Rick2you2

I have no doubt you are mathematically correct, but I did not care. It’s just money and I am quite comfortable, so why gild the lily?

I have probably lost a lot of money over the years in that sense, but to be candid, I just don’t care. Money has pretty much has taken care of itself for me. But, the fields of economics and business do interest me, a lot.

I did lose money in 2020, but it came back in about 12-18 months. So, I effectively lost 1-2 years worth of asset growth. Not tragic. The economy always runs in boom/bust cycles; usually every 7 to 9 years there is a recession. But then, like in the old Fred Astaire/Ginger Rodgers song, it “picks itself up, dusts itself off and starts all over again.” 2008 and 2020 were exacerbated by special conditions. Same with an earlier recession involving the S&L debacle. Without anything special on the horizon, the worst case scenario should be a retrenchment not a collapse. Of course, if we find out something surprising, like all those medium sized banks are holding too many commercial real-estate mortgages, that’s a wholly different problem. In terms of comic art, I think the biggest long term issue is the aging out of people who collect from earlier eras, like the Silver Age. Much like semi-collectible pre-war cars, they live and die by their market age.

I don’t see it. So long as profits are decent, employment is low, and the Federal government continues to engage in deficit spending, we should be okay unless there is a major war or consumer spending dries up (slowing down isn’t enough, it has to actually shrink). Money has to go somewhere, and the stock market is as good a place as any. So, I think you’ll see relatively stable times (maybe a market correction for a short period of time).

Which is an example of why I don’t expect a lot of top notch art being placed for sale until either the market turns up again or people decide they have to get out.

“Visual excitement”? Must be a number of high-rolling coprophiliacs out there.

“Visual excitement”? Must be a number of high-rolling coprophiliacs out there.

I passed on the Jae Lee cover. I wasn’t willing to pay $1,300 for it 6-7 years ago. This time I went that high, not counting BP, but couldn’t like it enough to go higher. Nevertheless , if one of the other three PS Covers come up, that’s a whole different story…

I agree with Alex on this. Nice work, by the way.

Prior to 1911, most people’s view of art was pretty much limited to landscapes (like the Hudson School), military monuments and family portraits. They were busy trying to grow food and earn a little money while not dying from disease or in one of those charming little wars the Europeans apparently loved so much. The Mona Lisa may have gained notoriety in 1911, but lots of people knew about the Mona Lisa before then. Napoleon even hung it in his bedroom. DeVinci also wanted to boost public interest in the painting by carrying it around while working on it in order to have it gain attention. The realism and pose of the woman were very unusual at the time it was done, and he knew it (as did his contemporaries). The Liefield piece is ugly. Mona Lisa would not have been smiling if she saw it, except if she knew PT Barnum’s saying “There is a sucker born every minute”.

For fans of manga and anime, Yu Yu Hakashu is coming to Netflix in December. So, if you can find some OA, …

Absolutely.

I’m still waiting for “Brother Power: the Geek, Part 1”

It’s reprinted in dailies. I do want to point out the Pogo was very popular once, but compare the prices now.

That really isn’t the way “ overshoot and collapse” works. Whether this is evidence of a broader market retrenchment is a tougher question. When there is a “great crash”, there is usually a “hollowing out” of the market in which so-so pieces don’t hold their value. Then the hollow gets wider as better and worse pieces start to slip. Eventually, as with Persian rugs after the 1980’s, you get a stratification. The best pieces maintain their book value, even if no one wants to spend that kind of money, while the lower end survives. Don’t forget, even after Tulipmania ended, tulips still cost a little money. For this auction, lots of possibilities. Perhaps the pieces just aren’t in a lot of people’s interests (tastes do change). Also, it may be that discretionary funds have tightened up now that the pandemic is over, and discretionary buys are down (go to any good restaurants lately?). Or, buying strategies have changed (why throw in a bid which is going to lose?). Or we are just seeing the continuing “aging out” process where older wealthier people don’t want to buy and not enough new comic buyers are stimulating demand. Or, too many prices were artificially inflated by dealers and speculators, and the chickens have come home to roost. Personally, I think it’s a mix. And, I wouldn’t count on yesterday’s hit staying at the top.

I stopped placing early bids which weren’t going to win since they just drive the final price up.

Two pieces I had seen were posted by non-dealers (one is a part time dealer who doesn’t advertise) at exactly the same price they have been listed for already. I didn’t need to go through, what, 200 screens for that.

I can’t help but wondering if we’re just a bunch of “old f*rts” when it comes to pricing, and this stuff is still selling but to newer collectors.

Saw a Bruce Timm headshot for $400. No personal interest, and probably gone by now. Same with everything else. Nothing appealing.

Are you kidding? We used to be known as the Soprano State. We have a Senator under indictment who had gold bars in his house. Panty-wastes can go join Jimmy Hoffa’s body parts in the Meadowlands.

Yea, well, maybe I’ll get lucky. What’s that old saw about if you ask 100 women at random whether they would sleep with you, one will say yes?

What I want to know is whether we will see another large pile of overpriced pieces and a teensy-weensy stack of good buys.

To look at it when I am not in my home-office, like traveling, or too lazy to get out of bed, among other reasons.

I just scan them into my computer, put them on a thumb drive, and look at them on my iPad. Not as good as the binders, but very convenient and portable.

Looks like it is just an overlay of word balloons on what is probably a copy of the art. Not much value there, but interesting.