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Oh no, I’m hooked.
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Started by Whisper,

30 posts in this topic

Whisper

Whisper

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I’ve always known the original art work was out there, and just figured it was to hard to find and far out of my price range. Well, some of it is, but I didn’t realize how easy it was to search and locate pieces by artists, or by keyword. Now, I’m in trouble with my wife (she doesn’t know if yet, but it’s coming). Not only did I purchase my first OA, I ended up ordering 3. Then two more the next day… It was hard enough on my wallet with collecting comics, and now this. There has to be a support group of some kind for this addiction. 

Now, I’m going to set a goal to find and acquire some of the pages that I actually got to work on when I was doing flats for Hi-Fi. These are likely still in the artists hands, or long since gone to a collector since it was probably in the early 2000s when I was doing this. Wish me luck.

Now, to figure out how I want to display this stuff. Frames are not cheap. 

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aokartman

aokartman

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On 12/17/2021 at 1:19 PM, Whisper said:

I’ve always known the original art work was out there, and just figured it was to hard to find and far out of my price range. Well, some of it is, but I didn’t realize how easy it was to search and locate pieces by artists, or by keyword. Now, I’m in trouble with my wife (she doesn’t know if yet, but it’s coming). Not only did I purchase my first OA, I ended up ordering 3. Then two more the next day… It was hard enough on my wallet with collecting comics, and now this. There has to be a support group of some kind for this addiction. 

Now, I’m going to set a goal to find and acquire some of the pages that I actually got to work on when I was doing flats for Hi-Fi. These are likely still in the artists hands, or long since gone to a collector since it was probably in the early 2000s when I was doing this. Wish me luck.

Now, to figure out how I want to display this stuff. Frames are not cheap. 

Sounds like you already have a decent handle on the possible outcomes lurking in your future.  Walls can fill up fast.  I have enjoyed the research associated with artist attribution, character histories, publication timelines, and the like, for comic books and related artwork, along with eventual trading with other collectors as a small-time seller, as a way of scratching the itch of steady acquisition for the sake of it.  Good luck to you on your journey!  David

Eek And Meek Howie Schneider

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Whisper

Whisper

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I can see how easy it is to let things get out of hand. I think I just grabbed one of the pages from Nightcrawler #2 that Matt Smith/Mark Morales did. I’m going to have to grab the comic out of the box to verify the colors were mine, but I’m pretty confident. I’ve already eaten through most of my play money. I need to just stop looking, 

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jqa3

jqa3

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On 12/17/2021 at 1:19 PM, Whisper said:

Now, I’m in trouble with my wife (she doesn’t know if yet, but it’s coming).

Ok, thank/curse me later - but best to come clean right now before it drives a wedge. 

Do not try'n hide it - she'll take all your art in the split.

Does she have any interest in comic book/strip art?  Maybe buy something she likes to help ease the pain?...

And cheap frames are great for display.

 

 

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Rick2you2

Rick2you2

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One way to control spending is to limit your buying to a narrow specialty. By preference, most of my purchases involve the Phantom Stranger, and yes, I do get the itch for other things (which I will scratch occasionally). But since it rarely comes up for sale, I don’t spend as much as I could. There is also a thread here for “Morlock” art—things costing less than $500. Get familiar with its artists and pricing to avoid overpaying. And if you haven’t signed up for Comic Art Tracker, you should.

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Qalyar

Qalyar

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The series I would most want OA from is effectively impossible, which is probably for the best for my hobby budgets. Only a tiny amount of Black Hole OA has ever reached the secondary market. Most notably, the cover OA from #3, which sold at Heritage for $37,500 (!!).

My wife would murder me as I slept.

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pemart1966

pemart1966

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On 12/17/2021 at 4:47 PM, jqa3 said:

Ok, thank/curse me later - but best to come clean right now before it drives a wedge. 

Do not try'n hide it - she'll take all your art in the split.

Does she have any interest in comic book/strip art?  Maybe buy something she likes to help ease the pain?...

And cheap frames are great for display.

 

 

Do NOT under ANY circumstances cheap out on the framing.  

A cheap framing job can physically ruin a piece of art very quickly.  Do a LOT of research on this topic before you put a piece of art in a frame. Additionally, do NOT hang your art near a source of natural light and limit its exposure to other types of light.

Learn how to store your art that's not framed.

There are lots of threads here on these topics so be sure to read them over before taking the framing plunge.

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Timely

Timely

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On 12/17/2021 at 4:36 PM, aqn83 said:

What a mess time to get started, too. Prices are at an all-time high for OA in general.

If anything, just try to be VERY VERY picky about what you ultimately buy. I regret most of my earlier purchases.

Every decent collectible field is at an all time high… except Hummels. :sorry:

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Garf

Garf

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On 12/17/2021 at 6:19 PM, Whisper said:

There has to be a support group of some kind for this addiction.

I think you found the addiction group who will support you in your searches... :bigsmile: 

It's has gotten harder to find certain art (e.g. 80's / 90's / 00's stuff) at prices where you are only dipping your toes into the water. Which is a shame because it can be difficult to slow down until you feel like you have established a foothold. I have always tried to fund things as much as I can with side hustles / buy, sell, trade... which has gotten me a lot further along than I would have ever otherwise thought possible.

The mantra of most collectors around here is usually "buy what you love", those really are words to live by. For me that was leaning right into my nostalgia and sticking only to comics I loved as a kid and a small amount of more modern stuff I have really enjoyed.

It's not always actually that easy, you won't necessarily be unhappy with what you have but you can still buy what you love and overpay, or 5mins later think that you should have gone for something else first, or realise that you have been ticking a lot of boxes (e.g. page with main character) instead of looking for those little storytelling gems. If you haven't found it yet Bill's Comic Art Live YouTube channel is probably one of the best places to learn from the experiences of other collectors https://www.youtube.com/c/ComicArtLive ... if you have time have a look at the "Collector Conversations" playlist.

 

p.s. you are right frames aren't cheap, but that's actually "art money" not "frame money" :P

 

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Rick2you2

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On 12/17/2021 at 8:36 PM, Timely said:

Every decent collectible field is at an all time high… except Hummels. :sorry:

You can also add Lionel trains, Persian rugs, porcelain dolls, antique glass, silver tableware (with some exceptions), silver plate, and antique “brown” furniture. I have heard stamp collecting is not doing well, either. 👎

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Whisper

Whisper

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On 12/17/2021 at 7:54 PM, Garf said:

It's has gotten harder to find certain art (e.g. 80's / 90's / 00's stuff) at prices where you are only dipping your toes into the water. Which is a shame because it can be difficult to slow down until you feel like you have established a foothold. I have always tried to fund things as much as I can with side hustles / buy, sell, trade... which has gotten me a lot further along than I would have ever otherwise thought possible.

I feel lucky, in that the first several pieces I grabbed were all under $100. Panel pages, and not the key action sequences. Two were from The Darkness, which I collected heavily in the 90’s, and one from a Venom #2. The Venom page was mostly scenery, so this may be my first questionable purchase.

They were like the free sample dealers give you to hook you on the drugs they’re selling. Then, the next night, I was out on the prowl, hunting for art. I was looking for some good examples of the characters I enjoyed, and ended up spending quite a bit more. I got an Uncanny X-men (Vol 5) which had some classic Archangel shots in it, and a more recent Venom (#161), which also had some great action and venom panels. I’m not sure about the story, looks like Spiderwoman kicks his butt in later pages.

Then I figured out how to use the comic art tracker… I didn’t really think I’d find what I was after, but BAM. There is was, a page from the X-Men Icons Nightcrawler mini series that I had worked on. Thankfully, this one wasn’t too bad. Was like $75 with shipping thrown in. 

I did come clean with the wife this morning. I saw the panicked look in her eye when I told her I spent a lot of money. But ultimately, it was money I had set aside so she wasn’t mad or anything. Now, I need to build that back up so I can start hunting for a cover! For now, I’m going to avoid looking at any site that sells art. I just don’t trust myself. I’m going to look into some storage options, and watch as many videos as I can. (Thanks for the recommendations). Read as many threads as I can, but it’s hard to find specific topics.

I’ve seen some great framed examples were people display the page, next to the comic page, and in some cases the cover. I would love to do that, but I may have to learn how to frame and matte the work myself. The money involved in buying a custom frame is money I could spend on more art! It never ends. 

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