Rick2you2

Which, after reading the comments about shilling, may also be suspect.

It’s to cover the cost of the virtual wine, canapés and band. 🦨

This is hard to pin down, since I don’t follow the prices on lots of artist/subject combinations, but my sense is that artist/subject pieces which are not popular have somewhat dropped. For example, I am surprised how cheaply Mike Kaluta’s pieces from his run on Madam Xanadu having been selling—many of which are excellent examples of his skill. I know, and have pointed out, that Aparo’s average pieces on the Phantom Stranger have dropped. My guess is there are quite a few others which fall in this category. Market bifurcation may be at play here, suggesting there may also be newer combinations on the rise.

^^^ I’m not sure what triggered this, but we are in agreement that Stan was unique. Not just his showmanship, but his street cred both in the comics community and outside it. He could tell the world “l created Marvel Comics” and get away with it for a long time. No one could replace him. But what if the industry still needs someone? So, as I see it, who has enough existing clout to get journalists to write stories to promote comics? Well, there is Alan Moore, but he doesn’t strike me as the type. Same with Frank Miller. Howard Chaykin has the mouth, but given what he is capable of saying, and writing, I don’t think what he might actually say would always be helpful. Stan knew where to draw the line. Kevin Smith? He tries, I will give him that. Which led me into the hinterlands of TV. Berlanti has success, clout, and knows how to talk to journalists. As a replacement for Stan? No. But sometimes, you don’t get the best cards to play and have to make do.

That's because we are wedded to comic books, while the rest of the country/world is wedded to comic characters and its stories. I don't think the face of the comic book industry is in the comic book industry, but in multimedia, because that is where the money is. Stan Lee was famous to us well beforehand, but when he became famous as a media personality, that is what made the difference. With low profitability in publishing comics, a media personality is needed to save and protect the comics to serve as a source of new characters and stories (like the upcoming "Peacemaker"). And if not the creator of the Arrowverse, who else?

No one. The closest we have isn't even part of the "club". I vote for Greg Berlanti.

If you will need a sump pump, think about keeping and/or installing a spare. I speak from experience on that one.

Curiously, I like your uncolored version better. I think someone overdid the gradient on the top and bottom.

Or, you can drop the now overpriced dead donkey on him and go for the next one on your list. There is a certain pleasure which can come from that.

I agree with you, to the point made. Desirable pieces operate under their own rules, and they can have lots of people waiting on the sidelines waiting to jump in. A little like really pretty girls. But many pieces don’t rise to that level. For example, the final price after live bidding on popular pieces can look nothing like the last number on pre-bidding. On more common or less attractive pieces, it is rarely over 4x the pre-bid price, and often within 2x. But again, each bid round is unique and you have to look for the clues you can find. Same with eBay, where you have different rules and available information.

Yes, but it does not happen as much there, I think. Besides, the stuff I usually bid on doesn’t attract much interest. I find just the presence of much interest to be curious— and something which is suspicious. Popular pieces are more likely to generate over enthusiastic bidding.

You have to be careful with that one. It can drive the final winning bid to a point well above expected market. That has happened to me on occasion. I generally watch the bidding rounds early on to get a sense of what may be happening later. When the full Phantom Stranger Aparo story went up for bids, there was an immediate bid of $5,000, and that was well below market. But then, it just sat like a lump at that price for weeks. It only moved a little, pre-live bidding, which confirmed my suspicions this was not a hot property (and leads me to question whether that first bid was real, or an attempt to motivate bidding). Sure enough, it came in where I expected. The point is, what worked there may not work on other rounds. Is the artist or property hot, or at the bottom of the market? Are prices consistently moving up, pre-bid, or not? Does it look like there is a fight between two other bidders? How many people are tracking, and how many started tracking early? And sometimes, you just role the dice.

I often pre-bid. I almost never pre-bid my max, however. I do like to shake out potential bidders in opposition, and while it is by no means foolproof, it tends to result in a level of response. If you actually follow the bidding on lesser pieces, they don’t always beat a high proxy, which also has the effect of sometimes intimidating bidders. Every number you throw up gets immediately topped can get demoralizing. Each auction is unique, and I pay attention to trackers and bid sequences to frame any bid.

Pogo was really important in its heyday. If it were still around, I expect it would be a lot more valuable. The art was good,too.

I saw a book at Barnes and Noble calling this the Steel Age. Definitely not a precious metal.

I’m curious how well Pogo is holding up on the OA market. It was a really big deal when it came out, but some of the strips were pretty political and may not have aged well. The others are good reads even without growing up with them (don’t know about Complete Bone). A lot of those silver age stories still involve continuing characters, so yes, they would still be read. But where is the fan base for TNT and Dan the Dyna-mite?

As people who buy collectibles age, their own aging without replenishment can end a market. Look at something like rare marbles. I could be wrong, but I doubt they have held up as a healthy collectibles market. I also question whether alternative media will sustain it. My oldest son was a big fan of certain cartoons when he was growing up. When I saw a comic book page involving one of them, his response was basically “Dad, I used to like the cartoons; I never read the comics. Why would you think I would want a comic book page from one?” When I was growing up, it wasn’t all that different than when my father tried to get me interested in electric trains.

It could also be a shill bidder, trying to drive you up past the point you want to spend and then dropping out. Of course it is annoying. That’s a side effect of the effort.

I think it is a perfectly fine strategy—if you have the ability to risk everything on an internet connection. When someone puts in a bid they think will win, it can take a person a few seconds to realize they are in danger of losing. By then, it can be too late to rebid. Go make someone nuts and put in a cut bid followed by a higher bid the next round. Rattling the other side can spook a person to give up early. And no, I don’t bother with this stuff. I know what I want, and what I will spend for it.

I wasn’t so much commenting on Krazy Kat as commenting on how it appeared in this bidding round. Is this evidence of a market bifurcation? If people assume that art goes up an average of X% per year, and it turns out there are really two different sub-markets in existence, going up—or down— at different rates, that should affect future predictive cost and price. Of course, Krazy Kat is historically important. The lower prices could be evidence of the wrong bidders in attendance, the economy overall, the specific pieces, or any number of other variables. But, is there evidence of market bifurcation? I think there is, but I don’t know if it really shows up in this auction. Alex’s evidence is yes. My PS analysis is yes. Any others?

We may be seeing an interesting market bifurcation. The popular subjects and artists, be they Peanuts or Jim Lee, keep zooming up in price, while lesser subjects, like Sugar and Spike, Krazy Kat, or PS, don’t go up much, or actually drop. Or, maybe these are just flukes. But a “hollowing out” market effect in which a market is bifurcated is indicative of an unhealthy general market. No, the world won’t crash, but pieces and/or artists which aren’t superstars may become more affordable (or sit around in inventory) as they are viewed differently by real world buyers.

My prediction was on target. The winning bid was $14,000 plus Heritage’s 21% fee. I expect that this is the range these pieces will typically sell at for awhile, but, an exceptional piece, like a full splash, will do better.

To my mind, all they really do is set the table and perhaps—perhaps— result in a final higher price. For inexpensive pieces with little demand, they tend to confirm the end price won’t be huge. I also try to stay away from early bidding at a realistic win number via proxy since I am concerned it might attract shills. Let me add that there is a non-Phantom Stranger piece which looks like it is moving beyond what I will spend. Shame.

Thanks. Do you have any idea what is being done with all that money?

Go to Jade Giant’s post on April 9th for a link, although, I think it is missing the last several.