So how much have YOU spent?

[SignatureSelect]

Larry, I always enjoy your posts.

 

I'd love to see that Michael Golden Manbat page. You were absolutely right to buy it when you could; Golden art is a rarity and he's a special talent.

 

Unlike you, I've purchased artwork that I later regretted buying. Much, much worse -- I've sold artwork that I really liked when finances forced my hand. There's a Cary Nord splash that I really miss...and a STRANGERS IN PARADISE cover that makes my heart ache....

 

Terry Moore Did A cover re-creation/re-interpretation of the cover to SIP Dreaming of you. He did it for free about 3 years ago and since then I have been offered 400 a couple of times but turned it down each time because I felt I would regret it. I couldn't imagine not having that piece in my collection. I have many pieces I could live without but that is not one of them.

[Artemaria]

Started collecting small - a page here for under $100, then a page for under $200.

 

Now I am eyeing pages for over $1K, but have not yet hit that barrier.

 

The problem for me is that I've only been collecting for five (5) months. So, this has gotten out of hand rather quickly.

 

I'd really like there to be some time before I began collecting and that $1K barrier. It really is much different when you buy a page for $100 and buy one for $1K.

 

Also, in my mind at least, there are only certain things that are worth over $1K to me. However, when these things have popped up on eBay over the years (I looked at OA for years, but for some reason only decided to take the plunge recently), none of them has been priced at $1K -- all have been much higher.

 

Having not been one of these people who got into the hobby 20 years ago when there was alot more stuff available for alot less money, it seems like slim pickings now for the amounts that I'd like to spend. However, unless something comes up that I think is a really good value, I guess I'll just wait to see if prices settle down.

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this is the height of the market. And I think that there is good reason for it to be the height of the market. Spidey 3 is out, comics are currently a popular mining grounds for movies, there is a Heroes TV show (the first in a while). Even walking by a church in the neighborhood where I work, there was a poster for that week's sermon - "Superheroes and Supervillans - an analysis of modern culture."

 

To me it seems that comics are on people's minds today which has led to an increase in the number of people looking for comic OA because it is a trendy hobby right now. I'm wondering how many of these people will stay with the hobby once it is no longer the hot thing to do?

 

The other thing I'm wondering is will prices re-adjust after comics are no longer the hot trend? Admittedly, this could be 10 years from now, but does anyone else thinks that will happen?

 

Also, (and I guess that this would show that I really have no clue) are there better places to strike bargains than eBay? It always seems that there is some crazy guy out there who is willing to buy something at some ridiculous price because that was his favorite comic while camping or etc.? Are conventions better?

 

Any input would be great. Thanks all.

[MONSTER]

I've always loved comic art but I haven't had the disposable income to spend more than a few hundered dollars a year on it until the last 5-6 years. Heck it wasn't that long ago that I would be lucky to have $200.00 in my pocket that was to last the entire San Diego Con.

 

Like someone else said, the great thing about original art is there is something for everyone. Unfortunately for me, my pay raises aren't keeping up with the soaring prices of the art I would love to own.

[westform]

Having not been one of these people who got into the hobby 20 years ago when there was alot more stuff available for alot less money, it seems like slim pickings now for the amounts that I'd like to spend. However, unless something comes up that I think is a really good value, I guess I'll just wait to see if prices settle down.

 

I was not around 20 years ago but darn close to it. And, let me tell you there was much less available than there is today. Yes, prices were insanely low, but 9 times out of 10 when I contacted a dealer through an ad, the piece was sold. Pre-internet it was very hard to even find material. If you didn't go to big shows, you were out of luck. Yes, at my first San Diego which came a few years later I was offered a complete Ditko Spidey story for 35k... and passed... this was a lot of $ back then..... mmm.. still is! Yes, I managed to pick up quite a few items cheaply, but most of my keepers have come in the last couple of years..... the prices have gotten high enough that the original owners are finally letting go of the 'good' stuff. (You can actually find specific examples you want if you pay the piper.) And/or alot of those people who were collecting even longer than 20 years ago are simply on to bigger and better things and have lost interest in some of the prime pieces.... of course, that still doesn't apply to those few that continue to horde huge stockpiles of Kirby/Sinnott FF, Romita Spider-man, Smith Conan, Ditko Spider-man, Steranko Fury, Kirby Kamandi, Neal Adams Batman, Miller Dark Knight, Kurtzman EC, to name a few artists and titles currently being tightly held. Still, with all the internet auctions, ebay, collector groups, it is fairly easy to find the pieces you want compared to yesteryear. That's all....

[Mr.Glass-migration]

I've always loved comic art but I haven't had the disposable income to spend more than a few hundered dollars a year on it until the last 5-6 years. Heck it wasn't that long ago that I would be lucky to have $200.00 in my pocket that was to last the entire San Diego Con.

 

Like someone else said, the great thing about original art is there is something for everyone. Unfortunately for me, my pay raises aren't keeping up with the soaring prices of the art I would love to own.

 

Bags of $$$$, Bags of $$$$....only bags of $$$$ will get you the goods.

 

[Mister Trent]

Having not been one of these people who got into the hobby 20 years ago when there was alot more stuff available for alot less money, it seems like slim pickings now for the amounts that I'd like to spend. However, unless something comes up that I think is a really good value, I guess I'll just wait to see if prices settle down.

 

I was not around 20 years ago but darn close to it. And, let me tell you there was much less available than there is today. Yes, prices were insanely low, but 9 times out of 10 when I contacted a dealer through an ad, the piece was sold. Pre-internet it was very hard to even find material. If you didn't go to big shows, you were out of luck. Yes, at my first San Diego which came a few years later I was offered a complete Ditko Spidey story for 35k... and passed... this was a lot of $ back then..... mmm.. still is! Yes, I managed to pick up quite a few items cheaply, but most of my keepers have come in the last couple of years..... the prices have gotten high enough that the original owners are finally letting go of the 'good' stuff. (You can actually find specific examples you want if you pay the piper.) And/or alot of those people who were collecting even longer than 20 years ago are simply on to bigger and better things and have lost interest in some of the prime pieces.... of course, that still doesn't apply to those few that continue to horde huge stockpiles of Kirby/Sinnott FF, Romita Spider-man, Smith Conan, Ditko Spider-man, Steranko Fury, Kirby Kamandi, Neal Adams Batman, Miller Dark Knight, Kurtzman EC, to name a few artists and titles currently being tightly held. Still, with all the internet auctions, ebay, collector groups, it is fairly easy to find the pieces you want compared to yesteryear. That's all....

 

I mostly agree. I started collecting 25 years ago, but as I live in the UK most of my collecting was done via snail mail and it took weeks, sometimes months, to acquire art from America. During the 80s, I was heavily into buying EC art from Russ Cochran, but by the end of the 1990s (thanks to the advent of the internet) the worlwide market was an e-mail away. By that time, prices had spiralled ever upwards. As Dan correctly points out, high prices equate to long-time collectors finding it worth their while to release art (hence the greater choice, nowadays). Personally, I've now shed all of my EC story art as my collecting focus is now mostly on cover examples (from various publishers, not just EC). I don't necessarily have big bucks to blow on art, but I can easily relinquish art from my collection to help fund the acquisition of high-end pieces. For example, I've just sold two pieces of (UK) art to two collector friends over in this country for a little over $10,000 (US equivalent). Even if I couldn't afford to compete for the higher-end stuff, there's still lots of affordable examples (for most peoples' pockets) to keep me interested in the hobby. Lots of inexpensive cherished pieces in my collection, in addition to the expensive stuff . . .

[Solar]

Bags of $$$$, Bags of $$$$....only bags of $$$$ will get you the goods.

 

Somebody get this man some