Nostalgia, Art, or Story? 2 2

[Rick2you2]

On 9/12/2022 at 9:21 AM, delekkerste said:

The value proposition isn't there right now, and it's just not comparable to previous markets when prices were pennies and nickels on today's dollar. We're in a market where even some C-level pieces are fetching what A-level pieces got in very recent memory.  I can kind of understand the price inflation for the true quality pieces, but, it's gotten so indiscriminate over the past couple of years to the point where so much drek is getting prices no one ever dared dream of, with FOMO buying and people priced out of better material bidding up lower-end pieces to levels that would have seemed absurd 2-3 years ago and bidding up B/B+ medium-end pieces to hard A-quality levels from that time as well. As one very longtime collector noted to me the other day:  "This isn't going to end well, is it?" 

Pretty sad that this is where we are these days. But it's also why I've had so much more fun and bought so much more stuff in other collectibles verticals (trading cards, sealed record albums, RPGs, event tickets & programs, signed books, etc.) the past few years. Even at the inflated pandemic-era prices in those sub-markets, the price points are rounding errors compared to where most OA is nowadays. 

My suspicion is that some of it will show up on dealers’ sites over the next year. They can only make money if they have stock, and the market has shown an amazing capacity to grow in price. Don’t forget what Bechara said: prices always go up.

Unless they don’t. That long time collector’s comment suggests lots of people are thinking Tulipmania is just around the corner.

As for me, I’m perfectly comfortable buying new art. 

RPG’s are collectible? Rocket propelled grenades? Who knew?

 

[KirbyCollector]

On 9/12/2022 at 10:08 AM, delekkerste said:

I know several guys playing in this sandbox now who were much more active in vintage mainstream art, say, 5 years ago, and I suspect a lot of that because of the relative value proposition (though, that has been narrowing in recent auctions). 

Aside from loving the art, this is why I am buying Pogo strips when they pop up

[Aahz]

On 9/12/2022 at 11:57 AM, Rick2you2 said:

My suspicion is that some of it will show up on dealers’ sites over the next year. They can only make money if they have stock, and the market has shown an amazing capacity to grow in price. Don’t forget what Bechara said: prices always go up.

Unless they don’t. That long time collector’s comment suggests lots of people are thinking Tulipmania is just around the corner.

As for me, I’m perfectly comfortable buying new art. 

RPG’s are collectible? Rocket propelled grenades? Who knew?

 

Kudos on the historic Tulip reference!! :-)

[Rick2you2]

On 9/12/2022 at 1:38 PM, Heidjer Staecker said:

Kudos on the historic Tulip reference!! :-)

Hang around here for a while. You’ll get to be an expert.

[Rick2you2]

On 9/12/2022 at 1:32 PM, KirbyCollector said:

Aside from loving the art, this is why I am buying Pogo strips when they pop up

Frankly, I think it’s undervalued, too. Some of its political content, however, is a bit dated (like Spiro Agnew, the hyena).

[Will_K]

On 9/11/2022 at 4:28 PM, barneythecantankerous said:

The fourth point you've missed is investment

A fifth point would be "checking a box".  For example, I've never owned a Jack Kirby piece.  I'm not well versed in the Marvel universe.  And I didn't really read Kirby's DC work.  But I'd like to have a Kirby piece one day, hopefully a DC piece.

[Rick2you2]

On 9/12/2022 at 9:08 PM, Will_K said:

A fifth point would be "checking a box".  For example, I've never owned a Jack Kirby piece.  I'm not well versed in the Marvel universe.  And I didn't really read Kirby's DC work.  But I'd like to have a Kirby piece one day, hopefully a DC piece.

Interesting. I don’t own any Marvel artwork, although I certainly read the books. I just don’t care much for his published work, particularly at Marvel. Oh, he could draw wonderfully. I saw that in his biography a few years ago, and which had illustrations. But I find a lot of his published work looking rushed, almost sloppy, and I wasn’t impressed with its “kinetic energy”. 

[zhamlau]

On 9/12/2022 at 1:32 PM, KirbyCollector said:

Aside from loving the art, this is why I am buying Pogo strips when they pop up

I have been a big believer in pogo. I pick them up whenever possible.

[Garf]

On 9/12/2022 at 1:00 AM, delekkerste said:

- the thrill of finding new comics to read and art to enjoy as an adult may mirror - nostalgically - the thrill you got doing the same as a kid. And that can lead you back in time or back to the future, as it were.

So, basically, I'm saying that nostalgia manifests itself in various ways...

I like this. I stepped away from collecting for a long time and it was the nostalgia for reading comics that brought me back, it wasn't about any particular era or run just comics in general. Which means I pretty much get similar enjoyment out of good stories and art from any era, but I can't deny that there will always be some sweet spots.

I would say that a lot of comicbook nostalgia is heavily story driven above all else, however that isn't to say that there is no place for pieces where he art is the carry. It's often more striking if the cartooning is doing a lot of the story telling because that individual page doesn't feel so lost and out of context.

On 9/11/2022 at 5:48 PM, Heidjer Staecker said:

So which is it - Nostalgia, art, or story?

Different sides of the same triangle. Why not two, or all three?

There are a silly amount of high earners/people with cash in this hobby and this forum is only a tiny part of of the pool. I wonder if there is a certain number, a tipping point if you will, where it becomes likely the people doing the bidding are quite happy to pay out a lot more than you might expect simply because they can? 

[Rick2you2]

On 9/12/2022 at 11:19 PM, Garf said:

There are a silly amount of high earners/people with cash in this hobby and this forum is only a tiny part of of the pool. I wonder if there is a certain number, a tipping point if you will, where it becomes likely the people doing the bidding are quite happy to pay out a lot more than you might expect simply because they can? 

It isn’t just the high earners. There are also old-timers who can essentially flip high value pieces into other high value pieces which they see as having more growth potential or interest.

About those high earners, the question then becomes whether there are a sufficiently large number of them to sustain the broad spectrum price rises over the last few years. Gene’s earlier comment suggests maybe not.

[Taylor G]