Rick2you2

If i actually want something, where am I supposed to type? Looking at the last one, slow...

How do I access this? Never did it before.

I was following that one, closely. That was probably the only one in years on Comic Connect I have seen worth considering, but I have better Aparo’s, and decided to let it ride. It’s been a real dry spell since anything has drawn my real interest. To be candid, I love comparison workmanship, particularly the obscure, since I have the main artists long covered (except Richard Dillon, which I avoid).

Aside from their clunky interface, mentioned above, by RBerman, they just never seem to have anything which really grabs my interest.

His listing price tells me he valued it, wholesale, at around $375. Dealers for lower priced material seem to shoot for a mark-up of about 100% for o/p and carrying costs of inventory. That percentage drops as the raw dollars get bigger. It is a very nice visual piece, too.

To be candid, he got it too cheaply. If I had really wanted it, I could have easily gone for double the sales price without missing a beat. The raw dollars are low.

Sounds too low a price.

If you are serious, that I will watch. When is it?

All of this is a bit unnerving if someone is just trying to act in good faith.

I used the term “undervalued” when I should have said under-appreciated. Price and quality don’t correlate very well in this hobby, I think, with price having a lot to do with nostalgia. My interest isn’t selling: it is to bring what I consider alternatives up for consideration so people who don’t really know some of these names can find good stuff without paying a fortune. And by the way, “undervalued” seems like a fair subject here. How many times have we seen the results of auctions include discussions about someone getting a “good deal”?

Sounds like a good reason to raise your price, not lower it.

You are making the assumption that unpopular artists can't generate excellent page and panel art. I disagree. Below is a twice-up by Jack Sparling (who someone mentioned above) that I bought less than 2 months ago for around $700. I do not consider it mediocre, but to the contrary, I think it is excellent. And, it certainly establishes a presence. But, neither she nor GI's are popular subjects. I don't buy with the intent to sell, so I am quite pleased with this bargain. Why would I want a teensy little strip of panels when I can get this? That is my whole point: look outside the box, don't follow the crowd, buy what appeals to you and "dam'n the torpedoes, full speed ahead". Now, I don't want to get locked into another dialog like I found myself over shilling, so just give it some thought--who else did really nice work, which may seem comparatively undervalued, instead of following the crowd?

But, if you can sell a slower moving subject with less upside, for one likely to have more curb appeal to newer fans, and if you like to play the market like that.. which I don’t.

I agree with you, but that wasn’t the point of my initial post. Of course nostalgia and mainstream book art command premiums. But, as prices have gone up a lot, Vodou commented about shifting to strip art. My point was simply that you can find good inexpensive page art by shifting your focus to other artists involved in page art, including the names we had mentioned. And then, there is the second question, which is rarely asked, about good artists having a bad day, or being given a rough subject— like making a standard six panel -script into something better than a standard 6 panel page. A chef once told me that anyone can make a great meal out of a good piece of meat. A great chef can do so with a lousy piece of meat. Same here. I favor the cheaper cuts by a great artist.

But what about pieces you don’t “have” to have, but what just like to add?

I haven’t taken a poll I don’t think you should be so quick to claim majority status, but one way or another, maybe you should consider thinking for yourself?

I guess I don’t agree with your standard. For me, I look to the general quality of the illustrator’s skill, does the illustrator’s technique match the subject matter well (like classic Aparo on supernatural subjects) and did the artist move the story along? While memorable is nice, and will motivate my purchase too, that, to me, is often something controlled by the writer. It isn’t the artist’s fault if the story subject is mediocre.

Which may be true, but is nutty, in my opinion. Why don’t people look at really good unappreciated art, like that by Jerry Grandinetti, for example? There is a lot of it out there, pieces by Jack Sparling or Grey Morrow, and other old timers, really unappreciated.

Just out of curiosity, what is your oldest piece? I was wondering how far back the subject goes.

That’s not a strategy I would use. Not everyone cares about pieces the way I might, and they miss the live auction. That means they lose the ability to make spot adjustments on what they would spend. I wait until the live auction and trust myself to control my spending. I also suspect early high bidding helps drive up the final auction price by giving prospective bidders time to adjust their financial concerns to a higher level as they think about spending.

Is the selling group “original comic book art for sale” group still active? Just looked at it on Facebook, and it seems dead. Also, the Comic Art Con is still in North Jersey. I went to it this Spring.

I just throw them into a small Itoya. The size I picked holds color guides. Everything else sort of slides around.

Theoretically, it might result in lower prices because collectors who buy both comics and art may not be interested enough to spend another evening at it (although with OA, pricing is always academic, and in this market, the pricing is a guess).

What are the telltale signs you look for?

I think its time to reconsider my moratorium on buying commissions.