Comic Art Con April 3 Secaucus, NJ

[delekkerste]

only cover worth having is 130

 

Are we talking about X-Men #130?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*For the record, I DON'T OWN THIS COVER so please no one e-mail me about it. It is just a little game we play, like Rick and Captain Renault in Casablanca. "Joe tells me to sell him the cover; I tell him no he can't have it. It is very convenient."

[delekkerste]

I hear there is a "Dazzler tax" too

 

Of course there is a Dazzler tax...Doc Joe is the one levying it!!

[Buzzetta]

First I want to say that Dan and Joe put a show together that I was utterly impressed by. This was my first time attending and I look forward to September. I have no problem in saying that I easily enjoyed myself more than I did at the Carbo show and I had the opportunity to see and buy things that I would not normally encounter.

 

It was also nice to shake hands with Gene and I have to publicly thank Jaybuck. I buy comic art within my paygrade and comfort zone. I have spent five figures on a book but I still am not quite there in spending four figures on comic art. Jay has a lot of patience and is a great teacher in pointing things out to me. I come from a different school of thought when it comes to the funny page art and in animation things are similar but slightly different.

 

So here is my review:

 

Setup

The room was easily accessible and it was a different crowd than I was used to at cons. Dealers effectively made use of their space in regards to presentation and ease of going through their inventory. Opposite facing tables were spaced well apart in order to give plenty of room for people to view each dealers table and for people to still navigate the floor. If only all shows were like that.

 

Selection

There was art priced at what I considered reasonable for casual collectors to walk out with something and then there were pieces that were well above my pay grade. There were pieces that I had never seen offered before at the shows or at auction which amazed me. "Romitaman" Mike's Strange Adventures 159 covers is one of those pages that I wish I could own among all others as I am captivated by it. I remember when it came up for auction through Heritage and I put a modest bid in hoping for a power outage across the nation. What was disappointing is that there is a cover that I inquire about whenever I see it but the price only seems to rise due to dealer to dealer transactions. At EVERY NY show I go to one dealer or another seem to have the cover in question (that I am not naming) and it seems to bounce around the room without actually selling to any private collectors. Those pieces are a little disconcerting to see as it was those pieces where I felt the value was overly inflated due to those dealer to dealer transactions. I simply shrug and cannot play into that trap. As another boardie said, there are other venues for almost any comparable piece of comic art at any price level.

 

My purchases and my regret.

I wound up not purchasing anything actually but I did learn a lot. I was very tempted to pick up a page of art but I similar page already from the same issue that I had picked up for 1/3 the price so I let it pass. I recently picked up another Marvel Indiana Jones Trimpe page that I had my eye on and await that in the mail. My big REGRET was NOT picking up the page of Rudy Nebres Savage Sword of Conan art that I saw. There were some fantastic pieces and not being a Conan collector with either the art or the comics, I decided against it. By the time that I was on the Long Island Expressway I had regrets of not picking that piece up from Nebres. If anyone has artist contact info I am thinking of rectifying it. I did however help a fellow boardie make a big purchase with a dealer through Facetime which was kind of fun.

 

All in all it was a good show and one I look to return to.

 

 

Out of curiosity I, like others, am left wondering what piece(s) Mike sold to generate $100k.

 

[Doc Joe]

only cover worth having is 130

 

Are we talking about X-Men #130?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*For the record, I DON'T OWN THIS COVER so please no one e-mail me about it. It is just a little game we play, like Rick and Captain Renault in Casablanca. "Joe tells me to sell him the cover; I tell him no he can't have it. It is very convenient."

 

 

Give it up you hoarding

[Stalzer2002]

My big REGRET was NOT picking up the page of Rudy Nebres Savage Sword of Conan art that I saw. There were some fantastic pieces and not being a Conan collector with either the art or the comics, I decided against it. By the time that I was on the Long Island Expressway I had regrets of not picking that piece up from Nebres. If anyone has artist contact info I am thinking of rectifying it. I did however help a fellow boardie make a big purchase with a dealer through Facetime which was kind of fun.

 

I don't have any contact info, but Nebres will be at the East Coast Comic Con at the Meadowlands Exposition Center on April 16th & 17th.

[Buzzetta]

My big REGRET was NOT picking up the page of Rudy Nebres Savage Sword of Conan art that I saw. There were some fantastic pieces and not being a Conan collector with either the art or the comics, I decided against it. By the time that I was on the Long Island Expressway I had regrets of not picking that piece up from Nebres. If anyone has artist contact info I am thinking of rectifying it. I did however help a fellow boardie make a big purchase with a dealer through Facetime which was kind of fun.

 

I don't have any contact info, but Nebres will be at the East Coast Comic Con at the Meadowlands Exposition Center on April 16th & 17th.

 

Thanks ! I did not know that this was going on and I may very well attend. I was surprised how easy it was to get to from NY and will broaden my scope of shows.

[DeadpoolJr.]

 

First I want to say that Dan and Joe put a show together that I was utterly impressed by. This was my first time attending and I look forward to September. I have no problem in saying that I easily enjoyed myself more than I did at the Carbo show and I had the opportunity to see and buy things that I would not normally encounter.

 

It was also nice to shake hands with Gene and I have to publicly thank Jaybuck. I buy comic art within my paygrade and comfort zone. I have spent five figures on a book but I still am not quite there in spending four figures on comic art. Jay has a lot of patience and is a great teacher in pointing things out to me. I come from a different school of thought when it comes to the funny page art and in animation things are similar but slightly different.

 

So here is my review:

 

Setup

The room was easily accessible and it was a different crowd than I was used to at cons. Dealers effectively made use of their space in regards to presentation and ease of going through their inventory. Opposite facing tables were spaced well apart in order to give plenty of room for people to view each dealers table and for people to still navigate the floor. If only all shows were like that.

 

Selection

There was art priced at what I considered reasonable for casual collectors to walk out with something and then there were pieces that were well above my pay grade. There were pieces that I had never seen offered before at the shows or at auction which amazed me. "Romitaman" Mike's Strange Adventures 159 covers is one of those pages that I wish I could own among all others as I am captivated by it. I remember when it came up for auction through Heritage and I put a modest bid in hoping for a power outage across the nation. What was disappointing is that there is a cover that I inquire about whenever I see it but the price only seems to rise due to dealer to dealer transactions. At EVERY NY show I go to one dealer or another seem to have the cover in question (that I am not naming) and it seems to bounce around the room without actually selling to any private collectors. Those pieces are a little disconcerting to see as it was those pieces where I felt the value was overly inflated due to those dealer to dealer transactions. I simply shrug and cannot play into that trap. As another boardie said, there are other venues for almost any comparable piece of comic art at any price level.

 

My purchases and my regret.

I wound up not purchasing anything actually but I did learn a lot. I was very tempted to pick up a page of art but I similar page already from the same issue that I had picked up for 1/3 the price so I let it pass. I recently picked up another Marvel Indiana Jones Trimpe page that I had my eye on and await that in the mail. My big REGRET was NOT picking up the page of Rudy Nebres Savage Sword of Conan art that I saw. There were some fantastic pieces and not being a Conan collector with either the art or the comics, I decided against it. By the time that I was on the Long Island Expressway I had regrets of not picking that piece up from Nebres. If anyone has artist contact info I am thinking of rectifying it. I did however help a fellow boardie make a big purchase with a dealer through Facetime which was kind of fun.

 

All in all it was a good show and one I look to return to.

 

 

Out of curiosity I, like others, am left wondering what piece(s) Mike sold to generate $100k.

 

 

Hi Buzz,

 

Sorry I wasn't able to attend like I was planning. Hopefully we can meet in September.

[Buzzetta]

First I want to say that Dan and Joe put a show together that I was utterly impressed by. This was my first time attending and I look forward to September. I have no problem in saying that I easily enjoyed myself more than I did at the Carbo show and I had the opportunity to see and buy things that I would not normally encounter.

 

It was also nice to shake hands with Gene and I have to publicly thank Jaybuck. I buy comic art within my paygrade and comfort zone. I have spent five figures on a book but I still am not quite there in spending four figures on comic art. Jay has a lot of patience and is a great teacher in pointing things out to me. I come from a different school of thought when it comes to the funny page art and in animation things are similar but slightly different.

 

So here is my review:

 

Setup

The room was easily accessible and it was a different crowd than I was used to at cons. Dealers effectively made use of their space in regards to presentation and ease of going through their inventory. Opposite facing tables were spaced well apart in order to give plenty of room for people to view each dealers table and for people to still navigate the floor. If only all shows were like that.

 

Selection

There was art priced at what I considered reasonable for casual collectors to walk out with something and then there were pieces that were well above my pay grade. There were pieces that I had never seen offered before at the shows or at auction which amazed me. "Romitaman" Mike's Strange Adventures 159 covers is one of those pages that I wish I could own among all others as I am captivated by it. I remember when it came up for auction through Heritage and I put a modest bid in hoping for a power outage across the nation. What was disappointing is that there is a cover that I inquire about whenever I see it but the price only seems to rise due to dealer to dealer transactions. At EVERY NY show I go to one dealer or another seem to have the cover in question (that I am not naming) and it seems to bounce around the room without actually selling to any private collectors. Those pieces are a little disconcerting to see as it was those pieces where I felt the value was overly inflated due to those dealer to dealer transactions. I simply shrug and cannot play into that trap. As another boardie said, there are other venues for almost any comparable piece of comic art at any price level.

 

My purchases and my regret.

I wound up not purchasing anything actually but I did learn a lot. I was very tempted to pick up a page of art but I similar page already from the same issue that I had picked up for 1/3 the price so I let it pass. I recently picked up another Marvel Indiana Jones Trimpe page that I had my eye on and await that in the mail. My big REGRET was NOT picking up the page of Rudy Nebres Savage Sword of Conan art that I saw. There were some fantastic pieces and not being a Conan collector with either the art or the comics, I decided against it. By the time that I was on the Long Island Expressway I had regrets of not picking that piece up from Nebres. If anyone has artist contact info I am thinking of rectifying it. I did however help a fellow boardie make a big purchase with a dealer through Facetime which was kind of fun.

 

All in all it was a good show and one I look to return to.

 

 

Out of curiosity I, like others, am left wondering what piece(s) Mike sold to generate $100k.

 

 

Hi Buzz,

 

Sorry I wasn't able to attend like I was planning. Hopefully we can meet in September.

 

Sounds good man.

[AnkurJ]

My big REGRET was NOT picking up the page of Rudy Nebres Savage Sword of Conan art that I saw. There were some fantastic pieces and not being a Conan collector with either the art or the comics, I decided against it. By the time that I was on the Long Island Expressway I had regrets of not picking that piece up from Nebres. If anyone has artist contact info I am thinking of rectifying it. I did however help a fellow boardie make a big purchase with a dealer through Facetime which was kind of fun.

 

I don't have any contact info, but Nebres will be at the East Coast Comic Con at the Meadowlands Exposition Center on April 16th & 17th.

 

Thanks ! I did not know that this was going on and I may very well attend. I was surprised how easy it was to get to from NY and will broaden my scope of shows.

 

Glad you enjoyed your visit to the Statue of Liberty state

[romitaman]

As a P.S., the dealers need to realize they are losing money by not turning over stock regularly. Eventually, they will just be ignored as their stock stales and prices do not correct. As a middle-budget collector, I have so many outlets available to me to buy art -- DeviantArt, IlluxCon, major and minor auction houses, artist-direct, 2d, reasonable art dealers, LCSs, reps, this forum, CAF, CAF, CAF, and, of course, the great equalizer, ebay.

 

Sorry you had a bad time BC.....Obviously you didnt come to my booth....

 

...but just to give both sides of the coin...i did over 100k in sales and zero money came from other dealers....

 

and I ALWAYS negotiate on art i've had a while....

 

Anyone who knows me knows this is true.

 

Thanks to everyone who attended and i had my best show EVER there!

 

Dan and Joe do a great job....

 

I told them I wish the show was 2 days long versus one, so my 7-8 hour drive each way is worth staying longer than the 6 hour show!

 

Mike

 

Wow! That's terrific. What pieces did you sell? (No need to disclose prices or buyers.) I'm curious what era buyers were present.

 

 

 

 

HI BC!

 

i'm very open with everything and i do think its important in our hobby to know things really do sell to customers...if anyone asks its fine..

 

i did do deals on the following art pieces...and most were negotiated slightly as well....

 

3 Ditko ASM pages....

 

Russ Heath brave and bold 13 splash from 1955

 

John Romita Daredevil #15 battle page...

 

Kirby Black Panther page

 

(all of those were in my newest website update last week)

 

also sold...............

 

Sal Buscema / John Romita Cap 148 page.

 

2 nice tuska ironman battle pages

 

Sal B (1970s) Hulk interior page

 

Gene Colan Tomb Of Dracula page

 

bachalo Xmen page

 

Ditko/Wood Thunder Agents 7 page

 

Kirby Tales of suspense pre hero page

 

Russ manning korak large art page

 

starlin captain Marvel page

 

Sam Keith PROPHET pinup card art

 

Bill Reinhold LODK cover

 

Mike Nasser (Netzer) Huntress cover

 

Not bad in a 6 hour show ...

 

In addition..... i did a lot of deals with people over the internet prior to the show, who were paying off old art deals so the art could be hand delivered to them at the con.

 

As you said..BC.....i'm totally with you on inventory.....I truly HATE having old inventory sitting around and i'll always work out deals for art i've had a long time (if its not very key or important to me) as i prefer to sell for a lower cash sale so I can turn those funds into more art.

 

anyone who wants to deal on anything I have.....look over my website and give me a shout out....

 

I do time payments and/or TRADES as good or better than (I feel) anyone in the hobby

 

Mike

 

www.romitaman.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Buzzetta]

My big REGRET was NOT picking up the page of Rudy Nebres Savage Sword of Conan art that I saw. There were some fantastic pieces and not being a Conan collector with either the art or the comics, I decided against it. By the time that I was on the Long Island Expressway I had regrets of not picking that piece up from Nebres. If anyone has artist contact info I am thinking of rectifying it. I did however help a fellow boardie make a big purchase with a dealer through Facetime which was kind of fun.

 

I don't have any contact info, but Nebres will be at the East Coast Comic Con at the Meadowlands Exposition Center on April 16th & 17th.

 

Thanks ! I did not know that this was going on and I may very well attend. I was surprised how easy it was to get to from NY and will broaden my scope of shows.

 

Glad you enjoyed your visit to the Statue of Liberty state

 

It's rare that I travel out west

[romitaman]

I agree about the prices being what they are. I would not expect dealers to change their pricing for a show like this, why would they? The only thing that will cause pricing to change is not selling enough artwork to meet their needs.

 

I have built my collection through CAF, personal connections, eBay, facebook, forums, auction houses, etc. I think I only have one piece that was bought from a dealer. Less than 1% from dealers (that would make an interesting pie chart – I should break that out). If I don’t buy from the big dealers much via their sites, I wouldn’t see that changing at a con (but I sure would try).

 

I haven’t been to one of these shows but would love to go to see all the artwork, network with fellow collectors and maybe make some connections. I love the idea of collectors getting together and bringing art to trade stories about, maybe sell some pieces, network for what other people are looking for etc. Great idea! I would also think it a good idea to get more artists to set up and do sketches – another great idea (not sure why this doesn’t happen).

 

The drive for a one day event is just too much but I do hope to check one out at some point. I am really glad that this is an option.

 

 

Believe it or not Jade...I was actually thinking about having one of these events at my home!

Back in the early to late 1990's.... We here in the Cleveland area had these events and we called it the NORTH EAST OHIO ART GATHERING...This was years before the Internet became prevalent, and every art collector would take turns having art gatherings at their home.... the last one we had around 1997-98 i'm guessing? It was at my home and that's where I met Bill Cox (CAF FOUNDER) for the first time.... believe it or not..... WALT SIMONSON was supposed to come also with a few collectors but he backed out at the last second I was told, as there was a comic convention earlier in the day of our art gathering that he was at. The con was in Cleveland Ohio, which is about 35 minutes from me as I live in between Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown Ohio (Kent State university area)

But again back to your post.... we all did these things and it was a lot of fun..the problem was....5 or 6 of the old timers all passed away and we stopped having these meetings in the late 90's.

 

I have a pretty big home now and I was thinking of trying to have some sort of comic art gathering at my place as my family room area is almost the size of the old comic art con room, and I think it would be a lot of fun to do something like this, even over the course of 2 days and having a cookout as well to BS about art and whatever.

 

At our last art gathering we had at my home. several hard core art collectors from Detroit and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania made the trip back then, as well as the several collectors from Ohio.

Back in the mid 1990's, these art gatherings were GREAT and everyone was trading and selling art throughout.

 

Funny story here.....Back around 1994-95 or so at one of our art gatherings..Ed Hodder showed off the X-Men #94 cover...... And he told us he got an offer of 15 thousand dollars for the cover.... and he asked everyone what should he do.......ALL OF US told him to SELL SELL SELL!!!! ......And he sold it.

[JadeGiant]

Love that idea Mike. I think there is room to have a show like this and Ohio would be very centrally located for the Midwest.

[Bronty]

I agree about the prices being what they are. I would not expect dealers to change their pricing for a show like this, why would they? The only thing that will cause pricing to change is not selling enough artwork to meet their needs.

 

I have built my collection through CAF, personal connections, eBay, facebook, forums, auction houses, etc. I think I only have one piece that was bought from a dealer. Less than 1% from dealers (that would make an interesting pie chart – I should break that out). If I don’t buy from the big dealers much via their sites, I wouldn’t see that changing at a con (but I sure would try).

 

I haven’t been to one of these shows but would love to go to see all the artwork, network with fellow collectors and maybe make some connections. I love the idea of collectors getting together and bringing art to trade stories about, maybe sell some pieces, network for what other people are looking for etc. Great idea! I would also think it a good idea to get more artists to set up and do sketches – another great idea (not sure why this doesn’t happen).

 

The drive for a one day event is just too much but I do hope to check one out at some point. I am really glad that this is an option.

 

 

Believe it or not Jade...I was actually thinking about having one of these events at my home!

Back in the early to late 1990's.... We here in the Cleveland area had these events and we called it the NORTH EAST OHIO ART GATHERING...This was years before the Internet became prevalent, and every art collector would take turns having art gatherings at their home.... the last one we had around 1997-98 i'm guessing? It was at my home and that's where I met Bill Cox (CAF FOUNDER) for the first time.... believe it or not..... WALT SIMONSON was supposed to come also with a few collectors but he backed out at the last second I was told, as there was a comic convention earlier in the day of our art gathering that he was at. The con was in Cleveland Ohio, which is about 35 minutes from me as I live in between Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown Ohio (Kent State university area)

But again back to your post.... we all did these things and it was a lot of fun..the problem was....5 or 6 of the old timers all passed away and we stopped having these meetings in the late 90's.

 

I have a pretty big home now and I was thinking of trying to have some sort of comic art gathering at my place as my family room area is almost the size of the old comic art con room, and I think it would be a lot of fun to do something like this, even over the course of 2 days and having a cookout as well to BS about art and whatever.

 

At our last art gathering we had at my home. several hard core art collectors from Detroit and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania made the trip back then, as well as the several collectors from Ohio.

Back in the mid 1990's, these art gatherings were GREAT and everyone was trading and selling art throughout.

 

Funny story here.....Back around 1994-95 or so at one of our art gatherings..Ed Hodder showed off the X-Men #94 cover...... And he told us he got an offer of 15 thousand dollars for the cover.... and he asked everyone what should he do.......ALL OF US told him to SELL SELL SELL!!!! ......And he sold it.

 

Ugh. There's one gathering Ed wishes he never attended

[vodou]

Ugh. There's one gathering Ed wishes he never attended

Maybe, but you do realize how big that number was then? At the same time people were tripping over $400 Trimpe Hulk covers. I bought many 70s second tier covers for $100-300. Black Lightning anyone? They were everywhere. Along with everything else to scale. The question is what did Ed do with the money? If he rolled it back in, he did fine. Imagine: 15k becomes 75 "other" covers that now go for $3000ish or more each. That's $225k. Good enough. Right? Or maybe he went to Kirby LA here? Also quite cheap then. I did one deal with him for an incredible full-size Gil Kane Cap cover prelim in 1999. It was $50. I felt I overpaid. Not the same move, but it's surely a $1500 piece today. (Which I think is insane fyi.) And that's just random

[Bronty]

All very true. But even if he did reinvest that amount fully, it probably wasn't into anything as grail-like as that.

 

(I'm not speaking about strict ROI here).

[vodou]

All very true. But even if he did reinvest that amount fully, it probably wasn't into anything as grail-like as that.

 

(I'm not speaking about strict ROI here).

Oh without a doubt there are few comparable "quality" pieces and the distinctions weren't so obvious back then either. Has anybody heard from Ed lately, is he still in the hobby? I haven't seen his name come up in like fifteen years. At least.

[Sriz]

I'll bet even this person would make an exception for the Wolverine-less #137. It may be the X-MEN cover I equate most with the Claremont/Byrne run.

 

There's always the exception that proves the rule. Personally, I'd take the X-Men #94 cover (another Wolverine-less cover) over any of the others, including GSXM #1, UXM #137, UXM #141, etc. When I was starting out collecting, my buddy had a copy of X-Men #94 and used to hold that over me constantly ($100 for a copy might as well have been $1 million back in those days), so that comic was my white whale for a very long time. I am unabashedly about nostalgia first, and everything else second.

 

I'm probably with Bronty, though - it's a close call, but I'd probably rather take the Kane/Cockrum Wolverine-less #95 cover over the Byrne/Austin #127 cover. It's always "a Byrne X-Men" cover that people want, but I'd probably take an early A-quality non-Byrne new X-Men cover over a B-quality X-Men Byrne cover (again, that's B-level relative to the other Byrne covers - of course a B-level Byrne X-Men cover is still better than 99.9% of other art out there).

 

 

Just wanted to say you have some nice signature quotes. Great collection on CAF as well.

[faust1103]

Hi,

 

This is the first time that I bought anything from a Comic Link auction (Dredd page by Bisley).

 

I live in Europe. Do you know how long it takes for Comic Link to ship and which carrier they use?

Thanks.

 

 

[thethedew]

Hi,

 

This is the first time that I bought anything from a Comic Link auction (Dredd page by Bisley).

 

I live in Europe. Do you know how long it takes for Comic Link to ship and which carrier they use?

Thanks.

 

 

Posted in wrong thread?