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Was anyone here interviewed for the upcoming Grailpages book?

Started by UnboxingTreasures,

21 posts in this topic

CollectingFool

CollectingFool

Posted
Posted

Doesn't anyone have a problem with the title right off the bat? Somehow over the years the word "Grail page" lost it's meaning. Now it's any valuable or coveted piece. It was originally supposed to mean "The one piece you would own above all others. The one you would never sell and would get rid of the rest of your collection for and stop collecting if you could only have it!". It was also supposed to be a bit unattainable. The name GRAIL does draw a comparison to something as rare and coveted as the Holy Grail of Arthurian Legend. There is only meant to be one, or at least one per collector. Grails plural is an oxymoron.

 

 

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Mister Trent

Mister Trent

Posted
Posted
Doesn't anyone have a problem with the title right off the bat? Somehow over the years the word "Grail page" lost it's meaning. Now it's any valuable or coveted piece. It was originally supposed to mean "The one piece you would own above all others. The one you would never sell and would get rid of the rest of your collection for and stop collecting if you could only have it!". It was also supposed to be a bit unattainable. The name GRAIL does draw a comparison to something as rare and coveted as the Holy Grail of Arthurian Legend. There is only meant to be one, or at least one per collector. Grails plural is an oxymoron.

 

 

Good point.

 

I think most of us are guilty of using the word 'Grail' a little too casually.

 

As for this book . . . it'll be interesting to see what kind of artwork it focuses on.

 

My only worry, here, is that it will reflect the interests of the compiler/editor . . . and not represent the wider range of artwork we collect.

 

I don't want to see a heavy focus on superhero art. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

Some of us also like different genres from different decades.

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r1982rhoads

r1982rhoads

Posted
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I was interviewed for the book, and provided scans of about 10 pieces that were requested. Interestingly, the 2 pages I consider true grails (as per comments above), were overlooked...I did, however, ask if I could provide those and they took them as well.

 

When does this thing come out, anyway?

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TStrong-migration

TStrong-migration

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I'm intrigued by the book and the title (even if incorrect) is one of the main reasons.

 

No offense to board members that have been interviewed but did the author use any criteria as to who he selected to interview? Or was this a friend-knows-a-friend-with-nice-art thing more than a Top Collector (i.e. Hari, Eric Roberts) kind of thing?

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mister_not_so_nice

mister_not_so_nice

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No offense to board members that have been interviewed but did the author use any criteria as to who he selected to interview?

From the books description he chose "collections ranging from a few key pages, to broad, encompassing collections of literally hundreds of pages of original comic art"

 

 

 

Or was this a friend-knows-a-friend-with-nice-art thing more than a Top Collector (i.e. Hari, Eric Roberts) kind of thing?

 

I'm guessing he went through CAF or his OA network and found collectors that had collections he was looking for. Sure, their are some amazing collections out there that are not public so he would have a hard time getting in touch with those collectors.

 

I think the term "Top Collector" is very subjective to your own area of interest. Just as one person's GRAIL is just another page to a different collector. I.E. Watchmen pages = zzz , but for some reason others go crazy over them (shrug)

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comix4fun

comix4fun

Posted
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looking at the cover to the book, clearly the author has a bias toward Marvel Comic art.

 

Probably reflects the compiler/editor's limited knowledge. hm

 

Or, that he sees that Marvel films, animation and TV shows are being made by the handful and constantly, and if he is going to compete for shelf space at the bookstore he might want to jump on that bandwagon.

 

From a retail sales perspective I can understand it....with the exception of Dark Knight the pop culture world seems to be Marvel Centric.

 

C

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Sharkey

Sharkey

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I was a little surprised to see Preacher pages displayed in the book... pleasantly surprised, I should say.

 

:acclaim:

 

Still waiting to get my copy in the mail :mad:

What's your opinion? hm

 

I got my copy and I thought it's a fun read. (DISCLAIMER: I am most assuredly biased because I'm one of the collectors profiled in the book lol ).

 

Steven's intent was not to write the be-all end-all reference book on OA or to profile every big-time collector in the hobby, but rather to profile different collectors, dealers, and professionals and convey the passion, quirkiness, and uniqueness of this hobby. I think he succeeded.

 

There is a decent representation of different types of art and collectors, although I will admit that a lot of the art featured has been posted on these boards or on CAF. Not all though. There's some sweet pages in the book that I had not seen before, but you can find even more mind-blowing examples by searching CAF. I suppose that's the different between static print and dynamic Web. I would also have liked to see more full-page pictures of some more landmark, blue-chip pages.

 

I did learn some interesting things about fellow collectors and enjoyed the few interviews with the industry people.

 

On a personal note, I hoped to have some of my pre-hero art profiled and it was not (he touched on my pre-hero preoccupation but focused on the part of our interview that dealt with my FF40 battle pages and the book printed pics of a couple of those as well as my JIM 125 Splash) but part of that's my fault because he was collecting images for the book last year and after our house fire i just didn't have access to what I needed to get him print-quality high-res photos.

 

I admire and applaud Steven for having a vision and a goal for the book and making it happen. I know numerous people who keep saying they want to write and publish a book, but very few actually do it. Steven did it, and that in and of itself is pretty cool.

 

--Steve

 

 

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r1982rhoads

r1982rhoads

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I was profiled for the book as well, and still haven't received my comp copy...I was going to order it, but once Steven said he was sending interviewed parties a copy, i canceled my order...

 

Anyone else receive their comp copy? Or did everyone just order/purchase one?

 

 

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CollectingFool

CollectingFool

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I find that much like the majority of the threads on this board, the focus was very narrow and although he claims to be a dealer and deeply involved in the hobby, to me it seemed to have been from a novice's standpoint. Someone that just looked at a few websites, a few comments on this board and the flashiest stuff.

 

I thought trying to break down collectors of OA into neat categories was not an accurate representation of how collectors I know collect. The focus was too narrow and it left out so much of what this hobby is and where it came from. It also paid too much attention to the more recent "Hey, look at me, I only buy the best!!!" attitude a lot of collectors have these days as if the ability to spend money somehow also increases your standing in the community.

 

Of course as many know, the most expensive is not always the best. Also, many people in the hobby these days only want artwork once they see it's wanted by others or that the price is high. A phenomenon I fail to understand but actually applies to many other hobbies as well. Then again, I never understood paying 20 times market for something that there are over 100,000 of just because this one has one less ding than all the others (coins, comics or anything else slabbed).

 

I know there's some hero worship among new collectors of some of the people profiled and that many of those profiled are in this group so it's no surprise all the comments about the book were positive. Still, I expected to read someone else post something other than praise for the book. Maybe I'll send my copy to Mitch or Gene so I'm not alone on this one!

 

Ruben

http://www.collectingfool.com

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