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General Modern OA discussion...

Started by Garf,

64 posts in this topic

SuperBird

SuperBird

Posted
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I had hoped to hear more opinions from boardies when i saw this topic. There seems to be only a small group of contributors to this thread and everyone seems to have a preference to OA over a slabbed book from which the page came from.

 

So my question is - where are your boundaries? If you were offered either a 9.9 Blue label OR an 'average' random page from the same book, which would you choose? Rule: you can't say 'get the book, sell & buy the page' or visa versa. Keep it to Moderns. I'll go first.

 

9.9 Peter Panzerfaust #1 over average page from PP#1

 

Average page from YTLM #1 over 9.9 YTLM #1

(I would love to say page from Saga 1, but alas...)

 

If I were not allowed to sell the slabs (or the art) I would take the art. That's easy. It would have to be a page I wanted though, not just a random one.

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the420kid

the420kid

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I'm not new to buying OA, but I haven't purchased much modern stuff. PP brought me into the modern stuff with the slick style of Jenkins art. They are affordable and cool.

 

and none of this is for investment purposes. It's an addiction...errrr hobby.

 

 

Cursed Pirate Girl OA? id prob offer up my right arm..

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Garf

Garf

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I had hoped to hear more opinions from boardies when i saw this topic. There seems to be only a small group of contributors to this thread and everyone seems to have a preference to OA over a slabbed book from which the page came from.

 

So my question is - where are your boundaries? If you were offered either a 9.9 Blue label OR an 'average' random page from the same book, which would you choose? Rule: you can't say 'get the book, sell & buy the page' or visa versa. Keep it to Moderns. I'll go first.

 

9.9 Peter Panzerfaust #1 over average page from PP#1

 

Average page from YTLM #1 over 9.9 YTLM #1

(I would love to say page from Saga 1, but alas...)

 

I'd take the page on YTLM (picking this one because it is a book I have really enjoyed). It's seriously getting a bit more scarce as of last month.

 

Slabs have never really interested me too much, but then I am based in the UK so it's not as easy to do and there isn't as much of an interest in general over here in them as far as I can see regarding moderns. I have moved to mostly Trades as I have gotten older, a couple of items on pull and digital. It would be nice to hear a few more thoughts from people new to OA, I can't say that I have been collecting it for long. Have seen several comments where people don't want to start collecting OA because of the cost or perhaps because they have an addictive personality when it comes to anything comics related.

 

Even if comics on the secondary market or hot variants are pricey and you substitute them for OA you are still commiting large amounts of cash towards a hobby. I probably would only have maybe 2-3 pages if I couldn't flip stuff to get funds. I never really saw flipping comics as a gateway to OA initially, it's just something that happened. Flipping had an adverse effect on my appreciation of the printed product, I became more detached from it but not to the point where I could only look at it and see a dollar value, just enough to mean I didn't want to hold onto them. A bit like turning on a god mode cheat in a video game... cuts your enjoyment.

 

I still love the art and the story so asides from buying every day stuff with funds OA started to creep in and fill the void left by the books I sold. Also I can also see a finite goal with OA, there is probably only one more page out there that I am not already paying off which I will pick up before I take a break.

 

I said that 2 pages ago as well but potentially there's something coming up that I simply can't turn down.

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jjeanius

jjeanius

Posted
Posted
I had hoped to hear more opinions from boardies when i saw this topic. There seems to be only a small group of contributors to this thread and everyone seems to have a preference to OA over a slabbed book from which the page came from.

 

So my question is - where are your boundaries? If you were offered either a 9.9 Blue label OR an 'average' random page from the same book, which would you choose? Rule: you can't say 'get the book, sell & buy the page' or visa versa. Keep it to Moderns. I'll go first.

 

9.9 Peter Panzerfaust #1 over average page from PP#1

 

Average page from YTLM #1 over 9.9 YTLM #1

(I would love to say page from Saga 1, but alas...)

 

Seems a bit unfair to go with a 9.9 blue (best available copy) vs an AVERAGE page from the same book. If you are talking about a DESIRABLE page from the same book (above-average or better), then I would ALWAYS take the art (and in some cases, I'd still take just "average"). But with OA, there are generally always great pages, good pages, average pages, and pages....so the demand is going to vary widely within the same issue.

 

Sure, it's easy enough to say *any* page from PP #1 (or YTLM #1 or any other #1) is going to be desirable if the book is hot...but obviously pages with Peter are going to be more desirable than those without, and splash pages will be more desirable than panel pages, etc.

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Tuff Ghost

Tuff Ghost

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I think for me it varies series to series. Some series the art is secondary to the story and other series I'd say that it's the art that really pulls me in keeps my attention.

 

In general though I would rather pay good money for OA vs a high price for an issue of a series. But everyone collects differently and has different goals.

 

I could totally understand how someone might want that 9.9 vs the original art.

 

 

 

 

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Hekla

Hekla

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Have seen several comments where people don't want to start collecting OA because of the cost or perhaps because they have an addictive personality when it comes to anything comics related.

 

Even if comics on the secondary market or hot variants are pricey and you substitute them for OA you are still commiting large amounts of cash towards a hobby.

 

I think these two points are the main reasons a lot of collectors don't venture too deep in the OA collecting corner of the comics hobby. Many feel a need to own every print and variant of a book - something I dont get into unless the variant cover is extremely cool. If they only got one page, the OCD may gnaw at them for only owning 1/22nd of a book.

 

Also cost is a big factor for most of us. Shelling out a few dollars per issue has fewer financial impacts than a hundred or few hundred dollars per page. Buying a book can be a fun spontaneous event where buying OA requires more thought, planning, fretting and usually a lot of luck.

 

I think most see a hot book is more of a liquid asset than OA. As Court was alluding to, mess pages from a desirable book may not sell as well as a high grade of the desirable book itself, although more rare.

 

 

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Garf

Garf

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Yes... I think that only 1/3 of my OA collection i.e. TWD / YTLM / Bats or Tec could be liquidated with relative ease. Bear in mind that may not be as easy to recoup or profit on TWD pages bought after August last year when the prices went up across all pages not just the new ones and has risen again since. Books bought at cover will mostly resell for at least that plus postage. There are simply more buyers out there who can afford about three fiddy!

 

Regardless there has definitely been a visible rise in people getting newly interested in OA. I think that it's not something which is marketed well enough as a whole to the comic reading public or movie-goers. If there was a collective that did more to drive it into more public forums then this would certainly generate more buyers... look at places like Bleeding Cool, IGN, CBR... you don't really see much OA stuff on there unless it is TWD related. Maybe they think it is too niche.

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Garf

Garf

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There are blogs... but how many people have the depth of experience to carry that off well. Probably only a handful compared to the general mass of collectors. A monthly feature on a larger site could fare better.

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Hekla

Hekla

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The only blogs I'm really aware of discuss silver/bronze age OA; not moderns. Don't get me wrong; I love reading about Kirby, Buscema, etc. and have learned a lot in my 5-ish years of collecting, but as far as what I can afford and my current pull list, reading about the modern OA process is more applicable than reading Glen's 'drawing on vellum' article (which was good read, btw).

 

A larger, single site would be great. Artists could contribute as well as collectors/dealers/scholars.

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jjeanius

jjeanius

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I think most see a hot book is more of a liquid asset than OA. As Court was alluding to, mess pages from a desirable book may not sell as well as a high grade of the desirable book itself, although more rare.

 

 

True, but...that's why you don't buy *that* page!

 

I personally much prefer OA to comics, and, for the most part, I speculate in comics to help support my OA habit. I read comics, I love a lot of comics, but I really don't feel the same attachment to them as I do for OA. IMO, the OA is the ultimate grail. Someone else can always have the same book as you....and possibly in a higher grade. With OA, though...while the challenge is greater, so is the reward. In OA, you can be the ONLY person to own a classic cover, or a key page featuring the true first appearance of a major character. And regardless of the OA in question, no one else owns it but you. This is a very special element that cannot be duplicated in comics.

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