Can someone help me start small and not make mistakes ....

[alxjhnsn]

When you are trying to decide how to bid, this information may be of use.

 

-------------

You might want to explore the following resources:

• The OA auction archive at Heritage Auctions - This archive presents the results from all of their OA auctions.. Once you sign-up and get an id, you can search for pieces by your artist and see what they have sold for.
  
• The CAF Market Data - More auction results (more than 1,000,000) are available if you join the Comic Art Fans site, pay for Market Data access, and access eBay and other auction sites as well as Heritage.
  
• The Comic Art Database. It contains transaction records entered by the owners of Comic OA.
• Dealer sites. Dealers, generally, post their art with fixed prices though there are exceptions. There is a list of dealers on CGC OA board and the Dragonberry site has a list as well. The CAF site will search the inventories of several dealers for you.
  
• Jerry Weist's Comic Art Price Guide - Heritage published a third edition of it. In my opinion, it's a good history book and might be useful for comparison work, but it was out of date a year before it was printed.
  
• A topic on these CGC OA boards, A-level panel page valuations by artist/run - thoughts/additions/changes?, holds a discussion that relates to your question. It provides some "generally agreed upon" ranges for popular runs by popular artists on popular characters.
• The Biggest OA Prices thread tracked some of the largest sales in the OA space. While that particular thread has stopped; it's probably worth reading for the discussions. Meanwhile , the information is still being updated - just with a different mechanism.
  • The price information moved to The OA Elite blog. Click on the categories on the top of the page to see the updated list.
  • The discussion moved to Biggest OA Prices: The Blog

New buyers and sellers often find that OA is too hard to price. I agree. However, I think that there is a valid reason. Each piece is unique. Uniqueness make art sales generally and OA specifically non-linear.

 

For example,

• Consecutive pages could and do sell for radically different amounts.
  
• Take page layout - In general, you might say:
  Covers > 1st Page Splash > Other Splash > 1/2 splash > panel pages
  However, that's not always true either. The right panel page can be much more compelling than a bland splash.
  
• Take pencillers- There are "A-list" artists, but not all of their books/characters have the same value. Kirby FF pages generally go for more than JIM/Thor pages which go for more than Cap pages (2nd run) which go for more than ...
  
• Take combinations of pencilers/inkers - Kirby/Sinnott FF pages rank above Kirby and anyone else on FF, but a Kirby/X FF page might be more or less than a Kirby/Stone Thor page. Hard to tell.

 

Finally, you should join the comic book OA community. The three main points of Internet contact are:

• Yahoo's comicart-l mailing list
  
• The Comic Art Fans website
  
• The CGC OA Board

 

The main points of physical contact are probably:

• San Diego Comic Con
  
• New York City Comic Con
  
• Comic Art Con
  
• Heroes Comic Con

 

One last comment, if you are looking to buy or sell, spend the time to learn the market. That might take 6 months, but it's worth the time.

 

 

[MagnusX]

[font:Book Antiqua]When it come to OA I am a noob,

but one of the first rules I learn is:

 

SIZE MATTERS...

 

At least for storage.

 

My first page was the average 11x17

so I buy a Itoya portfolio according to the size...

 

Then I made my second purchase...

Oh surprise the art was bigger and don't fit the portfolio.

 

So I have to buy a new one...

 

Now I made my third purchase

a double splash page made in a single page

and guess what?

 

Don't fit my previous portfolios...

so I am guessing I am going to buy a new one...

 

Since I just begin to collect OA

and don't have the money to fill 3 portfolios with OA

I wonder if I should have focus on buying art the same size since the beginning...

 

Live and learn, I hope someone learn from my mistakes...

[/font]

 

(thumbs u

[mister_not_so_nice]

For my DPS that won't fit in a portfolio I buy larger molars from BAGS UNLIMITED

 

But I agree, nothing more annoying than when a page is slightly larger than the portfolio you bought to keep it in. It's the reason I quit buying 11x17 portfolios and went to the 13x19. Not as snug, but easier to keep pages consolidated.

[Chillax23]

Thanks for all of the tips and info. I am going to take my time working through all of these resources and as suggested I will take the time to learn the market prior to making my first purchase. Unless something comes up that I just can't resist

[MagnusX]

Thanks for all of the tips and info. I am going to take my time working through all of these resources and as suggested I will take the time to learn the market prior to making my first purchase. Unless something comes up that I just can't resist

 

[font:Book Antiqua]I just notice that you live in Canada,

a few thing to consider when you made your purchase:

 

* Canadian weak dollar ( 1 US Dollar = .86 Canadian Dollar)

* Shipping cost (around $ 65.00 from CLink)

* Taxes

 

All this costs add to the final price

so be ready to pay between 25 - 30 % more.

 

I know, it sucks...

[/font]

 

[John E.]

The drawback to collecting Superman original art is that his popularity is a huge draw, thus, you're looking at a lot of competition among bidders for a good page. Also, popular/famous artists are hired to draw the SUPERMAN books. Think Jim Lee and John Romita, JR. Those guys automatically command a premium regardless if it's Superman art or not.

 

If you're on a budget, then go for Superman pages in which he makes a guest appearance in B-level titles like Guy Gardner Annual #7 (I made that title up). Buy a panel page in which Superman makes a solid appearance on the page like a half-splash, or is in multiple panels. You can also try to look for a panel page from a comic book title that has nostalgic value to you that simultaneously flies under the radar for most collectors. This way, even if Supes appears in one panel on a mediocre, it at least harbors sentimental value to you. My best guess for these "budget" pages would be between $100-$200. But like the previous posters mentioned, it's a good idea to research the going prices of these types of pages.

 

I know it's pretty scary to drop hundreds or a thousand dollars on a page, especially for a first time collector. But most "addict collectors" will tell you that they up their budgets frequently to levels they didn't think they'd go. My point is that if you're willing to spend $500 a year on 3-4 pieces of art, you might as well be patient and spend $500 on one good piece.

 

For future reference, cadencecomicart.com sells Aaron Kuder/Action comic pages and albertmoy.com sells Jim Lee/Superman pages.

 

Happy collecting and keep up updated!

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

The best piece of advice I can give you:

 

OA is unique. It's not like comics where, if you miss one, another is likely to come down the road if you're patient.

 

If you see something you like, spend as much money as you can afford and are willing to spend to buy it. Once it sells...the odds of getting another chance to own it are very, very slim. Don't "overpay". but it's hard to overpay for that which is unique.

 

If you have specific pieces you want to go after, research, research, research. Find out when it last sold, if it sold publicly, who might own it, don't pester them, be polite, but don't be afraid to make your interest known. And save your money. Don't be swayed by random pieces, just to own random pieces. Focus, and stay focused. Opportunities are very, very, very rare to get THAT piece.

 

If you don't have specific pieces you're after, buy what suits your fancy and is in front of you. Again...opportunity must be seized.

[r100comics]

The best piece of advice I can give you:

 

OA is unique. It's not like comics where, if you miss one, another is likely to come down the road if you're patient.

 

If you see something you like, spend as much money as you can afford and are willing to spend to buy it. Once it sells...the odds of getting another chance to own it are very, very slim. Don't "overpay". but it's hard to overpay for that which is unique.

If you have specific pieces you want to go after, research, research, research. Find out when it last sold, if it sold publicly, who might own it, don't pester them, be polite, but don't be afraid to make your interest known. And save your money. Don't be swayed by random pieces, just to own random pieces. Focus, and stay focused. Opportunities are very, very, very rare to get THAT piece.

 

If you don't have specific pieces you're after, buy what suits your fancy and is in front of you. Again...opportunity must be seized.

 

I'm not sure this is true.

 

There's a reason that people like Gene Park mark down their OA value by 20% once they've bought it, as there are many variables that can mean you'll never get back what you paid.

 

[Pete Marino]

The best piece of advice I can give you:

 

OA is unique. It's not like comics where, if you miss one, another is likely to come down the road if you're patient.

 

If you see something you like, spend as much money as you can afford and are willing to spend to buy it. Once it sells...the odds of getting another chance to own it are very, very slim. Don't "overpay". but it's hard to overpay for that which is unique.

If you have specific pieces you want to go after, research, research, research. Find out when it last sold, if it sold publicly, who might own it, don't pester them, be polite, but don't be afraid to make your interest known. And save your money. Don't be swayed by random pieces, just to own random pieces. Focus, and stay focused. Opportunities are very, very, very rare to get THAT piece.

 

If you don't have specific pieces you're after, buy what suits your fancy and is in front of you. Again...opportunity must be seized.

 

I'm not sure this is true.

 

There's a reason that people like Gene Park mark down their OA value by 20% once they've bought it, as there are many variables that can mean you'll never get back what you paid.

 

I'd also say that while there is also only 1 of each page, not every page is a unique snowflake.

 

If you are looking for a page with Lex fighting Supes, there are tons, so don't over spend, but if issue 223 is your favorite issue ever, and the title page shows up, then by all means go for it!

 

There is another idiom of OA collecting.... something else always shows up...

 

If you're just looking for an example then figure out what you're comfortable spending on it, and it's approx market value and stick to that, one will eventually show up and wind up in your collection.

[JadeGiant]

Some really good advice from some long-timers here. Coming from someone who was not around for the 'good ol days' (when OA was very reasonably priced) ... I have to echo the idea of establishing a contact(s) to bounce ideas off, get advice, etc. I started collecting art as an offshoot off my statue hobby where a group of fellow collectors started dabbling in art and then I was hooked. It was great to be able to share experiences and get advice to avoid pitfalls, etc. That being said, you will have some missteps along the way - the key is to keep them on the lower end of the cost scale so that they don't hurt as much when you figure things out in the hobby. There has been some talk about what to do when 'that just right page' comes along and there are generally 2 sides of that discussion - make sure to get it while you can and there will always be another page that comes along if you don't get it. While both can be true, I have missed on a few pages that really smart years later. Pages that I could afford at the time but would have stretched me a good bit. These were pages that I loved but I wasn't seasoned enough to know that I needed to go all in to get them, instead thinking something similar would come long. At the end of the day, each person's collection is their own and unique (which is what I love about this hobby) and your experiences will be different as well. Buckle up, establish some contacts, learn a few lessons along the way and have fun with this fun and sometimes frustrating hobby.

[RockMyAmadeus]

The best piece of advice I can give you:

 

OA is unique. It's not like comics where, if you miss one, another is likely to come down the road if you're patient.

 

If you see something you like, spend as much money as you can afford and are willing to spend to buy it. Once it sells...the odds of getting another chance to own it are very, very slim. Don't "overpay". but it's hard to overpay for that which is unique.

If you have specific pieces you want to go after, research, research, research. Find out when it last sold, if it sold publicly, who might own it, don't pester them, be polite, but don't be afraid to make your interest known. And save your money. Don't be swayed by random pieces, just to own random pieces. Focus, and stay focused. Opportunities are very, very, very rare to get THAT piece.

 

If you don't have specific pieces you're after, buy what suits your fancy and is in front of you. Again...opportunity must be seized.

 

I'm not sure this is true.

 

There's a reason that people like Gene Park mark down their OA value by 20% once they've bought it, as there are many variables that can mean you'll never get back what you paid.

 

Hard to overpay...not impossible. I'm giving advice from a collecting, rather than re-selling, point of view.

[comicsnyc22]

I've been doing this for years, and it's always nice to read these every once in a while. Happy New Year gents!