Greenlake

18 minutes ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

It is a splash page, not a cover

Oops, I somehow got that in my head and never re-read it those times I went back to look at the art. In that case, even that did alright. Good thing I couldn't figure out a way to afford to bid on it, since I already have too much tied up in later pieces.

25 minutes ago, stinkininkin said:

Haven't been keeping a close eye on this auction today, but scrolling through the results has me thinking prices are really strong this time around.  Am I reading that correctly?  Is Heritage taking crypto currency now or something?

Pretty much everything seems like people really don't want to keep their money. I hope these bidders don't come back tomorrow.

6 minutes ago, John S. said:

The Wonder Woman cover sold for a real healthy amount. Its not even full on Perez...

It feels like the couple of WW pieces I bought from heritage in the last two months would get 1.5-2x as much in front of this audience.

11 hours ago, Bill C said:

Ah, I see what's going on here.

You're not used to seeing 400-500% increases in about a decade when comparing to other areas, or money making venues (like the stock market). So in that sense it seems noteworthy.

I think those that responded to your comment are talking purely about the OA world. In this world, it is a common occurrence that prices nearly a decade ago have no bearing on today. It's closer to the rule rather than the exception.

You and others are talking about what can happen in OA versus what actually is happening in WW OA. There's no sign the 90s Byrne WW market has shifted and the WW movie success hasn't lifted all boats this much -- you can find better WW pieces for less even in this same auction. The old price was probably low but it confirms the piece is as run of the mill as it seems. Yeah, prices can change drastically in almost a decade, but I still think it's worth looking at them and trying to apply context.

12 hours ago, Catwoman_Fan said:

Wasn't he representing Joe Quesada? Is Joe no longer selling his art?

His artists stable seems to have shrunk. 

 

I was waiting for the site to update before asking about some Andrea Di Vito pages and he's no longer listed. His page still turns up on Google, but it hasn't been updated since 2016. Oh well.

5 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

I was wondering what is driving the bidding on this one: 

John Byrne Wonder Woman V2#108 Story Page Original Art (DC, 1996)....

Right now, bidding is at $440 plus buyer's premium. In 2009, the same piece went for $107.55, with the BP. It's not an action shot, although it does have WW in it (with a mediocre Phantom Stranger image), and the art is nice. But that's quite an increase, even if WW art is hot these days, particularly with the closing so far away. And if anyone is wondering, I'm not one of the bidders.

 

Hopefully it's just two people who got into it early, though it would be kind of funny if someone's trying to prop up a market for 90s Byrne Wonder Woman.

(FWIW, I'm leading on a couple of other WW pieces but am not a bidder on this.)

1 hour ago, jqa3 said:

I'm siding with the folks asking for full disclosure.  If it's not in the ORIGINAL (published) condition,

why not include that information.  Those of you who say "no big deal" just wait until you get a piece 

that's been altered/enhanced/modified/etc. after publication and see how quick your view changes.

I never argued against disclosure -- that'd be silly -- but this is nowhere near the same as altering artwork, gluing new stats to art, undisclosed physical damage (experienced that with another auction site in Dec.), not disclosing if it's ink over blue line or if there are separate pencils (happens all the time), or as I already mentioned claiming a piece was published in a particular book when it wasn't. It's just an overlay. Don't like it? It comes right off. Yeah, ideally disclose everything, it's just one of the least important mistakes these OA auctions have.

3 hours ago, Panelfan1 said:

if someone created an overlay to include with a piece of art - I would see that as a positive. it wouldn't affect the price with or without it - but having it is a nice bonus.  I think folks may be making much ado about nothing here.

Yeah, compared to the many problems on every OA auction site I've used, this is really unimportant IMO. I just won a piece from HA, then checked one of those sites out there that have copies of GA books and the art isn't in the book. It's a tough artist to get so I'm not really upset, but if I'd have known I would've spent more money on a larger piece by them that was actually listed as unpublished.

1 hour ago, Aliens said:

I mispelled the word grail  here it is I found it on eBay and jumped to it

it is just the cover but I have a coverless copy in my collection so in a few days I will Marry it together! I think it's awesome even if I did overpay for the cover.

I don't know what that cover in that condition "should" go for, but if that's the purchase that makes you happiest for the money you made the right decision. Having a pre-Robin Tec in any condition is a rare, cool thing.

12 minutes ago, Bomber-Bob said:

Thanks. With a tough title like WW, you have to let the books come to you. Take a title like Amazing Spider-Man, if you had unlimited funds you could get a complete collection within a week or so. Not so with Wonder Woman. Many issues just never become available. 

That's good advice, and also one of the reasons I like GA collecting. I can't help but hunt for a couple of the books I want, but otherwise my plan for 2018 is to see what comes up.

43 minutes ago, Bomber-Bob said:

Sounds like you are a big WW fan. Before the movie hype, there wasn't many of us that collected WW. Sharon(Skypinkblu) was probably the biggest collector. I once owned nearly the whole run but never quite made it . With less than 10 to go, I gave up and sold many of my copies, including everything under 30. Luckily, I still have a lot.  Below is a link of my slabbed copies. I probably have another 20 or so raw. I'm not interested in selling but thought I would share.

http://www.myslabbedcomics.com/GalleryRoom.asp?GSub=897

That's a great collection even without anything under 30. 

Yeah, WW is the only GA/late 50s SA book where I'd be interested in building some small runs. Unfortunately I only back got into collecting this year and my funds are relatively limited, so I'm mostly focusing on buying the issues I like that aren't big keys. I might give in to buying a modest WW 5 or 9 but otherwise I doubt I'll get anything under 10 any time soon, and there's only a couple of Sensation Comics even on my radar because of the cost. 

18 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

Unless you are a completest and HAVE to have a copy of that book...I know how that goes, I've been there;) 

I'm sure you can find another WW for that money without the "staining".

Mine is one of the lower grades I still have, so they are not common...but then again, they never were. It's just that the ones in the 80's were always tougher. These you saw a lot more often.

So one day, 4 will be listed at the same time;)

Thanks. There's actually another WW issue that I want more and I've been scouting regularly since summer but the best I've found is a 3.0 with detached centerfold. Oh, plus one of the few other WW issues I bought -- the most expensive one -- turned out to be a label swap. #37 was something I only started looking for this month, so when this popped up I thought perhaps I'd finally had some WW-related good fortune smile down on me. (Okay, so I'm also pretty happy with my WW 107 7.0.)

10 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

The outside of the book is not the issue, those marks are consistent with the one I have. It's the inside that concerns me.

Yeah, I only meant my reason for going along with being told the inside was probably a printing problem was because the outsides seem sloppy and inconsistent so it seemed reasonable the insides would be sloppy. I notice your inside cover shows some of those dots by the umbrella near the spine, but now that you called out the other area near the spine I can see how that pattern is the most mold-like. Ah well. I paid about 50% more than the restored 4.5 Mile High went for earlier this year (it went $454, I paid $650+3%) so I guess that means I should send it back.

Just now, skypinkblu said:

I'm going to see if I can find my copy, sometimes the ink was just funky on these.

Yeah, one of the ones on heritage has an arm and chin that looks spattered with blood and another has the weird black stuff along most of the case lid bottom and right, so when the librarian said it was probably a printing problem I figured I had no better answer.

I appreciate your opinion and thought of DMing you about it, since you have experience with these books.

Just now, skypinkblu said:

What did they grade it? 

 

They had it at 5.0.

Here's the outside of the back:

20 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

It looks to me like this book had extensive water damage as I see some 'tide' lines and discoloration. I think the black dots and other black areas is mold. I would not keep this book. Black mold is dangerous to breathe.  If it is black mold you can get really sick.

Thanks. I was thinking there's a very good chance you're right about it having mold, but since the book is difficult to get in any condition -- only five different copies have ever sold on Heritage, and the top census grade is a 6.5 -- I decided to ask a retired librarian who I know has experience with mold problems. He went over it and gave it a clean bill of health. He ran a finger over some of the more odd looking parts and pointed out that the gloss is uniform over the spots, and he's very confident about it being okay. I'm slightly less confident since it's my money, but I guess unless there's a lot of dissent on here I have to consider that question settled.

Now I have to decide whether the undisclosed water stains mean it was misgraded badly enough that I should return it.

Later Update: I sent it back. The funny thing is right after I'd boxed it up, I got an email from them. I forget I wrote and asked if I could have this sent for grading (like they offer for consignments) before they shipped it to me. I guess he didn't know I was returning it or that they said they might not let me buy again, since he said next time to contact them before making the purchase and they might be able to arrange it.

I just picked this up from an online store that takes returns, and I'm trying to figure out if what I'm seeing is color touch. There's what looks like bleed through, but the dots are mostly tiny, too many to count, and yet I don't see them where I'd expect them -- not at tears, not in line with the bottom-right color-breaking crease, and as far as I can tell not at the spine (though I didn't open the book up too aggressively.) Plus there's other oddities with the color that don't seem to be restoration-related, such as the stray red on the front by the lasso or the dots on the side of the camera. The low gloss doesn't seem to change where there's more bleedthrough, though obviously I'm no expert.

What do you think? Let me know if more pics would help.

wrong subforum

It would still be bad, but not nearly as bad, if they weren't charging extra for books based on their value. What is that all that extra money going towards if not insurance against damage?

That wouldn't be acceptable if they were doing resto/conservation work for you; I don't see why it's acceptable for pressing.

"...they are destroyed." The buyer sure has a low bar for what constitutes "destroyed."

I agree with everyone on offering a full refund or nothing.

1 hour ago, jhm said:

 

They sure look like the same book to me. Damage across the top is identical. The spine damage points are nearly identical if you assume some color touch occurred. Even the discoloration on the spine is the same.

Not trying to be argumentative, I just think it's important not to dismiss this sort of thing.

This sale ensured that I'll personally be staying away from books graded by that company.

Sale #1

https://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?id=652911

Sale #2

https://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?id=738425

Also, look at the unprinted parts of the backs and you'll see several marks and a line that match.

9 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

I was high bidder on the AS 5 for most of the week. I think I got outbid one day. Thank you for not making it even higher;)

Ha, there are books you want and then there are books where you're willing to do whatever it takes. This was a want for me and a whatever it takes for you. I wasn't in the same league.