PROFILES IN HISTORY- NEW COMIC ART UPDATE-FINALLY!!!! (TOMORROW!!!)

[MutantKeys]

 

 

[WYLDCHYLD]

The guy who answered the calls didn't have internet at the time, and wasn't aware that the site wasn't up so when the first sale or two came in, he took the order sight unseen and stopped selling soon after.

Obviously we can't undo a sale, and most of the art is still under wraps until tomorrow at 11AM PST...

[comix4fun]

The was a daring and brillaint thinking soul who called at 12Pm and ASKED over the phone...

 

And here everyone was just sitting and waiting for the site to go online as a signal that the sale had started. Since it was advertised as a website sale tied to the website updating I can see how folks might get a little bunched that things were sold when the site update never happened.

 

Well if they barraged PIH on the phone then I feel sorry for Fong who was working the phone. That had to be a difficult situation to be put in.

 

Without knowing what was for sale that would have meant people were calling him and asking him to read thru the list(artist, title, issue, description and price) until they picked out those couple of pieces to buy...without ever actually seeing them. Talk about a needle in a haystack.

 

Buying art without every actually seeing it is certainly daring....brilliant or thinking however would not be terms I would use.

[groovyedwin]

Will - Thank you for the partial listing. It will give a number of individuals the same chance.

 

Some of the prices are really aggressive and multiples of market value. Which leads me to several questions.

 

Anyone know if PIH will be lowering prices on the pieces that don't sell in a 2 months?

 

If so, how much have they typically lowered prices on OA?

 

Has it been to a market value or some percentage?

 

Thank you.

[westform]

Hi Chris; oh I don't know, in the olden days we used to buy art site unseen via telephone frequently. Sometimes the person on the other end had a pic he could fax or sometimes not. Verbal descriptions were the order of the day if you were not at a Con. I still even now occassionally buy art site unseen.... and hey, I imagine PIH has a return policy anyway... DF

 

The was a daring and brillaint thinking soul who called at 12Pm and ASKED over the phone...

 

And here everyone was just sitting and waiting for the site to go online as a signal that the sale had started. Since it was advertised as a website sale tied to the website updating I can see how folks might get a little bunched that things were sold when the site update never happened.

 

Well if they barraged PIH on the phone then I feel sorry for Fong who was working the phone. That had to be a difficult situation to be put in.

 

Without knowing what was for sale that would have meant people were calling him and asking him to read thru the list(artist, title, issue, description and price) until they picked out those couple of pieces to buy...without ever actually seeing them. Talk about a needle in a haystack.

 

Buying art without every actually seeing it is certainly daring....brilliant or thinking however would not be terms I would use.

[comix4fun]

Hi Chris; oh I don't know, in the olden days we used to buy art site unseen via telephone frequently. Sometimes the person on the other end had a pic he could fax or sometimes not. Verbal descriptions were the order of the day if you were not at a Con. I still even now occassionally buy art site unseen.... and hey, I imagine PIH has a return policy anyway... DF

 

 

I used to get up off the couch and walk over to the TV to change the channel too. I can't remember the last time I did that.

 

C

 

 

[westform]

Once my youngest son lost the remote to the tv in my office... I watched Nicktoons for a week until I found it. I refuse to actually touch the tv... DF

 

Hi Chris; oh I don't know, in the olden days we used to buy art site unseen via telephone frequently. Sometimes the person on the other end had a pic he could fax or sometimes not. Verbal descriptions were the order of the day if you were not at a Con. I still even now occassionally buy art site unseen.... and hey, I imagine PIH has a return policy anyway... DF

 

 

I used to get up off the couch and walk over to the TV to change the channel too. I can't remember the last time I did that.

 

C

 

[Mephisto]

Hi Chris; oh I don't know, in the olden days we used to buy art site unseen via telephone frequently. Sometimes the person on the other end had a pic he could fax or sometimes not. Verbal descriptions were the order of the day if you were not at a Con. I still even now occassionally buy art site unseen.... and hey, I imagine PIH has a return policy anyway... DF

 

 

I used to get up off the couch and walk over to the TV to change the channel too. I can't remember the last time I did that.

 

C

 

 

Wow you were alive before remotes?!

[buyatari]

Buying art sight unseen isn't as dangerous as buying a comic book sight unseen. Condition while important isn't as critical. If there is a particular cover you have been looking for and it comes for sale you can't exactly wait till that same cover shows up in better shape. There is only one.

 

I would hope that major issues would be noted over the phone and any minor issues that may be there can be overlooked when you get the chance to jump ahead of everyone who is waiting to buy it !

 

 

[igotnogame]

Will - Thank you for the partial listing. It will give a number of individuals the same chance.

 

Wasn't a problem. I have been lurking on here for some time, and just thought I would jump in and try to help. Just wish I could have seen / grabbed it all, because I could have had a full, working listing for everyone to see.

 

Heck, if we had a list of what else was going to be available, we might be able to find the images. Just need artist, issue, page number, and go from there.

 

Later.

-Will

 

[WYLDCHYLD]

Well, PIH usually has about 2 art updates per year, and most of it is usually fresh stuff...if sales from the last 2 updates are any indication, their prices are usually spot-on with the market range, and the last sale out of new 76 pieces, only 6 didn't sell...That's a pretty good ratio of making sales if you ask me...

Most suff usually sells in the first day or two...they must be doing SOMETHING right...

 

As far as reputation goes, they always have a good reputation because they're used to dealing with multi-million dollar movie props and historical documents...comic art is a side-business because it's the hobby of the owner Joe Maddalena...

 

Anyway, TODAY they'll have the art updated and things will hopefully not get screwed-up by unexpected internet nightmares...

[WYLDCHYLD]

Only 1/3 of the listing ever made it online (at least for the minute or two it did...), the other 2/3 are still a mystery...ooohhh!!!! *(cue spooky music)

[Khazano]

Do they accept time payments?

[Nexus]

Will - Thank you for the partial listing. It will give a number of individuals the same chance.

 

Some of the prices are really aggressive and multiples of market value. Which leads me to several questions.

 

Anyone know if PIH will be lowering prices on the pieces that don't sell in a 2 months?

 

If so, how much have they typically lowered prices on OA?

 

Has it been to a market value or some percentage?

 

Thank you.

 

I agree that prices appear to be on the high side, but collectors have shown a willingness to pay extreme premiums for art that's "fresh to market"...hence that same verbiage in the sales hype. Personally, "fresh" means nothing to me...a good piece of art is a good piece of art. If getting something that's "fresh" means having to pay multiples of FMV, then give me "old and stale" any day!

 

Jonathan would know better than me, but I've heard that PIH will drop prices by as much as 50% for stuff that doesn't sell.

[Lambo]

Hi Chris; oh I don't know, in the olden days we used to buy art site unseen via telephone frequently. Sometimes the person on the other end had a pic he could fax or sometimes not. Verbal descriptions were the order of the day if you were not at a Con. I still even now occassionally buy art site unseen.... and hey, I imagine PIH has a return policy anyway... DF

 

Yeah, back in the olden days, we did a lot of that. I remember being on the phone with Mitch and having him describe each panel, how much whiteout, etc. And due to the time spent chatting on the phone, I made some long lasting friendships with people like Mitch and Albert. I bought a lot of things sight unseen back then and never got burned, probably because I only dealt with the best of the best people. I suppose things were very different then.

 

Man, all this hype leading up to this update reminds me of the show when they opened Al Capone's vault with Gerarldo Rivera!!! (or Jerry Rivers as Howard Stern would call him!)

[WYLDCHYLD]

Not sure where you've gotten your info from dude, but no, PIH doesn't drop prices, and they usually sell out in the 90% ratio range (usually because they only have 2 sales a year and it's almost all fresh material), and if a piece or two doesn't sell, they may just trade it in a deal down the line, but they definitely don't discount their own stuff...I think you're probably thinking of when they first started selling stuff, they had stuff on consignment that was negotiable (including some of my own)...hope this helps set the record straight.

[WYLDCHYLD]

Yeah, I also have bought (and still buy) a LOT of art sight unseen, and haven't had any problems with it...if I know what a cover/page is, and there's no major condition issues (like it being colored in or something like that, or a Byrne signiture right across Dark Phoenix's face...) I'm fine to buy it as I know it's either "buy it, or never own it as it's one of a kind...". I also used to buy a lot of art out of CBG ads before ebay really got going on art...

[xraysteve]

Hi Nexus,

 

Would you have bought it if it were available? I also called too late but I would have passed.

[Nexus]

Not sure where you've gotten your info from dude, but no, PIH doesn't drop prices, and they usually sell out in the 90% ratio range (usually because they only have 2 sales a year and it's almost all fresh material), and if a piece or two doesn't sell, they may just trade it in a deal down the line, but they definitely don't discount their own stuff...I think you're probably thinking of when they first started selling stuff, they had stuff on consignment that was negotiable (including some of my own)...hope this helps set the record straight.

 

One prominent example I was told was a Marvel cover that had a $16K price tag that didn't sell. A couple of months later, the price was dropped to $8K when it finally sold.

 

I only mentioned that to show that PIH was willing to be reasonable if they had to. But, as I said, you would know better, so if that's not the case, my bad.

[WYLDCHYLD]

I think you're probably thinking of the covers I had on consignment at the time from them Felix...I was buying my penthouse in Hollywood at the time and was on a selling frenzy...I'll admit, I was VERRRY flexable at the time...