Aahz

I may be completely wrong (usually am), but to a certain extent I don't think it has anything to do with the economy. The Sandman page I bought in 1994 for $125 has a bunch more 000 behind it now. Same with the Sal Busmen Hulk pages for $10 each in 1996. Now these are outliers because of their popularity. However, the Bronze Age DC horror pages that I bough for $10 in 1997 probably reasonable retail for $100-150. So they have all gone up in value, some more than others relative to inflation and CPI. I think the question is, will pages like this continue to rise in value or will they top off at some point. Now I will agree that the economy and global politics can/will have an effect as to the speed, and, yes, there could be a wholesale loss in interest in the field like Beanie Babies. I think really that is what most people that love this as a hobby or whatever you call it at this price point want comfort in. If they spend what they feel is a large amount, will it sustain.

It's a fair point, and I agree that nothing is immune when you have a significant economic/political event. However, that also indicates that people won't have the time/appetite for a hobby ... there are bigger issues. I'm not an economist (although I'm not sure that anyone seems to have a bead on what the hell is going on), but assuming that there is no precipitous drop that would cause people to re-evaluate how they are spending money, I'm not sure that you will see much price softness. All that being said, I'm prefer finding material that I like that is under $1000 that I enjoy. I can see that stuff just sticking there ... which is fine for me. The 5 figure panel pages ... I think they would have to be something special.

Only my opinion, and I collect because I love the stuff ... not because of opportunity. Leaving aside price, comic art is not comic books, sports cards, beanie babies. It is combination of words and art ... one moment in a story and one of a kind ... regardless of popularity or quality. If you destroy a published piece, there will not be another. If there are enough people that enjoy this (for whatever reason), the price will maintain. Not that it is a perfect comparable, but Picasso was very prolific, creating an estimated 50,000 original artworks. Prices have not gone down. Now not everyone artist is a Picasso, but there is an appetite and market for his works and the prices maintain. Unless people decide that there is no value in this as art, the prices will maintain and maybe continue to rise.

The romance covers went for around $3K. I was floored.

I understand why Bill (Cox) does not want to get involved in parsing out what does or does not belong on CAF. You can argue about taste, etc. However, as CAF and the hobby grows, I think he is going to have to do some segregation and policing of different CAF pages or risk becoming like Ebay. I think being swayed by hyperbole is an issue with any hobby. People collect differently and different things, and maybe they want the first appearances. Their thing. However, unlike the example above (https://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1839917), Jordan is also a collector. Jay Johnston (owner of the CAF page cited) does not appear to be a collector. Leaving all issues of politics or quality of work aside, I don't think a page like this should be in the regular "collector" flow. Perhaps an amateur artist or artist section?

A lot of shows, the stuff being offered (for me) was ok ... nothing super. There is a new C-Link auction starting today I think and SDCC is coming up. Not sure you can read anything into this one instance.

I always liked how Ric Estrada used silohuettes. They almost look like paper cut outs.

Complete sarcasm. :-)

Well given the doom and gloom economic outlook, there have been a lot of bargains today. ;-)

Bought one very fairly priced Aragones page. Very happy with it.

I think it will soften ... but not because of crypto. I think folks will sit on their cash a bit more now, just until events around the world stabilize a bit.

DJRome is right on the spot. However, particularly look at this one that Alex mentions first: The OA auction archive at Heritage Auctions – This archive presents the results from all of their OA auctions.. Once you sign-up and get an id, you can search for pieces by your artist and see what they have sold for. Because they are running so many auctions, it has a lot of new data

I think you may have people that were speculating in other fields (comics & sports cards) moving in to this field, but I really think that its just more fans with more money for the most part. For example, on FB, someone speculated that the Bolland cover that went for $130K + was a speculator ... no way. Even though it was my favorite piece that sold yesterday, if someone if new to the hobby, that is not the piece I would expect them to gravitate too. Cap, Black Spider, Moonknight sure ... not Judge Dredd. I know I am lucky enough to be able to afford more now than when I started collecting in the 90's, and after a break (marriage, kids, life) the pandemic allowed me to get excited about it again. I don't think I'm alone. The more of us there are, the more competition for the pieces.

He is responsive through Facebook

I'm curious about the Death of Superman pages. This was such an event when it happened ... mores than the black costume. I wonder if it will translate to interest now.

I'm up here in Austin and will keep my eyes out. It may make sense to give an APB to the local comic book stores, in case it never left TX.

In the fine art world, there are actually consultants that help their clients put together art portfolios based on what they want to achieve. Could be people like that out there is the collectibles space too.

Not to split hairs, but was that $1.5 the bid or the bid with BP? It would put it lot closer to that 3.36

And without the BP

Two fun pieces from Noly Zamora (252) and Ernesto Patricio (242). $150 each or both for $275.

Diverging for a second from the theme ... there are without doubt more collectors with more money coming into the hobby ... maybe transitioning from comic books or something else. However, I am curious about the reality of "professionally advised to buy [comic book] OA." Now I can see at the top tier $75K plus there being an investor mentality ...especially for key pieces or big names like Frazetta. Also, there have been a lot of articles on hedging against inflation and such using "fine art." I have trouble believing that this would extend to the sub 20K space. I cannot believe that an investment professional would say, "You have to diversify ... have you considered Byrne X-Men pages?"

And don't even bother with the "I got a page for you too." Doesn't work.

This was a first for me. Most of my stuff is in the $75-100 frame range and has museum glass etc. This was a special case. The size, cost, and medium (paint and collage) made me want to go the extra mile. Also, I live in TX and heat and fading was very much a concern for me.

I just framed my most high value piece using a reputable art gallery locally. The price was, frankly, breathtaking to me ... about $1,500 (Its a very large piece too). It would have been more if I had gone with museum acrylic instead of museum glass. That being said the focus was on long term preservation. They had several tiers of materials in which there was a direct correlation between length of preservation and costs. For the longest preservation (they said 100 yers plus) would have been north of $2K. I went for one tier down. This is all to say, go to a gallery to advise you, but be prepared for the price tag.

Aquaman 34 Cover Pencils - Paul Pelletier. $450 Eternals v2 #10 - Keith Pollard $300 Enchanter #2 p26-7 - Mike Dringenberg - $70 (with bid costs $125)