Heritage Auctions Apr 4-7 2024 5 5

[Bronty]

And no I’m not saying it’s as good as peanuts was, but when I think of the comics strips in the 1980s, it’s absolutely in the top tier.   It was one of the strips people looked forward to reading for a 8 second gag with their coffee.    How will Garfield boot Odie in the butt this time?   Will Jon ever get a date? Etc.   That’s more than enough for it to be collectible.    There’s a metric ton of strips but so what.   I think it’s great there’s so many available. 
 

Take Garfield and give it Calvin and Hobbes levels of scarcity and these are six figure strips (for the early ones at least).    Put that in your pipe and smoke it 🙃

Edited February 26 by Bronty

[KirbyCollector]

On 2/26/2024 at 7:35 AM, Bronty said:

Ehhh.   You could say the same thing about any strip that’s been running 40 years.    As we’ve discussed, refer to exhibits Patty and Marcie. 

Schulz wrote and drew the strip by himself (with the aid of some computer lettering at the very end) for almost 50 years. You may consider some of Schulz's strips tired at the end, and the lines scratchy, but they were his -- not some faceless committee's.

[tth2]

On 2/26/2024 at 8:35 PM, Bronty said:

On 2/26/2024 at 1:43 PM, tth2 said:

FTFY 

Ehhh.   You could say the same thing about any strip that’s been running 40 years.    As we’ve discussed, refer to exhibits Patty and Marcie. 

I totally agree.  I would've made the same revisions if someone had posted the same thing about Peanuts.

It's why I really only collect most comic strips from the first few years of their runs, because that's when you can expect that their creators were still really doing the work and the stories/gags were still strong.  For example, having read "Blondie" since the early 1970s, I always thought it was a terrible, stale strip.  But seeing strips from the early 1930s when they've been auctioned by Heritage, when Chic Young was still doing the work and there was a really interesting story between Blondie and Dagwood unfolding, has been a revelation. 

I have massive respect for Bill Watterson because he walked away while C&H was still going strong rather than continuing to milk it, even though I'm sure he left many millions on the table as a result. 

[Bronty]

On 2/26/2024 at 9:24 AM, KirbyCollector said:

Schulz wrote and drew the strip by himself (with the aid of some computer lettering at the very end) for almost 50 years. You may consider some of Schulz's strips tired at the end, and the lines scratchy, but they were his -- not some faceless committee's.

a) Schulz was the better talent yes.

b) Schulz's strips at the end weren't "tired" they were atrocious, and I say that despite ranking Peanuts as the #1 strip all time.

c) Lasagna.

Edited February 26 by Bronty

[grapeape]

On 2/26/2024 at 6:34 AM, tth2 said:

I totally agree.  I would've made the same revisions if someone had posted the same thing about Peanuts.

It's why I really only collect most comic strips from the first few years of their runs, because that's when you can expect that their creators were still really doing the work and the stories/gags were still strong.  For example, having read "Blondie" since the early 1970s, I always thought it was a terrible, stale strip.  But seeing strips from the early 1930s when they've been auctioned by Heritage, when Chic Young was still doing the work and there was a really interesting story between Blondie and Dagwood unfolding, has been a revelation. 

I have massive respect for Bill Watterson because he walked away while C&H was still going strong rather than continuing to milk it, even though I'm sure he left many millions on the table as a result. 

💯 

[Kryptic1]

On 2/26/2024 at 11:54 AM, szav said:

All the Garfield detractors in this thread are going to regret the day they passed up all these $360 Garfield daily strips when they can no longer be had for any less than $380.

The Garfield cabal is forming right before our eyes!

[Bronty]

On 2/26/2024 at 9:34 AM, tth2 said:

I totally agree.  I would've made the same revisions if someone had posted the same thing about Peanuts.

It's why I really only collect most comic strips from the first few years of their runs, because that's when you can expect that their creators were still really doing the work and the stories/gags were still strong.  For example, having read "Blondie" since the early 1970s, I always thought it was a terrible, stale strip.  But seeing strips from the early 1930s when they've been auctioned by Heritage, when Chic Young was still doing the work and there was a really interesting story between Blondie and Dagwood unfolding, has been a revelation. 

I have massive respect for Bill Watterson because he walked away while C&H was still going strong rather than continuing to milk it, even though I'm sure he left many millions on the table as a result. 

interesting, I'll have to read the 30s blondies.    I know it only to be pablum.

[Bronty]

On 2/26/2024 at 9:34 AM, tth2 said:

I totally agree.  I would've made the same revisions if someone had posted the same thing about Peanuts.

It's why I really only collect most comic strips from the first few years of their runs, because that's when you can expect that their creators were still really doing the work and the stories/gags were still strong.  For example, having read "Blondie" since the early 1970s, I always thought it was a terrible, stale strip.  But seeing strips from the early 1930s when they've been auctioned by Heritage, when Chic Young was still doing the work and there was a really interesting story between Blondie and Dagwood unfolding, has been a revelation. 

I have massive respect for Bill Watterson because he walked away while C&H was still going strong rather than continuing to milk it, even though I'm sure he left many millions on the table as a result. 

Is there a blondie reprint collection you'd recommend?

[Matches_Malone]

On 2/26/2024 at 9:08 PM, Kryptic1 said:

The Garfield cabal is forming right before our eyes!

Who said there isn't one? 

Edited February 27 by Matches_Malone

[tth2]

On 2/27/2024 at 9:46 PM, Bronty said:

Is there a blondie reprint collection you'd recommend?

Not aware of any.  I only became aware of what it was like in the early years from reading the early strips that came on Heritage.    

[Bronty]

On 2/26/2024 at 9:08 PM, Kryptic1 said:

The Garfield cabal is forming right before our eyes!

You are correct.    The Illumicati  meet on days like today - Tuesdays.   Never Mondays.

[dirtymartini1]

The way Ninja Turtles was recently rebooted with the Ronin storyline, Garfield could use a nice reboot too. "Nermal, the Abu Dhabi Years" An instant classic.

[jjonahjameson11]

I'm not a DC OA collector, but I'd say this is pretty significant 

[jjonahjameson11]

recent additions/image uploads...

Anyone else notice the amount of artwork from 'pedigree collections' in this auction - Mandel, Kitchen and Palmer?

[artdealer]

On 3/6/2024 at 10:06 AM, jjonahjameson11 said:

I'm not a DC OA collector, but I'd say this is pretty significant 

I bought this cover back in 1977 at the San Diego Con. 

[cstojano]

On 3/6/2024 at 8:15 AM, jjonahjameson11 said:

recent additions/image uploads...

Anyone else notice the amount of artwork from 'pedigree collections' in this auction - Mandel, Kitchen and Palmer?

This has to be one of the best glow-ups I have seen going from published cover to OA. Its like they rubbed a thin layer of gray mud over this before sending it to the printer. 

[jjonahjameson11]

On 3/6/2024 at 11:32 AM, cstojano said:

This has to be one of the best glow-ups I have seen going from published cover to OA. Its like they rubbed a thin layer of gray mud over this before sending it to the printer. 

It’s a great looking cover

[Nexus]

On 2/23/2024 at 9:33 AM, jjonahjameson11 said:

Looks like we're in for a treat with this upcoming auction...so many pieces from diverse genres, artists, and budgets.  Now at nearly 900 OA lots, including this recently added beauty!

Wow, this is a surprise. Originally from the Rick Loshiavo collection. He was to WEAPON X what Dave Mandel is to DKR. The best WEAPON X collection ever assembled. Pages, splashes, covers...he had it all. All the great W-X pieces that have emerged over the past several years were originally from his collection.

This was one of the first he ever let go, around 2006. I traded it a few years later to the current owner, who's now had it longer than either Rick or me. Won't be trying to get it back, so best of luck to bidders.

[Kevn]

On 3/6/2024 at 8:07 PM, Nexus said:

Wow, this is a surprise. Originally from the Rick Loshiavo collection. He was to WEAPON X what Dave Mandel is to DKR. The best WEAPON X collection ever assembled. Pages, splashes, covers...he had it all. All the great W-X pieces that have emerged over the past several years were originally from his collection.

This was one of the first he ever let go, around 2006. I traded it a few years later to the current owner, who's now had it longer than either Rick or me. Won't be trying to get it back, so best of luck to bidders.

That's a magnificent page. I'm kind of wondering what you got in the trade - it must have been pretty damned special!

[Nexus]

On 3/6/2024 at 11:41 AM, Kevn said:

That's a magnificent page. I'm kind of wondering what you got in the trade - it must have been pretty damned special!

Actually, it was a terrible trade for me, lol! Both in terms of the actual art I got in return and their eventual respective values.

To be fair, the values aligned better at the time. I mostly did it, though, because I liked the other collector and he was pretty convincing that it was a grail-level piece for him. Back then, these sort of trades were common between collectors. Not so much anymore. I wouldn't make the same trade ever again, but I have no regrets. The piece was clearly important to that collector and again, to be fair, it's pretty obvious that it was more important to him than it was to me. I only hope he's selling it now because he wants to and not because he has to.

To put into further context, I considered this page a placeholder, as hard as that might be to believe now. It's an excellent page, no doubt. But there were other pages out there that I ranked higher.  The idea that I could possibly upgrade wasn't so ridiculous at the time.

So the lesson I learned (beyond not to make dumb trades) is that placeholders can become keepers. Because there might be no other opportunities and/or the market for that art goes beyond what I want to spend. There are pieces in my collection that might have started off as placeholders but are now firmly keepers. I'd rather have this WEAPON X page than none at all and that applies to everything important to me now.