PhilipB2k17

Well if Frenz or the Rep don’t know, how the he’ll can anyone else?

Well, they are “alleged” prelims.

Did better than that. I asked Ron Frenz’ art rep.

I didn’t declare they were fake. I asked questions about them.

I did. I sent him a note.

If it’s pencil prelims for an iconic cover and they’re asking a lot of money for it, you have to do due diligence. I’m not saying they’re fake (looks like they sold at Heritage last year), but I’d want a better explanation for them.

Published art I can check. Supposed “prelim sketches” with absolutely no context could be from anywhere, by anyone or made at any time.

Go ahead and lay out the $4500 for it without finding out where it came from, then. You’re a dealer. So no excuses about how it’s not the type of art you collect.

I asked him about the provenance. This is a pretty high profile piece of art, so skepticism is warranted.

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1495466&GSub=192683 Anyone have any clue as to their authenticity? UPDATE: These sold last May at Heritage for $1135 with juice. Should this go in the Flip of the Day thread? UPDATE: Got this response from Ruben. I asked if they came from Frenz: “Yes, they did. The note at the top is in reference to Danny Fingeroth, the editor on ASM at that time.” Also got a response from Ron Frenz’ camp confirming they are his prelim pencils and his handwriting. So, diligence has been done. You’re welcome.

Well, the Comic publishing rights to the Red Sonja character have been with Dynamite for over a decade. So, this must be from one of their titles.

Stan Lee?

Speedy?

Whether something is a Blue chip or not is not too relevant to me as a collector. I'm not playing in that sandbox, unless a decent amount of the modern stuff I have been buying somehow becomes significantly in demand. Probably not, though. Odds are very much against it.

Will it ever be revealed if she was the anonymous donor of the AF #15 art to the LOC?

The description says Spidey isn't a paste up, but the logo is. Looking closely at it on the hi res scan, it's hard to tell. This is something I would definitely want to do due diligence on if I was bidding on it.

Greece is still trying to get back the Parthenon frieze, which was looted by Lord Elgin, and brought to Great Britain in the 18th Century. People who collect ancient artifacts have many of the same issues as Comic art collectors, in that many of the objects that are for sale were looted. It's a huge problem, and buying these objects actually creates an incentive for more looting.

You can probably go back only so far, though. "I bought it from two guys at a comic shop in Queens, who I did not know. I don't know where they got the art from. I have no idea whether they stole it, or someone with authority at Marvel gave it to them." And, sadly, a lot of the people you'd have to depose at Marvel are dead, or very old and you'd have a very small window of opportunity to obtain this information. So, I suspect that a LOT of this art will start coming out of the woodwork once the current owners pass on, and their heirs liquidate it.

Yes. We know all the old school collectors who obtained this art through questionable means, or by looking the other way, or playing dumb, hope this is true.

There is a lot of institutional hobby opposition to delving to far into the provenance of these kinds of pieces. This also raises my suspicion that all those early marvel covers do still exist.

Right. Like "junkies" broke into the warehouse on multiple occasions with nobody noticing.

Apparently, a few of folks here haven't bought a $500 page lately.

That's beautiful. Congrats!

I doubt it. If you're spending $200-$250K on this, then you are getting it professionally conserved. The tape will be removed, and archival materials will be used. As for the signature....it's Romita, so I doubt it.

It will bring way too much.