Here's an odd question - do people ever trade books for art? If so... any tips?

[fmaz]

Hi all - In gauging how much the prices of original art has gone up since I last bought a page 4 or 5 years ago I think I've resigned myself to the fact that the only way I'm going to be able to expand my art collection is to consider digging into my comic collection and selling some of it.

 

It's something I'd never considered before but in thinking about it I'd rather look at something on a wall then have it in my closet. :-). My thought was maybe to pull out some books I could part with and try to sell them, here or on eBay or whatever and use the proceeds to buy art.

 

But then it made me wonder. Do people ever do any trading with comics and OA? Or even if cash is involved on either side, are these kinds of deals done? I searched the message boards some and didnt see anything so I just thought I'd ask. Seems like it would be a much more efficient way of doing things if there were matches with people. And if they were done I just wondered where and how you'd seek them out.

 

But I'm just not sure if most of those of you with the incredible and huge art collections at this point have moved on past collecting books and that's just a natural progression or something.

 

Sorry for such a newbie question! But hey, if the shoe fits! :-)

 

Frank

[suspense39]

i sold a lot of my books and used the money to buy OA. i was not able to trade books for things that i wanted at a good trade value. it was way better to sell the books myself and use the cash to buy what i wanted. it also depends on your collection and desirability of the books or work that you are trading for.

[MB1952]

yes some do, i just purchase a collection involving cash&trade.

[Terry Doyle]

At one time I owned a near-complete collection of Marvel silver age superhero books.

 

Sold them all years ago and ploughed the money back into original art.

 

I have most of those books in reprint editions (Marvel Masterworks, etc.), and as I just want reading copies on hand (as opposed to slabbed books), I've never regretted parting with any of those original comic-books.

 

Original artwork is the only thing I give a damn about (in this hobby). Comics are mass-produced items, so format is no longer a biggie to me. I want something I can read and enjoy, not a valuable relic that needs to be handled with care (if that makes sense?).

 

 

[suspense39]

i did the same thing for the same reason!

[fmaz]

Makes sense, Terry. I don't think I want to go to that extreme but I'm ok moving some assets from one side to the other and just wondered if it were possible and maybe more efficient to trade the doubles I have of some silver age amazing spider-man books to an art collector who might need them than to sell them. Cutting out the middle man always seems like a good idea. :-)

 

Plus, I'm sure my wife would be thrilled if I cleared out some closet space by reducing the total number of long boxes by a few!

 

Like I said, though, I don't have the slightest idea how you'd seek out such trades? Just email people with pages I'm interested in on CAF? Or post in the comic marketplace area here?

[Terry Doyle]

Makes sense, Terry. I don't think I want to go to that extreme but I'm ok moving some assets from one side to the other and just wondered if it were possible and maybe more efficient to trade the doubles I have of some silver age amazing spider-man books to an art collector who might need them than to sell them. Cutting out the middle man always seems like a good idea. :-)

 

Plus, I'm sure my wife would be thrilled if I cleared out some closet space by reducing the total number of long boxes by a few!

 

Like I said, though, I don't have the slightest idea how you'd seek out such trades? Just email people with pages I'm interested in on CAF? Or post in the comic marketplace area here?

 

I've only ever traded one item against original art (a small print-run slip-cased edition of the MAD comic-books in color, as part of the Russ Cochran EC library series of hardbacks).

 

Problem (as I see it), with trading books against original art, is that you're offering mass-produced items against one-of-a-kind-items. I suppose it depends on the desirability (and condition) of the books you want to offer - and if the dealer feels he can make a decent enough profit to make the trade worthwhile. If you're negotiating with a dealer, expect any resulting trade to be tipped heavily in his favour.

 

Or you could sell the books yourself and use the proceeds to buy the artworks you want.

[Garf]

Would agree what people have said, i.e. you are better off selling them yourself because in trading (especially with a dealer) you are usually going to be giving someone more work to get rid of them for you and essentially paying them to do it by getting less than the market price.

 

There are always the boards here where you can sell and they would possibly be to your advantage if you worked out how much you could discount your price if you subtract ebay fees.

 

For me it has been a natural progression to get art from the comics I have always loved, also the ones I am currently enjoying... and mostly sticking to trades.

 

 

 

( It's always better to sell anything the first weekend after payday as opposed to the last one before it )

[Terry Doyle]

Makes sense, Terry. I don't think I want to go to that extreme . . .

 

I regard comic-books . . . whether the original editions, or reprints, as a visual record where the format has become irrelevant to me. I'd compare comic-books to movies or TV series I want to watch on my TV screen. I replaced all of my old VHS video-tapes with DVD or Blu-ray. Reading or viewing formats . . . I just want the best mediums available. The Russ Cochran EC library books gave me the best visual record of those classic comic-book stories, so the original 1950s books were something I replaced in an upgrade of quality.

 

Original art provides a close connection to the artist (effectively, a slice of that artist's life where he sat down in front of a blank piece of illustration board and worked his or her magic).

[Bronty]

Makes sense, Terry. I don't think I want to go to that extreme but I'm ok moving some assets from one side to the other and just wondered if it were possible and maybe more efficient to trade the doubles I have of some silver age amazing spider-man books to an art collector who might need them than to sell them. Cutting out the middle man always seems like a good idea. :-)

 

Plus, I'm sure my wife would be thrilled if I cleared out some closet space by reducing the total number of long boxes by a few!

 

Like I said, though, I don't have the slightest idea how you'd seek out such trades? Just email people with pages I'm interested in on CAF? Or post in the comic marketplace area here?

 

Its very rare that it would work out. The art collector would have to really want your exact book in the exact grade and you'd have to agree on FMV. Highly unlikely. As others have said, you are much better off selling them yourself.

 

Getting an art collector to accept them in trade would likely involve taking a substantial discount to FMV because the other guy doesn't want your book, he wants cash. He doesn't want to inherit the PITA of selling it just to realize the cash. He doesn't want to inherit the risk of a lower-than-expected sale either. I think you're looking at low end of FMV less 25% for anyone to begin to want to bother if they want to bother at all..\

 

Sure, it would be nice from your POV to get rid of them, but from the other guy's POV, its just a PITA that is avoided with cash.

[Pete Marino]

Makes sense, Terry. I don't think I want to go to that extreme but I'm ok moving some assets from one side to the other and just wondered if it were possible and maybe more efficient to trade the doubles I have of some silver age amazing spider-man books to an art collector who might need them than to sell them. Cutting out the middle man always seems like a good idea. :-)

 

Plus, I'm sure my wife would be thrilled if I cleared out some closet space by reducing the total number of long boxes by a few!

 

Like I said, though, I don't have the slightest idea how you'd seek out such trades? Just email people with pages I'm interested in on CAF? Or post in the comic marketplace area here?

 

Its very rare that it would work out. The art collector would have to really want your exact book in the exact grade and you'd have to agree on FMV. Highly unlikely. As others have said, you are much better off selling them yourself.

 

Getting an art collector to accept them in trade would likely involve taking a substantial discount to FMV because the other guy doesn't want your book, he wants cash. He doesn't want to inherit the PITA of selling it just to realize the cash. He doesn't want to inherit the risk of a lower-than-expected sale either. I think you're looking at low end of FMV less 25% for anyone to begin to want to bother if they want to bother at all..\

 

Sure, it would be nice from your POV to get rid of them, but from the other guy's POV, its just a PITA that is avoided with cash.

 

I'd say there might be a chance if you have slabbed books that are liquid, and then like other said you'd prob get like 70% of GPA for them. I don't think i'd ever want to trade OA for Raws unless it was a huge book like an AF 15, Spidey 1, XM1, ToS 39 types.... but if you have a book someone is lusting after, then all bets are off.

[fmaz]

It's funny. I've always thought of myself as a comic book collector. But even though I just have two pages of OA, and let's face it, they aren't anything special compared to the mind blowing stuff I keep seeing in gallery after gallery on CAF (although I do love my pages, don't get me wrong!) I can so easily see how once I break the seal and sell my first few books and put that towards art...of having that become an obsession.

 

I constantly marvel at the phenomenonal quality and quantity of pages of OA people seem to own, and while I can never get there...using some of my comics I'd hope I could land a few more pages to add to my collection at least.

 

So I think you all have inspired me to at least try. I don't have any graded books (don't get me started on what I think about sealing up a book so it can no longer be read) but I do have some decent silver age books that I'd part with without touching (at least for now) my ASM run.

 

With ASM I start at #8, and then have #16-present. I won't touch those, but I've got doubles of a bunch from the series in the 40's and 50's... Gifts from a boy who was trying to impress my sister back in high school. .

[comiconxion]

It depends on what you're looking to trade for. I suggest you list the books you're willing to trade and the condition as a start. You should also state what you're looking for. You may get lucky and find someone that's looking to fill out their runs and also part with something you're looking for.

 

I actually had luck trading runs of Silver Age comics to a couple people with art on these boards. Worked out for everyone!

[fmaz]

It depends on what you're looking to trade for. I suggest you list the books you're willing to trade and the condition as a start. You should also state what you're looking for. You may get lucky and find someone that's looking to fill out their runs and also part with something you're looking for.

 

I actually had luck trading runs of Silver Age comics to a couple people with art on these boards. Worked out for everyone!

 

Oh, interesting! Did you list on the comics marketplace or the art one?

[Weird Paper]

Back in the mid-80s, when I used to sell at comic shows, two guys would always come to us at the Houston shows and trade us art for comics from our stock. If not for that, I would likely have never become an art collector.

I still have them:

 

 

Corben

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=45000

 

Wrightson

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=45132

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=45131

 

BWS

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=44978

 

Adams

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=44966

 

Brunner

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=875370

 

[Caltex98]

Don Rosa sometimes uses his art to pay for comic books.

[adamstrange]

I have done comics/art trades which involved very nice comics and very nice pieces of art. While each piece of art is unique, I have since found other pages that were similar enough to ones involved in the trades. I later acquired a "substitute" for one page I traded away; in other cases I have chosen not to get a similar example.

 

The comics that I acquired or let go of are extraordinary and, 10-15 years later, still the best or second best examples. My trades were done with people who collect both art and comics but that specialize in much harder to find books rather than SA Marvels which are relatively common.

 

If comic art had been done in color I would probably have given up collecting comics. What original art I collect is almost exclusively b&w and I love color so much that I still want to own the original comics in a condition that is as close as possible to how they came off the press. No reprint beats seeing and reading a sparkly fresh original.

[Bronty]

^ Im like you. I love art but I love color. So it's paintings for me

[Terry Doyle]

^ Im like you. I love art but I love color. So it's paintings for me

 

Fortunately, over here in the UK, a lot of our own home-grown classic comic-strips were painted artworks (from the 1950s onwards), so I generally hold such works in higher regard than the b&w stuff.

 

Frank Hampson . . . Frank Bellamy . . . Don Lawrence . . . Ron Embleton . . .Ron Turner

[Bronty]

Yes Ive seen you post some of those and they look great