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Flambit

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Posts posted by Flambit

  1. 9 hours ago, Lee B. said:

    It is great to see these ads.  Thanks for sharing!  I have scanned pretty much all of these images and put them in the searchable database at www.comicartads.com  

    Albert Moy also ran ads in Comic Book Artist, another TwoMorrows publication from around the same time, and I have scanned those ads as well and posted them to www.comicartads.com

    Cheers, Lee

    Somewhere I have one of his old price lists from 1987 because I was really trying to chase down Maguire Justice League art, a book I was obsessed with at the time.  I just remember all the Kirby Eternals covers for $200 a pop...:cry:

  2. 10 hours ago, bisquitodoom said:

    Looks like this was $4500 for the complete book and cover.  So the cover must have been split off by that point.  

    Oh man, I didn't even notice that it was the complete book!  That would make total sense, then!  Someone was going for a bit of a profit there.

    And I know for a fact that it wasn't Thibodeaux's booth in 2003 where I saw the Black Panther cover.  

    If's funny, because in 2006 or 2007 I was offered the Silver Star #1 complete book - without cover - and I want to say they were asking 12k (Three years prior, the whole thing plus cover was 5k!). 

  3. I just realized that New Gods book is EIGHT thousand, not five thousand.  

    That does start to seem a little pricey!  

    I mean... not anymore, but, for 1998, that would have been a pretty steep expenditure.  

    I do remember, though, in 2003 (again), the covers for both Captain America 197 and 199 (AND one of the better 1970 Kirby Sandman covers) all popped up within a few months of each other on eBay.  I wanted a Kirby Cap cover more than anything, but I was out of work at broke at the time.  All three pieces closed in the 5k range and I distinctly remember thinking they were kind of a steal and if I had had the money I wouldn't have even hesitated.  

  4. 2 hours ago, Ironmandrd said:

     

    And the Thor #258 cover sold on HA in Nov 2015 for $26,290 not $33k.

    (and between the two I prefer the #253). 

    I couldn't remember for sure - that was a total guess.  I would definitely say the 253 is better, but there's something about the 258 that speaks to me.  

  5. 8 minutes ago, Monkeyman said:

    I bought a Fiction House piece once from them that they stated was by Lubbers even though it says Elias in the GCD.  They said they disagreed with GCD so I bought it (I didn't really care that much anyway as I liked no matter which artists it was).  Everyone who's seen it since says it's Elias.

    Even if you don't know the artist, you can't go wrong if you like the piece.  

    Unfortunately, I hate this particular Sky Masters haha.  It's all set on the base, and mostly talking heads.  

    I definitely still want a good Sunday though, but it's been so long since I've kept track even what they are going for now.  Does anyone know what a decent one is worth?  I never see them (Sundays) at auction or even for sale anymore...

  6. 9 hours ago, marktom said:

    The Miller DD cover had been offered around over the years. People have had their chance to own it. Had it been newer to the market, or had Janson inked it, it would have sold for at least 25% higher IMO.

    Someone got a nice deal on the Kirby Thor cover. I'd attribute some of the lower than expected price to Romita's corrections to Thor's face. Bidders want their Kirby to look like Kirby. Without that I for one would have bid higher on it. 

    - Mark T

    Agreed on both points - the non Janson inks and the Romita face on the Thor cover both definitely contributed to my lack of interest.  Did the Thor cover go for 25k?  I lost track of it.  I remember the Kirby Thor 258 cover (Grey Gargoyle) sold at least twice on Heritage and Thor's face is redrawn there, but that was, what, 33k?  Wow - the winner did get a great buy!  I personally like the 258 cover better, but the 253 has such a great, dynamic Thor pose!  

  7. 5 hours ago, AnkurJ said:

    There was a piece I was interested in and inquired a few times over the course of a few years. Answer was always NFS. That was ok.

    But when I saw it had been consigned to auction, I honestly didn’t feel too interested in bidding. And it went for less than I would have been willing to pay. Auctions can be great but can be duds too. If you have an interested party with a solid offer, why not take it?

    Similar thing happened to me.  I inquired and was shot down - albeit in a very nice/polite way.  

    It went to Clink and I got it for so much less than what I had been prepared to offer to the gentleman.  

    Moral of the story: you may be holding on to someone's grail and don't even know it.  Always at least be willing to hear offers!

  8. On 5/26/2018 at 5:08 AM, Doc67 said:

    I just got a whole list of their recent XMen prices.  If anyone wants to see them, I will post.  

    I have done several successful deals with Steve in the past.  But, these prices just elicited a “no thanks” from me...

    Allen

    Would also love to see the price list!

  9. I think I told this story a few years back on the list, but many years ago I really was hankering for a Kirby/Wood Sky Masters Sunday.  So that year at SDCC, probably mid 2000s, that was my goal.  The Donnellys had two - I think it was Rich (tall, thin) that I was dealing with - and he trotted out two Sundays.  One, he said, was inked by Ayers.  But the other was certainly inked by Wood, so a deal was made.  At this point, I knew that Wood only inked a portion of the Sunday strips, but I didn't know which ones.  But I literally thought, "A dealer wouldn't lie to me." Of course, he lied to me; I found out later it was inked by Ayers.  

    I bear my portion of the responsibility for this: I should have done my research, but at the time I didn't know how to tell what was done by whom (I later found out when I bought a copy of the Jack Kirby Collector on a whim and they were all right there under Sky Masters, broken down by inker/date).  But I had assumed, having purchased most of my art though auction houses, which are generally pretty reputable, that dealers were as well.  

    Another lesson: listen to your gut.  The whole time, my gut was screaming that this was wrong, that it wasn't Wood, and it didn't look right.  And the subject matter of the strip is odd.  I'm sure they were thrilled to unload it.  Still have it - I figure it's not totally worthless; there are Kirby pencils under there, but the whole thing left a horrible taste in my mouth.  

  10. On 5/23/2018 at 9:21 PM, RabidFerret said:

    I've been wondering about this topic recently as well, and while fire protection is one of my concerns, it's not the only one.

    On the most basic of levels - theft concerns me. Not that most people know what this stuff is when they see it, and they couldn't sell it publicly without drawing attention, but plenty of people still steal things for the thrill or because they like the pretty pictures.

    Water damage is another concern. Not that a safe solves that entirely, but it certainly seems a lot more watertight than a bookcase or whatever piece of furniture we store our art in.

    So I'm curious for thoughts from people who have bought safes for their art.

    1. Did you go with a gun safe or a burglary/fire safe?
    2. How big of a safe did you get dimension-wise?
    3. Any particular brand?
    4. Do you store the art in portfolios? Museum boxes? 
    5. Do you store the art inside of plastic tubs inside the safe?
    6. Are you concerned about moisture inside the safe? Do you use desiccant bags to reduce moisture or does that risk drying out the art?
    7. In retrospect, was it worth it to you? Do you sleep easier?

    And anything else I'm overlooking that a safe owner may find important.

     

    My initial intention was to store my art in a safety deposit box and just keep high quality scans at home.  Definitely takes some of the romance out of it, and I checked with a couple of banks and they generally didn't seem to have boxes big enough to store 11x17 pages. 

    Then a family member actually came across a pretty good safe second hand which I bought.  It's way bigger than needed for art storage - it's probably four feet high - and all of my portfolios sit on the bottom shelf.  I generally keep it stored there and locked; I keep thinking if I leave it out, that will be the day the big earthquake happens or the cat will pee on it (like that X-Men cover haha).  I do store other valuables inside as well since I have all sorts of room. 

    1) I think it's a fire/burglary safe

    2) about 4'x3' maybe?

    3) I can't recall offhand - I'd have to go look

    4) porfolios

    5) no

    6) yes - have left the bags that came with the safe inside. 

    7) it actually does.  I have a big safe now I can store other things in it, and since I live in SoCal, I'm more concerned about the big one hitting, it will probably be the one thing that survives if that portion of the house comes crashing in.  And I live in a good area, but if I get burgled, there's no way anyone could move this thing!

  11. 33 minutes ago, NelsonAI said:

    Robert Dennis should be able to conserve and deacidify the DD cover. I've seen him do wonders on much worse pieces.

    That cover was offered to me privately many moons ago for 50K.  I passed but another buyer stepped up.

    I think the DD cover will sell for more than the McFarlane.  :whatthe:

    Good luck to everyone.

    Cheers!

    N.

    Do you really think the Miller will sell more than the McFarlane?

  12. 13 minutes ago, NelsonAI said:

    Robert Dennis should be able to conserve and deacidify the DD cover. I've seen him do wonders on much worse pieces.

    That cover was offered to me privately many moons ago for 50K.  I passed but another buyer stepped up.

    I think the DD cover will sell for more than the McFarlane.  :whatthe:

    Good luck to everyone.

    Cheers!

    N.

    I remember, it was probably years ago at this point, it was in the caf classifieds at 55k.  I want to say David Mandel was the seller, but I'm not sure.  At the time, I remember thinking 55k seemed really high for a pre-168 DD cover (that's how long ago it must have been).  But who knows...

  13. I was a little surprised about that Kirby Liberty Legion cover going for $21k, especially since it sat so long for so low (although I've learned that means nothing).  But the background is entirely stat, I believe, and I wasn't over the moon about the inks.  I would have rather had that great Sandman cover (granted, not as iconic, and not Marvel heroes).  

  14. Congratulations!  Like you, my dad bought me my first issue of Batman (by Aparo) at our local Circle K in the late 70's, and it was one of the first four or five comics I ever owned, and my first issue with Batman.  Aparo will always be my #1 Batman artist, certainly from a sentimental standpoint.  Hopefully you'll be able to track down a page or the cover to #442 and add it to your collection!

  15. On 5/8/2018 at 7:13 PM, comix4fun said:

    When this one jumped to $43k last week I looked at it no less than 4 times to make sure I wasn't reading it wrong or missed something in the description that would explain it. 

    Wow!  Is it because it's 15 cent silver age cover?  

    I mean, just a couple of auction cycles ago, there was a Captain America cover on HA by Kirby, no less, and it only went for 24k with juice - and that was only 1976...  

    No way this cover could go *that* much higher, right...?