grapeape

There are collectors like this all over the world. I can imagine a guy in a secret art room drooling over FF 1 pages all by his lonesome.

I would buy them and keep them to myself if that was the only choice. I’d love to see FF 1 pages.

You have my utmost sympathy. Dan must have blown a gasket. If he had pulled this at Marvel they would have punched his card. His choice of anatomical warfare is obscene and unprofessional. You are a good soul to endure this. I won't make excuses for Dan but it's possible the loss of his wife has left him with a short fuse. He may be taking his pain out on you. Forgive him if you can. The hit to his reputation is fair. There's no way in hell he could argue "artistic license" with a straight face. I'm really sorry man.

You’ve probably seen the sequel. CITIZEN COOLLINES

Oh man of course! My buddy and I exchange enthusiastic silent high fives and and thumbs up when that scene played in the movie theater.

Yep David Mandel owns it

Uhhh....ok....can’t blame them for trying. At auction with no reserve I would think $25-$30 K tops.

If I had it I would have done it. Permanent collection. That is, I would keep them until I die and then Mrs. Grape Ape would probably sell them at a 25% devaluation + 20% to auctioneers. sigh

Good luck Carlo! You and yours be safe please. We will beat this.

I’ve seen the Thomas Crowne Affair. I’ll definitely watch the others.

That is awful. I’m sorry. He should have offered to you the same as he paid. That person is a loser.

That is unfortunate. It’s not surprising to hear so many sad stories. I’m getting a lot of PMs but please all post here to share with everyone. Also, my apologies to anyone who might thing ol 🍇+🦍 is a bit tone deaf with this post. I know corona virus has really shaken our country and the world. in the grand scheme of things a deal gone bad pales in comparison to what many are going through right now. I pray all of you are safe and sound. That your families and friends are blessed and safe. That we all get through this together. A Deal Gone Bad was just my humble contribution to get people’s minds off what’s going on for a few minutes.

Gee whiz....it’s really something else. I looked it up online for more perspective. Dita had so many interesting displays in her home. I love her honesty about the couches being for style not comfort. To me she has too much stuff. Some areas seemed cluttered. But her taste is splendid. So many cool art pieces also. She’s a treasure in her own right.

Thank you. When she mentioned this I wondered what it looked like. Pretty cool.

Of course your right. I was only Von Teesing you. She is gorgeous.

That’s exactly it. He said he was glad the pages were going to someone like me who would appreciate them. He said money didn’t mean that much because he didn’t need it. When we agreed on the price I was proud that I had kept my integrity. It had won me the pages. I didn’t tell him they were cheap pages just to get them. I made a fair offer and later agreed to the price he said he could live with. I shared the story with my wife and family. They don’t have a desire for art. But seeing my persistence and hearing an example of: making him a very fair offer at the con introducing him to a dealer who couldn’t make a deal. Why not? If I couldn’t have them at least help another human being finally getting a deal done made my family feel good. The seller backing out, well, not just for me but for my family I couldn’t buy them after that. Funny thing is I expect to see these pages come up for sale soon at double, something the original seller swore up and down would make him cringe more then anything.

I’m sorry

He was trying to figure out what they were worth when he said $150, $500....My gut told me he was going to ask a dealer before making a final decision. If I was too eager and a dealer quoted higher I would lose credibility so I went for the win at $2 K. These things are delicate. I’m at peace other then I wish he’d kept his word. That means something to me.

I agree that I could have bid. It was the principle. We had a deal. It wasn’t spite. I weighed how much I wanted the pages vs. how I felt about him breaking the deal. In the end I didn’t want them.

I’ll give you that one. He probably doesn’t pay sales tax as the seller.

This is a story about heartbreak. I’m looking for others. I did not mention the artwork involved in this deal gone bad. Use your imagination. Anyone care to share a time a deal you were working on went bad? I have one. Last year at the LA Con my buddy and I saw a guy asking about talking to a dealer to find out what his art might be worth. The guy at the booth was covering for the dealer who was at lunch and knew nothing about the art. So the guy was walking away and I approached him. I asked if I could see what he had and he pulled out two pages. When. I saw them I almost dropped dead. They were pages from a book I've wanted for years. Almost as if this was a candid camera prank. He bought them from a comic store 30 years ago for $20 and $15. “I’m thinking they are worth more now.” “What $150 maybe?”he asked me. I shook my head. “No those are much more highly valued today.” My mind raced as I tried to find the right price but I couldn’t bring myself to rob him. “So what, like $500 for both of them?” he asked me. “Would you sell them?“ I asked I don’t know. I don’t need the money but my kids have no interest in them. If I die they won’t know what to do with them.” I had $2000 cash on me so I made him an offer on the spot. He looked stunned but he didn’t take the money. I decided to be magnanimous and I introduced him to a dealer friend I thought would give him the most for the pages. I introduced them and they talked but the guy decided to hold on to them. Before he left I chatted with him and we exchanged phone numbers. I said,”if you decide to sell would you give me a chance?” He agreed. Come the new year I reached out and he said he had decided to sell. “Because you didn’t take advantage of me and made me an offer well over what I thought they were worth, I think I should give you a chance.” So we went back and forth and he decided on $4000. I agreed and we live 2 hours apart. I offered to ride up and pay him cash in a safe pubic place and he agreed. ”I just want to know, are these for you or are you looking to resell them for more money?” I told him honestly that they were for my personal collection. He told me “I’m glad to sell them to you.” ”You were honest, you offered me a fair price when we met.” “You even tried to help me make more with the dealers when I wasn’t sure I wanted to sell.” “Your honesty means a lot to me.” ”I’ll see you at 11am tomorrow.” I went and got the cash and told the wife we were taking a drive Saturday. We’d make a day out of it. Later that night I got a call from the seller. ”I feel bad but I have to back out of our agreement.” “My wife thinks they might be worth more.” “We really don’t need the money.” I was devastated. The deal was done save for the exchange of cash for art. He backed out. I bit my lip and wished him well. To get to the $4000 valuation during negotiations I had told the seller in my opinion that if he took them to auction he might get between 5-6K or he might get less. I explained he’d pay 10-28% BP and then 10% California sales tax so.... Well the pages sold for $5500 less 20% BP = $4400 less sales tax $550 on price with BP or $440 on price less BP = either $3,850 or $3,960 It’s not a lot but poetic they he took less money by breaking our agreement. I did not bid. No matter how much I had originally wanted them his decision to break our deal soured me on them. I know a lot of interesting comments may be coming for or against the seller. Im sure some of you think I’m a great guy for being honest and some will call me a chump. Me I’m just sad I didn’t get the art I desired. Has anything like this ever happened to you? asks grapeape, already knowing the answer.

Dita was sadly over dressed for my taste. Maximal decorating is one thing but for me minimalist clothing on Dita was the only reason to watch that entire video.

I have no idea how to value this in dollars. It’s just neat the way Ian put this all together. I would not care for anything DC 1990 on so I would throw out any valuation on those. Im not a restoration guy either. But this will be fun. It would be great if somebody could buy it whole and keep it together. Then donate it to the Library of Congress. Do they have the space? 😂

Holy 🐄!!!!!!

“The King of Limbs” K I R B Y