wind up shifting people's interest. As for buying comics in the modern market, buying while a particular comic is hot is one of the worst things one can do as your going to wind up paying top dollar. Its best to be patient and buy a comic a year or two after its been released. Chances are you will be able to buy them at a MUCH better price. You just have to have patience and not get caught up in the hype. The only modern comics I buy right away are comics from a few of my favorite artists. Beyond that, most of the modern comics I have purchased over the last 2-3 years were purchased during sales where I got 60-75% off. My focus in regards to the comic market has changed pretty dramatically over the last 3 years. I went from collecting art prints and modern comics to collecting high end statues and silver age comics. IMO, the high end statue market is definitely one of the best places to make money right now.

Yeah, he's my single favorite artist currently working in the comic market and as I have stated before, I consider his Queen Sonja, Vampirella, and Warlord of Mars cover runs to be some of the best cover runs in the entire history of comics. Every last cover he produced for those runs is absolutely amazing. And I love that he actually paints his covers (usually with oil paints) as it gives his covers a really great visual qualiy that is really absent from digital work. With many of his covers, you can actually see the brush strokes and texture of the paint. He actually opened his own art gallery, but unfortunately its in Italy as that's where he lives. Such a shame as I would be dropping by that gallery on a weekly basis to see many of his originals in person. I have emailed him on multiple occasions trying to get him to start up a limited edition print line that is similar in design to Aspen's prints (13x19 size, Epson's enhanced matte paper, and a rouhly 1" white border). If he produced a line of limited edition prints like that, I would buy every last print he brought to market. Until then, I will just have to continue buying his comics.

In over 40 years of collecting comics, the hardest covers I ever tried tracking down were some of Lucio Parrillo's Warlord of Mars covers. In particular Warlord of Mars #10, #14, and #15. I swear I checked eBay on a pretty much daily basis for well over 16 months and I only saw one copy of #15 go up for sale and I missed out as it was a buy it now auction. Eventually, I was able to find some copies. It just took a lot of searching and a significant amount of time tracking them down. I have had an easer time tracking down comics that were limited to just 100 copies than I had finding these comics. It wound up taking me about 4-5 years, but I now own 4 copies of each issue and I will continue to buy any of these copies that come to market, as long as their reasonably priced.

Thats fine with me as I absolutely LOVE her art design/signature style and even her mediocre WW covers are 1000 times better than Cliff Chiang's run. Don't get me wrong, the story element was fantastic with Chiang's run but IMO that was one of the weakest cover runs I have ever seen before. David Finch definitely helped spice things up a bit, but Frison has really come into her own the last couple years and I for one absolutely love her covers. I just spent like $250 a couple weeks back buying many of her previous covers as I am trying to get a complete run of Frison's covers now and she has really put out a lot of covers the last couple years. She has definitely been very busy as of late. As for covers that are heating up, I am absolutely blown away at the increase in pricing we have seen with many of Lucio Parrillo's covers, particularly his cover runs for Vampirella, Queen Sonja, and Warlord of Mars. For the first couple years those covers were on the market, one could easily buy them for cover price. Then last year they just started skyrocketing in price and now many of those covers are selling for $10-$30 a pop. I actually saw a mint copy of Vampirella #19 sell for $95 a few weeks back. Short of a few specific artists, like Parrillo, Frison, Lau, etc., I am really trying to stay away fro the modern market. I think the modern market and especially te variant market is headed for a major crash in the coming years. Most of the key signs for a crash are now present. So I really am trying to limit my modern purchases to as few as possible. I am really focusing on silver age more than anything right now.

I appreciate the heads up. I understand were on CGC's website and in pretty much every other thread on this forum I would limit my posts to CGC related material because of that fact, but I figured this was one thread where that really didn't matter. I spent a decent amount of time looking at previous posts in this thread and I saw people posting everything from ungraded books to prints so I figured this thread was simply about posting great additions to your collection, CGC or not.

Just gotta agree to disagree on this one. I absolutely hated this rendition of Harley Quinn so I didn't find any of her scenes redeeming in regards to the overall quality of the film and I feel the same way about Joker. I put Leto's joker on the same level as Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor. Just terrible renditions of the characters IMO. Both were like nails on a chalkboard for me. And I thought Katana's character was awful as well. She was one dimensional with just no depth to the character at all. Again, at least for me, Suicide Squad was not only one of the worst super hero films I have seen to date, it was also one of the only films I have seen to date that I had a hard time finishing. I really wanted to leave half way through and I can count on one hand the number of films I have seen in my lifetime where I legitimately wanted to leave before the film was finished.