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Most Valuable Sigs

Started by CollectingStanLee,

48 posts in this topic

CollectingStanLee

CollectingStanLee

Posted
Posted

I thought it might be interesting to ask board members what they thought were the most valuable signatures. Obviously you can tell from my user name who my vote would be for. I would have put together a poll, but I wouldn't know what to put on that rather long list. In order of importance, my top 5 are:

 

Stan Lee

Joe Simon

Neil Adams

Frank Miller

Jim Lee

 

Actually Jack Kirby is number two on my list, but since I can't get CGC SS books with his sig, it's not relevant to this discussion.

 

A related question is how much value does the sig add to the books. I realize that's a fairly subjective question, as I've learned from one of my recent posts, but I'm still interested to hear what people think. Is there a simple formula for calculating values?

 

I'd like to believe that collecting CGC SS modern books is a worthwhile investment. Comic book collecting leans heavily towards being an investment driven hobby, and the answers here can give me some insight into what to invest in for the future, even if the answers are purely subjective. Chime in and let me know what you think.

 

 

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NYComics

NYComics

Posted
Posted

My top 5-

 

Frazetta- +300

Stan Lee- +100

Joe Simon- +30

John Romita Sr.- +25

Neal Adams/ Steranko (unpersonalized sigs)- +20

 

 

My values reflect the minimum I think their sigs add. Depending on the book/combination of sigs it could be worth much more.

 

 

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NYComics

NYComics

Posted
Posted

oh wait....I wanna change my top 5 after looking at Cimm's again.

 

Cross off Neal Adams/Steranko and replace with Miller. He is def. much harder to get now and his sig will rise in value I expect. worth at least 50 in some cases.

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Cimm

Cimm

Posted
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Frank Frazetta +300-350

Berni Wrightson +50-300 (on further review, I think this one is more dependent on the book than the others, giving it a wider range...)

Neal Adams +100-150

Frank Miller +200-250

Joe Kubert +100-150

 

and ditto what NYComics said regarding combinations of sig + good book, sig + sig, etc.

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Kevin Boyd

Kevin Boyd

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Nice ranges, but based on experience I would disagree with those estimates. Your ranges are way too high on most - with the exception of possibly Frazetta.

 

Wrightson, Kubert, Adams, Romita - unless you are talking about high grade keys then I think you are looking at maybe 10-50 above the grading/book price - on average. These guys are out there 3-5 times a year, at minimum.

 

So when it comes down to it - all of this depends on the right key book in the right grade - simple supply and demand.

 

Miller is in demand because he's absent from shows and signings, making his signature more valuable. Frazetta is the same way. The most asked about are:

 

Alan Moore (none exist)

Frank Miller (a few exist from 3-5 public appearances since 2002)

John Byrne (a few exist from 1 public appearance in 2004)

Steve Ditko (none exist)

Barry Windsor-Smith (a few exist from one public appearance and one private signing)

 

Using that logic we all thought Joe Mad would be an "in demand" modern creator. Then he does a couple of public appearances and... not as much interest as hoped. The current "of interest" creator is probably Gary Frank, as he has yet to make a public appearance where SS autographs could be obtained. The race is on there. Mike Zeck hasn't made any public appearances, but there is interest in the books (again the right books in the right grades) obtained from private signings.

 

Based on overall popularity and availability I would probably say the best available and most in-demand SS creators are - and for most I think they add anywhere from 5 to 500 dollars when sold on eBay, depending on the book, the grade and whether or not they are accompanied by other creator signatures:

 

MODERN

 

- Michael Turner

- Geoff Johns

- Alex Ross

- Brian Michael Bendis

- Jim Lee

- Robert Kirkman

- Ed Brubaker

- Chris Claremont

- Mark Millar

- Todd McFarlane

- Joss Whedon

- Neil Gaiman

- Jeph Loeb (esp. w/Tim Sale or Jim Lee)

- Joe Quesada

- J. Michael Straczynski

 

You'll notice that the majority of these guys are writers, of course.

 

Factors that increase interest are (aside from higher grades and title popularity): additional autographs accompanying the popular creator, combinations of the above creators, limited edition variants, sketches.

 

There are others that do well - especially in combinations Mignola on early Hellboy, Wagner on early Grendel and some Batman. Simonson on early Thor. Starlin on vintage Thanos and Warlock appearances. Romita Jr. when coupled with a popular writer or with Michelinie & Layton. David and Keown on Hulk.

 

Also, there are certain titles which have a lot of interest/momentum at the moment but may lose steam as time goes by (or may not) such as the Umbrella Academy, Locke & Key, Dark Tower, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

 

VINTAGE

 

A little trickier, as interest depends on cost of the autograph and availability of the creator. Stan Lee costs money to get the autograph from, as does Frazetta, and those prices tend to get factored into the price. Steranko personalizes when he signs, so that tends to hurt interest. With Kubert, Romita, Adams, Wrightson and Simon it depends on the book and the grade more than anything else. Adding their sig to any book does not instantly add value.

 

Grade is less of an issue with vintage books (pre-1975) and it depends on the creator.

 

- Stan Lee

- Frank Frazetta

- Joe Kubert

- Jim Steranko (if he doesn't personalize)

- John Romita

- Neal Adams

- Bernie Wrightson (only on HOS92 and high grade ST)

- Joe Simon

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Kevin Boyd

Kevin Boyd

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I'm surprised no one has mentioned Will Eisner. :gossip:

 

Because Will passed away and because very few SS books exist, Eisner doesn't really factor in on these lists - and even then, the Spirit is not really a popular character (despite the upcoming movie - which looks awful) outside of the industry folk that found inspiration in his work. And I love Eisner's stuff and will always remember the times I met him - if Kirby was King, Eisner was like the industry's favorite grandfather.

 

Certainly those will do very well when sold, but will quickly be absorbed... similar to the few Byrne and Miller books out there. There's no supply for the demand that is out there. I would compare Eisner SS books to, say, Al Williamson SS books (even though Williamson isn't dead, his illness will prevent him from any further public appearances).

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Kevin Boyd

Kevin Boyd

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I'm surprised no one has mentioned Will Eisner. :gossip:

 

Or Russ Heath :mad:

 

Who I would put in the same category as Murphy Anderson, Carmine Infantino, Nick Cardy and Giordano, or on the Marvel side of the fence Ayers, Gene Colan and Joe Sinnott. Nice, but not in high demand unless coupled with other creators like Stan Lee or Neal Adams.

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NYComics

NYComics

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I am working on something so that I can get some books signed by Frank Miller...........I found out where his local bar is in Manhattan :) Going to try the friend of a friend route.

 

Good luck. :wishluck:

 

 

Thanks....it's a longshot but Miller goes to this bar ALL THE TIME. And so does my old college roomate. So right now he is in the process of trying to make friends :)

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Kevin Boyd

Kevin Boyd

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Well, I can only chime in on modern sig's, seeing that's what I collect, but here's my list:

 

- Neil Gaiman

- Alan Moore

- Jeff Smith

- John Totleben

- Frank Miller

 

Gaiman - very difficult, but not impossible

Moore - impossible

Smith - one or two appearance a year (probably NY in Feb)

Totleben - doesn't do many (or any) shows due to eyesight problems and a young family

Miller - discussed earlier

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Jason Truong

Jason Truong

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Gaiman - very difficult, but not impossible

 

Upcoming Neil Gaiman appearances:

 

October 7th, 2008, Boulder, CO. Graveyard Book US Tour

 

October 8th, 2008, Minneapolis, MN. Graveyard Book US Tour

 

November 6th, 2008, Las Vegas, NV. Vegas Valley Book Festival

http://www.artslasvegas.org/vvbf/index.html

 

November 9th, 2008, New York, NY. Neil Gaiman in Conversation with Chip Kidd: Sandman 20th-Anniversary Celebration

http://www.92y.org/shop/event_detail.asp?productid=T%2DLC5AE04

 

August 6th-10th, 2009, Montreal, QB. Anticipation, 67th WorldCon

http://www.anticipationsf.ca/

 

Not sure if any of these are CGC approved events.

 

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Kevin Boyd

Kevin Boyd

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My experiences with Gaiman signings are: (a) they are long - usually hundreds of people want his autograph and therefore (b) they are limited. Most Witnesses who attend these signings are generally going to get three or less items signed, so they usually only end up getting their own items done. Sometimes you get lucky and there isn't a long line, or you can make a donation to the CBLDF in his name as thanks. That all depends on Neil and the organizers of the event itself. His schedule is often pretty tight and he just doesn't have the time to sign more.

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Jason Truong

Jason Truong

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May just have to wait until August '09, when he's in Montreal. He has all four days of that WorldCon listed on his website, so there might be a better chance for that, though that's still several months away.

 

His Las Vegas appearance is just the opening keynote speech, so the three items or less for the witness(es) may be the only possibility, if you can catch him in the halls or something (work your magic Chandler and Sharon!). And his New York appearance is a "conversation." Might be the same thing as New York, catching him in the halls.

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