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February Heritage Auctions (holy cow)!

Started by dem1138,

107 posts in this topic

jjeanius

jjeanius

Posted
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More Adams! More McFarlane! A Calvin & Hobbes daily!

 

No scans yet but ASM #303 was always a favorite of mine.

 

Marvel Tales #233 is an awesome cover too.

 

Congrats to the future winners!

 

ASM 303 was a favorite of mine as well! Then someone pointed out how disproportionately long Silver Sable's left leg is...and now it's all I can see! D'oh!

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malvin

malvin

Posted
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More Adams! More McFarlane! A Calvin & Hobbes daily!

 

No scans yet but ASM #303 was always a favorite of mine.

 

Marvel Tales #233 is an awesome cover too.

 

Congrats to the future winners!

 

ASM 303 was a favorite of mine as well! Then someone pointed out how disproportionately long Silver Sable's left leg is...and now it's all I can see! D'oh!

 

Ha ha, I know what you mean. That has happened to me for some OA, I ended up selling them as I can't look at them the same again after I noticed the flaw.

 

Malvin

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delekkerste

delekkerste

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If you ever wanted proof that unmanipulated free markets work, just look at what the nutty McSpidey prices have provoked in terms of a supply response (in both the November HA and CLink sales and the upcoming February HA sale already). Prices are a signaling mechanism, and they are signaling "sell your McSpideys while they getting is still good". Anyone who isn't wedded to their McSpideys for the duration must be thinking this, especially after seeing DKR prices soar and then soften as high prices brought out new supply.

 

The same could be said of other high-priced OA. People have sat on A/A+ examples for years waiting for prices like this. If you see something like that Kirby X-Men #9 2/3rds splash sell for $77.8K (IMO and many others' as well, a nice piece, but not at that price), and you own a better cover or splash, why wouldn't you roll the dice now and see what you could get in a fevered auction environment (not like these prices are prevailing in private sales from consensus accounts).

 

Be prepared to see some big, significant pieces that you thought might never be for sale change hands over the next year, starting with the February auction cycle. The potential prices on those kind of pieces has finally reached life-changing levels for some of their owners (who are also older and have different priorities than they might have had 10 years ago as well). It will happen. You won't have long to wait to see it. hm

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comix4fun

comix4fun

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Price levels are almost high enough to get Gene to stop sitting on that stack of Rocket Raccoon artwork that he's been hoarding. :wishluck:

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delekkerste

delekkerste

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Yep. Well said.

 

Thanks. (thumbs u

 

I will also add that, in addition to the life-changing money price levels and changing priorities of the owners, it's one thing to hang onto expensive art when prices are appreciating at a strong, but measured, pace. It lulls you into a sense that this is normal and quite possibly sustainable for the long-run, so why not hang onto what you own.

 

But, when prices suddenly go vertical/parabolic in this short a timeframe like they've done in 2012 (we have not seen single-year price spikes like this in any of the previous 9 years that I've been a collector), people are smart enough to realize, even if they have no concept of mean reversion, that this is nutty and not a long-term sustainable phenomenon. As such, it's no wonder that people are more open to selling. You see it in other assets/investments as well - people are happy to hold on, regardless of valuation levels, as long as prices are steadily rising, but BAM!, when prices suddenly spike higher, the pros at least are much more inclined to take chips off the table.

 

Also, you see the auction phenomenon in OA now mirroring that in fine art - perception is rapidly growing that the auction block is where you maximize price on the biggest items. It used to be in our hobby that people would tell you to avoid the auction house fees and just contact the 1, 2, 3 or handful of "usual suspects" when you had a big piece to move. Nowadays, I think more and more business is going to migrate to the auction block in the hopes of getting some of these wacky prices that you could never negotiate with a straight face in a private sale.

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suspense39

suspense39

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In the fine art world, deallers help to ease prices upward, and for the most part dont react irrationally to one or two high sales at auction. Auction prices are usually higher than retail (through a dealer) because people will pay a bit more not to have to wait for a peice (though this has change a little bit during the last 10 years. In this market it appears to me that OCA dealers do not protect pricing and more often than not sell their wares for more than auction prices and will raise prices at the drop of a hat if something goes high one time at auction. I even notice some them lowering prices.

Just some observations, I am pretty new to this hobby (3 years) so i am still feeling it out. I came from a contemporary art background so it is intesesting to look at the similarities and differences.

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bocaratondefense

bocaratondefense

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The recent record prices may be flushing out comic art, but potential sellers have to be mindful that there is a world of difference between the truly A+ cover and the rest. All of our attention has been on the record prices at auction, because that is what the press releases and message boards focus on. While prices may spike higher as a result of similar art, there is no guarantee that will happen. Let's take a look at the recent McSpidey cover sales:

 

ASM #325 $83,650.00

Spider-Man #2 $65,725.00

Spider-Man #8 $40,331.25

 

These prices are nowhere near the mind-numbing prices that we saw on ASM #328 and Spider-Man #1. In fact, I would go so far as to say that these same prices could have been achieved before the record breaking sales in July. So while McFarlane owners might think "sell your McSpideys while the getting is still good", when the pieces are actually auctioned, the overly optimistic sellers may end up disappointed at the results.

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jjeanius

jjeanius

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I totally agree that image quality is key, and the best of the best will always command a premium (and sometimes an exponential premium) over an average image by the same artist. What surprises me, though, is the sense of disappointment in some of these results, as if they went much lower than they should have. I still think these are strong results when you take into account that none of them are truly coveted examples. $65k - $85k for an average McSpidey cover...? That's pretty strong, IMO. Perhaps even more impressive are the half splash at $33k+, or the Venom panel page (PANEL PAGE!) from issue 317 at $24k. And how about the Spider-Man 8 cover at $40k...?!? That cover is generally considered a bottom 5 McSpidey example by most. $40k is pretty high when it's the floor.

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