Black hole collectors/collections? 0

[zhamlau]

Red Dwarf Collector: A collector who frequently tells you they used to have a HUGE collection back when "art was more (fill in blank)!" before they had a huge sell off leaving them with the small relatively meager holdings they have now, only a fraction of its previous (supposed) glory.

[mister_not_so_nice]

1 hour ago, zhamlau said:

Red Dwarf Collector: A collector who frequently tells you they used to have a HUGE collection back when "art was more (fill in blank)!" before they had a huge sell off leaving them with the small relatively meager holdings they have now, only a fraction of its previous (supposed) glory.

This collector also has a "SOLD" folder in their CAF of their gone but not forgotten pieces 

[John E.]

When one thinks of Black Hole collectors, one tends to think about those folks who are stashing away Ditkos and Kirbys or the covers to ASM15 and BA12. But those I don't care about because I could never afford them. If you scour the dealer and auction sites obsessively for their updates like I do, you'll notice some really nice pieces that get bought up quickly, but they never show up on CAF. Or what about those pages I sell on eBay that hardly ever show up on CAF. What gives? Were these just one-off purchases? That Black Hole Collectors that "scare" me are those stashing away the $50-$500 pieces, especially the 90s stuff 

[Rune]

It's great to get the nomenclature straightened out 

I've never sold a single thing, not oa nor CGC books  Thus my collection is like a black hole, although light does escape (my collections can be seen on the web). And according to Wikipedia: "In general relativity, a white hole is a hypothetical region of spacetime which cannot be entered from the outside, although matter and light can escape from it."

Thanks to this thread and Wikipedia, now I know how to introduce myself to other collectors at Comic Con or similar events  

"(banging on the microphone in the crowded room) Hi, my name is Rasmussen, but just call me Rune. I'm a white hole collector, yeah my hole is quite wide, not that tight or dark really, guess you all know what I'm talking about - man it's just so good to be here, sharing our mutual interests and really getting to know each other"

Edited May 27, 2017 by Rune

[Mighty Hal]

On 5/25/2017 at 8:43 AM, Jay Olie Espy said:

When one thinks of Black Hole collectors, one tends to think about those folks who are stashing away Ditkos and Kirbys or the covers to ASM15 and BA12. But those I don't care about because I could never afford them. If you scour the dealer and auction sites obsessively for their updates like I do, you'll notice some really nice pieces that get bought up quickly, but they never show up on CAF. Or what about those pages I sell on eBay that hardly ever show up on CAF. What gives? Were these just one-off purchases? That Black Hole Collectors that "scare" me are those stashing away the $50-$500 pieces, especially the 90s stuff 

Finally, one of my peeps. The three-digit OA purchase is my sweet spot. It stings when I spend four-figures for a piece of OA. It would sting a lot more if I ever told the wife I was going five figures for a piece of comic artwork. (If I told her six figures, she'd just laugh -- and rightfully so.) No Kirby for me, no Ditko, either. That's okay. There are other pieces I'd like.

So who has all of the Terry Dodson/Mantra pages that must be out there somewhere? I've been looking without success.  Dodson says he might have a few left, but he isn't in the mood to check. What about the romance pages by Gene Colan? I hear crickets when I ask about them. Or the hundreds of pages from I Luv Halloween by Giffen and Benjamin Roman? My wife and I loved that series, but we had to approach the artist for a commission to get an original.

 They have to be out there somewhere. Don't they?

[comicwiz]

On 2016-09-12 at 5:12 PM, Ironmandrd said:

but that also doesn't mean necessarily mean that they don't attend shows or aren't otherwise connected to the hobby

This topic has always been of interest to me, and I've seen three BHC's in my lifetime. I was fortunate to have been involved in some major deals in other hobbies of mine, and two of the three collections were shown to me as a way to pre-qualify these were collectors of significant means and wherewithal. 

The most impressive of the three happened by way of a mutual friend asking me to check out this guys collection. My friend knew nothing about it, and I was basically called up one night to appear at his place. I had no idea what this was going to be about, but as a collector, I always see these types of situations as a PR opportunity with potential to get my foot in the door to buy stuff I collect.

I show up at this guys house. From the outside, it was a modest home, but well taken care of with attention to detail on things you don't notice until you stop to take it in. He asks me to walk into his living room where he has half a dozen items spread out over a table. I looked directly at him and explained that if he wasn't aware, these were very special items. I began to describe each piece, and gave him a fair market value on the pieces.

He smiled and just looked at me in a way that left me feeling unsure whether I was seeing someone reacting to winning himself a little lotto, or was preparing to disagree with something I said. He said thank-you, took my arm and asked me to follow him to his basement. As we are walking down the stairs, he tells me I'm only the third person who has ever seen what he's about to show me. Not knowing what was taking place, I wasn't sure if that was my cue to run for the door, or to stick it out and see what he had in mind.

He proceeds to turn on the lights in an area of the basement that was starting to look a lot like a vault built into the wall. It took him less than a minute to unlock the mechanism, and when he opened the door and we peered inside, I couldn't believe my eyes. Nothing prepares you for this kind of experience. The room looked like it never ended, and I just couldn't believe this modest little house had this much area in the basement. Shelving lined all the way around the room, and when I looked to my immediate right, I began running numbers through my head on the very first shelf I spotted and counted a quarter of a million dollars sitting on it. The range of this collection was something I probably will never see again even if I spent the rest of my life looking for it, and while the experience felt like a form of sensory overload I'd never be able to replicate in my lifetime, I was overcome with a moment of sadness that this collection was something so few people had been able to see.

Before he began taking me through he told me the reason why he took me down to see it is because I was honest with him. He's had "others" come to look at those same half dozen items, and every one of them was trying to hustle him and wildly_fanciful_statement him on what he had. My honesty was the reason why he felt comfortable showing me the collection he amassed.

As we walked through this collection room, I quickly began to realize this stuff lived and breathed through him. It was amazing how connected he was to the stuff. Someone walking in and not having heard him do his thing would think this guy just bought his way on the path to great collecting.

I also followed some advice he gave me that day, and that was that I should become an appraiser. 

The only other experience that comes close was an estate I appraised of some incredible paintings, sculptures, weavings, that had been handed down by a top ranking military Colonel. The contents were impressive, but what made this one memorable was seeing how these items were being enjoyed, and passionately curated by the heirs. It's a very rare thing to see. Most of the estates I see are literally dumped into auction or content sales because the heirs want nothing to do with it.

 

Edited May 27, 2017 by comicwiz

[Unca Ben]

That is one cool story!  Was any of the collection comic related, or aren't you comfortable saying?

[comicwiz]

25 minutes ago, Unca Ben said:

That is one cool story!  Was any of the collection comic related, or aren't you comfortable saying?

Yes, and that area of the room was set up like a publishers archive library. Not sure if there's any fans of Pop Culture Quest here, but there's an episode with Benjamin Le Clear, DC archivist, walking the camera through the DC archives. His room was set up almost exactly like that, and that was the smallest part of his collection.

Edited May 28, 2017 by comicwiz

[vodou]

1 hour ago, comicwiz said:

...the DC archives.

 

[wurstisart]

That is an awesome story.

[Unca Ben]

6 hours ago, comicwiz said:

Yes, and that area of the room was set up like a publishers archive library. Not sure if there's any fans of Pop Culture Quest here, but there's an episode with Benjamin Le Clear, DC archivist, walking the camera through the DC archives. His room was set up almost exactly like that, and that was the smallest part of his collection.

[Pickie]

Can't believe what stories/insights these boards keep bringing to light.

Awesome, just awesome!

[comicwiz]

10 hours ago, vodou said:

 

Here's the episode I was referring to:

 

[stinkininkin]

That's great!  I knew about this Jim Lee episode of Pop Culture quest (and have heard his Hamill voicemail message numerous times), but never actually watched it.   Great fun, and really get's the collector juices flowing.  The inking on some of the featured Jim Lee art is a little questionable, but other than that...

Scott

[BCarter27]

13 hours ago, comicwiz said:

Here's the episode I was referring to:

 

Kind of surprised they removed the #1s from their bound volumes.

The Aparo Death in the Family alt ending... Wow!

What was the big framed piece on the floor in front of Jim Lee's desk? Some kind of LoSH poster?

[Will_K]

On 5/27/2017 at 7:30 PM, comicwiz said:

The most impressive of the three happened by way of a mutual friend asking me to check out this guys collection. My friend knew nothing about it, and I was basically called up one night to appear at his place. I had no idea what this was going to be about, but as a collector, I always see these types of situations as a PR opportunity with potential to get my foot in the door to buy stuff I collect.

 

I understand why you would've gone to see this collector. 

But (if you can say), why did this collector "out" himself ? 

[comicwiz]

42 minutes ago, Will_K said:

I understand why you would've gone to see this collector. 

But (if you can say), why did this collector "out" himself ? 

I actually quoted one of the comments when I wrote this, and meant to add some context. This was very much an example of someone connected to the hobby on his own terms. I think my friend had some idea about his interest in comics just through casual conversation on superhero films being made, and happened to have mentioned he knew someone that was an OS advisor. I think that may have partially been the catalyst to wanting me over, but demonstrating honesty to him when I was in his home is what earned his trust to show me the rest.  When he showed me the collection I understood the other reasons (this is the part I can't talk about).

Edited May 29, 2017 by comicwiz