HERITAGE AUCTION BONANZA !!!! LETS SEE THE STATE OF THE OA MARKET

[westform]

Regardless of what you think about this forum or it's participants.... does anyone find it strange that there has been no discussion of this auction, at all as far as I can tell, on the Comicart-L. I don't just mean numbers but pieces, practices, winners, losers, indications of future, etc.... Nothin'?

[NightGallery1]

Hi Dan,

 

I still get the impression that something of significance may have happened. I don't disagree that many pieces realized a tidy sum (and a few went crazy like the Cockrum X-Men cover), but the fact remains that there were also quite a few bargains to be had on some very nice lots - which is something I don't recall happening in a Heritage Signature auction for quite some time now.

 

Despite that fact, two pieces that I really had my heart set on still ended up selling for a pretty penny. The panel page in question was a really nice example - actually, I think it could be argued that it was more than just nice. While it's not as detailed as his later work, it does have a cinematic feel to it. It's a self contained minor episode within a larger story (wandering barbarian stumbles upon a lost and apparently deserted, decaying city... he enters, investigates, and in the last panel discovers - By Crom! - that it's most certainly not deserted after all. That's some top-notch storytelling there... word balloons optional. So some might consider it to be in the best of the best catagory, in which case it would be less likely to be affected by a correction.

 

The cover I was lusting after was the EC Wood - no question top of the line, and it got one bid, just meeting its reserve.

 

You may be right though. Some people are surely trigger-shy for the moment due to the state of the economy, and there are still many people shelling out hefty amounts of money for comic art. I guess we can only wait and see what happens throughout the year to know for sure if something significant has happened in this hobby of ours.

 

-Bill

 

[wktam]

Regardless of what you think about this forum or it's participants.... does anyone find it strange that there has been no discussion of this auction, at all as far as I can tell, on the Comicart-L. I don't just mean numbers but pieces, practices, winners, losers, indications of future, etc.... Nothin'?

 

I normally lurk both on comicart-l and on this forum but the silence regarding the auction on comicart-l has been a surprise to me too. I was going to attribute it to Wondercon but that should also have affected posting to this thread equally.

[pinupcartoonguy]

I think the big difference is that his forum treats art more like a commodity, and whether that commodity goes up or down in value. Comic-L seems to be geared more to sketch hounds and the like.

 

 

[heartened]

I think the big difference is that his forum treats art more like a commodity, and whether that commodity goes up or down in value. Comic-L seems to be geared more to sketch hounds and the like.

 

 

It used to be different. I've pretty much tuned off on comicart-L for the past year. I suspect many have done the same.

 

[pinupcartoonguy]

And neither really talks about the art as art. In many ways, the whole hobby has turned into one big match, just at different levels.

 

[heartened]

Hi Dan,

 

I still get the impression that something of significance may have happened. I don't disagree that many pieces realized a tidy sum (and a few went crazy like the Cockrum X-Men cover), but the fact remains that there were also quite a few bargains to be had on some very nice lots - which is something I don't recall happening in a Heritage Signature auction for quite some time now.

 

Despite that fact, two pieces that I really had my heart set on still ended up selling for a pretty penny. The panel page in question was a really nice example - actually, I think it could be argued that it was more than just nice. While it's not as detailed as his later work, it does have a cinematic feel to it. It's a self contained minor episode within a larger story (wandering barbarian stumbles upon a lost and apparently deserted, decaying city... he enters, investigates, and in the last panel discovers - By Crom! - that it's most certainly not deserted after all. That's some top-notch storytelling there... word balloons optional. So some might consider it to be in the best of the best catagory, in which case it would be less likely to be affected by a correction.

 

The cover I was lusting after was the EC Wood - no question top of the line, and it got one bid, just meeting its reserve.

 

You may be right though. Some people are surely trigger-shy for the moment due to the state of the economy, and there are still many people shelling out hefty amounts of money for comic art. I guess we can only wait and see what happens throughout the year to know for sure if something significant has happened in this hobby of ours.

 

-Bill

 

Actually, I think the auction did better than expected. Some surprisingly high prices and some potential bargains. I think this happened in all the prior Heritage auctions as well, but we may be reading into this one more with a negative eye, if that makes sense. Sort of a glass half full or half empty scenario, but with the economy there are more half empty folks out there.

 

 

[r1982rhoads]

I went after 4 pieces...went 0 for 4. I was ready to buy if they were a decent, bargain price, but that didn't happen. I'm hoping for a drop off in prices...I welcome it...but this auction didn't give me that feeling just yet.

 

I'm hoping to see a few dealers sweat, and actual reduce prices and or respond to emails.

 

 

[Mephisto]

I think the big difference is that his forum treats art more like a commodity, and whether that commodity goes up or down in value. Comic-L seems to be geared more to sketch hounds and the like.

 

 

It used to be different. I've pretty much tuned off on comicart-L for the past year. I suspect many have done the same.

 

I could never get into the format of the Comicart-L boards, and even when I put it into email digests it just lead to an overloaded mail box. I don't think I ever followed those boards for more than a week.

[comix4fun]

I went after 5 pieces...got 2 of them..and those two pieces were for friends to give them as gifts...so nothing new for me.

 

I missed the live bidding on 2 of the other pieces traveling home from work...otherwise I might have done better.

 

C

[tth2]

I know a few years from now we will all be kicking ourselves for not buying one of these Xmen 1 pages. There were a couple of great pages that went under 20k. That's too cheap in any market.

 

Well, I'm not sure about that, but I am kicking myself for not buying the whole book a few years ago - now that really was too cheap in (most) any market.

You realize we're talking about Uncanny X-Men #1 and not the Jim Lee X-Men #1, right?

[delekkerste]

You realize we're talking about Uncanny X-Men #1 and not the Jim Lee X-Men #1, right?

 

And your point is?

[NightGallery1]

Hi Dan,

 

I still get the impression that something of significance may have happened. I don't disagree that many pieces realized a tidy sum (and a few went crazy like the Cockrum X-Men cover), but the fact remains that there were also quite a few bargains to be had on some very nice lots - which is something I don't recall happening in a Heritage Signature auction for quite some time now.

 

Despite that fact, two pieces that I really had my heart set on still ended up selling for a pretty penny. The panel page in question was a really nice example - actually, I think it could be argued that it was more than just nice. While it's not as detailed as his later work, it does have a cinematic feel to it. It's a self contained minor episode within a larger story (wandering barbarian stumbles upon a lost and apparently deserted, decaying city... he enters, investigates, and in the last panel discovers - By Crom! - that it's most certainly not deserted after all. That's some top-notch storytelling there... word balloons optional. So some might consider it to be in the best of the best catagory, in which case it would be less likely to be affected by a correction.

 

The cover I was lusting after was the EC Wood - no question top of the line, and it got one bid, just meeting its reserve.

 

You may be right though. Some people are surely trigger-shy for the moment due to the state of the economy, and there are still many people shelling out hefty amounts of money for comic art. I guess we can only wait and see what happens throughout the year to know for sure if something significant has happened in this hobby of ours.

 

-Bill

 

Actually, I think the auction did better than expected. Some surprisingly high prices and some potential bargains. I think this happened in all the prior Heritage auctions as well, but we may be reading into this one more with a negative eye, if that makes sense. Sort of a glass half full or half empty scenario, but with the economy there are more half empty folks out there.

 

I thought that we were due for a correction some years ago when prices were quite a bit lower than they are today, so you're probably right.

[comicartcom]

You realize we're talking about Uncanny X-Men #1 and not the Jim Lee X-Men #1, right?

 

And your point is?

 

he thinks he's being smart Gene.. he doesn't realize that Uncanny X-Men #1 as a complete book was in the market as a complete book at one time before being broken up within the last 10 years.....

[heartened]

I went after 5 pieces...got 2 of them..and those two pieces were for friends to give them as gifts...so nothing new for me.

 

I missed the live bidding on 2 of the other pieces traveling home from work...otherwise I might have done better.

 

C

 

I missed at least the first half of the auction myself, traveling home from work. Most of the pieces I would have bid on had already ended.

 

[heartened]

I went after 5 pieces...got 2 of them..and those two pieces were for friends to give them as gifts...so nothing new for me.

 

I missed the live bidding on 2 of the other pieces traveling home from work...otherwise I might have done better.

 

C

 

Thanks Chis! No need to wait for my birthday, just send it right along. I'd been looking for a nice Cockrum X-Men cover, so kind of you to grab it for me! (thumbs u

[westform]

Guess that would have been one vote for a day change to Saturday when most folks arent' working or traveling home from work....

 

 

I went after 5 pieces...got 2 of them..and those two pieces were for friends to give them as gifts...so nothing new for me.

 

I missed the live bidding on 2 of the other pieces traveling home from work...otherwise I might have done better.

 

C

 

I missed at least the first half of the auction myself, traveling home from work. Most of the pieces I would have bid on had already ended.

[comix4fun]

You realize we're talking about Uncanny X-Men #1 and not the Jim Lee X-Men #1, right?

 

And your point is?

 

he thinks he's being smart Gene.. he doesn't realize that Uncanny X-Men #1 as a complete book was in the market as a complete book at one time before being broken up within the last 10 years.....

 

And might not realize it was on the market from at least 3 different owners within the last 5 years....

 

C

[Monster's Coll]

Are there really collectors on here that think that this auction in someway indicates the signs of weakness in the comic art market?

 

If so, I guess I must have blindly bumbled my way through the last 20 years.

 

IMHO, and based on my own sales in it, I found that 1/3 of the art went for more than it's 'perceived value' = what I thought it was worth, 1/3 at about what I thought, and about 1/3 less. Generally speaking, that's about what most auctions end at... that being said, this is only the 2nd heritage auction that I was shut out of the bidding. The 2nd auction in a row. Not sure what that means, but I don't think there were any 'steals', at least according to my perception of value.

 

Any perceived weakness, IMHO can easily be explained by a comparatively weak example.

 

[tth2]

You realize we're talking about Uncanny X-Men #1 and not the Jim Lee X-Men #1, right?

 

And your point is?

 

he thinks he's being smart Gene.. he doesn't realize that Uncanny X-Men #1 as a complete book was in the market as a complete book at one time before being broken up within the last 10 years.....

Of course I knew that. I was just giving Gene a hard time since I`d never seen him be interested in mainstream SA OA, as his tastes have always seemed to run towards more modern OA.