Aahz

I think my collecting these days is 20% nostalgia and 80% "hey that's cool." I was lucky to get my grain early on in my collecting, and, for me, it has been as much about the story and emotion as the art. Honestly, this is why I am somewhat lukewarm about modern art because the word balloons are missing! This might actually track a bit with the discussion about Lichtenstein. There can be a lot of emotion and story in just one panel, let alone a page. A good example (for me) is the attached page from Warlock 5, a Canadian comic book. I bought this off ebay back in 1998 or so. Probably $25. I don't know anything about the story or the characters, but I loved the dialog ad the art. Denis Beauvais is the artist. never seen another page from this series, but it is still one of my favorites.

I think you could make that argument for any period of comic art as well. Sure the 90's had some artists that broke new ground style-wise, but there was also a lot of drawing to a specific style too. I think you can still find a lot of interesting art and story telling.

It's funny, I don't worry about my art gaining in value as not overpaying in a case of FOMO. To paraphrase a comment above, you'll probably get more joy out of the art than you will out of buying a stock, commodity, or gold. In terms of the long term viability of the market, I was looking at fine art at an auction the other day and marveled again at how many apples, trees, and ships have been painted over the years. All beautiful to look at and well executed. However, to a large part these do not have an impact on the day to day consciousness of the average person. I would hazard that chances are that if you took a random person from anywhere in the world and showed them a Picasso or a drawing of Spiderman, they would be more likely to identify the Spiderman. As long as these characters (in Spandex or otherwise) have an impact in the collective social consciousness, the market will be viable. (IMO).

I think the Clan McDonald Comics (FB) work with him on original art drops too. Might want to check with them.

Hi Everyone, I'm looking for pages from the following books/stories. Let me know if you are willing to let them go. Weird War 55 - The Abominable Weapon Ghosts 92 – Double Vision Ghosts 73 – Phantom of the Haunted Highway Unexpected 153 – Who’s Sleeping in My Grave Unexpected 203 – The Tricentennial Curse Unexpected 183 – The Dead Don’t Always Die Cheers. Heidjer hstaecker@yahoo.com

Select pieces. I prefer to show a representative group of pages to highlight the strengths of a book/artist/story, etc. If you have too much of one thing, I think it dilutes the impact of any given art. For example, I love Bronze Age DC Horror ... especially the title pages. Does anyone really want to look through a 100 of those, even if I love them? Probably not, and it takes away from a smaller selection of pieces.

I'm probably wrong, but given how pricey Jim Lee pieces have been, I would have thought that the Jim Lee Savage Dragon page (filling in for EL on a run) would have gone for more.

Congrats on the Gene Day piece. It was one I considered but then backed off. Amazing piece!

I, for one, am glad that the crash is finally here.

Just received my one purchase. I have been looking for a Marvels: Eye of the Camera page, and landed on the perfect one ... with Monsters! I am in awe of Jay Anacleto's pencils.

Did not seem as frenzied as the last few auctions. The rest of the auction will prove out whether there is a dip or it was just these pieces.

Way back when I first had the opportunity to buy comics more as a collectible, I came to the understanding that dealers generally mark up 50% from their purchase price in order to make their margins. Now, when it's a $5 book, it doesn't seem that bad, but it's much more noticeable when the 000's start being added to the pieces. Realistically, things haven't changed though ... just pieces are more in demand now. If the price is too high, people won't buy.

True, but considering that I have only parted with a small number of pieces over the years, its more of a fictional understanding with a wink and a nod ... "Oh, it's an investment! (But I know it's not)". :-)

I appreciate the ASM #300 cover's pricing. I can point to my wife and say, can you believe what comic art is bringing now!!! :-) Bough one piece from a book that I had been looking for (for a while now). Very reasonable.

The provenance no doubt helped as well. Not only can you say you have a cool piece (many which were already framed), but they were also owned by Harlan Ellison. I was active on the Plunkett Spectre cover (actually covers), but it went for a lot more than I expected.

With that many pages of certain items, it has to have a downward price push.

Hmmm. Wonder if this auction is going too be too much of a good thing. Multiple Wrightson pages, Sandman pages, etc.

Kudos on the historic Tulip reference!! :-)

Well the one thing the thread did do is motivate me to start looking at some of the older art on CAF ... and liking/commenting on them.

Feels like the auction that just won't end.

I wonder if Heritage would share how many unique bidders there are ... just the number. This is a lot of $$$ floating around

Part of me really wants the art from the DC horror/mystery stuff to go up esp. the Filipino artists. Its wonderful art and I think under appreciated. That being said, I still want to buy it too!

I hear a lot that nostalgia is the main driver in this hobby. However, this does not explain interest in art from the 40's through the early 60's or the prices being realized by modern artists like Tradd Moore (first name that came to mind) whose work has not been around long enough to drive nostalgic feelings. :-). At the same time, I read one comment that a collector was happy they did not follow story driven pages/books, because a great story could drive mediocre art. However, if story is not a driver, why doesn't everyone just collect commissions or pin ups? Now art isn't the end all be all either, because there are great modern artists that still don't get their full value and older so-so pages that are expensive. I'm writing this while watching Heritage and seeing a bunch of Ross Andru pages from the late 60's early 70's going for about $10K a piece. They are nice pages, but what is driving the price? So which is it - Nostalgia, art, or story?

I'm just being cantankerous. Since I've been collecting long enough, this is a version of, "I remember when gum was a nickel!"

I really have to update my thinking ... I still have trouble swallowing $1,000 as budget.