Miller DK3 Cover Reported Sold for $55K at Big Apple Show 1 1

[SquareChaos]

1 minute ago, delekkerste said:

It's great. 

I can't believe that anyone who has $55K to spend on this cover would consider it to be any kind of replacement/substitution for a killer piece from the original DKR.  

As an important aside, there are competing factions looking to represent Frank Miller in his art sales.  I wonder how that is affecting the sales of the art.  

 

 

You may be right. I mean, I don't really know how this came about...

Theoretically, if this had come up for auction, what would the estimates from the peanut gallery have been? My barely educated guess would not have been anywhere near this number, it's twice what my highest guess would have been. I know trying to figure out why someone likes a piece of art can be futile, and it isn't like this is Frank's recent Gollum / Wonder Woman cover so this isn't a bad piece, but it is definitely curious to me.
Unless I hear other interesting theories I'll just chalk it up to the fat wallets in this hobby and get on with my life.

[NinjaSealed]

5 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

 As an important aside, there are competing factions looking to represent Frank Miller in his art sales.  I wonder how that is affecting the sales of the art.  

The whole new Miller art market comes off as a huge cash grab to me, with a lot of parties vying over getting a piece of the pie. 

 

[zhamlau]

1 hour ago, SquareChaos said:

You may be right. I mean, I don't really know how this came about...

Theoretically, if this had come up for auction, what would the estimates from the peanut gallery have been? My barely educated guess would not have been anywhere near this number, it's twice what my highest guess would have been. I know trying to figure out why someone likes a piece of art can be futile, and it isn't like this is Frank's recent Gollum / Wonder Woman cover so this isn't a bad piece, but it is definitely curious to me.
Unless I hear other interesting theories I'll just chalk it up to the fat wallets in this hobby and get on with my life.

 

I dont think it sucks the more i look at it. Its a good drawing and it feels very miller esque...but modern Miller. If this goes to auction, maybe 20k because its technically a dark knight series cover by miller, and its well done for what it is?

 

[Bronty]

I was thinking 25, maybe 30, by the rule of "double what I think is reasonable".   But yeah, would have to be way short of 55k, one would think.    That said, its one of the nicest modern millers in a long time. I haven't liked much of the recent stuff.

[delekkerste]

No DKR panel page has sold for $55K at public auction, and there have been some pretty good ones.  That beat-up Bruce/Carrie DKR #2 splash only sold for $41.8K in 2013, and a great Bats/Kelly piece from the 10th Anniversary edition sold for the same amount in 2012.

$55K could almost have gotten both that DKR page in the last CLink auction (the one with the Batman on horse top panel) plus the 20th Anniversary Absolute DKR Cover (if you prefer single images).  The two of those together fetched a combined $58,201 in 2017 and 2016, respectively.  

I don't think there's any way to justify the sale price other than somebody really liked/wanted that particular image.  Unless there were some important other details not disclosed that we don't know about. 

Edited March 14, 2017 by delekkerste

[SquareChaos]

16 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

No DKR panel page has sold for $55K at public auction, and there have been some pretty good ones.  That beat-up Bruce/Carrie DKR #2 splash only sold for $41.8K in 2013, and a great Bats/Kelly piece from the 10th Anniversary edition sold for the same amount in 2012.

$55K could almost have gotten both that DKR page in the last CLink auction (the one with the Batman on horse top panel) plus the 20th Anniversary Absolute DKR Cover (if you prefer single images).  The two of those together fetched a combined $58,201 in 2017 and 2016, respectively.  

I don't think there's any way to justify the sale price other than somebody really liked/wanted that particular image.  Unless there were some important other details not disclosed that we don't know about. 

Depends. What if they wanted an issue cover? But at this point, who knows.

[vodou]

16 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

Unless there were some important other details not disclosed that we don't know about. 

Which should never be discounted as a possibility when the broker can also be a dealer.

[delekkerste]

20 minutes ago, SquareChaos said:

Depends. What if they wanted an issue cover? 

Nah.  I don't know anybody who would insist on a 2016-17 era cover just to have a FM cover from a franchise launched in 1986.  If they wanted a single-image piece, there has been at least one true splash from DKR that has sold for less than that, some splash-y interiors as well, plus single-images from DK2, the 10th Anniversary Edition and the Absolute DKR edition from 2006.  

 

19 minutes ago, vodou said:

Which should never be discounted as a possibility when the broker can also be a dealer.

The possibilities are limitless!  Though, if I had to speculate on the buyer, my short list would include: (1) The Impossible Collection guy (Hariri), (2) Metro/CC themselves, (3) Jim Lee (he was at the show w/Frank), (4) the other guys who rep Frank (showing Frank they can deliver buyers and that they should stick with them), (5) Michael Uslan.  

David Mandel (the DKR #3 splash buyer) has denied any involvement in this sale on Facebook.

This is total, rank speculation on my part!  

Edited March 14, 2017 by delekkerste

[SquareChaos]

6 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

Nah.  I don't know anybody who would insist on a 2016-17 era cover just to have a FM cover from a franchise launched in 1986.  If they wanted a single-image piece, there has been at least one true splash from DKR that has sold for less than that, some splash-y interiors as well, plus single-images from DK2, the 10th Anniversary Edition and the Absolute DKR edition from 2006.  

 

The possibilities are limitless!  Though, if I had to speculate on the buyer, my short list would include: (1) The Impossible Collection guy (Hariri), (2) Metro/CC themselves, (3) Jim Lee (he was at the show w/Frank), (4) the other guys who rep Frank (showing Frank they can deliver buyers and that they should stick with them), (5) Michael Uslan.  

David Mandel (the DKR #3 splash buyer) has denied any involvement in this sale on Facebook.

This is total, rank speculation on my part!  

Thanks for your insight - for what it is worth, I think the point you make about the sale being perhaps... somewhat manufactured?... begins to seems more likely to me. I just can't rationalize it from any other facet other than 'rich guy that doesn't look at money the same as most'.

[NoMan]

3 hours ago, NinjaSealed said:

The whole new Miller art market comes off as a huge cash grab to me, with a lot of parties vying over getting a piece of the pie. 

 

Why do you believe it's a cash grab? I'm not arguing with you, I'm just curious about the Miller OA market and know very little about it. Thinking about trying to get a piece of his Daredevil run in the next 2 or 3 years. 

[delekkerste]

13 minutes ago, SquareChaos said:

Thanks for your insight - for what it is worth, I think the point you make about the sale being perhaps... somewhat manufactured?... begins to seems more likely to me. I just can't rationalize it from any other facet other than 'rich guy that doesn't look at money the same as most'.

I don't know if the sale was "manufactured" or not, but I have to wonder, unless Jim Lee decided to buy it while he was at the show, what the odds are that someone just walks through the door at the Big Apple Con and decides to drop $55K on this piece?  You would think it would make a lot more sense if the sale was partially or wholly pre-arranged before the show.

Not that people and dealers haven't dropped this much or more on pieces at shows before.  But, for this particular (very recent) piece, at this show, at that price...not exactly a likely candidate for an impulse buy.    

Edited March 14, 2017 by delekkerste

[BCarter27]

I think it was just a case of "buy the best". It was the nicest of the batch (imo) AND it was a published cover. Covers always seem to get an illogical bump against comparative splashes. (And then I swoop in on said splash! lol)

In person, it was very textured vs. the other pieces. A truly unique, beautiful example of modern Miller. I think in many ways, Miller is still trailblazing and showing how far comic art can go. I really liked it.

If I played at that tier, I would have valued it in high 30Ks. But here's the real rub... if you want to jump the line and get the A+ pieces, you gotta pay that extra fixed price dealer/rep toll. Now, the next person that goes through that batch sees that red sticker and knows they were beat to the punch. (And I think anyone who thinks they are above all that needs to do some self-reflection.)

I think there is also a class of art collector that likes putting money directly into an artist's hands and/or buying fresh off the drawing board. There is none of that "Oh, I had that piece back in the 2000s and traded it away." Nope, not in this case. You never had it and you never will. It's just another level of exclusivity.

All that aside, a couple of those remaining Bats + Robin pieces are pretty iconic if you want a more recognizably DKR image.

[Bronty]

33 minutes ago, SquareChaos said:

Thanks for your insight - for what it is worth, I think the point you make about the sale being perhaps... somewhat manufactured?... begins to seems more likely to me. I just can't rationalize it from any other facet other than 'rich guy that doesn't look at money the same as most'.

Yeah, 1) and 2) make a lot of sense.

[Nexus]

With Stan Lee cutting back show appearances, Frank Miller is poised to become the biggest name on the circuit. That's on top of the art he has to sell. We're talking serious, serious money, of course. I would expect that all parties involved would do whatever they felt necessary to either land him, or keep him.

As astounding as Metro's $55K "sale" has been, the other side has apparently one-upped them with an even more incredible "sale" of their own! Haha!!

It's been more entertaining than the Kevin Durant sweepstakes!

[Bronty]

3 minutes ago, Nexus said:

With Stan Lee cutting back show appearances, Frank Miller is poised to become the biggest name on the circuit. That's on top of the art he has to sell. We're talking serious, serious money, of course. I would expect that all parties involved would do whatever they felt necessary to either land him, or keep him.

As astounding as Metro's $55K "sale" has been, the other side has apparently one-upped them with an even more incredible "sale" of their own! Haha!!

It's been more entertaining than the Kevin Durant sweepstakes!

I certainly wonder if some of the huge prices on frazetta were due to the same hunt for business amongst competing agents.

[Bronty]

4 minutes ago, Nexus said:

With Stan Lee cutting back show appearances, Frank Miller is poised to become the biggest name on the circuit. That's on top of the art he has to sell. We're talking serious, serious money, of course. I would expect that all parties involved would do whatever they felt necessary to either land him, or keep him.

As astounding as Metro's $55K "sale" has been, the other side has apparently one-upped them with an even more incredible "sale" of their own! Haha!!

It's been more entertaining than the Kevin Durant sweepstakes!

are you able to tell us about the 'one-up' sale?

[fsumavila]

On 3/14/2017 at 3:27 PM, delekkerste said:

Nah.  I don't know anybody who would insist on a 2016-17 era cover just to have a FM cover from a franchise launched in 1986.  If they wanted a single-image piece, there has been at least one true splash from DKR that has sold for less than that, some splash-y interiors as well, plus single-images from DK2, the 10th Anniversary Edition and the Absolute DKR edition from 2006.  

 

The possibilities are limitless!  Though, if I had to speculate on the buyer, my short list would include: (1) The Impossible Collection guy (Hariri), (2) Metro/CC themselves, (3) Jim Lee (he was at the show w/Frank), (4) the other guys who rep Frank (showing Frank they can deliver buyers and that they should stick with them), (5) Michael Uslan.  

David Mandel (the DKR #3 splash buyer) has denied any involvement in this sale on Facebook.

This is total, rank speculation on my part!  

Not sure of the other possibilities, but I know Jim didn't buy it. 

[Overthetopinc]

Are you guys aware this cover sold for 60k before the one this thread is about did? I dig it!

 

 

 

[delekkerste]

51 minutes ago, Overthetopinc said:

Are you guys aware this cover sold for 60k before the one this thread is about did? I dig it!

That's what I heard, that it was sold by Frank's other reps for $60K.  Did you buy it, Matt?  If you did indeed buy the cover straight up for $60K, that would be good to know, as it would go a long way to validating that these are real prices being paid by real buyers, and are not being bought or subsidized by, or traded for other art or future business or otherwise incentivized by the various selling parties competing to rep Frank. 

[BCarter27]

What did that unpub Elektra go for in the NYCC charity auction? 12K? 15K? It was a nice piece and it went to a collector.