Rick2you2

It will also be dependent on what you send, and the makeup of the audience. But on balance, I would agree.

Window shopping can be an indication of tight money.

Several possibilities, I guess. Maybe a combo. The original estimated value was way off with overoptimistic pricing across the board. Or, there is a temporary pullback due to fear of recession and lack of cash flow. Or, this is a reset from the high prices running from the early days of the Pandemic. Or, this is evidence of a market shift away from the character. Or, it’s summer, and who really cares about this stuff If you can be outside unless you are a hard core collectors? Maybe other possibilities,too. The question is what is the trend from multiple data points?

I won a little Stuart Immonen page with the Phantom Stranger and Spectre, which is fairly nice but no world beater, and I thought the price was a little on the high side (but in this price range, percentages of high or low don’t mean much). What did strike me based on the bid pattern was that after an initial burst of low end bidding, there seemed to be only one other serious bidder. Admittedly not popular characters, but that spread would still support your apparent thesis that bidding interest seemed low.

Now that’s an obscure character. He only made like what, 8 appearances, and had his name changed to Fantoman in his last one?

Ross Andru and Sal are like 2 peas in a pod. They did their job, but lucked out on their assignments. Kane is loved by some, but with rare exceptions, there is too much precise coldness in his work. Perfect for an outer space Green Lantern, but can you imagine him on GL/GA? I like a lot of moderns, at least a little at a time. What I don’t like are pages which aren’t pencilled and inked or missing word balloons. The latter hurts the context, sometimes terribly, as art and text combine to tell the story. But in terms of freedom to tell a story and be creative, they far surpass the earlier urge to use those “classic six panels”. Only when they get carried away and start showboating their skills to take over the story do they bother me.

Polypropylene, according to an Itoya ad. By the way Mylar is polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

I never said I hate all Europe. I do hate the economic systems of France, Germany and Italy: they learned the wrong lessons from World Wars 1&2. Now they just want to make money where they can and assume profit guides the world. They are getting a bird’s eye view of that attitude in Eastern Europe, and they may finally change (I am an optimist at heart).

Old Marvel Masters, new Marvel artists drawing Marvel characters, almost any Marvel characters. Cluttered pages—detail over design. Toth. I have yet to see something he’s done that I would want in my collection. Same with Gil Kane, but I still have hope for him.

Never forget the wisdom of the Masters Ramone: One-two-three-four, cretins want to hop some more; Four-five-six-seven, all good cretins go to heaven.

If you can get it, then by all means go for it. I just didn’t want you to suffer from I thought were not realistic expectations.

Don’t think of it as just a cost item, but as a decision you may later regret if you don’t like the hobby. Many years ago, I decided that antique check embossing machines were very cool, but not yet collected and had a future, like really old typewriters (most valuable ones do not use a “QWERTY” keyboard, so skip the old Royals). So, I bought 2 of them. Well, I changed my mind. Thankfully, they were cheap, and don’t occupy much space in the closet. If you find something to buy in this market, but then change your mind, you are unlikely to get your money out at resale unless you hold it a really long time and got a surprisingly good deal on it.

My suggestion is you start somewhere else. I gather Andy Kubert was the penciller for that page, and you will have a very difficult time finding any of those pages for sale (although, I gather one from a different book is available in a current auction at Comiclink). First, figure out how much you want to spend. I would recommend you spend less then $1,000 for your first one, and then see if you get bitten by the bug. Some of this stuff goes for over $1 million, but a lot of good art is available for under $500. Go to the thread here involving the Morlock tunnels to see examples. Be extremely careful about fraud on any eBay listing. No, that is not a real Peanuts drawing by Schulz for $500. For $500 you should be safe buying published panel pages.

The Chevy Caviller of long time artists.

Even...Sal?

Doubtful, but you can’t see an unpublicized drop of 25%?

GDP is not a calculation of wealth. Just the gross value of new products and services legally sold (not exactly, but close enough). Wealth is the result of profit on new sales combined with the value of assets. Only the wealth which is liquid or easily transferable (including OA) is arguably at issue, but one doesn’t necessarily affect the other. Even a collapse in GDP won’t necessarily cause a decrease in wealth. I don’t see the Queen of England selling her castles just because a brew pub in Manchester goes under. There would have to be a loss of income or need for more income to effectively compel a sale, and they aren’t always related. For example, would Terry sell his precious artwork, or just cut spending if his income dropped? Probably the latter, unless in dire straits, but who knows? We get enough rank speculation on the internet. No need to give it more “value” than it’s worth. Stick to hard numbers and basic economic theory if you want the most likely answer.

I see most of the Western European economy as one of the middle layers in a seven layer cake--it adds to bulk, but contributes nothing uniquely valuable. Running on cheap energy from the Bear, it has a military so badly funded it can barely spare any major artillary pieces for Ukraine (which it is being shamed into contributing), and all while maintaining a social safety net as thick as a woolen sock for its early retirement citizens' boots. So when you write that the "collapse of Europe is exactly what will drive the US stock market and art market (incl comic art) into the stratosphere", I can't help but wonder how anyone with as much sense and smarts as you have think that Europeans can drive anything except overpriced, overengineered auto's (other than the ones which fall apart with great regularity). It lives on the precipice and was never a safe investment for much of anything. Sorry Euro guys, you have to get out of that way of thinking which has become inflated by wind power and the rays of the sun. We'll have pain in the US alright, some in deserved places like crypto, and some hitting the middle class with inflation, but that will modulate and things should straighten out in 6-9 months (unless the Government does more stupid economic tricks). But, our pain won't be due to the appendage attached to Russia. Now that was fun to write.

Don’t look at me on that one about European Art, but I do like Mondrian. The artist’s work in the posted book has a nice raw quality to it, but I am not too impressed with a fair number of scenes—too pedestrian in some cases, too bizarre in others. We’ve already been scolded that some of our economics debate is too political, although I think it is directly relevant to market pricing. So, I am trying to avoid a major debate. Vodou is more pessimistic about the future than I am, overall, and I’m more concerned with supply shortages than debt in Europe as a force which will drive it into a deep recession (thereby lowering art prices).

I wish you wrote a bit slower. This is hard to follow. If I am reading it correctly, I think top end pricing will stay as it is, but things won’t necessarily be sold much at that level (unless there is a “psst… have I got a special deal for you, but only because you’re an old friend” sort of pricing structure behind the formal one). I see the markets talking themselves into a bear market which is only partially justified, and it will definitely affect either pricing or availability of art in the middle/lower ranges. Europe is in real trouble, facing a severe recession now that their gas supplier is turning the screws. No Ms. Merkel, of course you did nothing wrong by subjecting Germany’s economy to the Bear. That means the European art market is likely to get hit with a shock, and Milo Manera for everyone!

You are quite right. There are more than a few lower priced pieces that, in my view are higher qualitatively, but don’t carry the name brand artist.

Following up on the OP, anyone notice some softness in lesser quality pieces besides Hockeyflow33? I think I’ve seen some lately, as well, at least up to a few thousand $. As Xatari mentioned, we may see fewer great pieces come up. But, if people’s excess cash flow is down, the winning prices, at least in the short run, should drop,too. Then the question becomes whether there will be a snowball effect on longer-term pricing, a drop in actual sales with fixed “sticky” pricing (which I think is more likely), or no effect. Since there don’t seem to be a lot of people who depend on art sales for their livelihood, they are under no particular pressure most of the time to sell. So, we may see more sales stagnation than price reductions (and lesser quality pieces coming up for auction).

Phantom Zone projector, I expect.

👍

Then how is she going to solicit funds for her family? PayPal?