TMNT #1 Art on Ebay? Legit? Scam? WTF?

[dem1138]

delekkerste agrees with my valuations ladies and gentlemen! A round of applause, please!

 

Chris - with regards to your comments about Primer #2 - as is often the case - yes, there was a lot of nonsense around that auction, but there were legit buyers at that level - and since the value of something is what others are willing to pay - regardless of whether or not they paid it - legitimizes the value of that cover - at the time those offers were made. However, due to the actions of the seller, those potential buyers may not be willing to pay those prices anymore. Regardless, at a certain point in time, that value was legit - so my example was still relevant.

[Kevin Eastman Studios]

Good afternoon all,

 

The artwork for TMNT #1 is definately for sale in the ebay auction. It isn't a scam. Kevin is indeed auctioning this work. Fascinating reading all your takes on the pricing - very interesting, I wanted to assure you it isn't a scam, Keith did email me earlier in the day and I see that he posted note of that here too.

 

The ebay auction includes the wraparound cover, the dedication page, 40 interior pages, a copy of the first printing of the book and the first ad he drew up for the CBG.

 

In addition to this TMNT #1 art I continue to sell other works through the MetalTV website - the home of Heavy Metal magazine (http://www.metaltv.com). I just put up a Vampirella painting by Enrich, Royo sketches, a Manara painting and some more Bisley covers, including Swamp Thing and lots of TMNT art that isn't quite as pricey.

 

cheers

Fiona

[pkveronese]

Three panel pages from Cerebus #1 sold on Heritage back in '03 for $2300, $2357 and $2587 respectively. That was 4 years ago and although TMNT #1 may or may not be as significant as Cerebus #1, I think it's safe to say that TMNT #1 panel pages would beat those numbers.

 

I'm with Solar on this one - if someone wanted to sell me pages from this at 1-1.5K a piece, I'd buy them all day.

 

Three things help these TMNT #1 pages in comparison to Cerebus- 1) There is MUCH, MUCH less Eastman/Laird TMNT art than Dave Sim Cerebus art (buy at least a 30:1 ratio as Eastman/Laird were only together for about a dozen issues), 2) Most Eastman/Laird TMNT are is still in the possession of Eastman/Laird and their family and/or friends (There have been a few pages from issue #3,5, and 7 surface - and I was estatic to find that page from issue # 3), and 3) TMNT has had an exponentially larger impact on pop culture than Cerebus (thus drawing possible buyers to the sale that would not ordinarily be comic fans).

[tth2]

I think FMV for the complete book (which can command a premium) with the cover and all of the other extras thrown in is around 250K

 

The term "historically significant" is overused and bandied about freely in the comic art world when the piece in question is almost always only important or significant to a very small segment of the population. In this case, however, I think "historically significant" does truly apply - we are talking about something that became an international pop culture phenomenon, appearing in print, on TV, in the movies and in countless merchandising items.

 

I think your estimates for the numbers sound pretty reasonable, as far as $250K for any comic art can be deemed "reasonable". Certainly the other estimates ($12K for the cover, $800-$1,200 for the pages) are way too low; I would write a check for all of it right now at those levels and I'm not even that big a fan.

I agree with Gene on this one. If the cover were offered for $12K, it would be gone in a nanosecond and could be flipped at 3-4X profit within minutes. TMNT is something that transcends mere comics, and its OA is beyond scarce.

 

I think the reserve must be extremely high, though. I just pushed the bidding over $200K, and Bidder 1 still has 4 bids on top of that, and the auction still hasn't met reserve. As some have said in this thread, I don't think it will sell through this eBay listing nor do I think it was ever really intended to.

 

Doesn't Eastman sell a lot of his art through Heritage (all of his stuff with Bisley)? Why isn't he selling it there?

[tth2]

Good afternoon all,

 

The artwork for TMNT #1 is definately for sale in the ebay auction. It isn't a scam. Kevin is indeed auctioning this work. Fascinating reading all your takes on the pricing - very interesting, I wanted to assure you it isn't a scam, Keith did email me earlier in the day and I see that he posted note of that here too.

 

The ebay auction includes the wraparound cover, the dedication page, 40 interior pages, a copy of the first printing of the book and the first ad he drew up for the CBG.

 

In addition to this TMNT #1 art I continue to sell other works through the MetalTV website - the home of Heavy Metal magazine (http://www.metaltv.com). I just put up a Vampirella painting by Enrich, Royo sketches, a Manara painting and some more Bisley covers, including Swamp Thing and lots of TMNT art that isn't quite as pricey.

 

cheers

Fiona

Fiona, why is the art being sold at all? Surely Kevin doesn't need the money.

[Nexus]

I've heard that Kevin Eastman had a comic book art collection that was just immense (around 8,000 pieces). He probably held more Miller, BWS, Adams, etc. than anyone else. A few years ago, he sold just about all of it, including all 12 CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS covers in one shot for what would now be considered a very paltry sum.

 

I could only speculate as to why he sold all that other art and is now selling the TMNT #1 OA. However, I highly doubt this auction was timed to help publicize the movie. If anything, I think the timing of the sale is meant to capitalize on the hype around the movie's release on the off-chance there's someone out there with deep enough pockets who can hit the reserve on a whim.

 

In the more likely event that doesn't happen, I wouldn't be surprised to see a deal consummated with an OA dealer and the book broken up. We'll find out in a week.

[slackjawcomics]

Fiona, why is the art being sold at all? Surely Kevin doesn't need the money.

 

But it is nice to get a extra $250,000 to play with (w/ 7 days left )

[tth2]

Fiona, why is the art being sold at all? Surely Kevin doesn't need the money.

 

But it is nice to get a extra $250,000 to play with (w/ 7 days left )

Unless Eastman and Laird signed up for the worst licensing deal in history, $250,000 for Eastman must be like $250 for us average folks. I know the company that manufactures TMNT toys, and the owners are mega-millionaires primarily as a result of TMNT even though the margins in toy manufacturing are brutal. Eastman and Laird should be getting a royalty payment for each and every one of those little suckers!

[brasseye]

I'll play:

I think FMV for the complete book (which can command a premium) with the cover and all of the other extras thrown in is around 250K

 

 

Looks your on the money, and my low-ball estimates were miles off.

 

But $250K, sh#ttin me, if that isn't a load of cash.

I'm assuming we've got bidder's outside of our normal OA community in on this item, yes/no?

[brasseye]

Unless Eastman and Laird signed up for the worst licensing deal in history, $250,000 for Eastman must be like $250 for us average folks. I know the company that manufactures TMNT toys, and the owners are mega-millionaires primarily as a result of TMNT even though the margins in toy manufacturing are brutal. Eastman and Laird should be getting a royalty payment for each and every one of those little suckers!

 

A top rated porn/glamour actress doesn't marry your arze just because you wrote a nifty comic book, and look like Frank Oz's cousin.... (sorry if this sinks anyone's burning ambition boat).

Those boys had their retirement age regress to about 3 when the merchandising cheques started coming in from what I understand!

The merchandising for the Star's War's prequel eclipsed a billion $$, even before the first movie was released. TMNT was equally massive a phenomenon in it's day.

[Solar]

$249K - Still RNM

[brasseye]

RNM??

[Thomas]

RNM??

 

Reserve Not Met.

[brasseye]

RNM??

 

Reserve Not Met.

 

Should of known that. Thanks.

 

Well thats a little surprising for me to be honest, but in the face of the fact that it's been offered for sale previously for a million $, I guess not.

[Bronty]

I think it was just the cover that was previously on sale for 1m, not the whole book.

[Solar]

Nah, it was definitely the whole book. I stared at the original listing quite a bit

[comix4fun]

$249K - Still RNM

 

Well, at least now we know the next bid will be the top bid.

 

It is sitting at 249,999 and the next highest bidder is at 249,909...not a full bid increment.

 

 

Chris

[Solar]

$249K - Still RNM

 

Well, at least now we know the next bid will be the top bid.

 

It is sitting at 249,999 and the next highest bidder is at 249,909...not a full bid increment.

 

 

Chris

 

I dare ya to bid $251K. Come on, you know you want to

[comix4fun]

$249K - Still RNM

 

Well, at least now we know the next bid will be the top bid.

 

It is sitting at 249,999 and the next highest bidder is at 249,909...not a full bid increment.

 

 

Chris

 

I dare ya to bid $251K. Come on, you know you want to

 

 

Checks ebay's rules on retracting bids....oh yeah here it is

 

4) You may retract a bid if your wife will divoirce you for making this bid, or if said bid will cause your manhood to be removed and placed in a jar on the mantle.

 

Ok...I can bid now.

 

Chris

[Solar]