Do all boats rise with the tide?

[Drummy]

Hi all --

 

I was intrigued by the discussion on the "What can you get for $30k?" post about how the meteoric rise of special art from landmark books or runs -- Ditko Spiderman, Kirby FF and Thor, Killing Joke, Watchmen, etc. -- has prompted steady rises in other artists' work from the same eras. For example, now that most people are priced out of Kirby's Thor splashes or McFarlane's ASM covers, I assume panel pages from those artists will rise since the money people had for splashes/covers must now be devoted to "lesser" pages in order to have such a piece in one's collection.

 

But will the boom at the top draw up the more mediocre artists from the same era? Will Heck TOS splashes become $12k pieces someday? Will secondary artists from the GA, SA, CA, and MA see slow but steady inflation as the "big" names shoot higher and higher?

 

I only know bronze age Marvel art well, so I'd appreciate other insights. Nostalgia plays a big role in the purchases I pursue, so I know it's a dogfight for the best pieces -- Byrne and Cockrum X-Men, Perez Avengers, Buscema Thor, even Sal Buscema Hulk and ASM pages can fetch a pretty penny. But I'm not sure Tuska Iron Man pages will ever see an appreciable rise, nor do I see pages from secondary books (Nova, Champions, Defenders) making more than a modest percentage jump each year. What do people think?

 

Thanks!

 

Dan

[clemso]

I'm not sure about all artists. Some TOS Heck IM splash pages have already reached the $12K level. I think Ditko is an interesting example. His best ASM examples fetch $30-35K but does this mean his work from Hawk & Dove, Creeper, Shade, Captain Atom has risen too? As far as I know their not exactly fetching $10K a piece for example.

 

Clem...

[otherworldsj33]

Not ALL boats, but most Marvel and DC mainline character/title art will continue to rise along side the prime stuff.

[Mister Trent]

Not ALL boats, but most Marvel and DC mainline character/title art will continue to rise along side the prime stuff.

 

That's about it in a nutshell:

 

Marvel + DC + Mainline Character + Top Artists = High Demand

 

And getting back to Clem So's earlier observation . . .

 

Ditko's work for DC, that encompasses things like CREEPER, HAWK & DOVE and SHADE were too short-lived to really make much of an impact - so perhaps ought to be considered (low-interest) periphery characters.

[Mister Trent]

I wonder if those collectors of character-based original art are oblivious to the highs and lows of a particular strip they specialize in?

 

I mean, I was a fan of SPIDER-MAN from the Ditko days - but lost track of of the later issues due to a six-year stint in the British Army.

 

When I was de-mobbed, I started collecting all the back-issues I'd missed out on.

 

I systemetically read the missing issues chronologically. I reached a point were Spidey got himself a souped-up Beach Buggy and called it something daft like the 'Spider-Mobile'. At that point, I felt the strip had deteriorated to a level of silliness I couldn't continue with - so I switched my attention elsewhere.

 

 

[Mighty Hal]

Ah, but I loved the Ditko low-interest, periphery CREEPER and HAWK & DOVE. More so, honestly, than SUPERMAN, WONDER WOMAN and much of the DC gang.

 

The good news is, these lower interest characters will cost me much less money. The bad news is, a good page by Ditko is still hundreds and hundreds of dollars more than I can afford to spend right now (and will possibly be thousands of dollars more than I can afford to spend in the future)....

[Mister Trent]

Ah, but I loved the Ditko low-interest, periphery CREEPER and HAWK & DOVE. More so, honestly, than SUPERMAN, WONDER WOMAN and much of the DC gang.

 

The good news is, these lower interest characters will cost me much less money. The bad news is, a good page by Ditko is still hundreds and hundreds of dollars more than I can afford to spend right now (and will possibly be thousands of dollars more than I can afford to spend in the future)....

 

Loved them myself (low-interest probably equated to you, me and a handful of others!).

 

At one stage I had 3 pages from HAWK & DOVE # 1 and a CREEPER page from (I think) # 5. Traded them away several years ago . . .

[clemso]

For me Ditko is increasingly becoming more about his unique style than the characters, even more so than Kirby. Sure I'd like a Dr Strange or Spidey page but

I think its great that his fringe characters are still affordable if some what scarce on the open market.

 

Clem...

[sborock]

For me Ditko is increasingly becoming more about his unique style than the characters, even more so than Kirby. Sure I'd like a Dr Strange or Spidey page but

I think its great that his fringe characters are still affordable if some what scarce on the open market.

 

Clem...

 

Agreed!

 

I own the Ditko splash page to Haunted # 1 and I love it because it is TOTAL Ditko. His style and layout of the piece is so cool. I do not care that it is not a Spidey page. Not that I would not take one

[otherworldsj33]

Even more then a Spider-man page, i would love to get my hands on a Ditko mid to late 50's prime Charlton horror or sci-fi cover, splash or page, but alas, I don't think any even still in existance, probably not.

That Haunted splash must be a beauty though.

[Sharkey]

For me Ditko is increasingly becoming more about his unique style than the characters, even more so than Kirby. Sure I'd like a Dr Strange or Spidey page but

I think its great that his fringe characters are still affordable if some what scarce on the open market.

 

Clem...

 

Agreed!

 

I own the Ditko splash page to Haunted # 1 and I love it because it is TOTAL Ditko. His style and layout of the piece is so cool. I do not care that it is not a Spidey page. Not that I would not take one

 

Scan?

 

Yes, I know it's on your CAF gallery, but you should still post a scan here!

[the blob]

Probably not much beyond inflation. I suppose stuff that's old might accrue based on that too. Some 80s dima a dozen generic prom a second stringer like Sal B. or Tuska may become of more interest when it's 30 years old and such. But more recent stuff? There's just so much getting continually pumped out every month, no?

 

Mind you, I think it's nuts that anything half decent looking that's vaguely interesting goes for under $50. Someone here posted a Thor page that went for $30+/- and a Namor page that went for $9.99. Neither was bad, actually, I thought they were above average.

[sborock]

For me Ditko is increasingly becoming more about his unique style than the characters, even more so than Kirby. Sure I'd like a Dr Strange or Spidey page but

I think its great that his fringe characters are still affordable if some what scarce on the open market.

 

Clem...

 

Agreed!

 

I own the Ditko splash page to Haunted # 1 and I love it because it is TOTAL Ditko. His style and layout of the piece is so cool. I do not care that it is not a Spidey page. Not that I would not take one

 

 

Here it is: http://comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Page=1&Order=Date&Piece=140790&GSub=21472&GCat=0&UCat=0

[Mister Trent]

For me Ditko is increasingly becoming more about his unique style than the characters, even more so than Kirby. Sure I'd like a Dr Strange or Spidey page but

I think its great that his fringe characters are still affordable if some what scarce on the open market.

 

Clem...

 

Agreed!

 

I own the Ditko splash page to Haunted # 1 and I love it because it is TOTAL Ditko. His style and layout of the piece is so cool. I do not care that it is not a Spidey page. Not that I would not take one

 

If you love it that much, how come you've listed it for sale at $5,000?

 

Interestingly, you can probably buy a Ditko Charlton Horror cover for less than your asking price . . .

[Mister Trent]

Ah, but I loved the Ditko low-interest, periphery CREEPER and HAWK & DOVE. More so, honestly, than SUPERMAN, WONDER WOMAN and much of the DC gang.

 

The good news is, these lower interest characters will cost me much less money. The bad news is, a good page by Ditko is still hundreds and hundreds of dollars more than I can afford to spend right now (and will possibly be thousands of dollars more than I can afford to spend in the future)....

 

Hal, as a fellow-lover of periphery Ditko, it might be worth mentioning that I have the following spare Ditko page (from an obscure title called, WHAT IS THE FACE?) available for sale priced $250:

 

 

 

[sborock]

For me Ditko is increasingly becoming more about his unique style than the characters, even more so than Kirby. Sure I'd like a Dr Strange or Spidey page but

I think its great that his fringe characters are still affordable if some what scarce on the open market.

 

Clem...

 

Agreed!

 

I own the Ditko splash page to Haunted # 1 and I love it because it is TOTAL Ditko. His style and layout of the piece is so cool. I do not care that it is not a Spidey page. Not that I would not take one

 

If you love it that much, how come you've listed it for sale at $5,000?

 

Interestingly, you can probably buy a Ditko Charlton Horror cover for less than your asking price . . .

 

I have put prices on almost all of my pieces. I was getting tired of sooooo many emails with lowball offers or "how much is it?" though the pieces stated NFS.

 

Now I do not get those emails anymore.

[Mister Trent]

For me Ditko is increasingly becoming more about his unique style than the characters, even more so than Kirby. Sure I'd like a Dr Strange or Spidey page but

I think its great that his fringe characters are still affordable if some what scarce on the open market.

 

Clem...

 

Agreed!

 

I own the Ditko splash page to Haunted # 1 and I love it because it is TOTAL Ditko. His style and layout of the piece is so cool. I do not care that it is not a Spidey page. Not that I would not take one

 

If you love it that much, how come you've listed it for sale at $5,000?

 

Interestingly, you can probably buy a Ditko Charlton Horror cover for less than your asking price . . .

 

I have put prices on almost all of my pieces. I was getting tired of sooooo many emails with lowball offers or "how much is it?" though the pieces stated NFS.

 

Now I do not get those emails anymore.

 

Not surprised!

 

As a personal observation, I find that towards the end of the 1960s, Ditko's style increasingly leaned more and more towards pure cartoon (in his prime, Ditko's art was a nice balance of cartoon/illustration). For me, this blighted much of his post-1960s art. There was a partial return to glory with SHADE, but his best work was behind him.