Comic-Link Featured Auction 8/15-9/5 1 1

[Shaun Hill]

On 9/2/2024 at 8:28 AM, tth2 said:

It drains money from a competitor and perhaps will leave them short of money when they're bidding against you on something that you really do want.  Also, as you likely own some of the same types of the pieces if you know the sector and competitors well enough to effectively punish bid, the value of your own pieces will benefit from the strong prices that result from the punishment bidding.

Ah, this makes sense if you know you have to go against them down the line.  I would just be too fearful I would get stuck with a piece I don't want at an inflated price and not be able to go for said future piece I actually did want, all because I was trying to screw someone else.

[vodou]

On 9/5/2024 at 8:38 PM, Shaun Hill said:

...all because I was trying to screw someone else.

The are some 'personalities' in the hobby that seem to enjoy this more than actually collecting.

It's beyond me.

[MAY1979]

On 8/16/2024 at 11:15 PM, MAY1979 said:

Predictions?

It's not a "Demon In A Bottle" cover, but it's close, and the fake stats look like garbage, but nekked it's a true frame hang on the wall conversation piece.

I'm going to say $40-55K. Thoughts?

https://www.comiclink.com/Auctions/item.asp?id=1787427

29K. I'm shocked! That's a 2014 price. I expected no less than 40K

[gumbydarnit]

Does Matthew Dimasi shattered tile pieces usually command this type of result -10K?

 

Edited September 6 by gumbydarnit

[Bronty]

Well, I’ll say this about them, they’re large.

[gumbydarnit]

On 9/5/2024 at 9:01 PM, Bronty said:

Well, I’ll say this about them, they’re large.

True-

“Dimensions: 35" x 52" frame to frame”

[Lucky Baru]

On 8/28/2024 at 11:10 AM, Dr. Balls said:

 

Solid Bloodstrike cover, one of the better ones that gives a great Punisher vibe. This one jumped up quite a bit in the opening days, but has leveled off at $950 for the time being. Typically amazing detail from Karl Altstaetter with Thibert inks really make this cover tight, IMHO. Another one I'm not sure of where the end result might be. Image art always has a lot of variables mixed in that can throw a curve: intermixing status of character, artist, level of detail, popularity of title can either price it low or put it through the roof - the consistency of price is hard to track.

What was the hammer price on the that?  Also, what did you think of the pricing on the Campbell Giants piece, and the Brett Booth Backlash covers?

[Rick2you2]

On 9/5/2024 at 9:44 PM, MAY1979 said:

29K. I'm shocked! That's a 2014 price. I expected no less than 40K

Not shocked; not that good with all the graphic distractions from the central image. The central image alone does not a piece of artwork make.

[Rick2you2]

I never actually watched the end of a CLink auction before (on specific pieces, never made it to the end). As thrilling as watching paint dry. 

[KirbyCollector]

On 9/5/2024 at 9:44 PM, MAY1979 said:

29K. I'm shocked! That's a 2014 price. I expected no less than 40K

Have no fear, the dealer mafia will have this for sale at 55K before the end of the year

[vodou]

On 9/5/2024 at 9:44 PM, MAY1979 said:

29K. I'm shocked! That's a 2014 price. I expected no less than 40K

Wrong venue. Plain and simple.

Not that the consignor would have gotten more though, it's just that the headline number (inclusive of HA 20% BP) would have been at least $34-35k for the same "bid".

And that's apples:apples. I'd argue for a premier piece like this you will get more eyes and bids, at the end too where it counts, from a House/site that the motivated but otherwise very busy moneyed folks absolutely will not accidentally miss or forget about.

[tth2]

On 9/6/2024 at 4:02 AM, Matches_Malone said:

Well..so much for prices staying low for the items I'm interested in. . There are some bargains still 

It would help if you would stop alerting everyone here to these auctions! 

Prices were very strong, unlike the prices in the Focused auctions that don't get publicized here.  

[comix4fun]

On 9/6/2024 at 8:34 AM, tth2 said:

It would help if you would stop alerting everyone here to these auctions! 

Prices were very strong, unlike the prices in the Focused auctions that don't get publicized here.  

I wish there was a way to contact the consignors to let them know you were the underbidder on their piece(s) and that you guaranteed them an extra few thousand bucks....might be good for a bundt cake or a muffin basket in appreciation....just sayin'. 

[jjonahjameson11]

On 9/6/2024 at 9:34 AM, tth2 said:

It would help if you would stop alerting everyone here to these auctions! 

Prices were very strong, unlike the prices in the Focused auctions that don't get publicized here.  

Prices were very strong?

on what?

[Dick Pontoon]

I'd say $10k+ for that awful Kirby Thor with Hammer Illustration was very strong. In fact, I'd say it was insane. And I'm a huge fan.

[Dr. Balls]

On 9/6/2024 at 4:32 AM, Lucky Baru said:

What was the hammer price on the that?  Also, what did you think of the pricing on the Campbell Giants piece, and the Brett Booth Backlash covers?

The hammer on Bloodstrike was something like $3600 - which, is $3000 more than the last Bloodstrike cover that came up just a month or two ago. That was a very odd auction.

The Campbell baseball piece must have gone to a Giants fan, that's pretty low, but it seems that unless it's Wolverine or Spidey, Campbell stuff is collected by people who want his GGA. It's a published piece, but doesn't have a lot of comic-centric stuff going on other than Stan Lee. I'm actually surprised someone didn't have Stan Lee sign it.

The Booth Backlash #15 cover is actually quite a deal - it's an early Booth piece and it's inked by Al Vey, who's super-tight inks were perfect for the cover. I imagine this cover looks crazy awesome in-hand. My only comment to the art is that it has that "movie poster" feel to it where all the characters are posing, rather than being in-action. The absence of his dynamic action is probably what kept this one down, and made #14 go up to $2300, which was also a really sweet price with Al Vey inks on an action-packed cover.

One surprising end was the Stephen Platt Glory pinup, which maxed at $3250 without a single bid the last 4 or 5 days, which seemed low for a GGA Platt piece in comparison to similar Wildstorm girlie pinups. An Al Rio piece of a very minor character went for $2600 last year, so $650 more for a well-known character by Platt seems low, especially now when 90's Image stuff is raging. Granted, it's not Moon Knight or Prophet, and is missing a lot of the signature styling Platt is known for, and I think that might be why it leveled out where it did. Notably, it was lacking a lot of balance and ink variation that he is known for. I was interested in watching it, but in the end, it almost felt like it was an unfinished piece because there just wasn't that much contrast in it.

I got outbid on the Jae Lee Wildcats page, which was a great page showcasing a lot of cool stylings of his at $2666 - I hadn't paid attention to a lot of early Jae Lee stuff, but it seemed to be a decent price (albeit a bit more than what I wanted to pay - I tapped out at $2300). I was sad to see this one go, as Jae Lee had a big influence on my own art back in the day, and I had always wanted a piece representative of that - but there will be more someday.

There was also a great Lady Death cover by Ivan Reis from 1999 that I was high bidder on for awhile that went for $1500. I was actually thankful I got outbid at $1200, as I'm beginning to see lots of people unload Lady Death pretty regularly across most of the auction houses and I think there is a dearth of newer stuff out there.

Edited September 6 by Dr. Balls

[J.Sid]

On 9/1/2024 at 8:54 AM, MAY1979 said:

 Be very quiet or the auction houses who love the way it pads their bottom line will send folks after you. Even eBay has done that! (to the mods who may see this post please note; that is official USA public record)

HOLY CR@P!!! (this is the first I'd seen that story)

Edited September 6 by J.Sid

[Benedict Judas Hel]

On 9/5/2024 at 3:02 PM, Matches_Malone said:

Well..so much for prices staying low for the items I'm interested in. .

Yup, there was one piece I was very interested in but someone else was willing to pay more for it than I was.  Oh well.  Kind of glad I didn’t win because if I did win, it would have been more than I reasonably felt comfortable paying for 1 piece of art of this kind.

[Lucky Baru]

On 9/6/2024 at 10:45 AM, Dr. Balls said:

The hammer on Bloodstrike was something like $3600 - which, is $3000 more than the last Bloodstrike cover that came up just a month or two ago. That was a very odd auction.

The Campbell baseball piece must have gone to a Giants fan, that's pretty low, but it seems that unless it's Wolverine or Spidey, Campbell stuff is collected by people who want his GGA. It's a published piece, but doesn't have a lot of comic-centric stuff going on other than Stan Lee. I'm actually surprised someone didn't have Stan Lee sign it.

The Booth Backlash #15 cover is actually quite a deal - it's an early Booth piece and it's inked by Al Vey, who's super-tight inks were perfect for the cover. I imagine this cover looks crazy awesome in-hand. My only comment to the art is that it has that "movie poster" feel to it where all the characters are posing, rather than being in-action. The absence of his dynamic action is probably what kept this one down, and made #14 go up to $2300, which was also a really sweet price with Al Vey inks on an action-packed cover.

One surprising end was the Stephen Platt Glory pinup, which maxed at $3250 without a single bid the last 4 or 5 days, which seemed low for a GGA Platt piece in comparison to similar Wildstorm girlie pinups. An Al Rio piece of a very minor character went for $2600 last year, so $650 more for a well-known character by Platt seems low, especially now when 90's Image stuff is raging. Granted, it's not Moon Knight or Prophet, and is missing a lot of the signature styling Platt is known for, and I think that might be why it leveled out where it did. Notably, it was lacking a lot of balance and ink variation that he is known for. I was interested in watching it, but in the end, it almost felt like it was an unfinished piece because there just wasn't that much contrast in it.

I got outbid on the Jae Lee Wildcats page, which was a great page showcasing a lot of cool stylings of his at $2666 - I hadn't paid attention to a lot of early Jae Lee stuff, but it seemed to be a decent price (albeit a bit more than what I wanted to pay - I tapped out at $2300). I was sad to see this one go, as Jae Lee had a big influence on my own art back in the day, and I had always wanted a piece representative of that - but there will be more someday.

There was also a great Lady Death cover by Ivan Reis from 1999 that I was high bidder on for awhile that went for $1500. I was actually thankful I got outbid at $1200, as I'm beginning to see lots of people unload Lady Death pretty regularly across most of the auction houses and I think there is a dearth of newer stuff out there.

Thanks for the detailed reply!

You are seeing more Lady Death art at action.  However, the Steven Hughes pieces still perform when I’ve seen them in auctions.  He defined the character.

i dug the Bloodstrike cover.  There were several people that wanted that, I guess.    I hope that the result drives more of Karl’s Bloodstrike pieces to market.  I think he and Richard Horie are overlooked in the hobby.  Unfortunately, both of their pages while they were working with Liefeld just don’t hit the market very often.  You can toss in Chap Yaep’s working with Liefeld in there too. They just don't come to market very often.  I’d like to see them pop up more often too.

Platt’s stuff is hard to get a handle on.  Such a small pool of his comic pieces out there.  So, I appreciate your comments on that piece.

Edited September 6 by Lucky Baru

[Sideshow Bob]

I picked up the Jerry Bingham Suicide Squad #10 cover. Fondly remember buying that issue off the shelf at my LCS the day it came out. Prime Bingham! Peak nostalgia (for me).