Rick2you2

I've dealt with Robert Dennis and he's terrific. I don't know the other gentleman. What I would not recommend is someone who isn't skilled at OA restoration.

If you can find Sy Barry, he has a lot of Sunday sections available for sale. They were being offered by him in NYC at the recent Con. They were going for about $500 a piece.

I would agree it's excellect to deal with. Product is also shipped quickly and packed well. The question, I think, is whether the premium charged is justified when compared to other auction services, and whether the extra 0.5%, as small as it is, is "over the top." I think it's still at "gripe but no action" level, but it's "pushing the envelope" on pricing.

Let me suggest you keep some distance between the collection and the wine.

HA does provide an excellent website experience, but it's an electronic experience, but "hand made." How would you compare Clink to Connect, both qualitatively and price-wise?

Since they re-formatted HA, I have had difficulty finding things. How did you get to the first post? Can you easily follow bidding activity anymore?

I must disagree. If my reading is correct, it is outrageous--not the 0.5% increase but the rate structure. It looks like HA has hidden a huge total take by dividing its fee between buyers and sellers. By way of comparison, this is what Christie's charges--with no seller's consignment fee (or at least none which I can find). It is from https://www.christies.com/buying-services/buying-guide/financial-information/: "For all collecting categories except wine, the new buyer's premium rate will be an amount equal to 25% of the hammer price of each lot up to and including £175,000/US$250,000; plus 20% of the hammer price from £175,001/US$250,001 up to and including £3,000,000/US$4,000,000 and 12.5% above £3,000,001/US$4,000,001." It seems to me that if the HA is taking 10%, plus 20%, that's a lot more than the maximum of 25% on the total by Christies.

Now there's a germ of an idea for a website. Dedicated professional artists and writers would be asked to post general information about their schedules and activities, along with cross-references to their own websites or those of their agents. That way, information could be easily found by the community.

Can't someone just ask Clink for a better description/clarification?

If you are planning to hang it in your living room, don't expect it to set the mood for a romantic date. And if you are married, I would definitely get approval of your other half first. Everything boils down to what you like and what you can afford. In general, commissions don't appreciate much (if at all). Furthermore, I didn't see any of this artist's pieces for sale in CAF, HA or eBay. So, it's not possible to get a sense of whatever you are paying is fair.

Even sellers can get fooled. But if it's a fake, it's a terrific fake. Mignola's style can't be easy to duplicate.

Honestly, it does look pretty good. The sketch doesn't have the telltale signs of poor tracing, hesitancy and disproportionate body parts you sometimes see. Mignola also draws in that style. So yes, it may well be legitimate. But, don't be surprised if it shoots up in price later.

You're welcome to try. I did that twice on other pieces and got nowhere. Let me suggest you notify Bryne and see if he will follow up. It should have more clout if the artist denies authorship. Try him at Byrne Robotics. He has an active forum board there and you could start a topic thread.

Not the one I wanted.

I'm not familiar with "kunert". Is he any good?

I think he was joking.

I think you should send him a "thank you" note which expresses your appreciation for the extra effort he made for you, and that it was a very nice thing for him to do. He will be happy to receive it, and it shows your own graciousness in response.

There have been a few times I have not bid at auction when I would have previously bought it at private sale. Generally, it's been because I had since found something I liked even more, I have spent my discretionary funds for the moment, or the "heat" of interest just isn't there anymore.

I agree. I suspect it has been fueled by some really high prices which were recently paid for the Aparo Spectre art lately, including a cover for Adventure. One thing I find surprising is that even though the amount of material Aparo did is quite high, the prices keep going higher.

I'm not sure about this. I don't think there are mountains of it, mind you, but more than it appears. Despite what some of this OA commands, a lot of people really do not know it has value. And when I have mentioned before (to professionals who run estate or garage sales, for example), they are more likely to ask about comic strip art than books.

I just wanted to say that I consider this to be a kind and generous attitude. My collecting ties me into the pleasures of my youth with the appreciation of subtlety gained through adulthood. So many modern books are hard to enjoy; the plots are too complex or dark, the science is too muddled, the legal landscape ignored. Viewing my collection--my past reminiscences through the eyes of an adult--it erases the hardness. So, thank you for the sentiment.

My father used to tell me that the best way to play office politics is to not play office politics. Just do your job the best you can. The same with bidding. Figure out what you are comfortable spending, and don’t go over it (by more than a little, no one is perfect). Then it doesn’t matter if someone is shilling or not.

I can certainly confirm this. Something I had bought over a year ago is still posted as for sale.

There are also some Charles Addams pieces, including this cover from the New Yorker called Penguin Convention:

Wow, tough job. Why that book?