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Watchmen Original Art -- more or less desirable now?

Started by dem1138,

276 posts in this topic

heartened

heartened

Posted
Posted
Very nice pickup! :)

 

 

I was watching the auction end and was a little surprised that the price did not spike. A nice "sign" that I might be able to afford a page someday! :)

 

Happy for Felix, but honestly a LOT of people don't buy art with ANY stats on it, as a matter of principle. I agree some of those panels are great, and if you want that particular image, well, you won't be able to find one without the stats. It is what it is. Pure Rorschach pages are rare as hens teeth, so it's definitely something to cherish. But, it did end just shy of my guess, didn't it!? :)

 

I do believe if all art (even though the stat images were not "important" to the page) it would have jumped way over 10-12K, and pushed 15K.

 

Hari

 

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Nexus

Nexus

Posted
Posted

Heh...thanks, Hari:) As well..."thanks!" to all those people who don't buy art with stats!:P

 

Seriously, though...rare is the page that is "perfect". Most OA will have condition issues up to and including stats. Trimming, glue stains, missing word balloons, white-out, etc. are par for the course, particularly for older art. None of it is ideal. But it comes with the territory, it's all part of the creative process. All things being equal, of course we'd all like to have pristine pages. Ultimately, though, I am a COMIC ART collector and accept everything that comes with it. I've learned not to be a fussbudget about the superficial stuff.

 

WM actually has a lot of pages with stats. That's just the way the story was constructed, with multiple flashbacks and repeated panels. To my great regret, I passed on a page with a stat many years ago. I wish I had that one back. But I learned my lesson.

 

As always, just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

 

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heartened

heartened

Posted
Posted
Heh...thanks, Hari:) As well..."thanks!" to all those people who don't buy art with stats!:P

 

Seriously, though...rare is the page that is "perfect". Most OA will have condition issues up to and including stats. Trimming, glue stains, missing word balloons, white-out, etc. are par for the course, particularly for older art. None of it is ideal. But it comes with the territory, it's all part of the creative process. All things being equal, of course we'd all like to have pristine pages. Ultimately, though, I am a COMIC ART collector and accept everything that comes with it. I've learned not to be a fussbudget about the superficial stuff.

 

WM actually has a lot of pages with stats. That's just the way the story was constructed, with multiple flashbacks and repeated panels. To my great regret, I passed on a page with a stat many years ago. I wish I had that one back. But I learned my lesson.

 

As always, just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

 

Can't argue with you there, buddy. We each have our own threshold. I see a lot of 70s art with plenty of condition-issues, primarily because Romita (Marvel editor at the time) always wanted to change or touch-up many of those covers. Things got much cleaner in the 80s and 90s, which is thankfully my sweet spot! Watchmen is usually very clean. As Joseph mentioned, over time some pages have yellowed. And, absolutely, there were many flashbacks in the book, and so those panels are all stats. Just the way it is. Enjoy, Felix!

 

Hari

 

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KLNole

KLNole

Posted
Posted

I feel your pain Felix about passing on a page with a stat on it from Watchmen. If I recall the buy it now was $1800 for a Mars page and it had a stat on it. But it has been fun watching the chase between you heavy hitters, not as fun as actualy securing one of these pages, but it is cool to see the friendly hunt throughout the years.

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Dr. Manhattan-migration

Dr. Manhattan-migration

Posted
Posted

And in my opinion, top dollar now will seem "cheap" in 5 years.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

Scott Williams

 

 

Long time lurker, first time poster... Thought it was very interesting what Scott said, I tend to agree I think Watchmen prices have still further to go. I guess the next killer page that goes for sale will set where we really are with WM art sales. I also think another peak will come when the Blu ray hits in 5 - 6 months. Yep the film hasn't been that successful, at last count was over 100 US domestic, but then I think Blade Runner is a good comparison, amazing film that wasn't that well like on it's first theatre run. I really enjoyed WM film the 2nd and 3rd time, after I got over my initial 'Wow that is Watchmen on the big screen'.

 

Yes it's not as crazy as last October but interest will always be there.

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Nexus

Nexus

Posted
Posted

Just got the first of the two pages on Ebay in. The page does look great, stats and all, and I'm happy to add it to my collection. Page 2 is supposed to arrive tomorrow morning :wishluck:

 

These were, to me, two of the best pages to show up on Ebay since Hari got his Rorschach page back in 2005. So opportunities like these are pretty rare. The only time pages like these get sold on Ebay is when a casual collector who bought back in the 80's (and isn't completely aware of current values) decides it's time to cash out. No active collector would put a WM on Ebay with no reserve...they'd try to get top dollar privately. The prices certain people have been trying to get privately is seriously mind-boggling.

 

Man, after two auctions in two weeks, I've been half-expecting another one to pop up on Ebay this week :insane:

 

:wishluck:

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Nexus

Nexus

Posted
Posted

 

Man, after two auctions in two weeks, I've been half-expecting another one to pop up on Ebay this week :insane:

 

:wishluck:

 

How about another two more from the same site....?

 

I won the last auction in part so that no one could say I cost them anything by posting about it :grin:

 

Thanks to Paul for letting me off the hook with these two lol :

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230334157774

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230334189124

 

Two very nice Manhattan pages. Best of luck to the bidders!

 

:popcorn:

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Eric Seffinga

Eric Seffinga

Posted
Posted

My .02¢

 

I'd definitely want the things out of those frames and mats before I plunked down the dough.

Could be mounted to boards in an unarchival method, the mats could be acidic (given the time the framing was done, it's very likely) and this could greatly affect the way the piece looks in another 10 years or so.

 

If you have to have these 2 pieces, well of course there's only the one of each, so by all means. If you're looking for "a" Watchmen page, just a condition thing to consider.

 

-e.

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