What Keeps You from Buying a Piece 5X Your Normal Budget - Aside from Money? 1 1

[Dr. Balls]

Often wondered if others had this situation. I'd been looking at a piece that was about 5X my typical budget. I've got a handful of pieces in my collection that I bought for more than my usual budget, but every now-and-again one comes up I really have to think about objectively.

I looked at this cover almost every other day for probably 6 months. I went back and forth, enjoying the composition, but concerned about the character being relatively unknown (from a mediocre-selling 90's/00's book. A known title, but not popular). It's by a popular artist, who's work commands a strong price. It comes down to it being a great piece of art, but for a title and character that isn't what other people gravitate to.

Most of my art is purchased firstly for enjoyment, and a distant second: for future resale. However, when I get to multiples of what I usually spend - personally, I have to look at it's future value and ask myself - am I buying at the top of the curve? Beyond the top? Am I going to get more personal enjoyment out of this piece, or from five other pieces of lesser value? I'm sure everyone has that conversation with themselves, and buying art is very much an individualized decision.

In the end, I closed my browser tab a few days ago and moved on. But I was curious to the stories other collectors had about passing up a piece of art that had more downside to upside, thereby trumping your personal desire to have it.

[gumbydarnit]

I think Felix Lu or one his guest, said roughly “If I bought a piece and it’s value dropped to half what I paid, would I still be happy to own it?” I may be butchering the statement, but that is something like what was said.  I think you should ask yourself that when you feel you are really stretching for a piece. (The Felix Poadcast is a must listen BTW)

Also don’t get too tied up believing because it a superstar artist you should pay it. Jim Lee’s Superman pages are worth a fraction of what his Batman pages are worth. Right artist - wrong title applies to most pieces. 
 

Do your research maybe it’ll show that the stretch is worth it, but also try to get it an apples to apples comp and not a X-Men to Power Pack comp ; )

Edited December 2, 2023 by gumbydarnit

[gumbydarnit]

In the days when I was active, I would take a lot of time figuring out my absolute top price would be, factoring in all the fees, taxes and shipping. When it passed that figure, I would stop because trying to figure that out in the heat of an auction is next to impossible.
 

Make your plan and stick to it, if you want to stretch for the piece, do that preauction, with lots of consideration and thought applied. Often I would find the final all in price would be 20% more than my top. Sometimes I would land one, most of the time I wouldn’t, and I never had regrets because I KNEW my cap before the bids were flying. 

[Andahaion]

Simply put, 5x my typical budget brings cooler things (IMO) into play I’d rather have than art from comic books. 

[gumbydarnit]

Hmmm, I haven’t thought of that, I guess there could be other things to do with money.

[Xatari]

After several years of squeezing every dollar into comic art, this year I finally purchased a few other toys that brought joy to my everyday life in the form or two new guitars.  During the pandemic I sold a lot of my guitar collection and even a 90s Acura NSX in order to move all funds into art.  I don't regret it for a second, but I also decided to take a breath and recoup some of the things I gave up along the way.  

[Dr. Balls]

On 12/2/2023 at 11:30 AM, Xatari said:

90s Acura NSX

My buddy worked at an Acura dealership in 1995 and he got to give me a spin in an NSX that was going to the detail shop a couple miles away from the lot. Man, was that a cool car.

[Xatari]

On 12/2/2023 at 9:38 AM, Dr. Balls said:

My buddy worked at an Acura dealership in 1995 and he got to give me a spin in an NSX that was going to the detail shop a couple miles away from the lot. Man, was that a cool car.

Yeah, I was born in 1980, so the NSX came out when I was first falling in love with cars.  Such a dream for my friends and I.  It was very fun to make it a reality, but in the end, I purchased pages from Marvel Spotlight #5 with the proceeds which easily increase in value at a much higher rate.  I figure I can always sell a page or two and buy another NSX if I really missed it that much.  My friends thought I was crazy at the time of selling the Acura though.  

[malvin]

For the longest time I had a mental block spending more than $500 on comic art (this was during the days of a decent cover being $500'ish). The mental block was just an internal limitation, as I would have no problem spending $1,000 if it was 10 $100 pages.

I don't really know how I broke it, but I think once I accepted that it was ok to spend more than $500 on one piece it wasn't a problem. These days I still have a comfort zone (e.g. up to $5K) but have spent more than that when it was meaningful to me.

Malvin

[Dr. Balls]

On 12/2/2023 at 3:01 PM, malvin said:

For the longest time I had a mental block spending more than $500 on comic art (this was during the days of a decent cover being $500'ish). The mental block was just an internal limitation, as I would have no problem spending $1,000 if it was 10 $100 pages.

I don't really know how I broke it, but I think once I accepted that it was ok to spend more than $500 on one piece it wasn't a problem. These days I still have a comfort zone (e.g. up to $5K) but have spent more than that when it was meaningful to me.

Malvin

I think you just gradually move onto spending more - each time thinking that you're spending out of your comfort zone and then a few months later it's like NBD. I think when it's a big jump is when you start putting everything under the microscope.

For this cover I was thinking about, I'd spent the same amount on another piece back in January - but I felt a lot more confident about the factors that made my decision: character, the artist, the age of the art and how much I enjoyed it. Just recollecting this now, I feel more confident I made the right choice - because it doesn't really hit any of the attributes I just mentioned. Problem solved!

[Michael Browning]

Almost a decade ago, I was spending Veronica #28 cash on Dan DeCarlo pieces LONG before that cover sold for $16K. I paid 10X the going rate for a very early Cheryl Blossom pinup and 5X the going rate for a Betty and Veronica cover and paid higher than anyone when I was trying to buy DeCarlo covers. I really overpaid for the U.S. 1 #1 and Crystar #1 covers, but they were well worth the money.

There's not much I will pay that much for these days because I have most of what I ever wanted.

[malvin]

On 12/2/2023 at 3:05 PM, Dr. Balls said:

I think you just gradually move onto spending more - each time thinking that you're spending out of your comfort zone and then a few months later it's like NBD. I think when it's a big jump is when you start putting everything under the microscope.

For this cover I was thinking about, I'd spent the same amount on another piece back in January - but I felt a lot more confident about the factors that made my decision: character, the artist, the age of the art and how much I enjoyed it. Just recollecting this now, I feel more confident I made the right choice - because it doesn't really hit any of the attributes I just mentioned. Problem solved!

For me, it wasn't gradual, once the mental block was lifted, the limit was my budget  spending 20x that amount wasn't as big an issue.

I always say if you aren't sure in this hobby, go with your gut. Sounds like that applies to you too.

Malvin

[Dr. Balls]

On 12/2/2023 at 4:54 PM, malvin said:

I always say if you aren't sure in this hobby, go with your gut. Sounds like that applies to you too.

Very true!

[alxjhnsn]

5x what I normally spend for a piece isn't an issue assuming it's less than my annual spend.

I am willing to spend the annual all in one go if the timing is right, but if it isn't; I'll pass no matter what the piece.

5x what I spend in a year is not going to happen unless I've been planning to do it, e.g., selling comics to build a war chest for my wish list.

 

[Benedict Judas Hel]

On 12/2/2023 at 10:42 AM, Dr. Balls said:

What Keeps You from Buying a Piece 5X Your Normal Budget - Aside from Money?

Yeah, it’s just the money.  That’s pretty much enough for me…

[Terry E. Gibbs]

The modest price stuff seems to be hit or miss as to whether it is a "good buy financially". Much of what are panel pages today or lesser known characters which a decade from now may not have moved at all. As each decade changes the demand curve for stuff moves. Key pages, whether artist, or character, or story or any combination should perform better value wise. In more demand now and unless the character tanks more demand later.

Personally with art and books once bought my mind has written it off as an expense. Therefore can I afford the expense - will she leave me this time ? Can my cash flow cover it ? They are the questions

[Kryptic1]

The few times I’ve gone well above my normal price range I’ve found that my enjoyment of the art doesn’t increase in proportion to the cost.  It would be tough for me to find a piece I would enjoy more than five smaller pieces for the same price.

[Dr. Balls]

On 12/2/2023 at 7:13 PM, Kryptic1 said:

The few times I’ve gone well above my normal price range I’ve found that my enjoyment of the art doesn’t increase in proportion to the cost. 

That makes sense. I enjoy a lot of my inexpensive pieces as much as I enjoy the ones I really went all out on. I have my favorites, but those favorites vary in price for sure.

[Rick2you2]

Yes, I would spend it without difficulty. For me, the driving force is scarcity and quality. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find quality Phantom Stranger pages which fill a gap in my existing collection? If the quality isn’t there, or I don’t l like the artist very much, I may still buy it, or not, but not at an excessive price. An advantage I have is that the character is not in high demand. So, I don’t usually pay an excessive amount. 

[PhilipB2k17]

On 12/2/2023 at 12:15 PM, gumbydarnit said:

I think Felix Lu or one his guest, said roughly “If I bought a piece and it’s value dropped to half what I paid, would I still be happy to own it?” I may be butchering the statement, but that is something like what was said.  I think you should ask yourself that when you feel you are really stretching for a piece. (The Felix Poadcast is a must listen BTW)

Also don’t get too tied up believing because it a superstar artist you should pay it. Jim Lee’s Superman pages are worth a fraction of what his Batman pages are worth. Right artist - wrong title applies to most pieces. 
 

Do your research maybe it’ll show that the stretch is worth it, but also try to get it an apples to apples comp and not a X-Men to Power Pack comp ; )

Agree on Jim Lee. But....caveat. I am not a Jim Lee fanboy, or collector, so I think I am approaching this from a more objective point of view. There tends to be a spillover effect on superstar artists, particularly 90's Image guys. In other words, McFarlane Spidey Art s top tier, but that began to spill over to his Hulk Art, and then to Spawn Art, and now it's even spilling over to Infinity Inc. art. 

I think it's probably fair to guess that eventually Jim Lee superman art will start seeing a spillover effect as well. People who want a good Jim Lee art example may start driving up the price of the Superman stuff because it's nice Jim Lee published art of a major DC character. Maybe this won't happen, but it would not surprise me.