Romitaman response to everything going on recently

[comix4fun]

There are dealers that I will pass up a grail for. At day's end, it's just artwork. *Ready to dodge bottles...*

 

 

 

Agreed. I've turned my back on too many pieces to count because of who the seller was. I have a "consider the piece burnt in a fire" list of dealers who I won't even speak to, much less deal with.

 

It's a hobby I try to enjoy. I can't imagine losing my self respect just to acquire something for my collection.

[Mephisto]

Sorry, but if this incident is news to anyone that this kind of stuff has been going on in auction houses they are either a newb or have had their head in the sand. There are countless posts on these boards going back years involving various auction houses. These include employee bidding, owners bidding/buying pieces, NP Gresham.I've always just assumed that many people have shill accounts/friends shilling away in many of the auction houses.

 

There is a lot of price manipulation that and exaggeration that goes on. Sorry but it's true. It is nice to kind of have an market range established for pieces but ultimately you just have to decide what you are willing to pay for any given piece.

 

Over the years I have grown to find MANY of the dealers to be complete person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed bags. I would still rather deal with Mike then most of them.

 

Why would you want to deal with it at all? This is the part of the OA hobby equation I have a hard time understanding.

 

Honestly, more than half my pieces have come direct from artists or their immediate reps. There are many dealers websites I no longer check. Not only have the auction houses turned their new item updates into an embarrassment but their customer service is even more embarrassing.

I don't really deal with Heritage for 2 reasons. They rarely have anything that falls under my interests and by opening a site in NY, I am not interested in paying nearly an additional 10% due to NY state tax.

[pkveronese]

There are dealers that I will pass up a grail for. At day's end, it's just artwork. *Ready to dodge bottles...*

 

 

 

Agreed. I've turned my back on too many pieces to count because of who the seller was. I have a "consider the piece burnt in a fire" list of dealers who I won't even speak to, much less deal with.

 

It's a hobby I try to enjoy. I can't imagine losing my self respect just to acquire something for my collection.

 

I'll third this. It's about the fun, not the headaches. I'll be able to live without what they have.

[JadeGiant]

There are dealers that I will pass up a grail for. At day's end, it's just artwork. *Ready to dodge bottles...*

 

 

 

Agreed. I've turned my back on too many pieces to count because of who the seller was. I have a "consider the piece burnt in a fire" list of dealers who I won't even speak to, much less deal with.

 

It's a hobby I try to enjoy. I can't imagine losing my self respect just to acquire something for my collection.

 

I'll third this. It's about the fun, not the headaches. I'll be able to live without what they have.

 

I agree with this line of reasoning - count me in.

 

I wish CAF would add an ignore feature so I could filter out a specific dealer search results that I have no interest in dealing with (and they have a ton of art I would love to have).

[Bill C]

There are dealers that I will pass up a grail for. At day's end, it's just artwork. *Ready to dodge bottles...*

 

 

 

Agreed. I've turned my back on too many pieces to count because of who the seller was. I have a "consider the piece burnt in a fire" list of dealers who I won't even speak to, much less deal with.

 

It's a hobby I try to enjoy. I can't imagine losing my self respect just to acquire something for my collection.

 

I'll third this. It's about the fun, not the headaches. I'll be able to live without what they have.

 

I'll fourth this, but in my case I usually avoid certain artists/ commissions, despite how much I enjoy their work. The hobby isn't fun when you're getting ripped off by people with little integrity. At this point for me it's no contest, I would rather live without than go through all kinds of unnecessary drama when this is all supposed to be about fun

[AKA Rick]

There are dealers that I will pass up a grail for. At day's end, it's just artwork. *Ready to dodge bottles...*

 

 

 

Agreed. I've turned my back on too many pieces to count because of who the seller was. I have a "consider the piece burnt in a fire" list of dealers who I won't even speak to, much less deal with.

 

It's a hobby I try to enjoy. I can't imagine losing my self respect just to acquire something for my collection.

 

I'll third this. It's about the fun, not the headaches. I'll be able to live without what they have.

 

I'll fourth this, but in my case I usually avoid certain artists/ commissions, despite how much I enjoy their work. The hobby isn't fun when you're getting ripped off by people with little integrity. At this point for me it's no contest, I would rather live without than go through all kinds of unnecessary drama when this is all supposed to be about fun

 

I will agree with most in that in general, it's more of a guide than a rule, that there's enough good material out there whether directly from the artist, through a rep, a dealer or other reliable source who are gracious, appreciative, fair and honest who will earn your dollar with proper customer service.

 

You (we) can't own everything, so the solace is in that if you pass up on a piece, there's a good chance you'll be able to find something else you like equal to or better than.

 

There are rare occasions where there's a perceived "must have" whether it's for a flipping agenda to profiteer on as an investment or it's a passion piece sparked by nostalgia or fandom.

 

Circling back to the subject title of this post however, I'd put Mike up there as a person who's earned my loyalty and business 'tho, and any of the recent events doesn't dissuade me from patronizing him, but then again, I have no reason to in that I don't participate in high end art auctions, so those events didn't impact me nor my finances at all. All I know is he's been a good and very pleasant person to deal with through the dozens of transactions I've had with him over the past dozen years or so that I've been purchasing from him, be it via mail or at conventions.

 

There's a lot of dealers out there who've been rude, price gouging or flat out unprofessional who I've stayed away from, don't look at their merchandise at shows or online, and they become out of sight, out of mind, so whatever I miss out on my be my loss, but another dealer's gain, in terms of where I bring my business.

 

I don't think the recent events are a reflection of Mike's integrity more than a lapse in poor judgement for which it appears he's remorseful and rectifying as best he can as well as removing himself from that environment (auction house consignments without reserves).

 

[OldGuy]

There are dealers that I will pass up a grail for. At day's end, it's just artwork. *Ready to dodge bottles...*

 

Just use a shill to buy it. Seems like a popular thing to do these days.

[crassus]

You (we) can't own everything, so the solace is in that if you pass up on a piece, there's a good chance you'll be able to find something else you like equal to or better than.

 

There are rare occasions where there's a perceived "must have" whether it's for a flipping agenda to profiteer on as an investment or it's a passion piece sparked by nostalgia or fandom.

 

Absolutely yes. Its a myth that OA is "one of a kind". It is one of a kind only in a very narrow and limited sense. It has become a dangerous myth as it feeds the junkie dependency of collectors who believe every opportunity is once or gone.

 

The one of a kind fallacy also contributes to the artificial inflation of prices and the especially strong dependency of OA collectors on their dealers.

[Pete Marino]

You (we) can't own everything, so the solace is in that if you pass up on a piece, there's a good chance you'll be able to find something else you like equal to or better than.

 

There are rare occasions where there's a perceived "must have" whether it's for a flipping agenda to profiteer on as an investment or it's a passion piece sparked by nostalgia or fandom.

 

Absolutely yes. Its a myth that OA is "one of a kind". It is one of a kind only in a very narrow and limited sense. It has become a dangerous myth as it feeds the junkie dependency of collectors who believe every opportunity is once or gone.

 

The one of a kind fallacy also contributes to the artificial inflation of prices and the especially strong dependency of OA collectors on their dealers.

 

This is the biggest eye opener I had as I got deeper into OA collecting. Everything is 1:1, but most things you can find more than 1 example. There is a reason there are pricing thresholds for pages, because you can group so many together.

 

But as the quality of what you're looking for goes up your options go down exponentially.