The Voord

That's really good . . . I'm not much into commissions but can't fault this one, which is probably as good as it gets. Dave Karlen's a good guy to deal with as Butch's rep.

Heritage should steer clear of such things unless given cast-iron provenance that can't be disputed (chances of which are probably very slim). . . . and also steer clear of Donnelly dodgy-doings of altered artworks.

More a case of what they haven't got!

Yeah, stop giving me neck-ache, lol!

Maybe they just produced a stat cover re-working Toth's 1951 All American Western cover image (cropping the left hand side, slightly, and extending to the bottom and right side)? I haven't done a line-by-line inspection, but at face value they look pretty close.

Probably the best you could hope for is Kane signing another artist's drawings . . . and even then, Kane probably had someone else signing the originals for him!

That's another potential disaster for the OP! Larry Stroman anyone?

If you're looking to buy a 'Kane' Batman drawing, I doubt if there's much competition, if any! On the other hand, if you're asking about something likely to carry high interest . . . you may well have put the competition on alert, lol!

I wouldn't touch 'Kane' drawings with a barge pole. Sadly, even if the OP considers it authentic, doubts will now creep in . . . and it doesn't help that this so-called 'credible' dealer won't do returns (which says it all, really).

Marshall Rogers color prelim cover for his 1986 graphic novel adaptation of Harlan Ellison's DEMON WITH A GLASS HAND . . . along with a scan of the published cover for comparison:

Finished (unused) cover by Mike Mayhew for PULSE # 2 (later re-used as an interior pin-up), along with the prelims Mike included in this Ebay purchase of something like 15 years ago.

I remember some years back someone offering a 'finder's fee' regarding art they were pursuing. After giving the collector a gentle heads-up . . . that was the last I heard of my finder's fee, lol! I didn't actually want a 'finder's fee', as I prefer to do do the gentlemanly thing, helping someone else out . . . believing that it works both ways on the (good) karma front. More recently, I helped a fellow-boardie acquire some art from a UK seller who didn't want to ship to the USA. I was offered a fee for my help but declined, as that's not how I work (just wanted my costs covered to the exact amount). Point being . . . no cost should be involved in helping someone out, especially if no cost is involved sharing information.

Prison bricks . . . BEHIND THE HIGH WALL .(1956) . . Movie Poster painting by Reynold Brown:

. . . or go into the 'Movie' business?

Mike Mayhew once sent me an unused Pulse cover of Spidey and the Vulture (later used as an interior pin-up), which he air-mailed to me (I'm in the UK) in an oversized jiffy bag with no stiffener to help keep things rigid. It was an eBay win at a great price. Thankfully, the artwork arrived intact!

Well, yeah, I made a mistake revealing what I originally paid for the cover. I don't usually do that but, here, I thought I was dealing with someone who would use that information as a starting point . . . having the common sense to factor-in price-appreciation into the equation to help pitch an offer (I wasn't looking to gouge . . . just wanted a reasonable/realistic offer and I would very likely have sold). What I wasn't expecting was being offered $500 less than my original purchase price! It wasn't exactly a sale I needed, so no biggie either way. I just thought the cover would be going to a better home (it was supposedly his all-time-favorite comic-book cover!). A serious enquiry from the other guy . . . that resulted in a less-than-serious offer . . . so maybe not-so-serious after all.

Oh, I dunno, I like my Keif Fromm stories (for all the wrong reasons). . . and like to see how his dastardly schemes pan out

That's quite possible though I'm not convinced either way and will continue to play it safe by bidding live.

A lot of food for thought there, Michael, good post. Like most here, I would imagine, I've been on both sides . . . made enquiries and received enquiries. If I'm making an enquiry, I am prepared to put my money where my mouth is. I will state the reason why the art is important to me and if invited to make an offer will make a decent offer at over FMV within reason! There was one time I offered another collector 2 x FMV for a page of art from a series I was trying to put-back together but the owner wanted 10 x FMV . . . which I simply wouldn't meet (as I like to look at myself in the mirror). I'd never go the route of a sob story . . . that just sounds like emotional blackmail. I won't make those kind of pitches and, by the same token, don't want to receive them. If someone approaches me with an enquiry, I take my cue from the way the pitch is worded. If it's something I want to keep, I'll just say sorry and it's not for sale, end of story. If it's something I might consider releasing, I'll listen. What happens next is up to the other guy once I've advised him to make me a worthwhile offer. As I've been in the same boat, I know that the onus is on me as a potential buyer not to ruin my chances by going the lowball route (which is disrespectful and guaranteed to close-down further discussion).

There was one time, maybe ten years ago, that I did have a positive outcome from a collector enquiring about an EC cover I owned at the time. No sob story involved . . . just an honest enquiry. It was a cover I was not looking to release, but was well aware of ball-park figures similar covers from the run had been fetching on HA. I checked up on the other guy's CAF, populated by a lot of high-end art, so knew the approach was both genuine and serious. Similar covers had been selling in the $55K range . . . which was the kind of tempting amount hinted at in my earlier posts in this thread ("Make me an offer I can't refuse!"). . After some thought, decided such a grail-like amount of cash would trigger a sale. I got back to the other guy and said, "I'd expect to make at least $55K in auction for this cover, but that would obviously involve HA taking a cut from any such sale. I'll take that into account, and will be prepared to sell at $50K, if you're still interested? It's FMV" No haggling on price involved . . . he went for it, on something like a six-month payment plan. Later on in the year, the other collector was visiting the UK from the USA . . . and I travelled down to London to meet-up with him and deliver the art in person. We spent a few hours in a nearby pub 'talking art' . . . and I made a very good friend.

Yeah, sometimes people catch me off-guard!

My thoughts? I'll always listen . . . as long as the other guy is putting in the effort, realistically, to make any potential sale worth my while. Isn't that fair enough? FMV might be a starting point if comps are available (most things are). As I say, why should I be doing all the running around pricing-up something I'm not looking to sell? The onus is on the other guy. He wants to buy . . . I was not looking to sell. Basically a 'Godfather' scenario:

Depends on the situation. If I'm looking to sell something, I'll affix a price. If another collector is approaching me wanting to buy something I'm not actually looking to sell, then I won't have a price in mind. That's up to him to do the leg-work, not me. By saying, "Make me a tempting offer" that's as fair as I'll want to be. In the case of Keif Fromm, basically, any art he owns is worth a ton . . . and your stuff is pretty worthless. That's how he works.

Absolutely! We (usually) collect art that has some kind of personal connection or meaning to us . . . the reason why the art is in our collections in the first place! Who's to say that sob-story-guy's needs are greater than yours? I will sometimes sell art in response to an enquiry . . . but only if it's something that falls below 'keeper' status . . . and only if the price is tempting enough. I never sell art at a loss, so won't entertain the idea of discounts based on a sob story that will put me out of pocket on original expenditure, coupled with a rise in inflation (and current FMV). Sob stories I take with a pinch of salt (in most cases, you simply don't know if the other guy is being genuine). In a similar sort of vein, a long time ago I was having a sell-off of artwork on CAF to help fund paying off my mortgage. I had one deep-pocketed collector enquire after one piece that had some kind of 'religious connection' to him . . . and would I please sell to him at a discount because of this connection? This was on the first day of my sales, and an early enquiry, so I just said, "No, that's the amount I want, and it's far too early to see if there's any wiggle-room on price." Not long afterwards, another collector came along offering full asking price and I made the sale. After I'd marked-up the art as 'Sold', deep-pocketed religious-connection guy came back to me saying something like, "I thought I had first dibs on this art and we were still in discussions . . . why have you sold this to someone else???" I just said, "Well, I told you my asking price was firm, you didn't want to meet it, so what else was there to discuss?" Another guy once told me that a cover I owned was his all-time-favorite comic-book cover . . . and if I ever decided to sell would I give him first refusal? Some years passed, and I decided the time was right for me to consider releasing the art. I contacted the other collector advising this and invited him to make me an offer. The e-mail exchange went something like this: OTHER COLLECTOR: "I'm not sure what to offer . . . what did you pay for the cover?" ME; "Well, I got this cheap at, I think, $2,500." OTHER COLLECTOR: "I could probably stretch to $2,000?" ME: "My original expenditure of $2,500 was about ten years ago . . . prices on these things have now shot up in value". OTHER COLLECTOR: "So you won't sell to me at my offer, even though you know it's my favorite cover???". ME: "No, I'd be out of pocket and I don't sell art at a loss". . . . and that killed exploratory discussions stone cold dead! Then there was a Keif Fromm story (I've got a few of those!). He expressed interest in wanting to buy a 1966 Steve Ditko cover I possessed at the time. I replied saying, "I'm not actually looking to sell this art but will listen to any tempting offer you may want to make?" Keif got back to me saying something like, "You know this cover's not really worth that much, don't you?" . . . no doubt to pave the way for a low-ball offer . . . at which point I stopped responding to him.

I've had a few sob story approaches over the years . . . problem is, it can be difficult separating the sincere from the phony. Just because someone says they're genuine doesn't make it so!