Heritage Auctions Apr 4-7 2024 5 5

[KirbyCollector]

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

I only hope he's selling it now because he wants to and not because he has to.

You can't take it to the grave, might as well enjoy what it can provide -- or your kids will

[stinkininkin]

On 3/6/2024 at 12:07 PM, Nexus said:

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.

Yeah, speaking just of value, the prices on these better BWS Weapon X pages have taken off only in the last 5 or 6 years. As for the art, there are indeed better individual pages from this series that are better than this one, but as a placeholder? Man, it's a hell of a placeholder!!! All that said, I used to do trades and there are definitely a few which in hindsight seemed both wise and fair at the time, but which eventually turned out to be neither. Oh well, that's the hobby!

[Xatari]

On 3/6/2024 at 2:22 PM, stinkininkin said:

Yeah, speaking just of value, the prices on these better BWS Weapon X pages have taken off only in the last 5 or 6 years. As for the art, there are indeed better individual pages from this series that are better than this one, but as a placeholder? Man, it's a hell of a placeholder!!! All that said, I used to do trades and there are definitely a few which in hindsight seemed both wise and fair at the time, but which eventually turned out to be neither. Oh well, that's the hobby!

Scott, I’m curious if some trades turned out better for you than the other party in hindsight or have most gone the other way? Because you have a very unique perspective as both artist and collector, I’d love for you to elaborate if you feel comfortable. 

[MyNameIsLegion]

On 3/6/2024 at 4:22 PM, stinkininkin said:

Yeah, speaking just of value, the prices on these better BWS Weapon X pages have taken off only in the last 5 or 6 years. As for the art, there are indeed better individual pages from this series that are better than this one, but as a placeholder? Man, it's a hell of a placeholder!!! All that said, I used to do trades and there are definitely a few which in hindsight seemed both wise and fair at the time, but which eventually turned out to be neither. Oh well, that's the hobby!

I think the far simpler explanation is generational- the guys that covet BWS Weapon X are not the same crowd that drooled over BWS Conan, as evidenced by the recent Conan 15 result.  That 20 year difference in time speaks volumes. Conan, a Pulp Character that, compared to most pulp characters was moderately successful in transitioning to comics compared to others (Tarzan, the Phantom, Flash Gordon, the Shadow) is still a fading star compared to Wolverine. So it ain't the artist, all things being BWS, it the subject, and who's nostalgia and disposable income that aligns with that are in their 40's-early 50's. 

[PhilipB2k17]

On 3/7/2024 at 8:38 AM, MyNameIsLegion said:

I think the far simpler explanation is generational- the guys that covet BWS Weapon X are not the same crowd that drooled over BWS Conan, as evidenced by the recent Conan 15 result.  That 20 year difference in time speaks volumes. Conan, a Pulp Character that, compared to most pulp characters was moderately successful in transitioning to comics compared to others (Tarzan, the Phantom, Flash Gordon, the Shadow) is still a fading star compared to Wolverine. So it ain't the artist, all things being BWS, it the subject, and who's nostalgia and disposable income that aligns with that are in their 40's-early 50's. 

I think Conan is a sleeping giant of a movie or TV franchise, frankly. The issue with Conan has always been, who plays him in a live action setting? Arnold was perfect, but the reboot with Jason Mamoa fizzled. Conan with a surfer dudebro accent just doesn't work. 

I think you need to find someone to play him with the right physicality. Maybe John Cena could pull it off. I don't think the Rock is the right guy, as he's too campy. But, who knows? Another possibility is Alan Ritchson. They are working on a Red Sonja project right now, so I think another Conan try is inevitable. If that works, then the Conan stuff goes up again. 

[Bronty]

On 3/7/2024 at 9:05 AM, PhilipB2k17 said:

I think Conan is a sleeping giant of a movie or TV franchise, frankly. The issue with Conan has always been, who plays him in a live action setting? Arnold was perfect, but the reboot with Jason Mamoa fizzled. Conan with a surfer dudebro accent just doesn't work. 

I think you need to find someone to play him with the right physicality. Maybe John Cena could pull it off. I don't think the Rock is the right guy, as he's too campy. But, who knows? Another possibility is Alan Ritchson. They are working on a Red Sonja project right now, so I think another Conan try is inevitable. If that works, then the Conan stuff goes up again. 

I dunno about sleeping giant but to me you have an old Schwarzenegger play an old Conan.

[ThothAmon]

On 3/7/2024 at 9:59 AM, Bronty said:

I dunno about sleeping giant but to me you have an old Schwarzenegger play an old Conan.

King Conan!

 

[KirbyCollector]

On 3/7/2024 at 8:38 AM, MyNameIsLegion said:

I think the far simpler explanation is generational- the guys that covet BWS Weapon X are not the same crowd that drooled over BWS Conan, as evidenced by the recent Conan 15 result.  That 20 year difference in time speaks volumes. Conan, a Pulp Character that, compared to most pulp characters was moderately successful in transitioning to comics compared to others (Tarzan, the Phantom, Flash Gordon, the Shadow) is still a fading star compared to Wolverine. So it ain't the artist, all things being BWS, it the subject, and who's nostalgia and disposable income that aligns with that are in their 40's-early 50's. 

Wolverine's character was successfully modified to fit our current culture, i.e., he was depowered in his last two solo features to emphasize the female leads. For all his abilities, Wolverine has women bailing him out and audiences are OK with that. I just can't see how Conan works in that paradigm. 

[PhilipB2k17]

On 3/7/2024 at 11:01 AM, KirbyCollector said:

Wolverine's character was successfully modified to fit our current culture, i.e., he was depowered in his last two solo features to emphasize the female leads. For all his abilities, Wolverine has women bailing him out and audiences are OK with that. I just can't see how Conan works in that paradigm. 

Conan was bailed out, repeatedly, by Valeria in the first Arnold Conan film, and nobody had any problems with that back in 1982. 

 

Edited March 7 by PhilipB2k17

[KirbyCollector]

On 3/7/2024 at 11:42 AM, PhilipB2k17 said:

Conan was bailed out, repeatedly, by Valeria in the first Arnold Conan film, and nobody had any problems with that back in 1982. 

 

Bailed out or helped along the journey is one thing... defeating the film's Big Bad at the end is another. Wolvie didn't do that in either of his solo outings.

[batman_fan]

On 3/7/2024 at 9:42 AM, PhilipB2k17 said:

Conan was bailed out, repeatedly, by Valeria in the first Arnold Conan film, and nobody had any problems with that back in 1982. 

 

The 1st Conan movie was excellent and still holds up today.  Came out when I was in high school

[drdroom]

On 3/7/2024 at 6:59 AM, Bronty said:

I dunno about sleeping giant but to me you have an old Schwarzenegger play an old Conan.

Arnold as King Conan is not a half-bad idea. Sorry I'm not a powerful studio exec (how many times have I said that?).

[cstojano]

On 3/7/2024 at 2:41 PM, drdroom said:

Arnold as King Conan is not a half-bad idea. Sorry I'm not a powerful studio exec (how many times have I said that?).

Scheduled for release right after the Dragonlance and Elfquest movies......................................

[batman_fan]

On 3/7/2024 at 6:25 PM, szav said:

I noticed conveniently left out mention of Conan the Destroyer...

I'm crazy but I'm not insane

[Bronty]

On 3/7/2024 at 4:41 PM, drdroom said:

Arnold as King Conan is not a half-bad idea.

I can't take credit for the idea, I heard it mentioned on Mandel's podcast and I loved the concept.

[PhilipB2k17]

On 3/7/2024 at 4:41 PM, drdroom said:

Arnold as King Conan is not a half-bad idea. Sorry I'm not a powerful studio exec (how many times have I said that?).

That's been discussed for years, actually. Arnold wants to do it. I think they'd be better off rebooting it with a younger actor. 

[delekkerste]

On 3/11/2024 at 2:42 PM, PhilipB2k17 said:

That's been discussed for years, actually. Arnold wants to do it. I think they'd be better off rebooting it with a younger actor. 

Decades at this point. 

As much as I love both Conan and Arnold, I think this is a pairing that is now past its sell-by date unless they want to digitally make Arnold look 25 years younger a la Harrison Ford in the flashback part of the last Indiana Jones film. 

Edited March 11 by delekkerste

[Bronty]

On 3/11/2024 at 2:53 PM, delekkerste said:

Decades at this point. 

As much as I love both Conan and Arnold, I think this is a pairing that is now past its sell-by date unless they want to digitally make Arnold look 25 years younger a la Harrison Ford in the flashback part of the last Indiana Jones film. 

Sure, it would be better if he was still 50 or 60, but if anybody can pull it off, he can.    

I really can't imagine anyone else in the role, is another way to put it.   Can you?   The very idea seems weird to me.

Edited March 12 by Bronty

[MyNameIsLegion]

On 3/11/2024 at 8:47 PM, Bronty said:

Sure, it would be better if he was still 50 or 60, but if anybody can pull it off, he can.    

I really can't imagine anyone else in the role, is another way to put it.   Can you?   The very idea seems weird to me.

I just don't see Arnold getting in anything approaching King Conan shape. Those days are done. He's not going to do 6-8 months of training for a payday he doesn't really need, and his ego would never allow him to put himself out there as anything less than impressive (for his age). too big a gamble to his film legacy as Conan. 

[jjonahjameson11]

Looks like bidding is open.

good luck to all