gumbydarnit

In the days when I was active, I would take a lot of time figuring out my absolute top price would be, factoring in all the fees, taxes and shipping. When it passed that figure, I would stop because trying to figure that out in the heat of an auction is next to impossible.
 

Make your plan and stick to it, if you want to stretch for the piece, do that preauction, with lots of consideration and thought applied. Often I would find the final all in price would be 20% more than my top. Sometimes I would land one, most of the time I wouldn’t, and I never had regrets because I KNEW my cap before the bids were flying. 

opps

On 11/29/2023 at 11:02 PM, Brian Peck said:

HA does have the right to scan the art for auction but that is all. 

I think IF they took the extra step to provide 600 dpi scans of art to 3rd parties, that should ONLY be done with the new owners permission.

I don't know of an auction house that does provide high res scans to 3rd parties, so my question was purely a hypothical question.

On 11/29/2023 at 7:33 PM, Brian Peck said:

Heritage scans are not good enough for the AE books. They do not want people reproducing the artwork at full size.

Just curious, being that they are the just the conduit between the art’s previous owner and the new owner, legally or ethically would HA or any auction house have the right to provide high res scans without the consent of the current owner? 

On 11/25/2023 at 5:52 PM, Stefanomjr said:

Sold four pieces. Ghosted on one inquiry/offer. Overall had a good experience and look forward to next time. 

 

Thanks Bill.

Glad you had a good show.

It’s a fun time for sure - even with the lofty prices … I would price my art high as well, so I can’t complain.

It’s nice to just click around and explore art for an hour or two. Thanks to Bill Cox for the event and everyone who participated!

On 11/24/2023 at 3:34 PM, steve9999 said:

It's mostly porkbelly talk, which is disappointing if you're like me and buy the work because you're a fan of the artist or title of the book and not what your "return" is going to be. To each, his own.

I think collectors like to get a feel from other collectors about the direction of the hobby. Some want to know if they are stupid for considering spending so much on a page. Used to be, you were only out a small chunk of change if you misbuy (probably not a real word) a piece, “but who cares I love it!” Now at these prices it could be a hard financial blow if you misbuy that cover to Captain Fishbone by Johnny Journeyman for 30k… “But but but the dealer and his friend said it was a good deal.”

If you stick to conversations like how well Neal Adams can draw Batman the conversations dry up, a lot of collectors don’t feel comfortable talking about the merits of artist’s work, they just know it moves them. It would be nice if we got more of these types of conversations. 
 

You’re welcome throw in your two cents more often, always good to hear new voices here.

On 11/24/2023 at 2:22 PM, batman_fan said:

Decent Byrne's Superman for $3k, seemed cheap

Nice Byrne Superman page! That page was from the Bloodsport first appearance issue as well… first appearance guys asleep at the wheel?

Great to see these before and after images, thanks Alex for sharing. I’ll need to bookmark her website. 

On pieces like this where it seems like a good price and good art, but I have no interest in the subject, I almost always let it go, even tho Im tempted. I’d rather pass on the bargain and save that money for a piece that fits more my collecting focus.
 

Ryan is a good artist, but he’s not one of my favorites. If one of my guys produced a similar piece, at that price, it would be a different story. I would have taken it down.

Lots of wonderful drawing by RS going on here, if there were any interest in the Barracuda maybe it would fetch the price point you were thinking, but the punisher is just a tiny silhouette so his fans aren’t gonna drive it up. It depends on the Barracuda army to drive this bad boy up and they have spoken.. in a very small way ; )

That said, it does seem like a good price, had I seen it I would have been a bit tempted at $380.

On 11/22/2023 at 6:06 AM, KirbyCollector said:

A year from now the stock market will be in severe distress and then we'll see what happens to collectibles. I was not buying OA after the 2000 dotcom crash, but I was buying after the 2008 crash and there were many OA bargains to be had. The crash in 2020 was a complete outlier b/c so many outlets for consumer spending were cut off that internet-available collectibles became of the direct beneficiaries of the idle cash. The coming stock market decline (and Gene can probably back me on this) in the spring/early summer 2024 will be significant but under "normal" economic conditions, so it may look more like 2008. Personally, I am preparing for something much worse and divesting myself of those collectibles I do not absolutely "love."

This is not meant as a warning; you have to do what you think is right, and what is appropriate for your financial situation. I hope OA retains its values, but a broad-based decline seems more likely.

As with everything, it's all about timing and luck. It all feels like musical chairs, who will get caught holding that crazy high priced cover when or if the music stops.... who really knows?!?

The good thing is the enjoyment of looking at these little time caspsules, that capture a time in our lives and more importantly the artist's life. When he/she is doing the best that they can during their artistic journey. I still get giddy thinking I have these mementos! 

Personally, I like the art for the JLA cover more than Perez’s earlier Avenger cover. It might be how his art evolved or the fact that he inked himself on the JLA cover. Both are great though, it’ll be interesting to see how high it goes.

On 11/19/2023 at 4:30 PM, KirbyCollector said:

Surprised it is crickets in here... maybe some buyer fatigue after all? 

Seemed like this auction fell into line with expectations for the lots that I am somewhat knowledgeable on. A few years ago that wouldn’t have been the case, seems like we are settling into a more predictable market, maybe that cuts down on the chit chat… the talk of the auction was the Liefeld Cap cover, as it should have been.

Always fun to hear the auction talk, maybe the next one will shake out more stellar pieces, this was definitely a sub par auction for Heritage. 

Way back in the early eighties... Conan books were always on the back wall of comic shops. As a kid I thought the back wall equaled important and historic... but I didn't really know why, I never understood the appeal of the title, but as BWS style developed, I do think he became a strong and important comic book artist. The early Conan work definitely doesn't hold any appeal for me, but man does his later work does!

On 11/16/2023 at 12:42 PM, G.A.tor said:

its the only non surfer page I believe I've really been keen on, but like you, I wasn't prepared to pay that much

 

I too was not prepared to pay that much ; )

Disney needs to pick an alternate timeline from the Loki show where their Marvel movies are good and release THOSE MOVIES!!!

On 11/4/2023 at 6:36 AM, The Voord said:

Yes, I was thinking Dr Doom myself, lol!

Hopefully, Ron will never re-release these to the Brothers D . . . I can see 'Dr Doom prototype art' pumping-up the asking price to insane levels . . . 

If that were to happen, you know there would also be new Dr Doom trade dress added to further enhance this unearthed alternate Dr Doom #1 cover ; ) 

Anyone else see a foreshadowing of Dr Doom in the last mechanical face? 
 

perhaps it influenced Darth Vaders mask as well?

Now that is an incredibly creative and powerful strip, I would be hard pressed to think of a Sky Masters that I would like more than this beauty!  Congratulations on a great art day.

I love me some Byrne/Austin X-Men art but it’s hard to think there could be a better cover for this issue!!!

Cockrum/Austin are a fantastic art team as well!

There will be fireworks on this one!

https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FPREVIEW.ASP%3Fcode%3D2023nov%26itemtype%3D1%26pg%3D2%23Item_1731573&id=1731573&itemType=1

WOW!

That’s a good year Batman_fan!

I like the signature and the message… if only we could turn a dial and make it a bit less dominant!  It becomes such a focal point. It would be hard to assess how much it would bug you without living with it for a while.

What would you do if you dropped all that cash and decided you couldn’t get used to it?!?