PhilipB2k17

See you have a Greg Land sketch in there too. People seem to be very hot and cold on land. Undervalued, probably, due to the controversies, which no one will care about in 10-20 years.

Right. That will end sniping. It gives others an opportunity to outbid, but doesn't drag the thing out. And, don't live auctions keep going until the bids stop?

I think the point is that unlike comic books (or at least historically), your local CB store owners was more than willing to talk shop with you. Unless, of course, he was busy, etc. OA dealers (not all) tend to be very transactional. They are not there to help educate you. It's just different.

This. I've been doing this for about a year, and finally went to C2E2 to see all the Big Boy dealers and art there. I eventually bought a piece, but I did get the impression that the art dealers were almost like car salesman in some respects. They are not like your friendly neighborhood comic shop owner, who wants to talk comics and stuff. They are more interested in pumping up a piece and selling it to you. I get that this is how they make their living, but it was a bit offputting. I guess if you establish a longer term relationship with them as a reliable buyer, they may change their attitude. But, its hard for newbies.

I think 10 minutes is much too long. Watch a live auction, and the auctioneer doesn't keep asking for a hammer price for 10 minutes straight. It's 2-3 minutes, tops.

If I'm a Christies or a Sotheby's, I use my chase in the auction art world to develop my own online auction system, designed from scratch by top notch web designers and a game theory economist to see if I can compete with HA, etc.

It seems to me that one of these auction houses should employ a game theory economist to design a bidding system that makes the most efficient sense for both the buyer and the seller. I like the idea that an auction should not "end" until people have stopped bidding on an item. Sniping occurs because auctions are timed out. But, I do not like the fixed 10 minute time extension either.

What? You mean not everyone here has $20K to blow on original art? That seems contrary to every other post on the forum.

Yeah. "Plastics."

I think the speculative feeding frenzy has moved on to NM #98; BA #12 and Nyx #3. Maybe NM #87 as well.

You think THIS is worth $20-30 grand? http://www.comiclink.com/itemdetail.asp?back=%2Fsection.asp%3F_SORT%3DYES%26id%3D1398%26f1%3Di.Price%26ODire1%3DDESC%26f2%3Di.Publisher%26ODire2%3DDESC%26f3%3Di.IssueNumber%2C%2Bi.Genre%26ODire3%3DASC&id=979244

Well, it was a range. One zero appended to the $200; and one appended to the $300.

Wait, they put an "estimate" on that of $200-300? Aren't they missing a couple of zeroes?

Well, you are right! The value appreciation for Hulk 181 has leveled off. The bubble may be close to popping. The collectors who can afford it have copies. The only ones buying at the current price point are flippers, and they are having a hard time finding takers at the top prices.

Keep your eyes on the Micronauts. At some point, someone is going to realize its value, and make a kick- movie franchise out of it.

What grade is that for? Or is it averaged out? Looks to me like the bubble started inflating right around 2012. The average value has basically tripled in 4 years. And if you compress that to the past 12 months, what do you see? And, keep in mind, that all the 181's people had in tehir collections started flooding out when the price started inflating. So, you are seeing a significant supply increase at the same time as that price tripling. Look at the sales volume.

Laura Martin is one of the best colorists in the world. So, naturally, that looks fantastic. I should think a coloring job by her would not in any way detract from the value of a a sketch cover. Not with anyone sane, anyway.

They are. I just think 180 is undervalued and 181 is in the middle of a Dutch Tulip bubble.

You clearly don't understand what a bubble is.

You don't think Hulk 181 in in the midst of a bubble right now?

I'm not sure the top was trimmed. It appears to have the red distributor stripe on top. The right end and bottom, however....

As some others have advised elsewhere, do not get your books graded (generally) unless and until you are ready to sell them. Not unless you have a super key that you want to encase and display for some reason. Do refersh their bags with mylar and acid free boards, however. (If you can afford grading them, you can more than afford the mylar an acid free backing boards). If at some point you want to sell some of them, then you can follow the steps above to determine whether its worth spending the money on slabbing them.

Nice! Do you...plan to flip 'em?

It turns out I still have a photo of the Flame 6 that got bought out from under me by a fellow board member. Since he hasn't posted a photo of it, here's mine.

I'm just stating my opinion. If I'm wrong, then why does anyone care what I think? Keep on going about your merry way inflating that 181 bubble.