JerryBear Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 What would something like this be worth? I haven’t seen a lot of Steve Ditko signatures around for sale. This one has come up on Instagram asking value is $2,200 I know the owner and seems genuine to me. i haven’t seen many Ditko letters related to a comic directly with the book (which isn’t a rare book in itself but has a cool side panel which vaguely relates to spiderman which looks cool) 1) How would I determine the value for this as I will likely buy to authenticate then resell. 2) Who would authenticate this piece? Any help is much appreciated thehumantorch and KirbyJack 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pemart1966 Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 (edited) This is a legit Ditko letter and signature. Be sure to keep all 3 pieces together. Edited August 22, 2022 by pemart1966 JerryBear, thehumantorch and Unca Ben 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryBear Posted August 22, 2022 Author Share Posted August 22, 2022 On 8/22/2022 at 3:13 PM, pemart1966 said: This is a legit Ditko letter and signature. Be sure to keep all 3 pieces together. How do you know + what’s the value? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pemart1966 Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 On 8/22/2022 at 8:22 AM, JerryBear said: How do you know + what’s the value? Look at other Ditko letters and signatures. He has distinctive printing - this lines up with other Ditko letters that I've seen. I can see someone trying to forge a signature but an entire letter? This is why the return envelope is a critical piece of this package. Is the recipient's name and address printed on the envelope? What's it worth? I have no idea as I don't follow that market. If you do some research though, I'm sure that you'll find some other letters that have sold and that will give you some idea. For what it's worth, if I were hunting a Ditko letter, I would buy this if I thought that the price was right - no doubt in my mind that it's real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Did Ditko correspond in pencil? That seems a bit odd, although it certainly looks real. I've seen a number of cases where he responded to fans but never noticed if they were in pencil before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryBear Posted August 22, 2022 Author Share Posted August 22, 2022 On 8/22/2022 at 5:18 PM, shadroch said: Did Ditko correspond in pencil? That seems a bit odd, although it certainly looks real. I've seen a number of cases where he responded to fans but never noticed if they were in pencil before. Indeed he did I’m very tempted. Going to try save up and buy it! Hope someone doesn’t snag it before me haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post NoMan Posted August 22, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted August 22, 2022 (edited) On 8/22/2022 at 7:18 AM, shadroch said: Did Ditko correspond in pencil? That seems a bit odd, although it certainly looks real. I've seen a number of cases where he responded to fans but never noticed if they were in pencil before. I have tons of letters from Ditko. They all look exactly like OP letter and always in pencil. The only thing unusual about OP letter is Ditko isn’t fussing and putting down letter writer. Edited August 22, 2022 by NoMan grebal, gunsmokin, hchill25 and 3 others 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryBear Posted August 22, 2022 Author Share Posted August 22, 2022 On 8/22/2022 at 7:00 PM, NoMan said: I have tons of letters from Ditko. They all look exactly like OP letter and always in pencil. The only thing unusual about OP letter is Ditko isn’t fussing and putting down letter writer. Seems like a bit of a throwaway comment to be honest so I’m not too fussed about that. The help has been great on this. Doubt it’ll last how long I’ll need Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 On 8/22/2022 at 9:00 AM, NoMan said: I have tons of letters from Ditko. They all look exactly like OP letter and always in pencil. The only thing unusual about OP letter is Ditko isn’t fussing and putting down letter writer. I recognize the handwriting. I just have seen cxopies and never noticed the pencils before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoMan Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 On 8/22/2022 at 9:07 AM, JerryBear said: Seems like a bit of a throwaway comment to be honest so I’m not too fussed about that. The help has been great on this. Doubt it’ll last how long I’ll need Everything in my post is factual. Take it or leave it. The Drizzle and JerryBear 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoMan Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 On 8/22/2022 at 10:00 AM, The Drizzle said: You know it The only difference I can spot is that he didn't print his name and then sign his name like usual. True Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDarkseid1 Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 I always regret not sending him a letter. Soo stupid I waited too long JerryBear 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoMan Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 On 8/22/2022 at 11:42 AM, LDarkseid1 said: I always regret not sending him a letter. Soo stupid I waited too long Yeah. You would get a letter back 100% of the time. JerryBear and LDarkseid1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryBear Posted August 22, 2022 Author Share Posted August 22, 2022 On 8/22/2022 at 10:16 PM, NoMan said: Yeah. You would get a letter back 100% of the time. CraY the value of them seen some sell for 6-7k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron C. Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 He sent me this one which was in pencil. We did something a bit different in that my daughter and I signed a copy of one of his Machine Man books and sent it to him. alexgross.com and JerryBear 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 I thought about writing him, but respected his privacy, per his request. JerryBear 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryBear Posted August 22, 2022 Author Share Posted August 22, 2022 On 8/23/2022 at 12:27 AM, Ron C. said: He sent me this one which was in pencil. We did something a bit different in that my daughter and I signed a copy of one of his Machine Man books and sent it to him. This is so cool wow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revat Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 as for who should do the authentication, go to some search for memorabilia auction houses and get an idea which authentication companies are commonly used and find one that best matches up with your situation. If you bought for resale this you'd probably frame it nicely with the certification, the letter, the envelope, and the comic. I would say, I personally wouldn't pay a ton for it for the express purpose of resale. Lets take a walk through some hypothetical map. 1. He's asking $2,200, lets say you talk him down to $1,500, including shipping, sales tax, etc. 2. Lets say estimate around $100 for authentication, counting shipping both ways and insurance. Obviously there is the risk of damage, loss, OR NON-AUTHENTICATION. 3. Then you gotta get it mounted/framed. At least four moving pieces, maybe with some kind of name plates, That's gonna be $300, maybe more with shipping if you don't have a good place near you. 4. So now you're all in around $2,000 assuming everything went smoothly so far, it been maybe 4 months. 5. I don't think you'd want to sell on ebay, so you go through an auction house. You pay $50 to ship it to the auction house. 6. You wait 2-3 months to get into the auction, you probably sell $2,500 to $3,500 (or less, but probably not more), but honestly its not a big name comic, and the comic isn't signed, and the return address on the envelope isn't handwritten. 7. Lets be generous and say the sale is for $3,000. Auction house is taking at least 15%, so you're left with $2,550. 8. Lets be conservative and say your tax on this is 20% of your profit, which is about $2,550-$2,050 = $500, $500 x 2% = $100. So your net profit after tax is $400. 9. So you spent approx $2K to net $400, which is not a terrible investment at all, 20% in 6 months, with a chance of it being more. But there's also a solid chance of it being less, possibly much less. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't do the deal, just that you need to be doing this type of math to decide if its worth it. Some of the values I used are just wildly subjective estimates, you can research as much as needed to get comfortable with whatever you're doing. See what data exists and how certain you can be of what costs or revenues are. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryBear Posted August 22, 2022 Author Share Posted August 22, 2022 On 8/23/2022 at 1:42 AM, revat said: as for who should do the authentication, go to some search for memorabilia auction houses and get an idea which authentication companies are commonly used and find one that best matches up with your situation. If you bought for resale this you'd probably frame it nicely with the certification, the letter, the envelope, and the comic. I would say, I personally wouldn't pay a ton for it for the express purpose of resale. Lets take a walk through some hypothetical map. 1. He's asking $2,200, lets say you talk him down to $1,500, including shipping, sales tax, etc. 2. Lets say estimate around $100 for authentication, counting shipping both ways and insurance. Obviously there is the risk of damage, loss, OR NON-AUTHENTICATION. 3. Then you gotta get it mounted/framed. At least four moving pieces, maybe with some kind of name plates, That's gonna be $300, maybe more with shipping if you don't have a good place near you. 4. So now you're all in around $2,000 assuming everything went smoothly so far, it been maybe 4 months. 5. I don't think you'd want to sell on ebay, so you go through an auction house. You pay $50 to ship it to the auction house. 6. You wait 2-3 months to get into the auction, you probably sell $2,500 to $3,500 (or less, but probably not more), but honestly its not a big name comic, and the comic isn't signed, and the return address on the envelope isn't handwritten. 7. Lets be generous and say the sale is for $3,000. Auction house is taking at least 15%, so you're left with $2,550. 8. Lets be conservative and say your tax on this is 20% of your profit, which is about $2,550-$2,050 = $500, $500 x 2% = $100. So your net profit after tax is $400. 9. So you spent approx $2K to net $400, which is not a terrible investment at all, 20% in 6 months, with a chance of it being more. But there's also a solid chance of it being less, possibly much less. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't do the deal, just that you need to be doing this type of math to decide if its worth it. Some of the values I used are just wildly subjective estimates, you can research as much as needed to get comfortable with whatever you're doing. See what data exists and how certain you can be of what costs or revenues are. Good luck This is a great approach and I’ve done this cost benefit analysis. Everyone I know says it’s genuine so that’s not something I’m worried about. Also it’s unique I’ve never seen his letter reference a comic he’s RECIEVED and then sent back. Also the lose connection of the webbing to spiderman i dont think it’ll sell for less than 3K mounted and authenticated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pemart1966 Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 On 8/22/2022 at 12:00 PM, NoMan said: I have tons of letters from Ditko. They all look exactly like OP letter and always in pencil. The only thing unusual about OP letter is Ditko isn’t fussing and putting down letter writer. I thought EXACTLY the same thing - probably because the guy didn't ask him to autograph the book... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...