Any information on coollinesartwork.com?

[comix4fun]

^ either talk about it, or don't talk about it

 

 

It's not my story, and thus not my perspective. I'd just love to hear it straight from the horse's mouth.

 

Chris,

I appreciate your POV but if you don't feel comfortable talking about it why the repeated hints and innuendo. I mean people person_without_enough_empathy and moan about the culture of secrecy and then can't post the slightest thing about a deal from 20 years ago? Can you not see a bit of double standard in that?

 

 

I didn't make ANY repeated hints or innuendos, all I said was that it would be great to get Herb's take in his dealings, and that was AFTER I proceeded to give the full details of MY personal dealings with them.

 

The only thing worse than the culture of secrecy if the culture of hearsay. The best person to tell Herb's story would be Herb. Which is why I told my story, and would leave his story to him, being that he knows it best and he's told me the part of the details and the rest came third hand.

 

I thought it responsible of me to report everything I personally experienced and leave it to others to report their own personal experiences. Yet out of a multi-paragraph, several dozen sentence post, I include one sentence saying it would be great to hear from Herb on this topic and I get accused of hint-mongering.

 

I would have preferred people have actually read everything I said and place weight where they choose to place weight. Everything of substance in my post are from personal experience, not one hint or innuendo in the bunch.

[Bronty]

I'm not the board police - and besides I like and respect you - but we'll agree to disagree

[comix4fun]

Does Herb Trimpe post here?

 

No Idea, but I am sure someone who has the entire story first hand does. They would be the ones to get the story from.

[Terry Doyle]

. . . I include one sentence saying it would be great to hear from Herb on this topic and I get accused of hint-mongering.

 

The Hint-Mongerer . . . wasn't he an early FF villain?

[Mephisto]

Chris what was your outcome? Refund? I can't see you eating it being a lawyer and all.

[comix4fun]

Chris what was your outcome? Refund? I can't see you eating it being a lawyer and all.

 

 

I can tell you there was no gag order to stop me from telling the story.

[oceans11]

A couple of things that really suck about the Donnelly's is that they:

 

a) have some really great pieces of artwork that I would love to buy but I am beyond turned off by the "please inquire" status and guessing game associated with it. Working with limited budget leaves me usually checking out art in a certain price range. With the Donnelly's it's left as a guessing game. While the response could be that any buyer should have a general idea of what art is valued at, unfortunately with the Donnelly's it's really a hit and miss game of overpriced to way overpriced.

 

b) These "Please Inquire" pieces clog up all the sale listings on CAF pretty badly. I do a search for a particular artist, am excited when some pages show up and then see the dreaded "Please Inquire" listed below. This leads me back to my response of "a".

 

While they have some great art, I don't see the need to go through the frustration associated with dealing with them when there are so many other good art dealers out there.

[groovyedwin]

My favorite quote from San Diego this past summer...

 

Someone asked how much for a piece of art they had on their table and the customer was told that is was "4 figures" .... ... they wouldn't even give the guy a price when he asked "how much"?? wtf is that??? I guess the price would be revealed depending on how high the guy raised his eyebrows when he heard the term 4 figures.

 

So what do you think? was the price 1,000 or 9,999??

 

Maybe they meant $10.00 to $99.99.

[Scott Goodman]

If you watch eBay closely, the Donnellys buy up a lot of the cheaper covers and then charge multiples of what they paid for the covers when they put them back up for sale (that's when they actually put Buy It Now prices on the art).

I made a grueling trade with Steve Donnelly a few years back and it lasted for weeks. I made him an offer on a piece of art he had and he wanted what I had in trade. Then, he wanted more. When I gave him what he wanted, he went silent for several days. Then, he asked for more and I wanted the piece so badly that I gave him more. Again, more silence and, again, he asked for more. I ended up giving up a huge amount for a cover that shouldn't have been valued at no more than $2,000 (at the highest).

It was painful to say the least, but, in the end, I got one of my grails.

Steve wanted several covers I had in my CAF gallery (before I took it all down) and he kept trying to get me to trade the pieces to him but they were always the pieces I had marked NOT FOR SALE. I offered to make a trade recently with him, but he, again, wanted way more than I was willing to give and he, again, wanted art I didn't want to trade. I made him an offer that I thought he couldn't refuse. I actually went ahead and made him an offer of stuff he was interested in during our first trade and set the value so high I thought there was no way he could refuse, but he still asked for more and I didn't even respond.

[baptiste6-migration]

Hi, new to the Forum. Wanted to put my two cents in. A couple of years ago the Donnellys had a "holy grail" page for me that I wanted real bad. Sent them an email and got a price that I thought was a little high at the time. I have a limited budget and decided that it was too much. Then last year I saw the page was still up for sale. Having saved some extra money I inquired again on the page. The response was that the page had almost doubled. In a year??? I reminded them of the original quote to no avail. I dickered back an forth with them and got them to knock off what I would have to pay in shipping. Got the page and it was great. But here is the funny thing. I inquired on another piece and was given a price that I thought was super inflated. When I agreed to the deal, sure as @#$%, they came back with a higher price. I wished them good luck and told them no.

[groovyedwin]

Thank you for providing an apt example as to the level of honesty of these two brothers.

 

Edwin

[jjonahjameson1]

Hi, new to the Forum. Wanted to put my two cents in. A couple of years ago the Donnellys had a "holy grail" page for me that I wanted real bad. Sent them an email and got a price that I thought was a little high at the time. I have a limited budget and decided that it was too much. Then last year I saw the page was still up for sale. Having saved some extra money I inquired again on the page. The response was that the page had almost doubled. In a year??? I reminded them of the original quote to no avail. I dickered back an forth with them and got them to knock off what I would have to pay in shipping. Got the page and it was great. But here is the funny thing. I inquired on another piece and was given a price that I thought was super inflated. When I agreed to the deal, sure as @#$%, they came back with a higher price. I wished them good luck and told them no.

 

The first part of your story is kind of the fuel thatstokes the Donnelly 'business model', and keeps them solvent. It is a shame you didn't simply walk away after hearing the page almost doubled in price in nearly a year.

[mercuryspeed-migration]

The Donnellys are liar and theives, plain and simple. I am sorry to hear that experienced members of the OA community are still patronizing them, because positive cash flow does nothing but encourage their poor and dishonest behavior.

 

If you are new to OA and reading this thread, stay away from these individuals. They are sad and lonely figures who exist to rip you off.

[NelsonAI]

While I personally do not have anything negative to say, I would like to add as a fyi to everyone:

 

- the brothers are active members on these message boards. (I believe Richard posts under WonderWorldComic).

 

- At SDCC, they set up different booths at different locations. Aside from Coollines, if I recall correctly, they also use the name San Mateo Art & Collectibles.

 

All the best to everyone.

Cheers!

N.

 

 

 

[Spider-Variant]

While I personally do not have anything negative to say, I would like to add as a fyi to everyone:

 

- the brothers are active members on these message boards. (I believe Richard posts under WonderWorldComic).

- At SDCC, they set up different booths at different locations. Aside from Coollines, if I recall correctly, they also use the name San Mateo Art & Collectibles.

 

All the best to everyone.

Cheers!

N.

 

 

 

Well, I would love to hear their side of the story. This thread seems like something that would catch their eye.

 

 

[Terry Doyle]

While I personally do not have anything negative to say, I would like to add as a fyi to everyone:

 

- the brothers are active members on these message boards. (I believe Richard posts under WonderWorldComic).

- At SDCC, they set up different booths at different locations. Aside from Coollines, if I recall correctly, they also use the name San Mateo Art & Collectibles.

 

All the best to everyone.

Cheers!

N.

 

 

 

Well, I would love to hear their side of the story. This thread seems like something that would catch their eye.

 

 

I'm sure they're fully up-to-date with all the dozens of threads that appear on a regular basis condemning their 'business practices'.

 

They probably couldn't give a damn.

 

Sadly, there appear to be enough collectors out there, ready and willing to jump through hoops, to keep them in business.

 

"We have met the enemy and he is us".

[jjonahjameson1]

 

I'm sure they're fully up-to-date with all the dozens of threads that appear on a regular basis condemning their 'business practices'.

 

They probably couldn't give a damn.

 

"We have met the enemy and he is us".

 

Their silence speaks volumes.

By the way, nice Pogo quote (thumbs u

[comicartcom]

 

I'm sure they're fully up-to-date with all the dozens of threads that appear on a regular basis condemning their 'business practices'.

 

They probably couldn't give a damn.

 

"We have met the enemy and he is us".

 

Their silence speaks volumes.

By the way, nice Pogo quote (thumbs u

 

oh c'mon Jonah.. maybe they've just gotten tired of responding to this foolish stuff.

there isn't any amount of them explaining anything that will end these threads.. So they just let it die on it's own before another mushroom sprouts and they don't bother wasting their time.

 

[comix4fun]

 

I'm sure they're fully up-to-date with all the dozens of threads that appear on a regular basis condemning their 'business practices'.

 

They probably couldn't give a damn.

 

"We have met the enemy and he is us".

 

Their silence speaks volumes.

By the way, nice Pogo quote (thumbs u

 

oh c'mon Jonah.. maybe they've just gotten tired of responding to this foolish stuff.

there isn't any amount of them explaining anything that will end these threads.. So they just let it die on it's own before another mushroom sprouts and they don't bother wasting their time.

 

 

 

 

Rich,

They've never responded on this board to ANYTHING anyone has written as a criticism.

Your post sounds an awful lot like a defense of them, and a dismissal of the very real and very serious concerns raised by some very established and respected collectors from their own personal dealings with them. Is that what you intended to do?

 

Foolish stuff? Really?

 

Then again, you can't be defending them because there isn't much defense for the tactics and experiences many of us have had first hand.

 

I don't know any business that would let this much negative reaction go unchecked and unfettered if it was really incorrect or if it was really just "Foolish Stuff".

 

Is responding to a buyer asking if there are any stats on a page or any condition issues they should be aware of that "The page is perfect, no problems" and then sending a page that is 50% stat your idea of a foolish complaint?

 

How about when you contact the seller of the half-stat page, giving them the benefit of the doubt that perhaps they missed the stat and it was an honest mistake, and they confirm to you that they knew about the stat all along but didn't think it mattered even though they were asked directly and clearly about that very issue? Foolish stuff?

 

It's odd that you say they don't want to waste their time when, for many people in this hobby, dealing with them was nothing more than a massive waste of time.

 

[comicartcom]

Chris, listen.. while I may not agree with the way they do some things, it isn't my position to approve or disapprove. While people may have a gripe wit the "inquire" "price is double" and related issues, what cannot be said is they stole anything from anyone. You can choose to do business with them or not and that is a personal decision. But I see it as childish and juvenile that people constantly harangue them on this or any board. what's the warning? They'll overcharge you? Their prices change before we complete a deal? They'll be difficult? Okay.. so they're tough to do business with. Is that the worst you can do?

 

I'll bet that every single person on this board - even the ones we all know to be the best people to deal with - have someone saying how tough a deal was to do with them, or how they did something and "I'll never talk to him ever". We choose to do business with whom we choose. No one is forcibly made to contact Steve or Rick and turn over their money for something they don't want. They don't take people's money & not send their stuff. They didn't steal art from the Marvel warehouse. Anything they do with you, they do at your request and if that's the case, what's the gripe? If you don't want to go through all of that, the answer is simple - don't contact them! I am absolutely positive that neither one of them will give a hoot if someone doesn't want to deal with them. Now if they were outright thieves doing all the attendent things that some ebay sellers do, I'd say there should be a thread pinned for people to add to. I wish there was something such concerning Dupcak. But that isn't the case.

 

So how many times is the same old thing going to be rehashed over and over and over ad-nauseum? The least that you guys can do if you're going to rag on them is add some humor so the thread is more fun to read, after so many times of reading this stuff, it only sounds like this

 

http://www.youtube.com/embed/X8IkhciYWTw

 

man I wish I knew how to properly embed this stuff