Rick2you2

I think Rob Hunter was the cover inker on that issue, so I was thinking of him. Your thoughts? On further checking, I'm not sure who did the inking for the cover.

And I hope it doesn't have a black background again, with the border cut off on a lot of screens.

The problem with that approach is that you can lose to someone who hit the 20% mark first, and you could win at 21%. I think you should just go with what you can manage, based on how much you like the piece.

Learning is a good thing.

I just bought my first piece of straight pencil work (off the Comic Link auction) for all of $215, including shipping, taxes and commission. The moodiness is wonderful. I'm thinking of a little project to go with it. While I would never want an inker to touch the original, particularly since Clark is dead, I was thinking of finding an inker who could ink a blue line of it. Then, get some fake decals and place them on the blue line for a "what could have been." What makes me curious, however, is what would an inker do to this? The grey shading variations which can be achieved with a pencil stand out here. Ink isn't "shade friendly", and I'm not sure that the essence of the piece can be preserved by an inker.

I see your distinction. Although I consider them both to be flipping, with one being more aggressive than the other, the English language does allow for a "big tent" with words. Now, mutual Attaboy time. How many other chat boards would be able to have someone casually write: "Go buy tulips if you must", and have the perfectly reasonable expectation that other people will understand exactly what you mean?

Piece of cake. Rick, to you, too.

And in 2009, the stock market dropped to around 6,600, while it just peaked at over 25,000 (and now it's down). So yes, 400% increases (almost) do happen. But most things move up at a much lower rate, certainly below 20% per year. That's why I felt it was so high. Let me add, however, that the "law of small numbers" does make sense (large percentage increases on small dollar changes). Bottom line, however, is it's just not so hot a piece of OA.

That's an amazingly good piece. The Silver Age Legion was really a terrific mix of fun. When I was younger, JLA took top honors, but eventually, LSH surpassed it.

From the article: "Without doubt, the most knowledgeable and active OA collecting community is the CGC Forum OA section." Always liked an Attaboy, so I thought I would pass it on.

That's only one person's philosophy; it is certainly not mine. To me "flipping" is buying something with the intent to quickly resell it. I consider it different than "collecting", and different than even more typical forms of "buy and hold" investing. The essence of collecting is to own some group of things because you prize them for their intrinsic worth. If you think that "Dogs Playing Poker" on black velvet is the most beautiful thing you ever saw, that's a purchase. Add a Spanish Senorita on black velvet, and you're a collector of black velvet paintings (and don't expect me to ever set foot in your art exhibition room without laughing my off). Sometimes, collectors fall out of love. Sometimes, they need the money. So, they sell. That is not flipping. When you buy something with the intent to make it your own, and if you have more than one, you are a collector. That's where I sit. I don't think flipping is necessarily bad for a market; if someone can find a bargain and make extra money, good for him/her. But, it's not good for a small market, like this one, because the relatively small pool of buyers and huge amounts of information about sales cause markets to overheat too easily. Even big markets overheat, like the stock market, and then they sometimes crash. In the stock market, it's usually the little investor who gets hurt worst. It can also be the little guy who tries his hand at purchasing to flip and gets burned when the market corrects itself. For a regular flipper, I don't shed tears. If you want to enjoy this hobby, my suggestion is you buy something you like, after you get a sense of how pricing works in the market, and check pricing history of similar pieces first. One last point. I have only been here a short time, but this is a fun place to be. Just saying.

Out of curiosity, I went to Comic Art Tracker, and the result was surprisingly good. The closest thing to real sleaze was this one, and it's very well done (particularly at $375). So much so, I'm tempted to buy it: And then there's the more traditional stuff, which in its own myopic way, is more sleazy than the first one: This could actually become a fun, solitary game to play: pick a word, plug it into CAT, and see what surprises the world has in store.

Got it.

They don't all do it. I've bought things and it didn't happen.

And quirky stuff, too. I rather liked a book called "Mid-Life Crisis" about a relatively low powered, over-the-hill superhero who never made it big, was financially struggling, and was trying to figure out what to do with his life. It needs some sharpening, and should stay away from the more conventional fight stuff, but it shows some smarts about real life.

More like an "inquire." What popped up was: "This item's Owner is proactively entertaining Offers." I expect a real number will pop up in a few weeks or so.

You were right on the money with that one. Now the buyer is trying to sell it.

Slowing things down lets the publisher pad the story and run it over multiple issues (like a soap opera). It also lets artists do more splash pages and make more money. You are right, although I wouldn't be so harsh about it. I'm more annoyed by the lack of ingenuity and the apparent urge to turn everything into the next Crises in Secret Wars. So much is so marginally readable.

Believe it or not, there is at least one other person who also collects to this character, and some others who collect to the DC supernatural line. One thing I don't just do, however, is check for the name. Not everyone who posts art includes all the characters in a page. So, I gotta look around. For all it's worth, I also like ACG's Nemesis (only have one). The art isn't so hot, but some of the dialog and scenes are hilarious. If you weren't familiar with the character, which is from the 1960's, visualize a cross between a low powered Spectre and a 1960's sitcom.

Just to be clear, there is a lot of PS stuff I don't buy--including that Neal Adams piece someone bought and is now trying to flip. That's one reason I like commissions You can get good stuff by good artists. (By the way, I have a twice up pencil drawing of his, with Rubenstein on inks, so I wasn't that hungry for it). On rare occasions, I have also branched out, but there is usually a specific reason.

As applied to this transaction, I see your point. In the broader scheme, however, quite a few business models do well by making a small profit on a large number of transactions. Look at supermarkets. There are also some dealers like Anthonys who, I am guessing, make most of their money moving large numbers of smaller items at a lower profit margin than some of the others. A rising tide lifts all boats. I guess that's the best answer to why this piece is going up.

I don't think a 400-500% increase since 2009 is irrelevant. I did, however, take a second look at the Heritage pieces and I probably should not have been too emphatic. There are better pieces after 2009 which are more money, and newer than 2009 pieces which are less money (but also mediocre). I still think the piece is moving the market if it keeps going up, but it's not all that clear from the limited sample.

That was my feeling, too, particularly when I looked around at the market. That's why I asked the question: this didn't make sense.

You work with what you've got, and that's what found. I probably should have mentioned that more recent Byrne WW pieces which are significantly better are still proportionately low compared to this one.

I was wondering what is driving the bidding on this one: John Byrne Wonder Woman V2#108 Story Page Original Art (DC, 1996).... Right now, bidding is at $440 plus buyer's premium. In 2009, the same piece went for $107.55, with the BP. It's not an action shot, although it does have WW in it (with a mediocre Phantom Stranger image), and the art is nice. But that's quite an increase, even if WW art is hot these days, particularly with the closing so far away. And if anyone is wondering, I'm not one of the bidders.