What ONE piece of art would you be willing to give up your entire collection for 0

[Rodey]

I may do it for the Splash page of the New Warriors in Thor 410 or 411.

[JadeGiant]

This sounds like a game show: Deal or No Deal: Comic Art

 

This is an easy no for me, for a few reasons:

 

I don’t know what my collection is worth so I don’t know what I would be looking at in terms of a singular page equivalent. Before I read the FMV boundary my immediate thought was for the Kirby cover to Hulk #1 but other than that, I don’t have anything that comes to mind.

 

I agree with Doc about the sum of my collection being greater than its parts in terms of value. Eric and Gene said it very well also. So a straight value for value deal would make no sense for me. The collection that I have amassed is very personal to me and while I will surely sell/trade some of it off at some time I look at it as much more than just a stack of paper. I feel more like a Hulk art museum curator than a collector.

 

If the FMV limitation was removed it would still be very hard. At that point value and possible life style change would have to become part of the equation. As much as I hate to admit it, a 7 figure piece of art in exchange for my collection would be a game changer for sure. Since this is not going to happen, the answer is still an easy no deal.

 

[Doc Joe]

I was under the assumption that the AF 15 cover was in the Lib. of Cong. but it sounds like its 'just' the inner pages

[batman_fan]

I would actually consider it for a few Steve Ditko Spiderman splashes like issues 5, 6, and 26.

[Bird]

I considered it a few years ago...sell it all and buy a Ditko Doc. I decided I would not be happy doing so but that was not the end of my thoughts on the subject. That single thought, trade it all for a Ditko Doc, led to culling my collection and eventually paring it to The Fifty.

 

Quality over quantity every day of the week. Going to only one piece is tough, as we all have multiple sweet spots, but cutting and consolidating was good for me. I love my collection a lot more now, even if I miss 500 pieces. I have a Winsor McCay and a Moebius now.

[Fred Chamberlain]

There isn't a single piece that I'd trade my entire collection for. The two that Id' toss much of it at for would be:

 

Amazing Spider-Man #170 cover

 

Marvel Team-Up #53 cover

[vodou]

Most of what I want in comic/illustration art is obtainable for much less than fmv of my collection, much less even than my cost basis. Which means I'd have to make some sacrifices (of course) but hardly drop down to "1". And for some reason that's about where my interest level dies. I've not thrilled with what I've got on the whole, only certain individual items (some pieces I've simply had for sooooooo long) but I'm not thrilled to seriously consider "possibilities" either. Maybe it's just that day of the week for me, you know...the one when you don't care about comic art as much or maybe at all?

 

I think I'd have to go Fine Art to get excited and to get to the fmv required to swap "all for 1". Conservatively (estimating fmv that is) any major Frazetta (though...sorta too small dimensionally in many cases) or aggressively a minor Picasso, Basquiat, Rembrandt drawing, somewhere in there...the beauty and grace (or lack!) defining an "era".

[vodou]

...led to culling my collection and eventually paring it to The Fifty.

How is The Fifty doing these days, it's been a long time since I saw the thread on the first page. Got Fifty yet?

 

Per my above post, I may try this, just to wake things up a bit...

[Bird]

...led to culling my collection and eventually paring it to The Fifty.

How is The Fifty doing these days, it's been a long time since I saw the thread on the first page. Got Fifty yet?

 

Per my above post, I may try this, just to wake things up a bit...

 

Not yet. I don't want 50 yet. Soon perhaps. Getting the first 35 or so was easy as I had many of them already. But buying more discerningly is tough, so only one sure addition to The Fifty this year. (I got sidetracked into Mignola ink pieces a bit.)

 

I almost bought a nice piece last week in fact, a sure entry into The Fifty but The Price was a bit much for me (perhaps setting an artist record in fact?). I also almost went for some Alex Raymond pieces throughout the year but it never happened.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Bird

[Dumur]

Interesting. I am actually finding myself in a position where I want to significantly reduce my collection. I just can;t seem to do it. But due to this current way I am feeling and "removing" the FMV attachment since I don't really know the "value" of two of the pieces I want, I would trade my collection for either of DKR #1 cover, Watchmen #1 cover or Killing Joke #1 cover.

 

Don;t get me wring, I love my collection, but all of the pieces I own have "reasonable replacements" I could likely find that, though may not be EXACTLY the piece I already own, they come close in terms of memory, nostalgia etc.

 

The above three pieces don't have anything close. In fact, if I had to pick one, it would be the DKR #1 cover... even though it is actually more design than "art". That cover is everything to me.

[Nexus]

Forget one piece, I don't think there's a COLLECTION out there that I'd trade mine for, straight up. For all the reasons that have been expressed...I'm just too emotionally attached to mine. Which, when you consider relative value, is just plain dumb.

 

This is also why, for those of us whose collections hold so much meaning (beyond reason), OA is a terrible "investment". We won't "cash out", in whatever form, so any appreciation of value that has occurred is largely theoretical.

[Nexus]

Interesting. I am actually finding myself in a position where I want to significantly reduce my collection. I just can;t seem to do it. But due to this current way I am feeling and "removing" the FMV attachment since I don't really know the "value" of two of the pieces I want, I would trade my collection for either of DKR #1 cover, Watchmen #1 cover or Killing Joke #1 cover.

 

Don;t get me wring, I love my collection, but all of the pieces I own have "reasonable replacements" I could likely find that, though may not be EXACTLY the piece I already own, they come close in terms of memory, nostalgia etc.

 

The above three pieces don't have anything close. In fact, if I had to pick one, it would be the DKR #1 cover... even though it is actually more design than "art". That cover is everything to me.

 

DKR #1 is hands-down my favorite comic book cover, ever.

 

Wouldn't trade my collection for it, though.

 

OTOH...if I owned DKR #1, and it was the only piece I had? Not sure I'd trade it for my collection, either!

[ComicArtMall]

I'm not sure I'd be able to give up my entire collection. I could give up half of it...or maybe even 75% of it...but there are some pieces I have that I LOVE, spent countless hours to find, and would prefer to keep. Especially if the art I'm replacing is around the equal value of the art I have.

[JadeGiant]

Forget one piece, I don't think there's a COLLECTION out there that I'd trade mine for, straight up. For all the reasons that have been expressed...I'm just too emotionally attached to mine. Which, when you consider relative value, is just plain dumb.

 

This.

 

I actually used to think about this periodically as my collection grew. As a big Hulk collector, there were always other collections based on the character that I liked a lot and I wondered if I would trade collections if offered. I always decided that I would not, even when my collection was probably inferior from a value perspective.

[vodou]

This is also why, for those of us whose collections hold so much meaning (beyond reason), OA is a terrible "investment". We won't "cash out", in whatever form, so any appreciation of value that has occurred is largely theoretical.

Too true. OA that you intend to die with (or will not sell when it's technically 'time' to) is both absolutely priceless and absolutely worthless (monetarily). Except to your heirs. They'll take 30% fmv in a HA Sunday night dumpfest all day long

[comicwiz]

Forget one piece, I don't think there's a COLLECTION out there that I'd trade mine for, straight up. For all the reasons that have been expressed...I'm just too emotionally attached to mine. Which, when you consider relative value, is just plain dumb.

 

This is also why, for those of us whose collections hold so much meaning (beyond reason), OA is a terrible "investment". We won't "cash out", in whatever form, so any appreciation of value that has occurred is largely theoretical.

 

I can completely relate to this, with the only exception being that I pared down an extensive toy collection I had spent years amassing becuase I couldn't display it all. The other reason being I was divided in my focus, and wanted to concentrate on OA. Now that I've done this, I'm struggling with the same issue. Most of it is sitting in flat file cabinets or on shelves, with maybe only a dozen pieces framed, not all of those are on the wall. Rotating them every 6 months or so helped, but there is simply no way I would ever be able to display it all. So the concept of buying into one or a handful of pieces I could enjoy framed on my walls is not completely out of the question, but it would be a very difficult decision.

[eewwnuk]

I wouldn't do it. my 'grail' piece should have a FMV of $2-3k if it ever surfaces which is a dollar figure that is digestible.

[RabidFerret]

Very interesting topic. For me at least, what's tricky is that I already have that piece! My ASM300 grail is the single piece I'd trade it all for. If I didn't have it? Yes, I'd certainly consider it, even if it was seriously tilted financially against me. It's a personal grail that means a lot to my life, much moreso than any of the other piece of art on the planet.

 

If I just think within comics, there's not a single piece that would tempt me...not AF15, FF1, Action1, SM1, etc.

 

But if I dip outside of comics there may be a very slim temptation if you could get something like Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post paintings(imagine the reflection one??) or Drew Struzan's Back to the Future painting. It still might not be enough, but it would at least be a conversation.

 

[comiconxion]

I have the piece of comic art I want the most - the 1st Punisher poster by Zeck & Zimelman. It's not the most expensive piece of comic art in existence, but it's one that I loved when it hung on my wall when I was a kid. And the original is even bigger!

 

I've thought about trading a good chunk of my collection for a key piece that I could really enjoy:

- The X-Men #1 splash

- One of the nice Jerry Robinson Detective Joker covers

- Superman #14 cover

- A Ditko Spidey cover

- The X-Men GS #1 or #94 covers

- The Hulk #181 or ASM #129 covers (assuming they exist)

 

Not all the pieces would even be available, but in reality, what gets me nervous is to have so much money tied up in one piece.

 

If I were to truly consolidate into one piece, it would be for the most classic Norman Rockwell cover that I could afford. But, it takes a lot of comic art to add up to one of those thanks to Spielberg & Lucas.

[Brian Peck]

I was under the assumption that the AF 15 cover was in the Lib. of Cong. but it sounds like its 'just' the inner pages

 

Just the interiors to AF 15 are housed at the Library of Congress.