Michael Browning

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.

If someone gets a deal on a piece and then asks more for it because that’s what the market is, I don’t have a problem with it. Like I said earlier, who cares what people pay? It’s none of my business what you pay for something. If I’m willing to pay your asking price, it doesn’t matter what you paid for it. I’ll also add this: it doesn’t matter if you have it a single day or 20 years, the piece is yours to sell at whatever price you want — whenever you want.

It all stems from everyone in this hobby being afraid of leaving cash on the table.

You are correct, Mitch. Some dealers are having to pull art from their own collections to refresh their websites. I do think auctions cause FOMO bidding, whereas dealer website art is thought of as “ah, it will still be there in a month, IF I still want it.”

Hypothetical dollars.

You are truly one of the good guys in this hobby, Malvin!

I’m not defending them, just stating the truth. Their business model hasn’t changed much over the years and people aren’t selling/trading as much to them nowadays as the auction houses bring in more views and more money. I’m not sure how they can still compete with Heritage and C-Link and the results those auction houses get. I’m not a dealer, but I know just about all of them and most are just struggling to get good art in. To do that, they are having to pay the higher prices and that makes them have to charge higher prices. I’m not defending them, but I also won’t get on here and bash them the way so many do.

I agree 100% with this. While there are aggressive asking prices in CAF Live, sellers should not be expected to sell at 2002 prices. And dealers are competing with auctions to stay afloat in this hobby. It's tough for them to get great pieces nowadays and they have to adjust their prices to keep up.

This is the attitude that is becoming more and more prevalent in our hobby and it's making it a lot less fun. The entire comment -- and especially calling him a "scambag" -- also reeks of envy and bitterness at what others have that you do not have. It's unfortunate that people in the comic art collecting community are so envious of others' collections that they can't enjoy this great hobby and they have to try to tear others down to be happy. I'm involved in other collecting communities and the envy and bitterness seems to be the worst in the comic art world. Who cares what someone paid for a piece of art? If someone gets a page of art at a yard sale for a buck, does that mean he or she should only sell it for a buck fifty? Come on. Comic art is an investment, no matter how much people say it's not. When I sell, I'm not going to ask exactly what I gave for a piece and trade dollars for dollars. The price the seller is asking for the Amazing Spider-Man #300 cover is, I'm sure, what it would take to get him to sell. He's one of the best guys in the hobby and is definitely not a scammer. You should reach out to him and discuss the asking price of the ASM #300 cover art before you start attacking him. That being said, the prices in this CAF Live are very aspirational/aggressive/optimistic and, I believe, based directly on high auction results. The prices are high and I've not seen a whole lot of the higher-priced pieces sell, but, I think that's because there isn't the bidding frenzy and fear of missing out that is caused by an auction. A lot of the pieces up for sale are covers and pages that have been for sale for a long time and people have seen them increase in value while sitting on websites, unsold, all this time. I understand that many people are upset over the rising prices and a lot of people complain that they are "priced out" of the hobby, but nothing has changed in the 20+ years I've been collecting. Byrne Uncanny X-Men was higher than I could afford then, just like it is now, but there are plenty of pieces that I can afford and enjoy that Byrne drew that cost a fraction of a UXM page. There are also options for people to buy that are cheap -- $100 or less -- every day. There are plenty in this CAF Live, proving anyone can own a piece of original art. One option is to go check eBay. I still pick up very cheap pages there. Heck, I have been selling cheap pages for years for $50-$100. Last year, I put up some very nice Marvel and DC pages for $100 each and couldn't get anyone to buy (except a guy who wanted to make payments on a $50 page ... at a few dollars a month...). I just bought a whole bunch of pages for $50 each, so I know the bargains are still out there to be had. When I got into then hobby, I just wanted original art. I was so fascinated by the process and holding in my hands a piece of a comic book's creation that I would buy whatever I could afford -- meaning I bought pages that were far less than $50 in most cases, all the while keeping my hopes up that, one day, I could afford a cover. I never once hated other collectors for having more than me or owning art I could never afford. I find the most happiness and satisfaction in what I am blessed to own and I'm glad for everyone who has the art they have.

I own the cover art to the X-Men Pizza Hut issue #2.

Ah, I totally missed that.

Why is that bold?

Your own “proof” shows that the books have been consistently high-dollar comics since their release — and have never been dollar bin books.

That’s absolutely not true. I have never seen a single copy of that book in the wild at all, except for the copy that my local shop manager got for himself on the day of its release. That book was hot from the very minute it hit the comic shops and if it was ever in any dollar boxes, it was because the shop owner wasn’t very smart. There was a solid market for Hughes covers dating back to 2006-2007. I know because the Catwoman covers were selling high and #51 was a hot comic immediately and has maintained its heat for 16 years.

I don’t think “rare” variants are a good investment at all. After the heat is gone from the variants, I’ve never seen it come back to the level of when they’re hot. I mean, if you get a rare Adam Hughes variant like Supergirl and the Legion of Super Heroes 23, which was really tough to get. A very memorable cover and by an artist whose popularity never wanes, then it might, but the rest of these variants aren’t all that rare and once they’re forgotten, they’re dollar bin books in most cases.

I’m glad they’ve got Steve Borock working with them now. They asked me to sell them some art a few years ago and I offered really good pieces and they offered me a few dollars per page or to consign the art with them, which was really what they hoped I’d do. I politely said no.

I own a page of the original, Paul Kirchner art from that issue.

I sell graphic novels to feed my original art addiction and there’s good profit to be made, but, you’re correct by saying you have to buy and sit on them. I have a lot of cash tied up in omnibuses and other pricey editions, but the majority of those will sell for triple what I paid. Eventually.

A Harlan Ellison typewriter? Yes, that would matter to an Ellison fan and could make them bid higher. A piece of art as good as those that sold? Nope. I don't think any single bidder cared. I think it probably went something like this: "Oh wow, a Heritage auction with art that is finally available and I've got to have it!" Honestly and I mean no offense, but, does Ellison have THAT many fans these days?

Do you think the fact that the art was owned by Ellison really made a difference in what these pieces sold for versus what they would have sold for at a signature auction? I don’t think it made that much of a difference.

Carmine Infantino's art style changed when he returned to comics after being in management at DC. Carmine told me he thought his style was better when he came back and I agree with that. But, you could definitely see a change from the sleek linework to the more angular art he did in the early- to mid-1980s. For many, that wasn't the Infantino that they knew and loved during their youth, but, for me, it was brilliant art. Carmine did tell me that every page he drew after he returned to comics was purely for the money and not for any love of comics that he might have had BEFORE he became management.