Michael Browning

It looks like someone dumped their entire Spectre/Dr. Fate collection on HA. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s a very focused group of covers and pages, much more so than I’ve seen in the past. I wonder whose collection this was. The estate of the late Jerry Bails?

They sure weren’t your “last words” to me because you sent me a lengthy email message going on and on.

Of course you do.

You don't have a clue what you're talking about. At all. My business is selling rare graphic novels and has been for many, many years. Those Frank Miller Batman leatherbound books sell between $20-$75 on average. $75 on the very best day. That has never changed in all the years I've been selling graphic novels. I have a stack of them that I haven't been able to sell at break-even and I keep waiting on them to go up. Waiting and waiting. The last few sales on eBay show $35-$51 over the last few weeks. I have also been asked to be a part of the new Overstreet website group of advisors and an advisor to the Guide -- AGAIN -- because of my expertise in graphic novel sales. But, you know what, the Frank Miller Batman hardcover is a copper age book and isn't Modern and it isn't a book you can't find in the wild. Since it was produced as a mass-market book store publication, it's not rare at all. They're literally everywhere. Please stop trying to suck the fun out of this thread.

No one said the books have to have “some” value. Not sure why that’s even an issue you’d bring up. Have you read through this thread? You might want to. Many rare comics that are found in dollar boxes actually sell very high if no one can find them and need a copy for their collection.

Motion Picture Funnies Weekly 1 isn’t a Modern Comic so it has no place here. That’s Golden Age. Way before Modern. Early John Byrne = NOT Modern. No one cares what comics you wish you’d never seen. Start a new thread and see how many comments you get. That’s always the way to go when in doubt. Again, you shouldn’t be posting that here. The Frank Miller Batman leatherbound hasn’t sold for $500 in the US - at all - since I’ve owned a copy and I got mine right after it was published. And, again I say, start a new thread if that’s what you want to talk about, because it has no place here. Most Robert Crumb comics — also not modern. Unless it’s a trade paperback collection. If you don’t like the topic and aren’t going to follow the rules of this thread, start your own, but stop bogging this one down with nonsense.

And one more that isn’t impossible to find, but it’s the first copy I’ve ever found:

Found in the wild, but almost impossible to ever find in the wild or online. None for sale on eBay and none for sale at Lone Star, so these are super rare.

A few I thought would sell higher:

Some surprises:

In all my years of collecting Spectre, I've only ever found one copy of #54 in the wild. I have found a bunch of the last issue, but just one #54.

I went big for the Vision and Scarlet Witch #1 cover and still lost the dang thing. I remember when that sold for $1800 21 years ago. 😢

If the DKR 1 cover didn't bring a record price, Showcase 64 won't, either. The Showcase IS, after all, DC art.

I blame the awful Stargirl Season 3 TV show and people confusing the ever-annoying Joel McHale as “Starman” that caused that cover to sell so cheap. 🤦‍♂️

I always thought this was a recreation or lightboxed by Dave Stevens. I’ve talked with others and I’m not the only art collector who believes that to be the case.

I don’t think too many sellers made much money, looking at the results. It was poor timing to have an auction with such lackluster art and it’s obvious that unless a seller has next to nothing in their art, they should sell elsewhere. There needs to be competition for Heritage — and C-link was the best competition it got until recently — and now, after two very lackluster and unremarkable auctions, it looks like the No. 2 spot could be overtaken by CC or Hakes, if they can find a way to get better results. I wish C-link would listen to its buyers — and sellers. They’re as resistant to change as the newspaper business was when they internet came around and we see what happened there.

Are you the seller? Sounds like you’re the seller and it needs moved out of this thread.

That’s actually from one of the most popular Uncanny X-Men issues of the Byrne run. I think every page would sell for $50,000+ apiece.

Super low. I was shocked, because it’s just the opposite at HA. If you had $10,000 to spend, a collector could have bought a lot of art for cheap. Heck, even if he didn’t like the art, it would still be great for future trades and sales.

Cheap.

C-link’s auction - which I forgot about until today - had some great art sell very, very cheap. I think there’s a lot of factors with C-link that’s keeping their results in the tank. I didn’t even think about it - at all - and I was bidding on two lots. Oh well. I didn’t get a text notification reminding me. Not being able to track stuff is ridiculous and, when I miss C-link auctions like I did last night, I just don’t care. Except that I wish I’d bought all the art that sold for less than $100. 🤦‍♂️ Lots of C-link sellers are rethinking their decision to sell through them after last night, I’d almost bet. We will see how everything plays out with the HA.

Ah, that seems about par for the course. Flakiness abounds in the comic art community.

Why would you post a toy on the Target website in a thread on comic books heating up?

I do think collectors/dealers did themselves a disservice by not pricing their art a little lower to try to lure some of the cash away from the upcoming auctions.

There’s already another thread discussing this.