Will_K

Also, whenever HA has a cover and mentions replacement stats (or anything that looks like them), I wonder who did it and how they're attached.

On 8/8/2022 at 12:02 PM, MAR1979 said:

Excellent Garcia-Lopez piece.

Funny, I thought I was the underbidder.  I saved a scan.

On 8/7/2022 at 4:31 PM, Rick2you2 said:

The marriage of Superman and Lois Lane is historic, but only because of the characters’ outsized importance in comics.

The whole idea of Superman & Lois Lane as a couple has been around since forever.  And there have been a few "imaginary" Supes/Lois marriage stories.  Do they count as historic?  To me, the "real" marriage between Superman and Lois was in Action Comics 484 ( https://www.comics.org/issue/32287/ ).  Of course, that was pre-Crisis.  But it was a real marriage with the Golden Age Supes and Lois.  It also started the "Mr & Mrs Superman" backup stories, so it was a real thing.  The cover was on ebay way back when.  Not really a fan of the interiors unless it's the splash page where they take the Kryptonian marriage vows.  Just about any post-Crisis event is subject to reboot (e.g. New 52) and almost non-historic.  There, I said it.

D ick Grayson is Robin.

Any writing or drawing on the comic will lower the grade.

I can't believe they killed Phoenix !!

Discussion about that app was not welcomed by the mods last year re: NYCC.

We don't know the actual size of this piece.  Maybe the usual 10 x 15 ?  The odds are there was a reduced version of image (e.g. stat) that was used to create the final production art.

I don't think my collection contains anything "historic" (from this topic's title).  I don't really hype it that much but I do have some reasonably nice "1st appearances".  But that's not specifically why I have the piece.  It's based on my collecting focus and habits, sometimes it's noted in the CAF gallery titles.  But that's also because my CAF galleries are organized in a way that strongly aligns with how my art is physically organized.  For other 1st appearances, it's not noted in the art's Title.  But it is mentioned in the art's Description.  Sometimes, you have to drill down.  And responding to OP's comment, almost all of the 1st appearances are over 20 years old and none are for sale.

Time to bring back this one:

On 7/29/2022 at 12:54 PM, Race said:

I'd rather have no comments on a piece of mine

There's a member who posts art and under Description for every piece, it says "Please no comments".  As far as I can tell, that request has been honored.  Not a CAF premium member, so he can't delete comments.  I sent a message asking why and didn't get a response (didn't really expect one).

See:  https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerydetail.asp?gcat=36469

Edit: I just saw that he does comment on other members' pieces.

On 7/29/2022 at 10:24 AM, Heidjer Staecker said:

I understand why Bill (Cox) does not want to get involved in parsing out what does or does not belong on CAF.  You can argue about taste, etc.  However, as CAF and the hobby grows, I think he is going to have to do some segregation and policing of different CAF pages or risk becoming like Ebay.

Some time around the start of the pandemic (??) , on CAF Live (youtube) Bill was asking members to be moderators that would (at a minimum) identify pieces that violated CAF terms and conditions ( https://www.comicartfans.com/termsconditions.asp , item 6).  They (or Bill) would ask the gallery owner to at least check the "Restricted" (NSF) box.  And eventually, the piece could be deleted from CAF altogether.  Bill mentioned a discussion with at least one European collector who basically said "Anything goes" (at least in Europe).  I don't recall hearing much after that.  But whatever the case, it looks like there's been a serious drop off in "enforcement" lately.

On 7/21/2022 at 11:00 AM, J.Sid said:

was checking the tracking in anticipation, and was ecstatic to see their site said it had been delivered.

Had a similar thing happen to me in 2020.  I was getting a new phone (a totally different bad experience) via FedEx.  Was checking tracking every few minutes.  And checking the door every 1/2 hour.  I live on busy corner, was worried about porch pirates and it was late December.  Saw online that the package was delivered about 15 minutes earlier, ran outside, no package.  A FedEx truck drove past me.  Then backed up.  The driver handed me the package.  -> sad trombone <-

On 7/17/2022 at 12:19 PM, Race said:

I am not criticizing Felix, just the idea that art of any kind is some sort of democracy where everyone gets what they want at the price they want whenever they want it. To me it is fine to charge whatever the market will bear.

I'd assume Felix and his clients discuss pricing, drops and commission opportunities every once in a while.  Maybe not as a group but SDCC is a good time to do that among themselves.  I assume 10 commission slots is what the artists feel they can handle.  Going to 20 slots out of 132 requests (even at higher pricing) might make for some happier collectors but tell that to the 112 disappointed ones.  I think Felix is more transparent than collectors deserve. 

Bad luck, bad timing, too costly, artist goes MIA, whatever.  And that's all before you get the commission.  You may not even like it.  I'm still hoping for a commission that I paid for in 2002.  Another artist has owed me commissions since 2007.  There are exceptions but I've never been into lining up or camping out (online / in person) for anything.  There are exceptions but I also don't feel committed to get something because I've already put in the effort to camp out.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned so far... given the competition at the art drops and commission openings, I'm sure artists and reps have considered raising prices to equalize the supply/demand.  I think there's been comment in some topic about Albert's price increases for Bruce Timm art.  And I'm really surprised the market can absorb so much Jim Lee art. 

But remember one thing, if you don't play the game, you'll never win.  Or as the lottery ads say, "you've got to be in it to win it".  Keep trying for your commissions.  Someone's going to get them, why not you ?

Not exactly scientific or first hand... but as a personal future project, I wanted to research specific DC issues from a certain period.  I'm also making this post for my future reference.

Using comics.org, try this query... 

1) On comics.org, go to Advanced Query (orange button)

2) In Query Control, specify 3 settings, Search For = Issues... Search Method = Contains...Behavior = AND all fields

3) In Ordering, specify 1 setting, First By = Series Name

4) In Publisher Fields, specify 1 setting, Publisher = DC

5) Scroll down to Issue Fields, specify 1 setting, Cover Date = 1988

6) Hit Query

That will generate a list of every DC issue in 1988.

7) There is another setting you can try, go to Series Fields then Format Fields, specify 1 setting, Paper Stock  = baxter

That will further narrow down the list.  The series info will specify the Baxter paper, the issue info won't specify the paper.  Issue info will note house ads (if any) but not the ad content.

On 7/1/2022 at 3:55 PM, Kryptic1 said:

 I’m assuming Anthony wasn’t the original buyer and probably overpaid for it and is now pricing it off his mistake

On 7/1/2022 at 3:55 PM, Kryptic1 said:

I still would have felt like I got burned if I had bought it.

Considering the popularity of the Felix's art drops, the odds are Anthony is not the original buyer.  So if there was at least one other person in between, I guess buying at 3X from a few months ago isn't too bad.  Also during DD, you can haggle with the dealer to get a better price.  If anything, you're paying a premium to avoid camping out for the art drop and still not getting the art you wanted.  And if the art changed hands a few times in the last year, maybe the markup is actually "reasonable". 

I doubt anything here really influences the DD participants or people in the chat.  And certainly doesn't influence what they choose to sell or even their pricing. 

re: the 6/29/2022 DD... when the Fish Police art was shown, someone in the chat said "mouth gap".  And there was an informal CAF gathering at the HeroesCon last weekend.  Someone commented that Bill Cox was taller than one might have guessed.  Someone said "height gap".  So add those to the "gap" tote board.

The silhouette and its variations have been immortalized in Wally Wood's 22 Panels That Always Work !!

Re: a previous comment about the running time for claim shows

On 6/21/2022 at 10:12 AM, John E. said:

Felix’s art drop

and those other dealers that do the similar (e.g. Albert), those art drops are the ultimate in fast moving claim shows.

On 6/21/2022 at 7:53 AM, Drummy said:

Of the many shows I've missed, only one piece showed up for sale that I would have gone for -- Mike Burkey's Ghost Rider #18 cover -- but even then, I would have needed 10 months of time payments to buy it!  So...nothing really lost there.

You mean something that is especially desirable to you, a spontaneous big purchase based on a relatively small scan and not a lot of time to decide ?  On Dueling Dealers, Mike and Anthony will take time payments on "sizable" purchases.  It's pretty much assumed.  But you should mention that you'll need time payments when claiming / haggling.  In case of a tie, a claim with "payment in full" trumps those with time payments.  I think Mike mentioned he likes 6 months.  But you could've asked about stretching to 10 months.  Don't recall if it's been stated on Dealmakers but I guess the same follows.

On 6/20/2022 at 3:01 PM, vodou said:

Oh man...

But still keeping an eye out for Phantom Stranger art ! !

On 6/19/2022 at 6:35 PM, New School Fool said:

What the origin of the "Thigh gap" joke anyway...? I can never understand why Bill says it. Is it something that's sought after in art by some collectors?

In the chat, someone made an "observation" about one of the pieces up for sale (don't recall the exact piece or episode).  And since then, the term has been used fairly regularly but not during every episode of Dueling Dealers.  Bill isn't usually the first one to call it out.  But if someone says it in the chat, Bill might echo it.  Sometimes there are variations depending on the context of the piece.  I can't recall a specific instance.  But for example, if there was a McFarlane Spider-Man piece, in one of those odd poses, it might be a "Mc"...  I'd never use the term in public or private.  And I think it's used too casually in the chat.

On 6/19/2022 at 4:45 PM, Bill C said:

31.2K for an unpublished golden age Wonder Woman page- seem healthy to our GA collectors? I see tiers of unpublished GA DC often enough, usually not full pages though.

Pre-1980's Wonder Woman art is generally hard to find.  Sometimes an HG Peter tier will show up.  This complete page had Steve Trevor, Diana Prince and Wonder Woman.  Really nice.

Good luck !!!

On 6/19/2022 at 11:46 AM, vodou said:

I've never watched a single minute of these shows, so I'm only assuming what you write is accurate. If so, that really is deplorable.

It is accurate.  And more often than not, there's at least one woman (screen names) in the chat.  And Anthony's wife is almost always on the show.  However, on the show, the term is applied to men, women and any other creature.  But y'know...

Re: Dueling Dealers pricing... the intro says art is "new" (at least for that dealer) and/or is "priced to sell".  But the show is designed to create some immediacy and FOMO.  Noone is forced to buy, so caveat emptor.