Analysis and theory on ComicLink's August OA auction on OCAL...

[glenbru]

Drop on by...

 

www.originalcomicartlocator.blogspot.com

 

Thanks!

Glen

[delekkerste]

Glen,

 

Here's a post I made in another thread, which touches on the August CLink auction as well. No doubt that '60s Marvel large art by Kirby, Ditko and Romita hammered at mind-boggling prices...but, on the other hand, about a quarter of the auction went Reserve Not Met and there were some soggy prices on other big names, like the BWS Conan #2 page (which sold for less than what I offered the owner earlier this year and, if he really did sell it for $10K, then the new owner took a 35% hit after commissions) and the Byrne X-Men splash (which sold for about half of what some people thought it was worth when it was offered earlier this year).

 

Here's the post:

 

I think people are more confused about the state/direction of the OA market now than at any point in the nearly 10 years I've been collecting. Prices had been on the rise before this year, of course, but it's just been in 2012 that price appreciation has gone from steady to steroidal. Optimists will say that prices are becoming untethered to old norms and are breaking out to levels that are merited and overdue. Pessimists will say that this pricing is unwarranted and that things are getting irrationally exuberant and bubbly. Cynics will say that market manipulation is rampant and that there is more to these new price levels than meets the eye (I'm not going to go into specifics, but there has been a lot of talk behind the scenes questioning the accuracy/legitimacy of a number of recently reported sales, and there have been some very obvious efforts by some in the hobby to hype/pump up prices of late).

 

Outside of potential manipulation, I think there have been a number of factors playing into recent pricing trends. First, the sale of the DD #188 cover a couple of years ago shattered the 6-figure glass ceiling when people saw that examples didn't need to be the best of the best to reach that mark. The DKR splash selling for $448K, even though it was clearly a market aberration, had the psychological effect of making everything look cheap by comparison. Sales like the FF #55 page and the recent McSpidey sales have only poured gasoline on the fire.

 

Second, there has definitely been new money coming into the hobby. No, it's not the Chinese (and I doubt it will ever be) - it's comic collectors like yourself. Just look at how many comic guys have been posting OA purchases in 2012. It's definitely a lot and growing. I think a lot of people see the writing on the wall - most comic prices have already peaked. OA is becoming a greater focus at all of the comic auction houses, because it is viewed as still having growth potential, while comics have, for the most part, gone as far as they can go (for now, anyway).

 

Your point about people investing in OA also rings very true. Since the market has been on a roll, some people think it can only go up and that, at worst, they'll break even on their purchases (can't wait to see this theory put to the test in coming years; even in the best of times there's only a certain amount of investment-grade OA out there). Also, with interest rates so low, real estate still moribund and stocks still viewed as dangerous (even though they are at 4-year highs), many people think there are no alternatives, so why not just buy more art. To me, that means that low interest rates are embedded in OA prices, so any normalization of such should take a negative toll on the art market. Someone said recently that all assets are overvalued now because of these artificially low interest rates. I tend to agree with that statement.

 

I think newbies should be aware that there is far more trading done on the OA side of the hobby than on the comic side. Many/most deals these days, especially with prices so high, involve a trade component. Trade is what makes the hobby go around; without it, there is no way there is even remotely enough cash around to support the current price structure, not even close. This means that this frenetic pace of trading activity is necessary to keep the perpetual motion OA market going; any pause/slowdown is also not going to be good for prices.

 

I think the latest CLink auction results were interesting. 1960s Marvel twice-up art by Kirby, Ditko and Romita hit mind-boggling prices, while a quarter of the auction went Reserve Not Met and even good '70s examples from Byrne and BWS went for pretty soggy prices. If anyone has been looking for cracks to start appearing in the market, this kind of poor breadth might be the first sign (or it may just be the pause that refreshes - only time will tell). I wonder if people are starting to get tapped out from all the offerings hitting the market this year. After all, there's no cure for high prices like high prices.

 

Personally, I am still buying, but am avoiding the more bubbly areas of the market (mid-'80s to early '90s art and '60s large art). I'm glad I got a few good Kirby examples earlier this year, but if these CLink levels are the new normal, it's "no mas" for me unless/until prices correct. I'd rather focus on '70s art which seems to be a bit out of favor by comparison. Basically, I'm willing to pay 2011 prices for OA, but not the inflated 2012 prices on a lot of stuff these days. To me, nothing has happened to justify prices being marked 25-50+% higher in some cases than where they were at the end of 2011 (when prices were already fully valued IMO) and a lot of OA looks relatively overvalued now as a result.

[Ferran Delgado]

Gene, imho your analysis looks more complete and less interested than Glenn's, bravo!

[batman_fan]

I think the next Heritage auction in November will be pretty telling. This auction has a wide range of material in it including some Krazy Kat sundays, bronze material, Mc Spiderman, a couple of Batman covers, and even a McBatman cover. I know I have quite a few items on my watch list but I won't know if I will be seriously bidding or not until we get closing and I can see how prices are moving.

 

And how could I forget, the Ditko Spiderman splash !

[comix4fun]

Nice analysis Gene,

 

I saw Prechter's analysis of the article (along with his critique of you) on the blog.

 

Maybe he can post it here and the discussion can be more complete.

[delekkerste]

Nice analysis Gene,

 

I saw Prechter's analysis of the article (along with his critique of you) on the blog.

 

Maybe he can post it here and the discussion can be more complete.

 

I really don't know what his problem with me is. Haven't I been critical of the Fed? Haven't I bought "hard assets"? Haven't I advocated "portable wealth" to counter government overreach? Didn't I buy a Romita Spider-Man cover?? Why can't we all just get along???

[glenbru]

Hey Gene,

 

Thanks for adding your post here. Your presentation of the other side of the coin makes a lot of sense. I know that Byrne splash was always seen as less desirable to the hard core Byrne collector--is it more of a Byrne breakdown issue? Maybe some of that has had an effect on that particular piece. I have to say that I've never really followed the BWS Conan market, but don't fans of his art generally crave his peak pages in the late teens and twenty issues?

 

Anyway, I always enjoy your insight--it's like reading the WSJ on comic art.

 

Glen

[stinkininkin]

Hey Gene,

 

Thanks for adding your post here. Your presentation of the other side of the coin makes a lot of sense. I know that Byrne splash was always seen as less desirable to the hard core Byrne collector--is it more of a Byrne breakdown issue? Maybe some of that has had an effect on that particular piece. I have to say that I've never really followed the BWS Conan market, but don't fans of his art generally crave his peak pages in the late teens and twenty issues?

 

Anyway, I always enjoy your insight--it's like reading the WSJ on comic art.

 

Glen

 

I don't follow the Byrne market that closely, but aren't we talking about a splash that features Colossus alone? Most Byrne Xmen collectors would want something close to a team shot, or if there was a single character splash, a Wolverine splash would be more desired, all other things being equal.

 

But speaking as a BWS Conan fan, I generally have zero interest in the early Conan interior art, especially when not inked by Smith. Some of those early Conan covers with BWS pencils and inks are pretty appealing however. Once you get to the BWS return in Conan 19, that's when the magic really starts, culminating with Conan 24 'Song of Red Sonja' and of course Red Nails. While there was some shoddy guest inking in several of the later Conan issues, Conan 19-24 are where the real action is and where the biggest money is spent (or WOULD be spent if the biggest BWS Conan collector ever started to liquidate).

 

Scott

[Terry Doyle]

Interestingly, the guy who bought my Weird Science # 2 cover, earlier this year, is from Hong Kong (handed back to China after many years as a UK colony).

 

He e-mailed me last week enquiring after another EC cover.

 

During our conversations, he mentioned that he had just bought the Weird Science # 1 cover, which had recently hammered at around $53k.

 

He has some nice stuff, including a Kirby Avengers # 1 page.

 

[stinkininkin]

Glen,

 

Here's a post I made in another thread, which touches on the August CLink auction as well. No doubt that '60s Marvel large art by Kirby, Ditko and Romita hammered at mind-boggling prices...but, on the other hand, about a quarter of the auction went Reserve Not Met and there were some soggy prices on other big names, like the BWS Conan #2 page (which sold for less than what I offered the owner earlier this year and, if he really did sell it for $10K, then the new owner took a 35% hit after commissions) and the Byrne X-Men splash (which sold for about half of what some people thought it was worth when it was offered earlier this year).

 

Here's the post:

 

I think people are more confused about the state/direction of the OA market now than at any point in the nearly 10 years I've been collecting. Prices had been on the rise before this year, of course, but it's just been in 2012 that price appreciation has gone from steady to steroidal. Optimists will say that prices are becoming untethered to old norms and are breaking out to levels that are merited and overdue. Pessimists will say that this pricing is unwarranted and that things are getting irrationally exuberant and bubbly. Cynics will say that market manipulation is rampant and that there is more to these new price levels than meets the eye (I'm not going to go into specifics, but there has been a lot of talk behind the scenes questioning the accuracy/legitimacy of a number of recently reported sales, and there have been some very obvious efforts by some in the hobby to hype/pump up prices of late).

 

Outside of potential manipulation, I think there have been a number of factors playing into recent pricing trends. First, the sale of the DD #188 cover a couple of years ago shattered the 6-figure glass ceiling when people saw that examples didn't need to be the best of the best to reach that mark. The DKR splash selling for $448K, even though it was clearly a market aberration, had the psychological effect of making everything look cheap by comparison. Sales like the FF #55 page and the recent McSpidey sales have only poured gasoline on the fire.

 

Second, there has definitely been new money coming into the hobby. No, it's not the Chinese (and I doubt it will ever be) - it's comic collectors like yourself. Just look at how many comic guys have been posting OA purchases in 2012. It's definitely a lot and growing. I think a lot of people see the writing on the wall - most comic prices have already peaked. OA is becoming a greater focus at all of the comic auction houses, because it is viewed as still having growth potential, while comics have, for the most part, gone as far as they can go (for now, anyway).

 

Your point about people investing in OA also rings very true. Since the market has been on a roll, some people think it can only go up and that, at worst, they'll break even on their purchases (can't wait to see this theory put to the test in coming years; even in the best of times there's only a certain amount of investment-grade OA out there). Also, with interest rates so low, real estate still moribund and stocks still viewed as dangerous (even though they are at 4-year highs), many people think there are no alternatives, so why not just buy more art. To me, that means that low interest rates are embedded in OA prices, so any normalization of such should take a negative toll on the art market. Someone said recently that all assets are overvalued now because of these artificially low interest rates. I tend to agree with that statement.

 

I think newbies should be aware that there is far more trading done on the OA side of the hobby than on the comic side. Many/most deals these days, especially with prices so high, involve a trade component. Trade is what makes the hobby go around; without it, there is no way there is even remotely enough cash around to support the current price structure, not even close. This means that this frenetic pace of trading activity is necessary to keep the perpetual motion OA market going; any pause/slowdown is also not going to be good for prices.

 

I think the latest CLink auction results were interesting. 1960s Marvel twice-up art by Kirby, Ditko and Romita hit mind-boggling prices, while a quarter of the auction went Reserve Not Met and even good '70s examples from Byrne and BWS went for pretty soggy prices. If anyone has been looking for cracks to start appearing in the market, this kind of poor breadth might be the first sign (or it may just be the pause that refreshes - only time will tell). I wonder if people are starting to get tapped out from all the offerings hitting the market this year. After all, there's no cure for high prices like high prices.

 

Personally, I am still buying, but am avoiding the more bubbly areas of the market (mid-'80s to early '90s art and '60s large art). I'm glad I got a few good Kirby examples earlier this year, but if these CLink levels are the new normal, it's "no mas" for me unless/until prices correct. I'd rather focus on '70s art which seems to be a bit out of favor by comparison. Basically, I'm willing to pay 2011 prices for OA, but not the inflated 2012 prices on a lot of stuff these days. To me, nothing has happened to justify prices being marked 25-50+% higher in some cases than where they were at the end of 2011 (when prices were already fully valued IMO) and a lot of OA looks relatively overvalued now as a result.

 

What thread or blog was this written in Gene? A lot of what you are saying makes sense, and I want to see more commentary, pros and cons.

 

Scott

[delekkerste]

Hi Scott - someone started an OA thread in Comics General ("I like OA but I don't like to own OA"). That's where the post was from.

 

Yes, the Byrne splash only had Colossus. But, that's already more than taken into account by the price - a splash with more characters would have been multiples of even the $15-$17K people thought the Colossus splash was worth a few months ago, let alone the disappointing 4-figure amount it fetched.

 

No doubt later BWS Conan is more desirable, but this was a pretty decent action page, one that I had offered $8K cash for a few months ago and that the then-seller claimed to already be spoken for at $10K. Let's not sugarcoat the results for these pages: they were as weak as the '60s large art was strong. And, a full quarter of the auction went Reserve Not Met - that's practically unheard of, a result I might have expected in late 2008 or early 2009, but certainly not in what is considered the strongest OA market in history.

[innocuous]

I don't wander into General either, but I found the link...

 

I like OA but I don't like to own OA

[delekkerste]

Thanks for the kind words and interesting observations. Some quick thoughts/responses:

 

1. "Not enough cash to support the price structure". I just meant that so many deals (probably a majority) are facilitated in part or whole by trade so that it becomes kind of like fractional reserve banking with a much greater $$$ amount being transacted than there is actual available cash in the hobby. It's like a juggler throwing multiple balls up in the air - he's got to keep juggling (transaction volume needs to stay high) to keep the whole thing afloat. It's no coincidence that I made some pretty good buys in early 2009 when volumes slowed and cash dried up.

 

2. I don't have a strong near-term opinion on the high end market. Clearly there has been new money coming in, largely from comic collectors and potentially speculators/investors as well. That much is clear; people can either choose to believe that this is the beginning of a long-term upward trend or that the arrival of these types of buyers means that this trend is already in the late innings.

 

3. The fact that interest rates are extraordinarily low is only part of the equation; the other part is that those low rates have rendered most other assets unattractive as well, as buyers have fled zero-yielding cash and bid up prices on other assets. In the absence of other places to park your cash, a lot of money has flowed into collectibles, art and other non-traditional assets. I have no doubt that a lot of OA collectors have bought art thinking, "the art market is going up, might as well buy more since I'm not earning anything at the bank". I bet all of us have heard people make comments to that effect over the past couple of years and that we all know people who are using their art/collectibles collections as surrogate savings/investment accounts. Even if people haven't consciously thought "interest rates are low, I'll buy more art", that is effectively what a lot of people have done. Heck, I can't say that I haven't bought more art over the past 18 months than I would have if not for the abysmal yields on cash, so I can speak from first-hand experience.

[Doc Joe]

ComicLink staff are not allowed to bid in their auctions, they can buy stuff of the exchange but not in auction situations unlike other companies.

[batman_fan]

Thanks for the kind words and interesting observations. Some quick thoughts/responses:

 

1. "Not enough cash to support the price structure". I just meant that so many deals (probably a majority) are facilitated in part or whole by trade so that it becomes kind of like fractional reserve banking with a much greater $$$ amount being transacted than there is actual available cash in the hobby. It's like a juggler throwing multiple balls up in the air - he's got to keep juggling (transaction volume needs to stay high) to keep the whole thing afloat. It's no coincidence that I made some pretty good buys in early 2009 when volumes slowed and cash dried up.

 

2. I don't have a strong near-term opinion on the high end market. Clearly there has been new money coming in, largely from comic collectors and potentially speculators/investors as well. That much is clear; people can either choose to believe that this is the beginning of a long-term upward trend or that the arrival of these types of buyers means that this trend is already in the late innings.

 

3. The fact that interest rates are extraordinarily low is only part of the equation; the other part is that those low rates have rendered most other assets unattractive as well, as buyers have fled zero-yielding cash and bid up prices on other assets. In the absence of other places to park your cash, a lot of money has flowed into collectibles, art and other non-traditional assets. I have no doubt that a lot of OA collectors have bought art thinking, "the art market is going up, might as well buy more since I'm not earning anything at the bank". I bet all of us have heard people make comments to that effect over the past couple of years and that we all know people who are using their art/collectibles collections as surrogate savings/investment accounts. Even if people haven't consciously thought "interest rates are low, I'll buy more art", that is effectively what a lot of people have done. Heck, I can't say that I haven't bought more art over the past 18 months than I would have if not for the abysmal yields on cash, so I can speak from first-hand experience.

 

Hey Gene,

 

One thing I have observed with the advent of the CGC collector is a lot of very short term focus. You see a lot of folks buy their grail of grails only to see it for sell a few weeks later. I wonder if this same short term focus will result in them selling the OA they pick up very quickly. I also see a lot of them selling at a loss, in some cases a significant one because there is something in their new focus area they have to have now. If this happens, it will create a lot of volatility in the OA space.

[Bird]

Thanks for the kind words and interesting observations. Some quick thoughts/responses:

 

1. "Not enough cash to support the price structure". I just meant that so many deals (probably a majority) are facilitated in part or whole by trade

 

Okay, I am not one who would be considered financially savvy or in any way knowledgeable about market forces. But what I understand this statement to mean to ME, is something like the following could conceivably occur. I honestly never really thought about it this way before. but a majority of deals? Huh.

 

I have some pages. I have had these pages for 15 years. They could be McFarlane pages. They could be Preacher pages (Hi Mike! Just effin' around with you.) They could be Starman pages (anyone want to trade? see following for ideas.) Maybe I have had these pages, pages from Watchmen, V, Ronin or DKR, for 25 years. maybe I have had some even longer than that. O Yeah. I know a guy, and he has some of this as well. We trade in 1995, 12 of my pages for 3 of his. I entice him by saying "mine are worth $1000 each, and yours are $10K at best." He is a sucker so we trade. In 1995 we trade. So you could say I bought those 3 pages in 1995 for $10K. In 2003 he calls me on the phone. He laughs at me and says those 12 pages you gave me for my $10K are now worth $25K at least. Sucker! Ha! But I know what to tell him. I tell him that those 3 pages are at least $10-$12K each now! Since one of the three is a real beauty, 3/$35K or maybe even $37.5K is realistic. Heck, it's a STEAL! Since I know that those 12 pages I gave him are really undervalued in his eyes (They are an easy $3K-$4K each now! Can I say it again? Candy from a baby, I tell ya'), we decide to trade, his 12 pages for my 3. I got my babies back and they are now worth almost $50K! I'll never give them up now, I paid $37.5K for them! In 2003 I paid $37.5K and it was worth it, I know it. Until SDCC 2011, and I see my three pages on his wall. 8 years I had them. I should have traded something else to get my babies back because I now would love that old stuff. It's classic, and that one page is friggin' fantastic! I think that one is worth the $42000 he's asking, and I can get the other 2 for only $25K each. 3/$92K isn't bad. Maybe he'll even take those 12 back for the 3? He's hesitant so I throw in $2K and propose a $95K trade. Deal! Ha! Sucker! Those 12 pages ain't worth $95K! What is he thinking?

 

Is that right?

 

Honestly, I never thought in those terms before. But recent threads and posts have me thinking in a different way now.

 

Anyone want to trade?

[delekkerste]

When I think about Fishler (sp?) spending 600k+ for the Mcspidey cover

 

Don't think about it too much - consensus opinion is that the full story there hasn't come out yet.

 

 

Additionally, I think OA art, even at these levels is much safer than buying modern art (other than strip art, has any comic OA art that was considered highly desireable fallen out of favor in the last 20 years)? I recently read the book The $12 million stuffed shark, which opened my eyes to the world of modern art. Would it really surprise anyone if people woke up tommorow and collectively realized that art assembled by Jeff Koons assistants is (I hope I am not offending anyone)?

 

OA is definitely more liquid and transaction costs are potentially a lot lower as there is a fair bit of collector-to-collector and collector-to-dealer selling/trading. It is said that ~80% of fine art never resells for higher than when it first left the dealer - all we hear about in the media are the 8 and 9-figure sales, but the fact of the matter is that most art is a terrible investment.

 

That said, I'm not sure that OA to fine art is the right comparison anyway. I had dinner this evening with a friend and fellow collector that everyone here knows, and he asked whether there was any pop culture collectible category that's more pricey overall than comic OA (yeah, there are individual comics and cards and memorabilia that cost more, but OA would give anything a run for its money these days on an overall basis I suspect). I told him what I had just paid for the complete sets of 1965 and 1966 James Bond trading cards at auction last week. His response? "You can't even buy a decent Modern panel page for that much". He's right!

 

If you insist on making the fine art comparison, I'll just say that most people who don't really know the art world/market are oblivious to the fact that OA prices have in many cases surpassed fine art prices. Oh sure, OA prices are nowhere near what "The Scream" fetched at Sotheby's that summer, but walk in with the $100K that went to that ASM #29 page that just sold and you'll be able to buy probably 98% of what's on offer at the several hundred art galleries in Chelsea in NYC. I was the underbidder on a cool Ed Ruscha (one of the top 20 most important contemporary artists) piece the other week that fetched less than that FF #19, ASM #30 and Avengers #3 pages did at CLink. A hundred grand would have bought you a Jean Helion painting worthy of the Centre Pompidou when it was on offer at a Chelsea gallery earlier this summer and still left you with enough change to buy a great Kirby page. $100K may not get you to first base at a Sotheby's contemporary evening sale, but it would have been enough to buy all but a handful of lots at the Christie's First Open Contemporary Art sale in March of this year, including a full-blown painted Warhol.

 

Let's not kid ourselves - OA prices are high now. Can they go higher? Sure. But let's not delude ourselves into thinking that prices are cheap just because a handful of baseball cards and comics have sold for more, or because a minuscule percentage of fine art sells for truly unfathomable prices. If you're going to make those selective comparisons, you have to make all the other comparisons too which paint a very different picture.

[innocuous]

That's a great comparison. My wife tells me I should go buy a Dali for the house instead of OA. She said I can hang that in any room. Maybe the deals there are better.

[Mmehdy]

I think in this discussion, we are talking about prices only. Buying OA depends on you holding power. I would rather own a 100K ditko spidey page long term than a 600K 1980's comic book cover. Classic 60's marvel art and I mean the good stuff was cheap and now people are aware of it.

 

I disagree with Gene, I think quality 60's marvel art is a good buy and will hold value. 52K for the weird science cover #1 brings me back to the auction that russ held for it and I was on the phone. I recall it being the first ec art auction. I lost the piece because at that time no body knew what ec art would go for. When it cracked over 1k...I froze and lost it for 1250. At the time, comic art collectors considered the price high. the winner was Bruce Hamilition. He later sold that piece for a profit and it has gone higher ever since. Now at 52K its about 41 times what it originally sold for.

 

I still see upside for "quality" early marvel art....both investment safety and having a kick piece of art on your wall you can look at everyday, 600K for the spidey cover...well that is another story....

[artcollector9]

Excellent post Gene.

 

I think we are experiencing a new 21st century paradigm developing.

 

I have all sorts of art in my home. My non collecting friends of all ages love to come and look.

 

The comic art always gets the most attention. It didn't used to be that way. But with excellent movies like the Avengers, which even my 60 year old friends (men and woman) go to and enjoy, all of a sudden--Avengers art is 'understood' by them.

 

I think we are seeing the acceptance of comics, and comic art, into the collective conscience of the general public.

 

When I was in high school in 1976-1978, and even in the movie business in the 80s and 90s, people would LAUGH if you told them I'm going to a comic con...even movie folks...not all of course...

 

Every stupid article on comics had the 'pow! Bam!' headline.

 

Now-- in 2011, I went to NYC comicon, my wife's married cousins went, my sister in law went, some nieces and nephews went, all independent of one another...comic culture's acceptance is multigenerational, and widespread...and GROWING.

 

As mainstream religion fades, Super heroes are becoming the accepted mythology of our time. People want to believe in SOMETHING. And the comics and the art that created them are becoming the Rosetta stones, and holy grails (!) of that mythology.

 

My kids know who Jack Kirby is because 1) I talk about him all the time, but also 2) The Disney channel discussed him and talked about 'Kirby Krackle'. Disney's purchase of Marvel insures the use and presumably the continued success, and the increasing ubiquity of Marvel, and other mainstream characters.

 

 

I think the Marvel universe is more important that Dali to the new generation. My son (and me too!) would rather hang Spider-Man art that Dali art (and I have some Dali stuff hanging). He'd rather see Galactus, than Dali's Persistence of Memory.

 

I was there at Sotheby's first comic auction in the early 90s, and my friends and I. thought 'we (comic book geeks) have arrived'. We hadn't...but it was a beginning.

 

But now, I think we've arrived. And I think there's PLENTY of upside to go...in fact, I'd say no top.

 

I can't see the value of a Ditko, or Romita Spider-Man page for example, going anywhere but UP. There are millions and millions of fans, but only a finite amount of art, and a small amount of what we would call 'blue chip'.

 

Comic art is just so sexy now, so hip, so original, so fun, so cool, so understood by so many on so many different levels.

 

Combine all this with the continued erosion, and eventual collapse in the buying power of the dollar (and other fiat currencies) as the Fed continues to debauch the currency, and I see no short term (or likely long term) downside in the ownership of hard assets, including the comic art market.

 

Rob