GRAIL Substitutes

[jick]

This thread, along with another thread "The Official "Does Anybody Know Where This Art Is?" Thread inspired me to draw an 11 x 17 recreation over the weekend of a Transformers cover which I consider a personal grail and which that thread said is stashed away from the public view. I guess if I can't own them I might as well "recreate" them just for kicks.

 

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=66134

[Danimal]

Wow! Very nice. Now I wish that I could draw and do the same for myself.

[Catwoman_Fan]

I thought it was the published version, great inspiration! And beautiful substitute!

[delekkerste]

I was looking through Eric Roberts' CAF gallery recently and saw that, out of all of the spectacular OA in his collection, he lists the Groo #1 Cover as his "absolute holy grail".

 

Made me question if I've been looking at this grail business the wrong way.

[Claudio]

 

I loved Groo as a kid. I can totally see why it would be his grail.

[Bronty]

Same here. Groo is freaking awesome (thumbs u

 

I love reading that. That simple anecdote tells me he appreciates so much more than the monetary value of what he has. Of course, when money isn't a concern that's easier I suppose

[comix4fun]

I was looking through Eric Roberts' CAF gallery recently and saw that, out of all of the spectacular OA in his collection, he lists the Groo #1 Cover as his "absolute holy grail".

 

Made me question if I've been looking at this grail business the wrong way.

 

 

"The Grail" is, as most things in life, a decision made for very personal reasons, and will have as many incarnations as there are people to define it.

[Doc McCoy]

Sorry, Chris, just needed to be done!

 

[Sharkey]

I still retain a collection to be proud of, with a number of grail-like items, but it's at the back of my mind that the clock's ticking away and I don't want to take my artwork to the grave. Sorry if I'm sounding morbid . . . I prefer to think I'm being realistic!

 

I think that's very realistic - peoples' priorities in life can, do and should change over time. 8 or 9 years ago, one collector I know asked if I would keep him in mind if I ever decided to part with a certain piece. Well, I hit him up recently to see if he was still interested and, guess what - he's sending his daughter to college next year and he's not only no longer interested in buying anything, he's planning on selling off a chunk of his collection! Call me crazy, but I'm guessing that Arnold Schwarzenegger probably isn't still looking for a Frazetta 25 years on either.

 

As far as mortality and morbidity, I actually had a very similar exchange with a fellow collector recently, where I told him this:

 

I seem to have a greater sense of mortality (or maybe just self-awareness) than most other collectors - I'm probably in the 8th inning now of my collecting career. I've long said that I'd probably be done collecting by age 50, and it looks like it will probably be sooner than that. There are other things I want to do with my life and spend my money on than OA - I'm happy to still do it in my early 40s now, but the further I get away from that, the more I'll want to focus on other things. Which means I'm largely getting it out of my system now as well as picking it up while I still have a long time to enjoy it.

 

I'm sure that, the older I get, the less and less important it will seem to ever "have to own" a "grail" or otherwise most-wanted piece of artwork. Which is why it cracks me up sometimes when people tell me things like, "I value this piece of artwork at $X, because I've got a standing offer from so-and-so to buy it at that price" (as if that bid will always be there). Well, time passes by quickly, and interests, circumstances and priorities change during that period. For years, I bugged a certain collector about selling me one of my all-time favorite covers, for which I'm confident I would have paid substantially more than anyone else. If he offered it to me now, I'd pay market price at best, and 10 years from now I probably won't have any interest at all, unless it's for a knock-down price.

 

I find myself in the same boat as Terry, Gene, and the guy Gene has quoted here. I began selling off some of my bigger "grail" pieces a couple years ago to fund a major life change and I couldn't be happier. Sure, I miss the art, but what's funny is I'm still buying stuff I like, they just aren't the uber high-end grail level pieces. Yet they make me just as happy. I think there's a deep message in there somewhere.

 

I'm glad this thread resurfaced because I think it brings up a lot of good points:

 

1. There are many collectors out there who may at any point in their life decide it's ok to part with a major piece. So it never hurts to inquire about something you see that you love, but is owned by someone else.

 

2. Recreations are not a bad thing. I picked up a couple awesome recreations of Spidey Annual #1 Cover and Splash and they look so good framed you'd swear they were original Ditkos. I love looking at them and remembering the first time I saw and read ASM Ann 1 and was blown away by the idea of him facing SIX of his fiercest foes!!

 

3. As others have said, Grail is often over-used and means different things to different people. Any piece can be a grail to someone.

 

4. Buy what you love.

[NelsonAI]

One man's substitute is another man's grail.

 

Cheers!

N.