Rick2you2

I was talking to someone at the show recently in NJ, and he said Golden Age art (with some exceptions) is down. Non-choice/low quality Silver Age stuff doesn’t seem to move too well, so it may (or has) begun to head down.

It’s a rarity, for sure. Ordinarily, he says he is “known” as the Phantom Stranger. I think his real name is probably something like Doug.

Let me add that if work within a Morlock's budget, the Mike Kaluta art on Heritage's weekly auctions involving, for the most part, Madam Xanadu, is very good. The panel page separations are non-existent, which is a bit confusing, and the subject matter isn't always the best, but for the price--this is still Kaluta and well done, too.

Not at all. It goes hand-in-hand with schadenfreude: taking pleasure in another person's pain. Like the way I felt recently when I passed a brand new Ferrari stuck in traffic. He then got into another lane, and fell further behind me. What kind of "person of low intelligence"* drives a Ferrari at rush hour on a heavily trafficked road, anyway? *The word I really typed in was substituted w/o my consent.

If you want inexpensive Byrne art, there is more at: http://www.whatashock.com/doasales/byrne1.html I liked a couple of Doom Patrol pages (well below the Morlockian price point).

It's a nice page, but I would have passed on it since I already have two from the series I like. I think I have actually seen yours somewhere for sale before the show. These are mine. I would add something noticeably better, but I doubt I would spend the necessary money to get it.

It isn't so much a matter of liking the modern stuff, it's that pricing is often reflective of nostalgia--that is, old. Also: (1) I don't like tracking down separate inked and pencilled pages, which reduces my interest; (2) some artists skills decline noticeably with time; and (3) some of the classic artists have moved away from the Big Two, reducing interest in their product. I had thought RBerman was joking about Bryne Lab Rats. DC actually did publish something like that. Wow. I, however, do buy modern when I find it and like it. I think a lot of newer artists are underappreciated (not counting the "superstars"), and their style is more in tune with my tastes.

I was planning on buying a Robson Rocha cover before he died, but when I looked at the pencils, he left so much for the inker to do, it wasn’t worth it. No regrets, even though he died. By the way, the inking was done on a computer, which the artist offered to redo by hand, but that’s obviously not the same thing. Curse you Adobe, and all your ilk!

Pencilling and inking are different skills. For example, I don’t think Byrne is a great inker even though he inks his pencils. Rubinstein is an excellent inker, but his pencils are not the best. Inking can dominate the lined art, but never the layout or mood. There are also some pencillers whose work is so rough, the inker is really the controlling artist. Bottom line: look to the total package.

Hard for me to believe, but no one has suggested that with my Phantom Stranger art.

I’m curious. Which one? I’m pretty sure I know the stock, but I occasionally miss one or two or two. Bechara was trying to sell a piece by Aparo that was nice but no improvement to what I already have. Donnelly was trying to sell an ad with PS and Dr. 13 by Andru. Nice image, but not exciting, and Dr. 13’s jawline was off. I expect Anthony was still trying to sell his Aparo piece. Again, perfectly nice but not an improvement to what I own. What I really want are the obscure artists for comparative purposes or exceptional pieces from artists I already have (which covers a lot of territory). Like, PS appearances from Blue Beetle (issue 5), Captain Adam or Impulse. All inexpensive, or they should be, and very hard to find.

I was going to make the identical post. Some of the dealers moved around the room, with the same art, and there were a few additions, but a lot of people went home empty-handed from what I saw (at least in the morning).

This may explain the prices paid at the Sept. auction for Peanuts and the DD page.

I’d consider the gun.

Right on the money. After the price started going up, and was within $60 of breaking the 20% mark with 5 days to go, it stopped dead in its tracks and sold at $1,860. I can’t help but wonder if we have a lot of viewers out there. Just in case: “Drink Tang! The super energy drink of the astronauts!” Maybe it will get a sales uptick.

Could it be explained by outside investors? This stuff has a guaranteed market.

Conflict of interest concerns with this bunch?

Whatever drove up this price, it was not quality of work.

Certainly looks absurd, and it doesn’t seem “special” in any logical way unless someone is trying to complete a book, money be damned. Perhaps this is the effect of the pure investors reputedly entering the field through their tie up with Heritage?

I think even The Mob charges less.

I think even The Mob charges less.

I can see why you got A Day of Fury so cheaply. That looks like Robert Mitchum holding a gun, and he wasn’t in the cast.

Conceptually, it isn’t much different than time shares, except with time shares, you at least get to use the place several weeks a year. Now some people apparently like them, but for others, they become albatrosses because of their annual costs, and the built in limits on their use. They literally will sometimes pay people to take them. Part of the fun of ownership is possession. Without it, this concept cannot go far; but if it does eventually get off the ground, watch the bubble burst when its limits sink in. I doubt people will pay to unload fractionals, but if it somehow develops steam, it could eventually lead to a market crash.

No. Most collectors don’t travel in those rarified circles, but we do deal with pumped up dealer prices and other forms of market manipulation. So, if prices are manipulated from, say, 1M to 2M, by any forms, I just don’t care. A fool and his money are soon parted. If pricing for my stuff gets too high, I may simply switch to commissions, or even get out. The fun would be gone.

You left off the reference.