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WARNING: Coolines Sandman Poster Art
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32 posts in this topic

On 12/11/2021 at 12:30 PM, thehumantorch said:

Why anyone would buy off Cool Lines is beyond me.

I have been thinking about this lately. Not to be morbid (there is no intention to be so here) but what happens when the 'brothers' decide to retire or pass on? They don't have a 'business' that has value, they have inventory that has value.Unless someone is passionate and wants to carry on the scam  I would assume it would be sold off. Now to my potentially very dumb question. Do they have enough art that, if it was knowingly going to be sold off, would impact the market?

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Here’s some very easy advice to follow when accidentally looking at art posted by coolines, aka The Donnelly Bros. 
 

ASSUME IT IS FAKE

CLOSE BROWSER TAB

whats harder to catch is art they launder through auction houses with stats and overlays. If the art is pre-1990 and it’s on a plastic overlay, it’s not original. 
 

and don’t EVER buy any Gil Kane art from them unless you’ve sent it to a laboratory to determine when it was last inked (this is not practical in most cases, so refer back to advice above)

Edited by MyNameIsLegion
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On 2/26/2022 at 1:36 PM, ignimbrite said:

I have been thinking about this lately. Not to be morbid (there is no intention to be so here) but what happens when the 'brothers' decide to retire or pass on? They don't have a 'business' that has value, they have inventory that has value.Unless someone is passionate and wants to carry on the scam  I would assume it would be sold off. Now to my potentially very dumb question. Do they have enough art that, if it was knowingly going to be sold off, would impact the market?

This is difficult to quantify but they have been hoarding art for 40 years. Their sell thru is abysmal but that’s not their goal. There’s a pathological element to how they conduct themselves and it’s very likely they have a collection in the 5 figures in terms of number of pieces. It runs the gamut of individual pieces that could be  6 figures to 20 bucks, but they treat II all with a bat guano crazy zeal to inflate its value because they can’t let anything go unless they can rationalize they will get even more money and art from it. This is why they go to such great lengths to create fake stats and cover dress and have been misrepresenting art for decades in every possible forum they have sold in. :screwy:
 

if ten thousand pieces came on the market? Don’t think it would have too much impact. That’s less than the active inventory of what’s for sale. But 60 thousand pieces? It would never hit at once, they have multiple family members, it would ultimately trickle out so as not to flood the market. Because art is unique and not repeatable widgets the presence even of 10k new pieces only matters to those interested in specific items. All that  Jim Davis art HA is flooding the market with? Who cares? Not me. I appreciate the chance to grab a snack or a drink during an auction while those lots take 20-30 minutes of time. 

Edited by MyNameIsLegion
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On 2/27/2022 at 3:50 AM, MyNameIsLegion said:

This is difficult to quantify but they have been hoarding art for 40 years. Their sell thru is abysmal but that’s not their goal. There’s a pathological element to how they conduct themselves and it’s very likely they have a collection in the 5 figures in terms of number of pieces. It runs the gamut of individual pieces that could be  6 figures to 20 bucks, but they treat II all with a bat guano crazy zeal to inflate its value because they can’t let anything go unless they can rationalize they will get even more money and art from it. This is why they go to such great lengths to create fake stats and cover dress and have been misrepresenting art for decades in every possible forum they have sold in. :screwy:
 

if ten thousand pieces came on the market? Don’t think it would have too much impact. That’s less than the active inventory of what’s for sale. But 60 thousand pieces? It would never hit at once, they have multiple family members, it would ultimately trickle out so as not to flood the market. Because art is unique and not repeatable widgets the presence even of 10k new pieces only matters to those interested in specific items. All that  Jim Davis art HA is flooding the market with? Who cares? Not me. I appreciate the chance to grab a snack or a drink during an auction while those lots take 20-30 minutes of time. 

I do have to wonder how much of what they show they really own anymore. I have two pieces which are on their website. One is about 6 years old and the other about 2 years old. Others have also commented that pieces they have bought remain there. I know they have a lot of inventory, but it may not be as huge as we are led to believe.

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On 2/27/2022 at 3:15 AM, Rick2you2 said:

I do have to wonder how much of what they show they really own anymore. I have two pieces which are on their website. One is about 6 years old and the other about 2 years old. Others have also commented that pieces they have bought remain there. I know they have a lot of inventory, but it may not be as huge as we are led to believe.

What they show online is irrelevant, they post the same stuff over and over in multiple places. 99% of what they have is not for sale or posted. I doubt they even have a working, functioning  inventory of what they do have in their possession. When I said hoarding art, I meant that literally. 

Edited by MyNameIsLegion
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On 2/27/2022 at 3:50 AM, MyNameIsLegion said:

...and it’s very likely they have a collection in the 5 figures in terms of number of pieces.

Five without a doubt, six is possible, as five is not rare among true old-timers that didn't gut their collection to "keep up".

On 2/27/2022 at 4:15 AM, Rick2you2 said:

I do have to wonder how much of what they show they really own anymore. I have two pieces which are on their website.

Old listings that appear to be active is considered marketing outreach by them. When you inquire, they will reply that what you asked on is sold but they have 100 other pieces by the same artist, or on the same title, or with the same character/s available. At no time will they assume or even expect that you wouldn't be in love with anything/everything they offer you. That, combined with their pricing model is the textbook definition of: sociopath.

On 2/27/2022 at 4:21 AM, MyNameIsLegion said:

99% of what they have is not for sale or posted.

Correct. See above :)

On 2/27/2022 at 4:21 AM, MyNameIsLegion said:

I doubt they even have a working, functioning  inventory of what they do have in their possession.

I think they might; see above (again). But I think it's also reasonable to think they intentionally mismanage every aspect of their business that smacks of being professionals engaging in business (including tracking such basics and working inventory)...to reduce their visible assets stance and further to never actually acknowledge directly owning anything ("...let me ask my Brother..."); they believe they are a lot smarter than you, than everyone; again: sociopaths.

On 2/27/2022 at 4:21 AM, MyNameIsLegion said:

When I said hoarding art, I meant that literally. 

Yeah. But they're not alone in this, are they? :) 

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On 2/27/2022 at 11:12 AM, wurstisart said:

Anyone any idea how the accumulated all this artwork ?

Cleaning up artist tables at the end of cons: "So you don't have to take it back home, I'll take it all for $x."

In the 80s and even 90s when nice SA Kirby and Ditko were still only hundreds per each (and only very occasionally low thousands for prime material), picking up two armfulls of whatever by whoever for a few bucks per each was very easy to do. You just had to have the cash ready. I myself did exactly this at late as 1997-2002 (or 03?) in the old Boston conventions before that regular show collapsed and the guys behind Bedrock Comics re-started them a few years later.

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When they were San Mateo art they used to set up at shows. They were overpriced even then but their tables if i remember back in the 90's were just cramed full. They would just stack it in hap hazard piles or beat up make shift binders. I see Rich at shows still, mostly meh stuff but still decent enough and he brings a lot (and of course all insanely overpriced). I would imagine they have a good 5 figures of random art in their boxes back home.

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This thread has actually been very helpful to me... I was interested in some artwork on coollinesart, and inquired about the price, which turned out to be ludicrously high.  The art itself seemed questionable, as it had all the paste-up logos but lacked the signs of aging visible on comparable pieces I have.  Honestly it looked more like a photocopy of the art before coloring or something.  Maybe it's just part of how they do their inventory/website, by scanning and uploading a photocopy instead of the actual original art, but for the high price I wasn't willing to take the chance.  I think I'm better off for holding out. 

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On 3/10/2022 at 8:04 AM, wardevil0 said:

This thread has actually been very helpful to me... I was interested in some artwork on coollinesart, and inquired about the price, which turned out to be ludicrously high.  The art itself seemed questionable, as it had all the paste-up logos but lacked the signs of aging visible on comparable pieces I have.  Honestly it looked more like a photocopy of the art before coloring or something.  Maybe it's just part of how they do their inventory/website, by scanning and uploading a photocopy instead of the actual original art, but for the high price I wasn't willing to take the chance.  I think I'm better off for holding out. 

They are known for having prices so high, most collectors just pretend their website doesn't exist.

And yeah, you're seeing crappy stats on non-color matching paper that they print up and put on any piece they can. Which (for some reason) they think makes the art look better. But in reality it just cheapens the look of the piece. 

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