Rick2you2

My guess is that it is humidity damage, as I had a similar look many years ago to some of my pieces. They were stored in the basement, and a sump pump went out. When I went downstairs about 3-4 days later, there was about 2-3 feet of standing water. The whole place was humid. The art was above the waterline, but I remember picking up an Aparo page and watching blackish drops of water running off it like tears. Among other things, I lost a Spirit page while others were just damaged, like my Adams cover. This is fixable but it can cost you.

As I mentioned before, prices are “sticky downward” (an old economics phrase). Best bet is to win at auction, where pricing is a little more flexible unless someone has put in a price protection bid on their own stuff.

I would, too, although his pricing isn’t too flexible.

The biggest problem with crossing over to appreciation like fine art, I think, is the pricing structure. Objectively, there is a lot of good work on less than popular subjects, and while that also affects fine art, I can’t imagine it is as profound. No one reads fine art as a kid. I have said this before, but IMO, romance comics would have a bigger audience among the general public than among the comic collecting readers, if only because so many of them are unintentionally funny. One of these days, I expect someone will figure out how to use cheap original art as decoupage.

Batman?

I have made this point before in different contexts, but everything is relative, Sure those V-12 Packards from the 1930’s have gone up, but relative to older Ferrari’s? Not so much. And then there are still unsung bargains out there, like the late 1960’s Toronado’s or even the Studebaker Hawk GT’s of the early 1960’s which deserve better fan attention. By the 1990’s, I lost a lot of interest in reading these books. Too many retreads of old story lines but in newer, better packages. The art, overall, is often better by the 1990’s, but I have no particular nostalgia for virtually any of it. And no, I don’t think empowerment of women was a driving force. More equality with men, but let’s face: people liked seeing images of Power Girl for reasons having less to do with her attitude than her attributes. And then, you hit the biggest problems: demographics and sales. Fewer buyers means less nostalgia, higher prices and competition from video games, among other things, reduced them. So you are left with a smaller potential art collectors market among fans who are less likely to be rabid fans—even if the art is often objectively better IMO. Result: relative to older stuff, and factoring in inflation, is a lower top end. Not Tulipmania, but not the “old days” either.

It loses its sell potential. That’s what happened to Persian rugs, another art form with a narrow market. Top tier pricing occasionally went down after the 1980’s, but mostly it froze because sellers didn’t want to suffer a loss (or wounded pride). Run of the mill stuff sank like a rock with some losing over 3/4’s “value”. If you love a piece by all means buy it, but don’t assume youngsters will too.

“Hold value” isn’t necessarily the same as “hold price.” People who bought something and then see demand plummet are not likely going to be out there selling at a reduced price, unless they must, because they “remember when….” Prices, in other words, are “sticky downwards” which leaves them with the same collectors who slowly adjust to new realities. But “value”, with a vigorous buy/sell market, is different. What people read in their teens and twenties should have a heyday when they are in their late 40’s and 50’s into their early 60’s. As to the art itself, I expect demand to drop for Golden Age, Atomic Age and Silver Age stuff in that order because the people who read them are older and/or dead. Some exceptions for special pieces, like early BM or Capt’n America should hold up. Then, Bronze Age will drop. It depends how long of a time line you are thinking about. I would expect that for most Silver Age, 10 years at most, with show declines in demand and top end pricing. But, people who buy Peanuts, or other strips which still are rerun, will probably see increases. Don’t be surprised if Garfield one day becomes hot.

Over easy with a side of bacon.

You should have offered a choice of tomato or grilled onion so that buyers who liked one candidate or the other could express their support or disdain.

Good luck. I mean it.

But, it can’t and doesn’t, in restricted markets. They can be restricted in ways like patent protection, or cable TV, which is only now cracking a bit with streaming, but not if you still want cable. The market only listens to its customer base to gain a market advantage. And with OA, every product is unique. I’m not sure what the reference to tax laws is.

Perhaps you are undervaluing the market?

There used to be a Fresca Black Cherry high was terrific, but the new one is meh.

Corrected it for you. I think it’s awful. And I didn’t care for New Coke, either.

Use a straw man. Let someone else buy it for you and reimburse him.

The US entered into treaties with the USSR, and they did some good. Even if someone is “bad”, I think you have to weigh the pro’s and con’s. Of course, if it isn’t that major, that’s another factor.

Has anyone started a restoration thread showing off their before and after, as well as explaining what they needed to do?

If restoration work needs supplemental art to replace lost/damaged pieces of a page, does she do that, too? Or would I need someone else for that?

I think you will find his pieces on CAF under DC Man.

A good pick-up from Comiclink, but way too stiff a flip.

It could also result in reduced prices if people don’t want something enough until the last minute bidding opportunity arrives. I’ve bid on some pieces like that.

I read a few write-ups about this, and there was a lot more going on here. First, the buyer and his representative had reached a settlement previously, leaving only Sotheby’s as a defendant. Second, the “agent” was apparently getting paid 2% by the billionaire for what he found. In this country, selling a piece and getting a commission for finding it would sound like a violation of an agent’s duties to its principal not to engage in self-dealing. It also says something about a poorly designed contract for remuneration of the procurer who had a positive incentive to cheat. So, while Sotheby’s may not have been proven guilty (as compared to what Sotheby’s may have done), the liability of the procurer sounds pretty obvious—at least if US law were applied.

You could probably sell it on eBay as a Jack Kirby original.

All I could read was Mr. Miracle.