Will_K

I respect @Dr. Balls for "not going home again" when he restarted his collection from scratch.  Much of it has to do with his previous collecting habits being no longer economically feasible.  And yet, his new collection and focus is still consistent with what he loves.

On 5/21/2024 at 4:58 PM, PhilipB2k17 said:

Don't make him prove that he has moobs that size. 

That kind of dee-butt is usually reserved for Dueling Dealers !!!

9:00 pm Eastern !!  Should be fun !!

Frankly, the HA image looks more fake than the one on ebay.  But I've never seen the image published.

For example, the dark background above Wolverine.  In the HA image, it's just plain black.  In the ebay image, at least it looks like a little more work there. 

If the ebay piece is fake, it's a good fake.

Maybe the Lake Como first-spot auctions didn't have enough lead time or promotion??

I'm sure it's an idea that will catch on.  Was it Adam Hughes that would auction commission opportunities on ebay ?  I think they did pretty well.

On 5/15/2024 at 5:36 PM, Michael Browning said:

Fifteen years ago, I dropped a quarter in a Books-A-Million and looked down with the intentions of picking it back up and putting it into my pocket. I got busy talking to the cashier and forgot to pick it up and left it there and it eats at me to this very day. I cannot imagine selling a piece of art and losing even a single penny on it and being okay with that. Nothing ever offsets a loss for me.

A lot of people would start a GoFundMe on account of that story.

Even before AI art gained prevalence in the last year or so, there was a lot of art on ebay that I assumed was just photos that were worked over in Photoshop. 

There are artists (not on ebay) whose studio output varies a lot from their convention sketches.  I'm thinking of Greg Horn, Ant Lucia, Nathan Szerdy.  I don't know anything about their work processes but the difference between  their published art and art drawn at shows is striking.  Even taking into account the terrible working conditions at conventions.

Makes you actually appreciate Greg Land using (live action) p0rn for reference.

Never participated in ComicArtLive as seller.  About half the time, I have something going on (or don't feel like looking).  I've bought 1 piece each in November 2020, May 2021 and this past weekend.

Congrats on being part of that event !!

Search party assemble !!

https://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=104402

On 4/30/2024 at 1:56 PM, Dr. Balls said:

If we could filter out certain names

Maybe filter certain sellers ??

On 4/20/2024 at 8:49 PM, gumbydarnit said:

WOW, too cool!!!

Yes.  I told Butch that he really captured what I like about BC and GA, especially as a couple. 

On 4/14/2024 at 6:57 PM, Benedict Judas Hel said:

I acquired mine through CAF (Comic Art Fans) from a fellow collector so it is definitely possible for you.  

@Noob19  ComicArtLive is May 11-12, 2024.  So if you're not already a CAF premium member, now is a good time.  You never know what will pop up. 

https://www.comicartfans.com/comicartlive.asp

On 4/11/2024 at 1:10 AM, gumbydarnit said:

commissioning recreations

Was there ever a "Please share your recreations" topic ?  I could go for that.

On 4/10/2024 at 4:16 PM, PhilipB2k17 said:

They seem to be cheaper and can be brought to conventions because they can be packed up. 

I'm not sure of the exact brand/model but I saw Jason from EssentialSequential at a show scanning sketch covers (not slabbed) with one of those handheld scanners that you roll over the item.  Definitely portable.  Maybe you can ask him. 

Since Malvin has removed his comment, I guess he should stick with that.  But I'm sure the owner of the other piece has to resolve how he feels about it now.  I'm just going to throw it out there... it seems Malvin already knew of the piece and tried to get the auction site to revise their description.  That piece may come on the market again and Malvin will have to fight the battle again. 

@malvin You're educating a new collector about their new purchase.  You're educating others about your old purchase.  No need to censor yourself.

On 4/5/2024 at 3:17 PM, batman_fan said:

Cardy covers seemed reasonable, maybe a little low

Not that anyone cares, I was sitting it out on those covers.  I don't recall ever seeing the Aquaman 41 or Brave & Bold 102 covers before.  Los Bros had the Brave & Bold 97 cover around that price maybe 15+ years ago.  Glen Brunswick was selling it for about that price in 2020.  HA sold the Teen Titans 36 cover in 2018, didn't bid back then either.

If those covers seemed to go low, maybe it's because the figures on all of them were on the smaller side.  The Teen Titans on the B&B 102 are kind of an exception but they're upside down.  Anyway, I'm glad there's still interest in Nick's art.

On 3/31/2024 at 9:11 AM, Michael Browning said:

Neal wasn't taken advantage of in his career.

I would say he suffered in terms of original art being stolen.  But that also goes for just about every one of NA's peers and even the ones that preceded him.  NA was just more vocal about it.  On the other hand, I think it's possible that original art he did retain might also have been sold by him.  Who hasn't had seller's remorse ?

I think I've heard that originals were even stolen from the actual Continuity offices.  You can't really blame the victim but...the Continuity offices ??

In the 1990's, didn't NA put out some kind of open letter basically offering his forgiveness of wrongs (theft) done to him re: original art ?? 

Also, I'm not sure what kind of agreements he had with DC or Marvel.  But I've read about him saying that he's signed so, so many issues of [whatever] comic (e.g. GL 76) that the accounting on returned (i.e. unsold) comics couldn't have possibly been legitimate.  I didn't think there were royalties paid at the time, so I'm not sure what it meant to him if the accounting was not correct.

So, whatever the comics industry and comic fans owe (not in the monetary sense) to Neal Adams, I think he felt it should have been translated into some better financial benefits. 

On 3/30/2024 at 7:32 AM, Rick2you2 said:

On 3/29/2024 at 11:23 AM, PhilipB2k17 said:

 One thing I've found is that even if you miss on a page that you really want, you mostly get over it after a while and something else will come along that you also like.  

Well, not in my case. There have been pages I have seen sit for years on dealer sites, and don’t buy them figuring they will sit for more years. But then, someone else gets them and I never find a duplicate of that artist and character again. Or, I never find one I liked as much. Now, I  mostly throw caution to the wind and worry about the money later (“deficit spending”). For those who cast a wide net, however, I can see that perspective.

To the extent of your publicly known focus, it's generally rare for very desirable art to show up.

In my early collecting days and even now, my buying choices have been all over.  Sometimes for the better, sometimes not.  The only thing that gives me any focus these days is that art has gotten so expensive.  I think that's the main driver for the mentions of budgeting, stretching, that a single $1000 is better than 4 $250's.  Back in the day, when just about every artist would do a convention sketch for $25, that was a pretty simple decision.

In a video prior to the HA auction for the Batman 251 cover, he definitely questioned the authenticity of the art.  But also (as I posted in a different topic)...

On 3/29/2024 at 6:58 AM, Rick2you2 said:

I am positive I have seen that Black Canary image with her butt sticking out. On the other hand, he could have simply duplicated an earlier piece.

I've seen it in black and white and in color.

As some have alluded, NA created multiples of certain images.  And even in the images above, there's 2 separate inked and penciled versions of Supergirl.  I recall some of these images way before (and since) this topic was started.

The odds are the drawings were never returned to NA.

Edit: I dug out a color version of the Black Canary drawing.  Colored by the great Cory Adams.  Based on the timestamp it goes back to 2004.

On 3/29/2024 at 11:23 AM, PhilipB2k17 said:

One thing I've found is that even if you miss on a page that you really want, you mostly get over it after a while and something else will come along that you also like. 

This is really important to remember.  And if you've spent (or blown past) your allotted budget and something even more desirable pops up... go back to that first point.  There will always be another.