Are OA prices out of control? 7 7

[Xatari]

@LamboLGM right, but you realize Dinesh and I are not the same person, nor were we addressing the same issue, right? 

[LamboLGM]

On 6/18/2024 at 10:49 PM, Unstoppablejayd said:

Lambo Lap Slab!!!! I know people would bid on that! 

You know it JayD! I"ll make a movie about this. It'll be very collectible!!! Trust me!  

 

[LamboLGM]

On 6/18/2024 at 11:11 PM, Xatari said:

@LamboLGM right, but you realize Dinesh and I are not the same person, nor were we addressing the same issue, right? 

Funny, I could have sworn you guys were the same person! lmao 

Ok, my beef is with the omnipresent Mr. Dinesh not you if you didn't claim that Felix shilled the auction. After all, the one thing we know is you weren't there.  Not like Dinesh. And since he was there, he knows ALL! 

 

[Xatari]

Can we stop the name calling? It is juvenile. I have seen it happen nonstop in this thread, and it has consistently been from one side. 

[LamboLGM]

On 6/18/2024 at 11:17 PM, Xatari said:

Can we stop the name calling? It is juvenile. I have seen it happen nonstop in this thread, and it has consistently been from one side. 

Your buddy is the one who posted the funny haha meme calling someone a liar. So you all can do what you please but I can't make a joke that you guys are the same person when obviously it's not true? How is that name calling?

[art4comics.com]

I was in the room.  I had been in the area with Felix and Lambert for a good part of the night but went off to talk to other friends in the room before and during the auction in question. I saw Lambert win the auction.  Although Felix had sat a few seats over from Lambert most of the night I do not recall him being there when Lambert won.  I later found out Lambert was proxy bidding for Albert.  Albert might have even been bidding for one of his bigger clients who use him as a proxy at times but that is not material here.  Whatever bid/threshold Albert gave Lambert is a private matter and if Lambert says it was higher than the $12k or $14k mentioned, I have no reason to doubt that. 

The unnamed person that allegedly told the underbidder to bid more is unknown.  I was not privy to this.  It is postulated that this was an auction helper doing what they were supposed to do.  The helpers for Felix are well known and if it were one of them they would have easily been identified.  This is not the case.  There is no benefit to Felix or Dan as to a higher price on a piece so the motivation behind this conspiracy theory doesn’t stand up.

I’ve known Felix since he started in the hobby.  He is honest to a fault.  He doesn’t care who he pisses off or burns bridges with and will state his opinion without fear.  He has a 0% BS tolerance and calls people out on it both privately and publicly.  This has garnered him some enemies in the hobby.  Even relatively new in this hobby he went up against a loudmouth giant (JM) and to this day that person stays clear of Felix.

Felix also is very by the book.  Friends do not get advantages with him when it comes to art drops.  While I wouldn’t leverage a friendship to try and get art, many others have tried and the answer is always no.  Get in line with the others regardless of who you are. 

To suggest anything less than honesty from Felix you will need to give proof.  The reputation of some of the people coming forward to make these accusations speaks volumes to the validity of the claims, their personality and their motivation in this thread. 

Unless details and facts are provided to support the claims, I do think this thread should come to an end. 

As far as singling out a cohort of collectors who might exhibit behaviour that could be construed as speculative and gambling or those that collect things that have been more important in the comic world than in the original art world like first appearances…this hobby has seen it all and there is room for everyone. 

Jeff Singh

[JC25427N]

[Xatari]

On 6/18/2024 at 8:22 PM, LamboLGM said:

Your buddy is the one who posted the funny haha meme calling someone a liar. So you all can do what you please but I can't make a joke that you guys are the same person when obviously it's not true? How is that name calling?

Fair. /s Let the name calling continue. 

[Cleangone]

What fun, to dig up my CGC login in order to be dragged into this.

I am the guy who went up to the underbidder as the bid got high.  I did so because earlier in the day, we had been discussing the relative merits of several purchases he was considering.  I went to talk to him to say the bidding was now playing a part in those discussions, but when I got there, he said he was out, as his original max was $8K.  At no point did I say "$14K".  The underbidder called me a bit ago, and we pieced together that there was a similar conversation nearby as the Skottie Young auction got high.  That auction went to $15K, so it is entirely possible a $14K amount was thrown around in that unrelated discussion.

Hopefully this addresses one of the conspiracy tentacles of the past eleven pages.  The winning bidder is happy, the primary underbidder is happy, the con is happy, the artist is happy, and the room was happy to see some spirited bidding.  There is no victim here. 

andy robbins

[Unstoppablejayd]

So many people had to reset CGC passwords today!!! 

[John E.]

“I would like to call Mr. Albert Moy’s smart phone to the witness stand, your Honor.”

[MyNameIsLegion]

On 6/18/2024 at 8:59 PM, Xatari said:

You seem to have issues with me. You’ve said I’m advising people about investing in art and now targeting artists. Feel free to message me personally.  I’ll give you my direct number, and we can engage in a real conversation man to person. Nothing I’ve share about Felix has not been shared with him directly. I believe in going to the source. 

To what end? What are you afraid to say right here? Perhaps the need to do some damage control to repair your reputation in the hobby is just beginning to dawn on you. You’ve gambled your perceived status as a first appearance influencer and having some money to be sufficient armor to take on a well respected member of the old guard. The old guard that have far more wealth in their art collections than you will ever be invited to see much less be permitted to own. Less so now. You and your confederates may feel a little sick, perhaps suffer a bit of hair loss. That happens when you are radioactive. 

[Cleangone]

Also, in my phone call with the underbidder a half hour or so ago, he related that one of the reasons the Skottie piece went so high is a good friend of one of the bidders is a big fan and is terminally ill.  We (the underbidder, me, and you, the reader) don't know if that's true, but it's certainly true that there are comic and art fans out there fighting difficult, possibly fatal battles as this made up controversy is thrashed back and forth.

That deserves time and attention.  This does not.

andy again, probably my 3rd post in two years

[Nexus]

Two separate but related ideas that I believe are behind the resentment that forms the crux of this:

On 6/18/2024 at 5:33 PM, Bronty said:

In my experience when these smear campaigns start the people smearing are frustrated in some way, and it’s usually about money.     The facts are tossed aside pretty quick because what serves the purpose is a narrative.

Easy access to the art, and potential profit ("money"), has been denied by me. Hence, the frustration.

On 6/18/2024 at 6:18 PM, MyNameIsLegion said:

I wonder which artist Xatari is targeting that Felix reps in the hopes of getting access to his art? They seem to want his artists to see this dust up. This is all very contrived. 

Related to that first idea, there are certain artists I rep whose art they believe can earn them outsized "returns". Unfortunately, I'm in the way. Tradd, of course. But also artists like Ryan Stegman. Whom Xatari has recently gone behind my back to try to get art from. Denied again. More frustration. Wash, rinse, repeat.

They cannot deny that they would love to see those artists (and more) leave me. Either to go with a more compliant rep, or better yet, to go it alone so they could have direct access. Or, as I suspect with one of them, to become their new rep. But would this be for the artist's benefit or theirs? The narrative they push is that I'm a terrible rep and a terrible person, so of course, the artist would be better off without me. The sales track record, though, and the artists' markets that have been built, would say otherwise. But that's an inconvenient truth. Along with the fact that their primary interest is buying the art for themselves.

The smear campaign has been ongoing and conducted in private with as many new collectors as possible that they can pull into their sphere of influence . This was a chance to take it public. So here we are.

[Xatari]

On 6/18/2024 at 9:14 PM, MyNameIsLegion said:

To what end? What are you afraid to say right here? Perhaps the need to do some damage control to repair your reputation in the hobby is just beginning to dawn on you. You’ve gambled your perceived status as a first appearance influencer and having some money to be sufficient armor to take on a well respected member of the old guard. The old guard that have far more wealth in their art collections than you will ever be invited to see much less be permitted to own. Less so now. You and your confederates may feel a little sick, perhaps suffer a bit of hair loss. That happens when you are radioactive. 

☢️ 

I love when people talk big but act small.

I offered to chat directly because I was raised in such a way that if you have issue with someone, you talk to them directly. 

Don’t worry about us accessing your art. Different strokes for different folks. Likely your art is not for me. However the big difference is, my “confederates” and I believe, as Jeff beautifully pointed out, that there is room at the table for everyone. We are not trying to gate keep. Quite the opposite which is why we welcome newcomers rather than see them as a threat to self cannibalize.  

[Nexus]

On 6/18/2024 at 8:25 PM, art4comics.com said:

I was in the room.  I had been in the area with Felix and Lambert for a good part of the night but went off to talk to other friends in the room before and during the auction in question. I saw Lambert win the auction.  Although Felix had sat a few seats over from Lambert most of the night I do not recall him being there when Lambert won.  I later found out Lambert was proxy bidding for Albert.  Albert might have even been bidding for one of his bigger clients who use him as a proxy at times but that is not material here.  Whatever bid/threshold Albert gave Lambert is a private matter and if Lambert says it was higher than the $12k or $14k mentioned, I have no reason to doubt that. 

The unnamed person that allegedly told the underbidder to bid more is unknown.  I was not privy to this.  It is postulated that this was an auction helper doing what they were supposed to do.  The helpers for Felix are well known and if it were one of them they would have easily been identified.  This is not the case.  There is no benefit to Felix or Dan as to a higher price on a piece so the motivation behind this conspiracy theory doesn’t stand up.

I’ve known Felix since he started in the hobby.  He is honest to a fault.  He doesn’t care who he pisses off or burns bridges with and will state his opinion without fear.  He has a 0% BS tolerance and calls people out on it both privately and publicly.  This has garnered him some enemies in the hobby.  Even relatively new in this hobby he went up against a loudmouth giant (JM) and to this day that person stays clear of Felix.

Felix also is very by the book.  Friends do not get advantages with him when it comes to art drops.  While I wouldn’t leverage a friendship to try and get art, many others have tried and the answer is always no.  Get in line with the others regardless of who you are. 

To suggest anything less than honesty from Felix you will need to give proof.  The reputation of some of the people coming forward to make these accusations speaks volumes to the validity of the claims, their personality and their motivation in this thread. 

Unless details and facts are provided to support the claims, I do think this thread should come to an end. 

As far as singling out a cohort of collectors who might exhibit behaviour that could be construed as speculative and gambling or those that collect things that have been more important in the comic world than in the original art world like first appearances…this hobby has seen it all and there is room for everyone. 

Jeff Singh

Thank you, Jeff. This was unexpected. I'm touched and I appreciate it.

[LamboLGM]

On 6/19/2024 at 12:14 AM, John E. said:

“I would like to call Mr. Albert Moy’s smart phone to the witness stand, your Honor.”

I could arrange that. and also my phone.

[exitmusicblue]

On 6/18/2024 at 9:14 PM, MyNameIsLegion said:

To what end? What are you afraid to say right here? Perhaps the need to do some damage control to repair your reputation in the hobby is just beginning to dawn on you. You’ve gambled your perceived status as a first appearance influencer and having some money to be sufficient armor to take on a well respected member of the old guard. The old guard that have far more wealth in their art collections than you will ever be invited to see much less be permitted to own. Less so now. You and your confederates may feel a little sick, perhaps suffer a bit of hair loss. That happens when you are radioactive. 

 

[Xatari]

On 6/18/2024 at 9:24 PM, Nexus said:

Ryan Stegman. Whom Xatari has recently gone behind my back to try to get art from. Denied again. More frustration. Wash, rinse, repeat.

@Nexus you love to bring this up. I didn’t go behind your back. I told you I would never buy directly from you again. I won’t support you. That doesn’t mean I won’t support your artists. In this case, I approached Ryan directly. He didn’t respond. I moved on. Didn’t shed a tear and bought a better piece for the project I needed.

On 6/18/2024 at 9:24 PM, Nexus said:

They cannot deny that they would love to see those artists (and more) leave me. Either to go with a more compliant rep, or better yet, to go it alone so they could have direct access. Or, as I suspect with one of them, to become their new rep.

I would love to see artists represented by ethical people who also look out for their customer base, not just the artists, to preserve the long term health of the hobby. Bashing a subset of the hobby then marketing to it is dishonest and duplicitous. However, I don’t know any of my friends who want to be art reps save one in the Philippines who does a tremendous job and acts with the utmost integrity. He’s certainly not after your artists.  This seems paranoid.

On 6/18/2024 at 9:24 PM, Nexus said:

Along with the fact that their primary interest is buying the art for themselves.

The smear campaign has been ongoing and conducted in private with as many new collectors as possible that they can pull into their sphere of influence . This was a chance to take it public. So here we are.

I thought we were gamblers and non-collectors looking to flip and profit? Any proof of said “smear campaign” since you are demanding the same?

[Grant Turner]

Clear lines are now drawn in the sand. Ideologies on both sides.  Hopefully (🤞🏻) all parties can agree to let those of us in the wake to digest and process, and not demand of us we pick a side unless we so choose