Rick2you2

If we can find another Bergen County resident, all we need is a 4th for bridge.

Wow. Is there an emoticon for "that other guy sounds like a predatory ja ck as s"?

I fell into one of the traps created by generalizing; but yes, I generally agree.

At least we don't entrust them with anything important, like mixing drinks or fixing cars.

I was actually making a more generic comment: Addams' stuff was preserved, unlike, for example Golden Age OA. But regarding your examples, even there, scarcity plays a role. An early Picasso from his Cubist period will be worth a lot more than one from his last years. And while there is a lot of Kirby art, how many Golden Age Kirby Captain America pages are there as compared to his 1970's work? In both cases, the price point is higher, but it is still generally relative (once you account for things like special issues, first time appearances, etc.). By the way, I think an investment in a Schulz page is more likely to have long term growth than most comic art because it has been widely accessible for years and is still being run (or rather, Rerun, pun intended). But that's for another day.

I'm wondering in the years ahead how many of those made fortunes will be lost. Tulipmania anyone?

And then there are those Vargas Girls... which I wish I had thought about sooner (and are way better than Thomas Nast, I might add).

I almost never approach anyone who posts NFS on their site because I take it for what it means: not for sale. The few times I have, it is generally with a predicate along these lines: "I know you posted NFS, but since you wrote that, is it possible you might have changed your mind?" Otherwise, I would feel like a jerk--the person is offering a free pleasure to the public by letting people see the OA, and I am trying to take advantage of his/her generosity. Why not just leave it blank, which I have also seen? In those cases, I am much more willing to make an approach.

Let me add that you should probably buy what you like with the assumption you will never get your money out of it (even if you eventually do).

Scarcity drives up prices, if an item is in demand. Van Goghs would be cheaper if he did a lot of them. Addams did hugh numbers of cartoons. To sell collected works of copies mean they always had value; and that means that they would have been saved.

I think I would have started off and told the collector that NFS sometimes means exactly that. So, I would probably start off and ask the owner if there were any chance at all if he would sell it. If he doesn't respond, which is likely, then I wouldn't have to bother about formulating a price. And yes, of course you have to check comparables. I would probably figure on spending at least 50% over market price, adjusted by actual dollars. So, maybe more if it is worth less than $1K, and maybe less if in the range I don't buy stuff. Since you are trying to get something a person doesn't want to sell, I would probably shoot with a really high offer right from the beginning to impress the potential seller I was serious. Otherwise, he may not respond.

When I was young, copies of the Addams cartoons were all packaged and sold in paperbacks; I must have had at least half a dozen of them. To do that means that they were not only popular, but valuable even back then. So, my guess is that there are a lot of them out there. I found those on the web in a matter of minutes. My suspicion is that $50K is really high no matter what it looks like.

In Mar. 2017, this went for $14,300: With Lurch and Morticia for $20K in Sept. 2016:

They aren't all that high. http://www.chrisbeetles.com/gallery/american/be-best-back-business-if-he-could-keep-his-mind-game.html Here are some from 2017: https://www.swanngalleries.com/about/charles-addams

That's one of the crazy things about behavioral economics; high prices can increase demand because it creates the perception of a "luxury good" (like with the aforementioned price of wine). He might very well sell more of them at $1,000 than at $500.

Maybe, maybe not. For someone who can't afford a "big" Ferrari, but wants the name, they'll go with the "cheap" version for $220,000 +/- But it's clearly nuts.

If he takes 20 minutes, he gets that Ferrari for about 100 hours' work.

For any artists out there, how long would that take? 45 minutes, tops? If Moy gets 20% off the top, Lee is still getting over $1,000 per hour. Around 220 hours would net him a base level Ferrari (excluding sales tax, destination and dealer preparation charges, of course ).

I think the more basic question is: "Why bother?" People sometimes think that a high price for a product demonstrates worth, so they buy it. But to the contrary, it just demonstrates product demand--now juiced by people who thought the high price meant high worth. I was reading recently how some restaurants are able to sell wine that people aren't buying--they raise the price. Diners assume the high price means it is terrific and spend the extra money. Honestly, you can get really good wine for under $15/bottle at the liquor store, so why bother blowing $150 (or more) for a bottle? Jim Lee is an excellent artist, but to be candid, you can get better published pieces for those prices. Eventually, the prices of his work will settle down, at least relative to other artists. Then, have a field day. But for now, why bother?

I'm curious, too. I didn't see them on his Facebook page.

For the past 6 months, I have been doing both. Behind my home desk, I keep some of the originals in sleeves and a ledger-sized photocopy. I leave the photocopy on top to protect against sunlight, but when I feel like really looking at the art, I look at the one in the sleeve. It's been working pretty well, and I'm thinking of rotating out different pieces using the same approach.

Let me suggest you change the title of this thread. It sounds like you are asking people to identify the artist who did the images you posted (which are terrific). As for me, I've always loved the 19th century political cartoonist, Thomas Nast, but that's in a whole different category:

He also likes money.

They have death squads.

Thank God you don't.