July 5 Dealmakers of Comic Art SUMMARY 3 3

[Guest Race]

I thought I would do a short summary of yesterday's show for the fun of it. Opinions are my own... not sure anyone will like this... but here goes:

1.       Batman 11x14 sketch/Casey Parsons/$200 (G) – This is one you would really have to personally like… not exactly how I picture Batman. Glen took off $5. Yes, $5. NO SALE

2.       Detective Comics 548 pg 5/Jerome Moore and Bruce Patterson/$595 (B) – Green Arrow prominently featured in an action panel stretching across the top third, then in 3 out of the four remaining non-action panels. Passable art but pedestrian, could have been executed by one of a dozen average artists. Bechara went to $495, but… NO SALE

3.       Captain America headshot 9x12 sketch/Mike Zeck/$600 (G) – Aside from the novelty of this being slabbed by CGC, there was nothing remarkable about this piece. NO SALE

4.       Daredevil 345 pg 12/Ron Wagner and Bill Reinhold/$695 (B) – Top third (almost ½ of the page) panel featured the original yellow and red Daredevil lounging in an office chair, the whole page consisted of a conversation between DD and Foggy. Art was fine, page content just meh, Bechara’s offer of $550 went unanswered so… NO SALE

5.       Deadpool - X-men 1 8.5x11 cover prelim/Rob Liefeld/$800 (G) – Wolvie, Marvel Girl, Cyclops, Deadpool and Beast are featured; Beast is… oddly rendered. If you like to see Wolvie’s tongue and his nicely straight teeth, this was the page for you – or Michael Lovitz, who bought it in the bonus round for $500, a 37.5% discount from the ask.

6.       Shi: Rekishi 2 pg 20 splash/JG Jones and Caesar/$1,200 (B) – A splash done in what I affectionally call “Early Valiant Era” (read: Joe St. Pierre). Bechara admitted he didn’t know anything about the book or characters (heck he kept badly mispronouncing “Rekishi” as “Arashi”). That was bad, but the true sin was trying to sell a Crusade Comics page. You are speaking to a core buyer group… no one here wants art from that company, especially when we know what you REALLY have to sell. Bechara went to $900 and no one followed so… NO SALE

7.       Batman 11x17 pencil commission/Steve Epting/$950 (G) – Very nicely rendered and an interesting composition done with a pose and setting reminiscent of Gene Colan’s Tomb of Dracula work. Mike Lovitz got it in the bonus round for $750, a 21% discount.

8.       Hellboy upper body 9x6.5 illustration/Mike Mignola/$1,400 (B) – If you like grizzled and basic Hellboy (just him looking at the camera, no weapons, no background), this was for you. But I kept thinking, “How many of these has Mignola produced?” and “How many will he keep producing?” It’s not as if these are being done once and then litho’d a limited amount of times. As it turns out, $1,400 was too high – and $1,300 was too high, too, so… NO SALE

9.       Batman: Dark Night 2 pg 13/David Finch and Scott Williams/$1,100 (G) – Batman tied to a large pile of explosives at top third… middle third close-ups of Bats… bottom third Bats being slapped! The usual Finch and Williams quality, of course, but that bottom panel… maybe it’s me, but if I’m going to buy a Bats page I kinda want him to be working through a problem, or soaring at the end of a Batrope, or fighting… but tied up and getting slapped?!? Er, no. Glen went to $950, but there were no takers. NO SALE

10.   Fantastic Four 154 pg 27/Bob Brown and Frank Giacoia/$1,850 (B) – Torch, Mr. F and the Thing all battle “The Mystery Man” (dunn dunn dunn)! It’s the typical FF battle page you could find anywhere in issues 120-160, done competently enough by Bob and Frank. Bechara didn’t get a bite the first time around but his later offer of $1,650 did the trick, meaning it sold at a 10% discount to the ask. (BTW the villain was actually Fury in disguise testing the FF!!)

11.   Hulk Magazine 16 pg 29/Mike Zeck and John Tartaglione/$1,500 (G) – Four panels in the middle of the Hulk underwater (!) bracketed by top and bottom panels of Bruce in bed. Inking is not great and the page is a slow one, with Bruce doing a lot of thinking. If you think “Hulk page,” well, this wasn’t it. Glen lowered the price to $1,200 but… NO SALE

12.   Avengers 393 pgs 15-16 (DPS)/Mike Deodato and Tom Palmer/$2,500 (B) – Non-action page featuring Goliath holding an almost-dead Wasp. Very 90s style (gritted teeth, everyone with super high cheekbones to include Jarvis, those floating “reaction” windows over the panels, etc). I liked it, but it had some really odd yellow staining across portions of both pages which made it a non-starter for me. Bechara rolled out a later offer of $2,200, but was met with crickets. NO SALE

13.   Chaos King 1 pg 9/Mike Kaluta/$1,500 (G) – Galactus and the Surfer! Mike Lovitz bought it in the bonus round for $1,200, a 20% discount.

14.   X-Men 25 pg 4 (large art)/Werner Roth and Ayers/$3,200 (B) – Cyclops fells a tree and yells timber, the X-Men escape a burning building, and it all ends with two panels of the X-Men in civvies – including Jean, as she wonders for the thousandth time, “Does Scott like me?” It’s a classic Roth X page… and it sold when Bechara lowered the price to $2,900, a 9% discount.

15.   Judge Dredd 8x11 sketch/Brian Bolland/$1,750 (G) – Dated 2009, Dredd is just standing there (no dynamic pose), art is a little loose. It looked and felt like a 15 minute convention sketch. Glen dropped it to $1,400  but no luck… NO SALE

16.   Incredible Hulk 154 pg 10/Herb Trimpe and John Severin/$3,600 (B) – The page features Hulk escaping from Hydra forces. Wait, did I forget to mention he is ANT SIZED?!? Maybe he was escaping to go to Zoolander’s School for Ants… Bechara dropped the price to $3,400, $3,200 was offered by the buyer and voila! it sold at $3,300.

17.   JLA 98 cover/Chuck Wojtkiewicz and Bob Dvorak/$3,500 (G) – Blue Devil and Flash and please stop, this was the ugliest thing presented. Flash’s winglet is a triangle, for the love of Kirby. A TRIANGLE. Just shred it, for the sake of OA collectors everywhere. Glen floated a price of $3,000 but everyone on the chat had some taste, so… NO SALE

18.   Tales of Suspense 56 pg 7/Don Heck/$3,500 (B) – Happy Hogan fights the Unicorn, Pepper tries to call for help, no IM whatsoever, and art in all of Don’s Don-ness. The dialogue is snappy: We are treated the Unicorn telling Happy, “You no longer amuse me!” $3,200 was Bechara’s best offer but… NO SALE

19.   Amazing Spider-Man 383 pg 1 splash/Mark Bagley and Randy Emberlin/$6,500 (G) – Muscled Nova! Flying Nova! Nova with a 5 o’clock shadow! GRRRR! Leaving aside all the muscled glory, is anyone EVER going to pay $6,500 for a minor character drawn by Bagley?!? Glen brought it down to $6,000, Bechara and Will threw in some extra rah rah rahs, but… NO SALE

20.   Green Lantern 156 pg ? splash/Gil Kane/$6,500 (B) – Super page of a small GL over a larger GL over a starfield. A nice page, bit one which Bechara, Glen and Will all tried to persuade us was soooo inexpensive compared to what it “should be” (no, Bechara, this is not a $20,000 page). I don’t mind the dealer shilling his wares, but when all three jump in it gets uncomfortable… way too much like collusion for my taste. Hell, it’s bad enough Glen keeps buying stuff from Bechara and then tacking on an additional 40%, we aren’t blind here… That said, an offer came in for $5,500… Bechara countered with $5,800… Nick Barucci swooped in with an offer of $5,700 at the very end and took it home at a 12% discount.        

[Unstoppablejayd]

Very nice! I love this... Please if you have the time I would enjoy these write ups for both shows in a running thread!

Thank you!

[cloud cloddie]

You’re hired, and we’ll expect this now after every claim show. 

Or you can do a voiceover recap of the actual show, MST3 style. That would actually make DM palatable. 

[diva_tsarina]

so only one third of the items sold? seems 'dealmakers' is a misnomer. I haven't watched any of these shows, is this sell through rate typical for this show? whats the sell rate on dueling dealers? 

[GreatEscape]

1 hour ago, Race said:

 

20.   Green Lantern 156 pg ? splash/Gil Kane/$6,500 (B) – Super page of a small GL over a larger GL over a starfield. A nice page, bit one which Bechara, Glen and Will all tried to persuade us was soooo inexpensive compared to what it “should be” (no, Bechara, this is not a $20,000 page). I don’t mind the dealer shilling his wares, but when all three jump in it gets uncomfortable… way too much like collusion for my taste. Hell, it’s bad enough Glen keeps buying stuff from Bechara and then tacking on an additional 40%, we aren’t blind here… That said, an offer came in for $5,500… Bechara countered with $5,800… Nick Barucci swooped in with an offer of $5,700 at the very end and took it home at a 12% discount.        

For reference, the Kane GL splash sold twice at Heritage.  Sold in 2014 for $4481 and again in 2019 for $3600.   Solid return for Bechara (smart to emphasize value vs. 2014) and a great pick-up by Nick.  

[NicoV]

Thanks for the summary, was interesting to read! Now I would just like a summary in the summary! Something like a per dealer breakdown with number of offered pieces / total value against percentage of sold pieces / average discount. 

[EXPhysiker]

7 hours ago, Race said:

9.       Batman: Dark Night 2 pg 13/David Finch and Scott Williams/$1,100 (G) – Batman tied to a large pile of explosives at top third… middle third close-ups of Bats… bottom third Bats being slapped! The usual Finch and Williams quality, of course, but that bottom panel… maybe it’s me, but if I’m going to buy a Bats page I kinda want him to be working through a problem, or soaring at the end of a Batrope, or fighting… but tied up and getting slapped?!? Er, no. Glen went to $950, but there were no takers. NO SALE

 

I am searching for a David Finch Batman piece for my collection. Glen putted this piece on his side some month ago for $1.100 and reduced to I think $800 later. I hoping for a better page, so I passed weeks ago.

[timguerrero]

Thank you for this recap! If you could do this every week it would be highly appreciated. It would save me some time hearing them toot there own horn on there "awesome prices". It seems to me that a FMV for the pieces they sell would be 20% lower than there asking price but then again if they read this they will just make the price another 20% higher, lol. I concur name shouldn't be dealmakers as they rarely have any real deals for buyers.

[Drummy]

Hey Race Bannon --

Super fun summary and commentary -- I really enjoyed reading it.  Keep 'em coming if you have the time and energy -- all the best,

Dan

[MyNameIsLegion]

we just need screen shots!  Might save you time on general descriptions of the art.  I'm waiting for Glen to claim one of Bechara's pieces right there live during the show, then resell the next week as his own.

[Lee B.]

Very interesting write-up Race, nice work!  This sort of thing takes time, so I would not begrudge you asking for donations or setting up a Patreon account (or something) where donors get access to a "deluxe" report that includes some of the analytics Nico wants, Taylor's chat highlights, and/or the images Legion requested.  I would be into it!

[jjonahjameson11]

I am really, really, really trying not to be pessimistic about the offerings/pricing/purchases from the 'Dealmakers of Comic Art’ claim show, but taking a critical perspective of the past four? shows, how many claims were made by people whose name is not Nick Barrucci or Mike Lovitz?  Perhaps a half dozen?

Edited July 7, 2021 by jjonahjameson11

[artdealer]

9 hours ago, GreatEscape said:

For reference, the Kane GL splash sold twice at Heritage.  Sold in 2014 for $4481 and again in 2019 for $3600.   Solid return for Bechara (smart to emphasize value vs. 2014) and a great pick-up by Nick.  

And will NEVER be worth $20,000 no matter how much Bechara wishes and prays. 

[artdealer]

4 minutes ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

I am really, really, really trying not to be pessimistic about the offerings/pricing/purchases from the 'Dueling Dealmakers' claim show, but taking a critical perspective of the past four? shows, how many claims were made by people whose name is not Nick Barrucci or Mike Lovitz?  Perhaps a half dozen?

I think we need to applause Micheal Lovitz and Nick Barucci for propping up the art market by themselves.

Where the hell is everyone else?

Oh, that’s right, on the floor from laughing too hard to “claim”.

 

[Twanj]

1 minute ago, artdealer said:

I think we need to applause Micheal Lovitz and Nick Barucci for propping up the art market by themselves.

Where the hell is everyone else?

Oh, that’s right, on the floor from laughing too hard to “claim”.

 

I'm not familiar with their collecting habits but is anyone buying art for themselves to enjoy like me?

Seems like a ton of "recycling" and shell game going on.

[artdealer]

Just now, Twanj said:

I'm not familiar with their collecting habits but is anyone buying art for themselves to enjoy like me?

Seems like a ton of "recycling" and shell game going on.

More than you know. 

[Twanj]

3 minutes ago, artdealer said:

More than you know. 

How does dealer to dealer "trade" (?) work?

Is it on consignment?

Or if something's sitting on one dealer's site and not selling at $1,000 - do they say well that's not selling, I'll outright buy that at $800, then offer it up on their site to a new audience for $1,600?

[Doc McCoy]

Thanks for the summary.  My only suggestion for next time would be if you can summarize the total number/highest number of viewers tuning in.  

[John E.]

49 minutes ago, Twanj said:

How does dealer to dealer "trade" (?) work?

Is it on consignment?

Or if something's sitting on one dealer's site and not selling at $1,000 - do they say well that's not selling, I'll outright buy that at $800, then offer it up on their site to a new audience for $1,600?

My observations seem to confirm this. I’ve seen stale inventory from one dealer move to another dealer’s site (likely due to trade) with a new markup, then, sold. It’s like they have a different audience, or someone is more comfortable buying from one dealer or another. Or maybe it’s their “marketing” reach. Will Gabri-el somewhat talks about this in one of the early CAF shows. 

[jjonahjameson11]

11 hours ago, GreatEscape said:

For reference, the Kane GL splash sold twice at Heritage.  Sold in 2014 for $4481 and again in 2019 for $3600.   Solid return for Bechara (smart to emphasize value vs. 2014) and a great pick-up by Nick.  

Thanks for the prior HA results.  Interesting to note that this piece decreased in value by ~20% during the 5-year period from May 2014-2019.  Additionally, I'm not so sure that it is a great pick-up.

I took a look at larger images of the OA in HA's archives, and I personally don't like all of the marker fading that was evident in the 2014 image, and to a lesser extent in the 2019 image (they darkened the hues on the image to reduce the amount of marker fading).  However, if the extent of marker fading on this piece doesn't bother folks as much as it bothers me, then maybe it was an 'OK' price for this piece? 

Edited July 7, 2021 by jjonahjameson11