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August Signature Heritage Comic Art Auction

Started by Brian Peck,

48 posts in this topic

Brian Peck

Brian Peck

Posted
Posted

So did anyone get anything from the auction? What did everyone think of the final prices?

 

I was eyeing a few pieces, if I wasn't in the middle of wrapping up a few other deals I would have gone after a few. Some that I was eyeing went a little bit higher than what I had hoped to get the pieces for.

The one pice that was a complete shock to me was Conan the Barbarian #124 cover by John Buscema going for $14,340. I see his silcer age superhero covers going for that but not Conan covers and the two Avengers cover from his later run (#294, 297) where he did layouts with Palmer inking went for $2K and $2.6K (cheaper than I expected).

What surprised others?

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AKA Rick

AKA Rick

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I thought the pieces that went cheaper than I thought and if I had money, even from a 401k investment type standpoint for future appreciation were:

 

Carl Barks - Klockide Kate and Troupe

 

John Byrne - all 3 Byrne/Austin pages went cheaper than I thought even 'tho they were not monumental in character content.

 

Joe Chiodo - An Acquired Taste - a great artists whose paintings usually go for $750-2,000, and the 3D cover went for I think $2k

 

Dorian Cleavenger - all paintings went for under $1k.

 

Jim Davis - Garfield... is this the next Charles Schultz? Most under $1,500, which might be a good investment.

 

Steve Ditko - The Amazing Spider-Man #21 page... under $10k, even featuring super-heroes out of costume, the art and dialogue is fantastic.

 

Enric - Eye Yolk - nice simple painting for under $500

 

Frank Frazetta - Foxy Nudes - a great piece for I believe under $5,000

 

Bob Kane - Batman #13 - This is the one, if ever I built up the courage to spend this type of money on art, would be a future regret not buying this now for around the $20k it sold for. Great dialogue and layout from 1942. A museum quality piece I wish I could own...

 

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Brian Peck

Brian Peck

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There is a difference between Jim Davis and Charles Schulz, Sparky drew all the Peanuts strips as I understand it Jim just drew the earlier strips and the later ones were done by assistances. I agree the Enric's went cheap but most of those were unknown paperback book covers. The Byrne X-Men pages were very boring in my view. Most people want more x-men or more action.

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adamstrange

adamstrange

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There is a difference between Jim Davis and Charles Schulz
With the decline of the newspaper and the syndicated strip, we may not see the likes of a Charles Schulz ever again.
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AKA Rick

AKA Rick

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Aside from trying to capture any investment value (vintage super-hero, Wallace Wood, Neal Adams, Schultz, etc.), I think newspaper strips can be affordable and fun to collect, also nice for displaying, especially when the sequence is one story/gag. I like lesser known artists/creators like Phil Frank ("Farley"). Generally I find comic strips harder to find, or at least I don't know where to get 'em.

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bocaratondefense

bocaratondefense

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Frank Miller Daredevil interior pages were very strong.

 

DD 170 panel page $4481

DD 171 splash page $6000 reserve not met

DD 175 panel w/ Elektra in disguise $8365

DD 175 panel w/ Elektra and ninjas $19120

 

On the other hand, the Frank Miller Daredevil 186 cover went for much less than what I thought it would, considering the DD 188 cover sold for over three times as much in the May auction.

 

DD 186 cover $29875

 

I bid on a few pages during the live auction, but didn't win anything.

 

 

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lb jefferies

lb jefferies

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The one piece that was a complete shock to me was Conan the Barbarian #124 cover by John Buscema going for $14,340.

 

This one kind of surprised me as well. Although it's one of the strongest Conan images you'll see of his on the run it was from quite a bit later than his "prime" Conan period. That said I get the sense the high bidders are more Buscema Conan buyers than Buscema buyers in general.

 

 

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lb jefferies

lb jefferies

Posted
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Frank Miller Daredevil interior pages were very strong.

 

DD 175 panel w/ Elektra in disguise $8365

DD 175 panel w/ Elektra and ninjas $19120

 

 

A well known collector has been after this run for years. I guess someone put up a fight on the Ninja page.

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CollectingFool

CollectingFool

Posted
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I think for anyone that wanted a Foster Prince Valiant, this was the auction to get one. Those prices were just low. A 1947 for $8,900? C'mon! A 1950 for $5,400? I know it didn't have Val in it but it had gorgeous shots of Aleta all over it.

 

Collectors that haven't seen a Prince Valiant in person can't appreciate one. In this case, size really does matter. They are spectacularly impressive in a nice frame hanging in your home. I love seeing the faces of collectors when they see one in person for the first time. I fully expect these prices to be an anomaly exclusive to this auction. I have no doubt prices will be higher next auction. If I'm wrong and this is some kind of trend then I guess I see a lot more Valiants in my future!

 

 

 

 

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wktam

wktam

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I ended up with the 7/4/69 Peanuts strip. I happen to be born on 7/4 (not 69) and I've always had an interest in strips dated 7/4. This strip was a very cool belated birthday present from my wife.

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CollectingFool

CollectingFool

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I ended up with 7/4/69 Peanuts strip. I happen to be born on 7/4 (not 69) and I've always had an interest in strips date 7/4. This strip was a very cool belated birthday present from my wife.

 

Congrats Weng, I know you've been a fan for a long time.

 

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Galactus

Galactus

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I think in general the art prices were down. I was surprised by the Byrne X-Men pages as well as the FF cover/the Ditko Spidey pages/Buscema Avengers covers and some of the strip art.

 

Reversely i was shocked by the Conan cover and the price of the JIM page, DD Miller page and a number of other pieces.

 

Is this a fluke, was this auction just at the wrong time ? It would seem so in light of what i would categorize as an across the board general below par auction, at least on the kind of pieces that i follow closely. Maybe it was jut too close to the end of SDCC, or is the econoimic downturn really starting to bite. I know from my perspective, i wasnt in buying mode as i had already spent up elsewhere and even though i could have streched myself to purchase what i perceived as bargains, i chose not to as i would rather play it safe in this financial enviroment that we find ourselves in.

 

Oh and as a sidenote, i thought that there were some real bargains to be had in the comics section also.

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CollectingFool

CollectingFool

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I think it was this time last year that a bunch of '70s covers sold pretty cheap. They were quickly put up on a dealers site at double and they were all gone within a couple of months. Maybe this soon after San Diego isn't an optimal time.

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Baron

Baron

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These were the ones I was tracking:

 

The Superman art went lower than I though for a modern Superman cover and the Bob Kane piece I thought would go over $20k since it had good images of both Batman and Robin.

 

I would have liked to get the Spider-Man 2009 cover, but went over what I would have spent since the cover was only so-so to me.

 

Sal Buscema, Captain America #227 page 22 Original Art (Marvel, 1978)....$425.00

 

Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding Superman #88 Cover Original Art (DC, 1994).... $1,100.00

 

Bob Kane, Batman #13 "The Batman Plays a Lone Hand" page 13 Original Art.....$16,000.00

 

Mike McKone Spider-Man: 2099 #46 Cover Original Art (Marvel, 1996)....$375.00

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mtlevy

mtlevy

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Overall I felt prices were in line--perhaps lower than many dealer prices but that is more a comment on dealer prices than the market.

 

I was most surprised by Elektra in disguise page...I understand DD 175 has a specific buyer but the Elektra page in disguise at $8K+ was quite impressive...if you aren't after the entire book why would you bid that one up..although I suppose there just aren't that many Elektra pages.

 

I felt the Byrne X-Men prices were fine--there is a huge gap between below average and exceptional pages. Some of the 70s covers did seem to go a bit low.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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blowout

blowout

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I felt the Byrne X-Men prices were fine--there is a huge gap between below average and exceptional pages.

 

I agree. In fact, I thought the prices on the Byrne X-Men pages were quite strong, given that all the pages in this particular auction were very mediocre.

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delekkerste

delekkerste

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I was most surprised by Elektra in disguise page...I understand DD 175 has a specific buyer but the Elektra page in disguise at $8K+ was quite impressive...if you aren't after the entire book why would you bid that one up...

 

Somebody alluded to the fact that someone is after the entire book.

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blowout

blowout

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I was most surprised by Elektra in disguise page...I understand DD 175 has a specific buyer but the Elektra page in disguise at $8K+ was quite impressive...if you aren't after the entire book why would you bid that one up...

 

Somebody alluded to the fact that someone is after the entire book.

 

20K does seem an awful lot for a panel page though. A new record for a Miller DD page?

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