X-Men 113 page 17 from Heritage

[inovrmihd]

Ok, here goes. I was the buyer of this page at the recent Heritage auction. I was also the buyer at the fraudulent Ebay auction. I have been silent up until now because a) I felt stupid after the first purchase and b) I like to read people's honest opinions and once someone comes forward and acknowledges they were the buyer, the comments become a little more gentle. I know the price was crazy high (at both auctions), but I really loved both the art and the story line, and anyone that doesn't think nostalgia doesn't play a huge role in this hobby is fooling themselves. I recall reading earlier comments comparing this page to McSpidey pages. I can't disagree, except to simply say that it is a different set of buyers who are looking for different things. 30 years from now, maybe neither one will have any resonance.

 

Also, and perhaps this is for another thread, but as a data point in support of Gene's zero interest rate environment arguments, I would have been less inclined to have made this purchase if the opportunity cost was 6% in a savings account. I don't view this as an investment; if it was, I would expect it to have a negative rate of return, at these prices, over virtually any time period (in other words, I really think I paid top dollar +).

 

I thought it was a great battle page, with enough going on, but not "too busy" and with the characters I wanted to see. I have been trying to buy a few really great pages from Byrne's X-Men run for a while and have gone to several of the conventions over the last two years, and I have not seen anything comparable offered, either there or on dealer's web pages, so although it cost me and arm and a leg, I didn't feel I had much choice if I wanted a great page. I would love to read as much analysis of the artistic merits of this page as boardies would like to post, although I expect it has been played out. If you have an opinion yet to be shared, positive or negative, please feel free to chime in. In any event, I will post the page on CAF when I receive it.

 

 

As for the Ebay auction, when it closed, I authorized payment immediately, then found out it was a fraud. I eventually got my money back, but it took a while. I was never told that paypal ever transferred the funds, just that they had a process to go through. My recollection is that after a few weeks, the seller accepted my request to cancel the sale, and then a few days later my money was returned, so I really don't know what his or her game was. Please feel free to send me any private messages about the Ebay auction. I would be more than happy to talk more about it, but since I don't really know more than what I have posted, I am wary of insulting any individual by name or implication (if you know rather than merely suspect details of fraudulent activity, by all means for the good of the community make it public, I just don't want to get in a discussion of "I think XYZ did it to boost the price of another piece he was trying to sell at the time" kind of conversations on line).

[Lee B.]

Congratulations on winnnig an excellent X-Men page from Heritage! I don't think you need to spend a second justifying what you paid or analyzing the value of the page. You loved the page, you had the money, and you got it. If it makes you very happy, then it should be worth it. Best, Lee

[drdroom]

Let me see if I can get the image to be here for reference:

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Nope, didn't work. Who knows how you do this? For me it works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't.

[Tokay]

Yeah, nothing to justify. It's a great page and you obviously have a nostalgic attachment to it. On a smaller scale, I bought a page from DD #190 for a fairly strong price awhile back. It's Janson pencils and inks (Miller layouts on separate page) but it's probably the most memorable page from my youth, so I paid that price.

 

[Silver Surfer]

Congrats! Defintely one of those brilliant arcs that is forever burned in my memory as I bought it off the rack when I was a kid. A top 10 story line for me from that era.

[rsonenthal]

Congratulations on your purchase! The heart wants what the heart wants. I think it's a great page.

 

Ron

[delekkerste]

Congrats, Andrew! Love the first two panels, especially the spectacular second one. The chiaroscuro effects in panels #3 and #4 are pretty cool too. Glad you got a second bite at the apple after the eBay fiasco!

 

- Gene

[ashrael]

Terrific page! I would love to see it in person...the full size art must be incredible to behold

 

The Heritage image links are nasty, so I uploaded it:

 

[alxjhnsn]

Congratulations on winning it.

 

As for the price:

a) It's no one's business but yours

b) If you like it and you can afford it, buy it and enjoy it

 

Here's the image and a very nice one indeed.

[Nexus]

Pretty sure I'm the one who pointed out that the eBay auction was a fraud (you're welcome ). Am curious what your communication with the "seller" was like...did he have a story?

 

I grew up on Byrne X-MEN and this page certainly pushes a lot of the right buttons. Besides the action-packed content, I really like Austin's inks on this page. But I've never been able to spend big for a page, not when they were four figures and definitely not that they're now five figures. I thought the market was calming down-- a couple of years ago, it seemed like Byrne stuff was taking a step back. Apparently not. And as much as you feel you may have paid top dollar...from what I hear, pages have been selling for MUCH more privately. Maybe you've done well. Regardless, it's a page you clearly wanted so congrats!

[delekkerste]

And as much as you feel you may have paid top dollar...from what I hear, pages have been selling for MUCH more privately.

 

I have heard of three such recent private transactions - though, in fairness, I would rate all 3 of those pages above this #113 page, as good as it is. And, I know at least one of those other deals was mostly trade (not sure about the other two).

 

I think $29,750 was top dollar for this page. Though, there were at least 3 bidders (including myself) who bid more than where the page ended up on eBay in that fraudulent auction, so it's not like there weren't other people willing to go high as well.

[Carlo M]

As the proud owner of a "high end" Byrne XM page, I may have a vested interest in commenting on this. I would like to chime in , though.

On the artistic side, I find this page extraordinary. Personally, I love that you have two highly defined top panels, and some lighting effects in the bottom panels, albeit at the detriment of detail. That is great storytelling, in my view.

 

On the price side, it seems to me at the moment there is a huge premium on high end art, by high end I mean top artist, great art content, memorable storyline (in particular for interior pages, covers tend to be more consistent). I do not need to point to the FF 57 page as testament to this. So whether this is a good investment or not will depend on whether the future generations will recognise this run and this particular storyline. But, if Byrne Claremont XM vs Magneto does not make the cut, then it is a pretty bleak future for us OA collectors!

 

I am sure you will enjoy this page thoroughly, you've got a comment from me coming for sure!

 

Carlo Mich

[stinkininkin]

I see no reason you should second guess yourself about this page. Its fantastic and price aside (no one truly knows if this will be a "wise" purchase in the long run), it has everything you could want in a Byrne Xmen page. You can check off the (a) Wolverine box, the (b) Phoenix box, and even the bonus © Magneto box. It's a battle page with lots of nice blacks and sterling Austin inks to boot. What's not to like? I would happily add it to my collection if the conditions were right. Enjoy it and don't look back.

 

Scott

 

[Silver Surfer]

I see almost zero chance that you the new owner would not get his money back if he were to sell this in a non auction enviroment [unless he tried to flip it immediately], its just a fantastic page.