What artist did you collect has had their artwork decrease in price?

[Lucky Baru]

Billy Tucci at one time was a very hot artist in the 1990's when bad girl's ruled. There was a trailer made for The Shi movie at one point. I own one piece of his art. It is a drawing of Shi from behind wearing a thong with a sword over her head. I paid roughly 40.00 for it right before Shi took off at WonderCon when it was in The Bay Area in the '90's. It went up in value and now more than likely would bring 40.00 if I sold it - which I won't. It was one of the first items of original comic art I ever bought.

 

Each of us more than likely either collected someone whose artwork has decreased in value. What artist was it, and what did you do with the work you had or do you still have it for one reason or another?

 

[Meeley Man]

Well, an old joke I always say (although it's only about half-joking) is that a piece is valuable until I possess it, then it isn't. But it regains value after I have sold it (at a loss of course). So, it wouldn't matter who the artist is. Whatever piece of theirs I own will be worthless, so long as I own it. :shrug:

[Lucky Baru]

Well, an old joke I always say (although it's only about half-joking) is that a piece is valuable until I possess it, then it isn't. But it regains value after I have sold it (at a loss of course). So, it wouldn't matter who the artist is. Whatever piece of theirs I own will be worthless, so long as I own it. :shrug:

 

What can I buy from you? !

[Meeley Man]

Well, an old joke I always say (although it's only about half-joking) is that a piece is valuable until I possess it, then it isn't. But it regains value after I have sold it (at a loss of course). So, it wouldn't matter who the artist is. Whatever piece of theirs I own will be worthless, so long as I own it. :shrug:

 

What can I buy from you? !

 

Oh I have hundreds of pieces for sale. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your P.O.V.), none of it is mine. It's what I sell on behalf of the artists I rep for. But take a look. You just might find something you HAVE to have.

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=3287

[AnkurJ]

Cho. Have paid thousands for some pieces before he joined Marvel.

[oakman29]

Tommy Lee Edwards,who? I personally love his artwork,but won't sell anyway.

[J.Sid]

Cho. Have paid thousands for some pieces before he joined Marvel.

 

Yes. The scarcity of his artwork (because he was holding on to it) used to make it quite pricey. His rabid cult following (I was one for a while) fought each other tooth and nail for the few originals that had been released.

 

Those prices seemed fairly "organic" if I remember right. People would bid against each other, etc...

 

After joining Marvel, he started pricing and releasing his "drawn last month" covers at crazy money prices. A few bought and took public losses on them, and his buzz in the OA circles dropped considerably, despite the fact that his popularity as a comic artist grew.

 

[Bronty]

Ugh. Just goes to show why buying at top dollar from an artist who has held onto everything can be a shaky proposition.

[Solar]

Dave McKean's lower end stuff seems to have cooled. I used to have five or six nice unpublished paintings and paintings from less known works and sold them for probably double what they'd go for now. It seems like anything from Dave used to be somewhat hard to come by and the market just reached saturation.

 

On the flip side, I'm sure his Sandman covers, Arkham pages, etc are worth more than ever.

[AnkurJ]

I decided last year to keep high dollar purchases to published art from the 80's and back.

 

[Lucky Baru]

I decided last year to keep high dollar purchases to published art from the 80's and back.

 

So, any Miller, McFarlane, and Lee covers from the 90's to now wouldn't interest you and/or aren't high dollar purchases? That what makes the hobby interesting. Different interest and price levels for everyone.

[Meeley Man]

I decided last year to keep high dollar purchases to published art from the 80's and back.

 

Well, I'm not sure what you qualify as "high dollar," but I just posted up some new pages for sale that are all 80's related.

[J.Sid]

The McFarlane artwork is certainly "down" from it's peak a couple years back.... but that peak also happened to pretty much be the peak (thus far) of American comic art in auctions. The stuff wasn't just selling for more than McFarlanes had ever sold for, it was selling for more than ANYthing had ever sold for.

[Eric Seffinga]

Nobody in my collection that I can think of. I'm sure there have been some peaks and valleys along the way. But really like anything, the answer could be just as much about WHEN I bought as WHO I bought.

 

Although for sure there are some folks that chase whatever the hotness is at a moments time, only to be burned later. Thankfully I've never had that issue.

[comix4fun]

Great question.

 

There have been a few examples I somewhat remember of a single collector or a small group of collectors feverishly fighting against each other for every single piece by some artist and driving the market crazy and artificially inflating prices.

 

Then one or all of them would lose interest and attempt to sell some/all of their pieces in a single dump and destroy/severely impair the market either permanently or for the foreseeable future.

 

Some of those guys have even gone on to lament the state of the said artist's market after they took a wrecking ball to it.

 

I've seen it probably 9-10 times over the last 2 decades.

[Bird]

Matt Wagner Grendel stuff seemed to drop off, especially the Warchild stuff which Matt inked over Pat McEown. I could be wrong about that, but it seemed that way to me. Mage: The Hero Discovered and the earliest Grendel may be exempt, but I do not feel the heat on his stuff as I used to.

[AnkurJ]

I decided last year to keep high dollar purchases to published art from the 80's and back.

 

So, any Miller, McFarlane, and Lee covers from the 90's to now wouldn't interest you and/or aren't high dollar purchases? That what makes the hobby interesting. Different interest and price levels for everyone.

 

I love their art and would love to buy an example if the prices were lower. Personally I would rather have a 70's splash than a small spidey or xmen page.

[Lucky Baru]

Matt Wagner Grendel stuff seemed to drop off, especially the Warchild stuff which Matt inked over Pat McEown. I could be wrong about that, but it seemed that way to me. Mage: The Hero Discovered and the earliest Grendel may be exempt, but I do not feel the heat on his stuff as I used to.

 

The nice thing about Wagner's Gendel vs. The Shadow is that it is affordable in today's market. You can buy pages for around 200.00.

 

Like all of my collection of my collection I buy because I enjoy the artwork. I've never bought anything that was to invest in what price it might have in the future. If it goes up in value - great. If not, I'm not at a loss. I bought it because I enjoy the page.

[AnkurJ]

Matt Wagner Grendel stuff seemed to drop off, especially the Warchild stuff which Matt inked over Pat McEown. I could be wrong about that, but it seemed that way to me. Mage: The Hero Discovered and the earliest Grendel may be exempt, but I do not feel the heat on his stuff as I used to.

 

The nice thing about Wagner's Gendel vs. The Shadow is that it is affordable in today's market. You can buy pages for around 200.00.

 

Like all of my collection of my collection I buy because I enjoy the artwork. I've never bought anything that was to invest in what price it might have in the future. If it goes up in value - great. If not, I'm not at a loss. I bought it because I enjoy the page.

 

That's all fine but when you're spending thousands it's wise to think about future value.

[Lucky Baru]

Matt Wagner Grendel stuff seemed to drop off, especially the Warchild stuff which Matt inked over Pat McEown. I could be wrong about that, but it seemed that way to me. Mage: The Hero Discovered and the earliest Grendel may be exempt, but I do not feel the heat on his stuff as I used to.

 

The nice thing about Wagner's Gendel vs. The Shadow is that it is affordable in today's market. You can buy pages for around 200.00.

 

Like all of my collection of my collection I buy because I enjoy the artwork. I've never bought anything that was to invest in what price it might have in the future. If it goes up in value - great. If not, I'm not at a loss. I bought it because I enjoy the page.

 

That's all fine but when you're spending thousands it's wise to think about future value.

 

Before the end of the year I'll be spending several thousand dollars on a page. It will be the 1st and last page I buy in that price range. Kind of a grail piece. That last time I purchased a grail piece it was a comic book. Haven't bought one since then. No longer had any interest. I looked at it as I had finished what I thought was my life's work in that hobby.

 

I was fortunate to have OA work to fall back into. I hadn't purchased anything in 10 or 15 years and jumped back into it. For me it isn't about INVESTMENT it is about seeking out a page by McGuinness, Mike Zeck, or attempting to add a page from every Image Founder into my collection to name a few of the goals I have for my collection. It is about finding a page I want not one that might be an investment or become an investment.

 

The other thing is that the OA hobby will shrink in size and at some point and die. Kids today are not reading comics. They aren't exposed to them in the comic book format. Batman lives in movies and video games. The kids of today will have zero interest in buying comic art. Comic art will not cause them to reminiscence about whatever point in their lives that makes them remember better times. Ask a 10 or 11 year old if they read comics and they will look at you like you have lost your mind.