Michael Browning

On 4/13/2024 at 12:21 PM, Dr. Balls said:

Good to hear! I agree with @Readcomix - I was thinking this would be a good thread to bump and see if anyone added any Frazettas to their collection.

I actually picked up three more and sold one of those last year. I still have five Frazetta pieces in my collection.

On 4/12/2024 at 8:44 PM, Dr. Balls said:

This is amazing - I love the depth in this one. Still in your collection?

Yes, still hanging on my wall, directly across from my Bob Larkin Crystar #1 cover painting.

On 4/9/2024 at 11:25 AM, malvin said:

Thanks Will, that's exactly it. No point me leaving a comment but I will probably have to fight that battle again next time it comes to market.

Malvin

Honestly, it sucks that this has happened to you, Malvin, and will certainly come back up in the future. It truly sucks. And, again, honestly, if it was my piece and I didn't love it, I'd get rid of it so that I didn't have to keep fighting the battles whenever the subject comes up. I've done that with a couple pieces.

On 1/21/2024 at 6:26 AM, Michael Browning said:

I don’t think it will hit that this time around. The seller’s going to take a loss, I’m afraid.

Quoting myself to say “I told you so.”

On 4/3/2024 at 2:42 AM, Kevn said:

Sorry to be off topic, but I know people here have wide collecting interests. My sister is asking for the best place to sell a collection of rare books, first editions, etc. An elderly neighbor of hers has asked for help liquidating her collection, and my sister doesn't have time or expertise to directly help, and lives in a city with no rare book dealers. I'm guessing Heritage is a reasonable option to at least give a rough appraisal and actually sell any books that really are valuable, but wasn't sure if other auction houses are better for books.

Why not ask this in one of the comic BOOK boards on here? I think you'd get a better response and better answers than asking it in an ORIGINAL ART group.

On 3/30/2024 at 9:36 PM, Dr. Balls said:

 

I'm only really commenting on this, because I've had someone attempt to do something similar to me just two days ago. I really dislike this thought process in people: since Adams couldn't litigate or extract the money he felt he deserved from the people who may or may not have put him in that position, he opted to go after those who don't have the resources, or those who are known (as opposed to the "unknown perpetrators") in an effort to get some semblance of repayment for a slight that is pretty much unrelated to the current party. I feel bad for people who have experienced injustices so deeply that they lash out at unknown fans at the slightest reminder - what a terrible way to have gone through life.

Neal wasn't taken advantage of in his career. He was greedy at the end.

Neal claimed so much of his art was stolen that I would be afraid he would have said art was stolen even as he took my cash and sold and handed it to me.

On 3/20/2024 at 3:25 PM, Aahz said:

I bought a Freak Brothers page this past year.  Multiple reasons that I wanted one and why this one was the page I wanted.  What I did not expect was how phenomenal the art is in person.  First it's oversize, but the level of detail really makes you stare at it.  

I bought two Bobby London Dirty Duck Book pages last year from a private collection and the level of detail and the gags on them are hilarious. I think Underground art will continue to stay strong for awhile. The pages were sold in 1972 by Rick Marshall for Bobby and they had been hidden away ever since, which doesn't hurt their value at all.

On 3/19/2024 at 6:06 PM, Unstoppablejayd said:

I took a big swing at the Quesada Xfactor cover but still fell short (thought it was a good price) but did pick up a few small pages that I thought went very cheap. Big mix of results in the auction overall you can take results and paint a sky is falling or the market is strong picture depending on which way you lean! 

I think CC and Clink having two good auctions following two big Heritage auctions shows that the market is rebounding from what I considered a lull. I think art prices plateaued for a little bit, but that people are buying what they love again and I think that will continue on. I think that Quesada will definitely go for double its sold price the next time it comes up for sale, so I wish you had gotten it.

On 2/23/2024 at 12:06 PM, fishbone said:

I respectfully disagree -- this page is killer and I think it will go north of $150K .........

Trust me on this one. Better pages have sold for less recently.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone.

On 2/3/2024 at 12:42 PM, barneythecantankerous said:

Andrew is out as well. 

I don't know the ins and outs, but having spoken with a couple of the artists I'm friendly with it appears the owner (Paolo) has done something which is likely going to cost him his reputation and company. 

According to them it's almost certain that Cadence is dead. It seems like the artists are tying up loose ends with commissions and what not, but if you want art or are expecting something you should probably be at them.

Well, now, that is truly unfortunate.

Having said the above: They all -- Paolo, Andrew and Corey -- should have done better by their customers and, in turn, their artists. Paolo flat-out lied to me during our transaction about shipping the art and, after I filed a case with PayPal, he lied about sending my refund, so I knew never to deal with him again.

After all these posts about no communication, VERY late deliveries and artists jumping ship, anyone who buys from them at this point and has to wait years or doesn't get their art at all, it's absolutely your own fault.

 Cadence put up art for sale today. The site update was listed on CAF at 12:15 p.m. today.

On 1/14/2024 at 7:29 PM, jick said:

After doing much study on the style of Stan Goldberg, particularly: the lines to define the inner ear, the hair of Veronica and Jughead, I am of the opinion that Serve Verge and Real Cool Kid are Goldberg.  The others don't match up though.  And even if 1971 was a period Goldberg did not officially work for Archie, there are accounts of him doing it on the side - and what better way to do it than one-page gags.

Again, thanks a lot for getting the ball rolling and opening me up to the fact that Goldberg already did Archie work during this time.  But none of this is still conclusive, as there is a need to look closer at the Heritage auction results from Al Hartley's estate because the provenance there is certain and it seems Hartley did also draw Jughead with his crown facing upwards so it seems like there might be more Hartley pages in this issue here than I originally thought.

Meanwhile, a fairly modern Dan Decarlo cover - Betty & Veronica #1, 1985 - just sold in Heritage for $4,560.  That could be the biggest sale for a non-Bob Montana, non-bikini Archie cover.  The come-on must have been that it is from an issue #1.

From the great Archie artist Dan Parent, who is an expert at figuring out who Archie artists are:

Serve Verve is by Gus Lemoine.

Dipsy Doodle is most likely by Dexter Taylor.

Sun Fun is by Samm Schwartz.

Snack Attack is most likely by Gus Lemoine with a different inker than Serve Verve.

Real Cool Kid is by Gus Lemoine with Jon D'Agostino inks.

Spray Cans for Teens is by Samm Schwartz.

Still Life is by Gus Lemoine.

Dan couldn't ID the artists for the other pages and he said that Archie used to put test artists on some of the one pagers, so some artists may not be regulars.

On 1/25/2024 at 1:41 AM, tth2 said:

Reading ANYTHING scripted by Kirby is torture.  I always thought the over the top “dialogue” and over use of exclamation marks in 70s Kirby art was supposed to be part of the charm—so bad it’s camp.

Kirby’s dialogue was just plain awful. I find his DC Fourth World work extremely hard to read.

I hate the blank cover sketches/drawings. I figure, though, that the consignor wanted them all in the same auction and someone at HA said “nah, we ain’t putting these into a Signature Auction, so stick ‘em all in a January Wednesday auction.”

I keep seeing all these excuses - it’s hard keeping records, artists all over the world, exhaustion from conventions… I work 60 hours a week and no matter how long the day has been, I still package up my eBay sales the night or morning they are paid for. I’m a one-man operation. They have a staff. There is absolutely no excuse for the way they do — or don’t do — business. They won’t ever get a penny from me. The lies and bad service, them having the artist tell me she will never sell art to me again — nope, I won’t ever buy from them again.

On 1/24/2024 at 12:51 AM, babsrocks31 said:

It took ages, but I finally recieved a relatively large order I placed several years ago.

Everything turned out fine and the art is great.

There were communication problems though. They were always quick to respond to take my money, but told me it was ready to ship about six months before they actually shipped it (they referenced being busy with "con season" about six times as an excuse). And this was after they would only respond to every fourth email I sent.

I think of them as mediocre. They aren't going to rip you off or take your money and run, and they do rep some nice artists.

But you will have to wait a while and put up with some annoying service before you get your art

For some buyers, that may be worth it, for others not so much.

As for me, I won't write them off entirely, but I definately won't use them as much as I did before.

You waited six months? That’s like waiting on an artist to do a commission, not ship already-drawn artwork. Man, if I have to wait six days, I’m asking for my cash back. Terrible service.

Thank God, I am very blessed with a lot of great art that I really enjoy. I am very thankful.

Never thought about it as far as a percentage of my net worth and computing all that just isn't something my brain can do. I just buy what I like at a price I'm comfortable paying -- and comfortable knowing I can get what I paid out of it in the end.

I know what the real value of my collection is worth and it's way more than I've got invested in anything else. I made my wife a promise when we got married that I wouldn't take away from our earnings to buy comics and art and that I would use only the profits/proceeds from the sale of my already-existing collection to do that. I have kept that promise for 20 years. I sold off my golden age collection many years ago and invested it in comics and art that I could then, in turn, sell and reinvest in comics and art.

I am a government worker who will have a pretty good government pension when I retire in about 11 years, plus Social Security. We've got a little cash in the bank and I still love selling comics as a hobby, so there's that.

When (if) I hit 60-61, art collectors look out, though, because my art collection will be up for sale. I can't take it with me and I want to be able to enjoy the fruits of my labors for a few years before I die, so I plan to sell. Heck, for the right price, I'll sell now (but the price would have to be the RIGHT price). I'm fairly certain that if my art collection's value continues to grow as it has every other year, I will do better than okay on the sale and have a nice ROI to aid my retirement.

On 1/21/2024 at 2:21 PM, jaybuck43 said:

Long story short, I was looking for some comps for my insurance company and found a piece I had been offered several times had hammered at more than 10x the price I was offered it at.  Needless to say, I was shocked.  When I saw the item description I understood why.  It led me to look at some other pieces and I saw that Heritage has been playing VERY fast and loose with item descriptions.  To me, this example is criminal.  Here's the piece:

And now Heritage's description: 

Kevin Eastman - Casey Jones Illustration Original Art (1985). The first published artwork of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle character Casey Jones! Created in 1984 by Turtles creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, Casey was planned as the second human "family" character for the book, with Eastman refining the look of the character. He made his first story appearance in the one-shot, Raphael, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle #1 (Mirage, 1985), but before this issue was released, the inks of the artwork we are offering here was published in Comics Interview #27 (1985). Here is what Eastman said about the inclusion in the fanzine: "The piece in question here was drawn in 1985 - a year after Casey was created - this was simply one of the many convention pin-ups done (usually drawn and colored before and brought to a convention to sell) around that time, but we always kept photocopies to use for PR reasons - sent along as a press release or part of an interview - so that is most likely how it got in the Fanzine." The ink art was also included in Turtlemania Special #1 (Metropolis Pub., 1986). This cool piece of Turtles history comes with documentation about the piece and a copy of Comics Interview #27. Mixed media on 8" x 11" illustration board. Light toning and handling wear. Signed by Eastman at the bottom. In Excellent condition.

Ok, let's dissect this.  First sentence, heritage claims this is the first "published artwork" of Casey.  Now they're correct that this artwork was twice published, once in Comics Interview #27 and again in Turtlemania.  But those books came out in September 1985 and in 1986 respectively.  Raphael #1, the comic Casey appears in was published April 1985, 5 months earlier.  Shockingly, Heritage invents a history where Comics Interview #27 was published first.  

The weirdest part is that Heritage has even scanned and INCLUDES documentation that contradicts everything they've written in their description.  The documentation clearly states that Raphael #1 was printed first, followed by Comics Interview #27, and that this piece is the first PAINTING of the character to be published, significantly different than the first artwork.

This piece hammered for $20,000, ostensibly because some individual thought they had purchased the first published appearance of the character.  They have not.  Anyone else have seen any similarly egregious examples?

I don't think there's anything criminal about the description, which was probably taken directly from the consignor. I find mistakes all the time in their listings and I send them an email with the correct information and they change the listing. They've done it every single time I've emailed them. If they were up to no good, I would think they, like a lot of eBay sellers, would just ignore my messages and go ahead with the incorrect information.

On 1/21/2024 at 2:50 PM, 1classics said:

yeah i could see that range, but hopefully for the seller's sake they get 1-2 more bids to get them closer to even. yeah it could've been an investment move and cashing out for another investment or it could also be they got the right ditko spidey page and only want / need that one example. who knows? a lot of comic investors who jumped into the art market didn't quite understand it takes more time and patience with the art. then again, the market seemed to have recovered fairly well this past signature auction, so will results be same or higher than expected? only time will tell. 

Every time I buy at an above Fair Market Value price, I look at the time it will take for that art to mature into the price I paid and will I be able to break even if I need to resell before then. I'm at the point in my collecting life that I've got or had most every piece I ever set out to acquire so now I buy for fun and, sometimes, to get art to resell or trade at a later date, so I look at those things a lot more now than in the past. I didn't go big during the COVID years because I had a gut feeling that people were paying too much. I mean, the guy who bought the Secret Wars 8 page for $3 million set the bar really high - in my opinion, much too high for him to make a profit on that art, so I hope he plans to keep and enjoy it for the rest of his life. I think the ASM page is in the same place this close to its original sale. Now, maybe in five or six years, it could be a $150,000 page, so I'm not saying it won't ever happen.

On 1/21/2024 at 1:59 PM, 1classics said:

tough call, let's play devil's advocate...seeing it was a somewhat newer sale, but long enough where maybe there's a few more potential bidders for a page like this? or in a lot of recent cases with art re-auctioned it may go to the underbidder and thus losing the extra bid? food for though but if this page did have spidey in it, it may be a $200k+ page, so without spidey, but still having all the villains (some value the rogue gallery pages as much or pretty close to the hero) it could wind up pretty close or maybe even above where it landed in '21? Even the "sub-par" Ditko spidey pages bring close to if not over $100k+, so this page being so unique, i believe it was marketed before as the only page Ditko did in this era with all the villains and heroes on one page, could still command a premium? again tough to say, but as far as Ditko presentation pieces go, i could see someone wanting this on their wall and thus paying a premium for it. But again the consignor would need another bid or 2 to $150k+ to break even, so maybe you're right, but i don't think they'll take a bath, only time will tell. my 2c:)

Good points, all around. I think it MIGHT hit $125K, so it will get close, but I don't think it will surpass the previous sale and, by not doing that, the seller takes a small loss. Maybe the enjoyment of the piece is enough to offset that, but, selling it so soon after buying it less than three years ago makes me think it was bought as an investment rather than a nostalgic keeper and the seller might be trying to mitigate a bigger loss.

On 1/20/2024 at 9:48 AM, Mickey7 said:

It's showing up in Comicconnect past auction results from 2021 selling for $133,000.  Great page!

I don’t think it will hit that this time around. The seller’s going to take a loss, I’m afraid.