Rick2you2

It should have no effect, assuming it is done properly.

Use a restorer.

I can’t believe I screwed up the dates. Didn’t these used to be on Sunday?

Has Aaron Campbell been around too long? Very dark.

Is anyone there going to be selling supplies? It would be a nice change of pace.

I posed a question to the OP, it is not the advice I follow. I sometimes buy sh*t that almost no one wants because I usually take a different approach to either of the two you mentioned. I like the technical/evaluative aspects of the hobby. So, I often buy art with the images of the Phantom Stranger (a character I really like) on it for the sake of comparison. I just won a page by Buckler and Tanghal, a very C or even D level page, but as the same general character/ subject matter (generously interpreted) overlaps with other artists I have, you can more clearly appreciate the differences in inking, layout and pencil structure between artists. As a bonus, you get to see how artistic trends and preferences change over time. For example, the page has an image of Wonder Woman’s butt in the middle of a fight. It is so clearly pre-Kim Kardashian, it made me smile because it reflects both a cultural shift and artistic shift in people’s desired physiques. You get the idea. As for value, I never sell so making money or upgrading through speculation never enters into the equation. And yes, I also buy nice art if it is affordable and in my zone of collection interest.

As a follow-up, I think good art is easy to find. The question you should also ask is whether you want good art that is more likely to appreciate in value or not. If so, your safest bets are to stick to popular characters and books, using them as a screening device for your taste.

A time piece involving "slum clearance". A "handsome reward" helps build an apartment building for the little white kid playing with a baseball. And in just "a few days" construction starts! Now all it has to do is rain gum drops and lolly pops to go with the nice art. And that's really why they are called "comic" books. I wanna be a kid again.

An acquired taste, like eating sea squirts (much worse than eating sea cucumbers). But, the Koreans, at least, like them. He filled the page. Period.

Is anyone else finding that what is going on in Ukraine is more compelling these days than original art? I do, and it is really chewing up time.

And yet, one boardie seems curiously absent…

Mine basically did just that. I had attended a home auction in which I had the winning bid on a box of comics for all of $40. Little things like 2nd appearance of the Flash, early FF, Spider-man, etc. But when I needed some spare cash for college spending, Dad told me to sell the books (I only got $35 back).

You’re the pro, as well as a student of the subject. So, I’ll defer to your knowledge and expertise. However… it’s Mendoza line.

I got the book wrong. That’s the one I was thinking of.

I can’t fault Coletta for being a product of his times, even if he was a bit over enthusiastic in his approach. We don’t fault the publishers (at least not much) for destroying or keeping art because they were afraid boards could get into the hands of others who would reissue the stories and keep all the profit. When was the last time anyone wrote something like: “But Lee’s name is forever tarnished by destroying (or keeping in warehouses)…” And why were Kirby’s backgrounds so detailed if he knew there were deadlines that inkers had to meet? Couldn’t he take that into account when designing those panels? Kirby, the better artist, had his own cheats, too, like those giant sound effects that were quicker to draw than it took to pencil in characters. What went on back then isn’t acceptable today, but does that really make Coletta a hack in his time?

What’s so terrible about Coletta? A lot of his work was done during a time when the art was not considered the way it is now—it was part of a package of story content and pictures sold to kids who were looking for a little adventure, or girl’s romance, or sci if, or whatever? And from what I have read, he was quick—a good character trait for entertainment selling for 12 cents. And by the way, he could draw beautiful women, in that old fashioned style. As for Sal, eh. I always thought he made the Hulk look like a pea-brained, overly muscled child.

Are you kidding? I would grab that in a minute. Seriously, I love the odd humor. There was Christmas special about 10-15 years ago in which the Phantom Stranger shows up at party for Zatanna with a large bag of groceries he had been sent out to pick up 2 years earlier and lost track of time. I would love that page.

I think that just makes him underpaid.

On some occasions, I have bought things directly from artists who have thrown in some bonuses, like a pencil sketch, an extra page they apparently decided to gift me, a poster, signed comic, etc. Did you buy anything directly from the artist recently?

Helps buyers get better pricing, I suspect.

When I am expected to go through 20 Itoyas to find what I want, and if the dealer gives me no help at all, I will usually look at a few and walk away. If I do find something, my willingness to buy at list is a function of the market. But if I have to put up with searching much, I will generally look for at least a small reduction as the cost of my time.

They seemed to have a touch of sadness to them, bittersweet, but more bitter than sweet. Like the old man saying this is all I have left to give.

I didn’t consider it a fiasco at all. The two items I was watching were not A grade items, or even B, and the final prices were around what I would have expected over the past several years. But, I am also of the opinion that there is not one but anywhere from two to dozens of submarkets whose prices do not rise in lockstep. I paid around $650 for a JLA page by Buckler and Tanghal (I was looking for Tanghal). An R. Dillin page from JLA went for $1,000, and that seems to be consistent (or a little bit higher) with a decline in pricing now showing up on HA for at least a few things. While the hot stuff on HA has increased a lot, quite a bit doesn’t really move much. With that said, showing pricing changes rapidly near the end of the auction (which should have happened but didn’t) would have been nice, or an extension of the end time by 3 minutes in the event of a bid could make up for it. An end time at, say, 8 EST would also be good. A better page for tracking auction items would also be good. Occasionally, descriptions are not accurate, but I can work with that. Still and all, the site is thrifty, and that does make up for quite a few shortcomings.

I don’t think it means anything at this stage. Just a mix of different strategies and players. But if you see that sort of pattern at the end of the auction, that could be an indication of a collapsing market (but as the auction is only one data point, a small indication). People with money want the best, but there aren’t enough of them to pick up lesser pieces. So, you begin to see a hollowing out of the market— high end does well, for now, and low end, but not so much in the middle.

I do think there is market manipulation, although the prices are a combination of manipulations and organic-market power driven . There is also the question of whether they are legal or not. If someone has a pile of Ross Andru Spider-man art, and one is listed for sale, they can bid it up high to create a new market price in those Heritage Auction archives. Heritage then earns 21% + on a higher base. That’s what makes that earlier comment about the importance of Heritage archives so crucial. The price driving can be innocent too. Don’t forget you can get limited access to old prices both in Comic Art Tracker and existing sale prices in CAF. Then, we all contribute to it with oohs and aahs when something sells for an astonishing amount, particularly if we own something similar. The solution is simple: step away. Find something that might not tug at your memories, but is still great.