The January 2023 HA auction starting to load up 2 2

[delekkerste]

On 1/13/2023 at 1:41 PM, Bronty said:

Turtles 8 cover for 78k… thoughts?    I might have expected higher but in fairness it’s not the first cover one would choose and it was noticeably  faded

Well, it's the first cover I would go for - my favorite from the run and it's not even close. I remember buying multiples of that issue at Mile High Comics when it came out. 

I was going to make a run for it if I didn't win the piece I was going for yesterday (and was ready to pounce if it went cheap today). But, I did win that piece yesterday (not disclosing what it was at this time) and the TMNT cover went a little beyond where I was willing to stretch anyway, so, I guess it all worked out in the end. 

Edited January 13, 2023 by delekkerste

[Bronty]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:13 PM, delekkerste said:

Well, it's the first cover I would go for - my favorite from the run and it's not even close. I remember buying multiples of that issue at Mile High Comics when it came out. 

I was going to make a run for it if I didn't win the piece I was going for yesterday (and was ready to pounce if it went cheap today). But, I did win that piece yesterday (not disclosing what it was at this time) and the TMNT cover went a little beyond where I was willing to stretch anyway, so, I guess it all worked out in the end. 

interesting.   I think the market would pay more for 1-5 and 10 at an absolute minimum.    I think 6 and 7 might be around the same range as #8.

The second print of #4 would do more than the #8 as well IMO, along with some of the one shot covers (Raphael at a minimum).    The 4th print of #1 I would guess might do about the same as the #8?

Did the fading impact what you were planning on paying?

Edited January 13, 2023 by Bronty

[delekkerste]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:19 PM, Bronty said:

interesting.   I think the market would pay more for 1-5 and 10 at an absolute minimum.    I think 6,7,12 might be around the same range as #8.

Did the fading impact what you were planning on paying?

Well, as someone noted to me today, the #1 is the #1, and there's only so much people will pay for any of the others. 

I didn't really notice the fading, tbh. It presented well enough to me. 

[delekkerste]

Sienkiewicz Beauty and the Beast #2 cover hammers for $13.5K ($16.2K w/juice). Sold on eBay for $14.3K on November 1. So, roughly a wash for the consignor depending on his deal with Heritage, maybe a slight losing flip if he had to pay sales tax on the purchase. 

 

[Bronty]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:23 PM, delekkerste said:

Well, as someone noted to me today, the #1 is the #1, and there's only so much people will pay for any of the others. 

I didn't really notice the fading, tbh. It presented well enough to me. 

It did look okay even faded, true.   But it did spend a little too much time in the sun

 

[Bronty]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:23 PM, delekkerste said:

Well, as someone noted to me today, the #1 is the #1, and there's only so much people will pay for any of the others. 

 

There's probably some truth to that as well, although I would argue there would still be separation between various covers.  

[g-man]

The DD splash by Tim Sale did ok at $15.6K....wonder what it would have gone if that same image was Batman and not DD. 

[Unstoppablejayd]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:13 PM, delekkerste said:

Well, it's the first cover I would go for - my favorite from the run and it's not even close. I remember buying multiples of that issue at Mile High Comics when it came out. 

I was going to make a run for it if I didn't win the piece I was going for yesterday (and was ready to pounce if it went cheap today). But, I did win that piece yesterday (not disclosing what it was at this time) and the TMNT cover went a little beyond where I was willing to stretch anyway, so, I guess it all worked out in the end. 

ooooo now I need to know~ 

[delekkerste]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:31 PM, Bronty said:

It did look okay even faded, true.   But it did spend a little too much time in the sun

 

I am skeptical that the original painting ever looked like this. I don't think that the purple fades to the rock color on the Heritage scan.

[delekkerste]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:36 PM, Unstoppablejayd said:

ooooo now I need to know~ 

It wasn't either of the the X-Men covers!!

Edited January 13, 2023 by delekkerste

[Unstoppablejayd]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:37 PM, delekkerste said:

It wasn't either of the the X-Men covers!!

you know what I was thinking lol. Well I am sure it is awesome as your taste and mine seem to intersect a lot! Congrats! 

[Bronty]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:37 PM, delekkerste said:

I am skeptical that the original painting ever looked like this. I don't think that the purple fades to the rock color on the Heritage scan.

Its true that colors sometimes were darkened at print, so yes, you're probably right.   But that being said, the painting also didn't look the way it does now 30 years ago either. 

Edited January 13, 2023 by Bronty

[Unstoppablejayd]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:37 PM, delekkerste said:

It wasn't either of the the X-Men covers!!

Off topic.. I am picking up a real fun page for an 80s X-Men fan Monday. Nothing crazy but something you do not see to often. I will message you when I have it in hand! 

[batman_fan]

On 1/13/2023 at 12:14 PM, KirbyCollector said:

Wow, Kirby was very weak... FF page went at expectation but the rest (all DC) were a disappointment

I thought the two demon pages were about right, ~$10k per. Not bad, not great

[Bronty]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:46 PM, batman_fan said:

I thought the two demon pages were about right, ~$10k per. Not bad, not great

that 12k page was appealing I thought

[Michael Browning]

The Miracleman 3 cover by Chaykin selling for JUST $36,000 had to be a big letdown for the seller. He offered it to me August 29 for $85,000 and said he had turned that amount down a year earlier. He approached me after I started showing some of the art I’d bought this year and offered it to me as bargain art at $85,000. He thought I was loaded. 😂

[mxs7]

On 1/13/2023 at 2:39 PM, Bronty said:

Its true that colors sometimes were darkened at print, so yes, you're probably right.   But that being said, the painting also didn't look the way it does now 30 years ago either. 

The colors weren't just darkened when printed. As Gene mentions, in some areas they were also changed, so there were some drastic divergences from the original art. So the fading is speculation, the suggestion of which I hope did not impact the bidding. The original is certainly gorgeous and presents much better than the printed cover.

[Dick O.]

ASM #374 splash was likely hurt by new disclosure that "the page is adhered to foamcore, causing the page to ripple throughout."

 

[Bronty]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:54 PM, Michael Browning said:

The Miracleman 3 cover by Chaykin selling for JUST $36,000 had to be a big letdown for the seller. He offered it to me August 29 for $85,000 and said he had turned that amount down a year earlier. He approached me after I started showing some of the art I’d bought this year and offered it to me as bargain art at $85,000. He thought I was loaded. 😂

No disrespect to the seller or the buyer or any other interested party, but man.   I feel like that is perhaps the weakest of all the covers.

[Bronty]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:54 PM, mxs7 said:

The colors weren't just darkened when printed. As Gene mentions, in some areas they were also changed, so there were some drastic divergences from the original art. So the fading is speculation, the suggestion of which I hope did not impact the bidding. The original is certainly gorgeous and presents much better than the printed cover.

Fair enough, neither of us can prove it one way or another.   But I own hundreds of paintings so I look for that issue in a way that most (inked) comic art collectors probably do not, and to me, it exhibits those signs.    Was I there when Kevin painted it?   No, of course not, and neither were you, but IMO the color values seem too light across the board.   There's a lack of contrast.    If you disagree that's fine.

Edited January 13, 2023 by Bronty