To Go Big or Not to Go Big?

[Panelfan1]

Would love to hear your purchasing philosophy in regards to getting one 'big/expensive' piece vs several less expensive items.

 

When I started collecting, I asked several dealers what they thought - if you have $x (for example $10,000) - is it better to spend that on one item, or several? (example 1 item $10k, or 5 - 2k items) Assuming that either way you are only buying items you like. The dealers I asked were wishy washy on their answers -so I am coming to you, the collecting community for your feelings on the matter.

 

To be clear, let me repeat, Before all other considerations - lets assume that you love all the art you are buying. You love the cheap stuff and the expensive stuff in your collection. its all stuff you love/like.

 

If you had X dollars, do you wait for that big piece to come along and spend the whole X amount, or do you prefer to buy several less expensive pieces with your funds?

 

If you feel that getting the one big piece is better than several less expensive pieces is the way to go; have you sold off a chunk of your collection to get those more expensive pieces?

 

Would also love to know your opinion from an investment angle. Is it better to buy one expensive piece vs several less expensive ones? again -all of which feature characters/creators you like.

 

One thing I noticed, is the higher the X, the more options you got -and often before making a purchase of X dollars, I look to see if there is something I like more on the market in that amount. Does anyone else do that?

 

[furthur]

I think the answer may depend, in some ways, on where you are in your collecting cycle. if you are early on, you may want to get those smaller pieces to build your collection and also to have trade bait for future wants, provided the pieces are all "quality" pieces. If you blow it all on the big piece early on, then that piece is unlikely to be sold or moved unless you are hard up for money or are getting out of collecting altogether. That is fine, but if you continue to collect, you have to build up that war chest again to keep going. As for investment-the best pieces always seem to do better, so if that 10K piece is a desireable cover or signature piece by a well known artist, its likely to do better in value than a lot of smaller things. That said, you then have all your eggs in one basket and if that hot artist cools off, you have nothing else to offset it. Later in your collecting cycle, I think it starts making more sense to push for that top piece-you will know a lot more about collecting and what your ultimate goals are. That is rarely as apparent as it seems early on-at least that was my experience.

[ciorac]

The bigger the piece, the smaller the market if you have to sell it one day.

 

But, if it is a grail for you, then get it.

[Fred Chamberlain]

Though I have the funds, it is difficult for me to rationalize spending 10K on a piece of comic artwork. That said, I spend quite a bit on the hobby annually.

[delekkerste]

#MANNUP

 

[Pete Marino]

Not sure if this is a cop-out answer. But buy what means the most to you.

 

I swim pretty shallow ends of the OA pool, but I've sold off stuff that are higher value (for me) that I didn't have a strong attachment to, where there is stuff I've spent $1000 on that would be the last stuff to leave my collection.

 

It's less about the price, and more about the personal value. Now if you're just talking ROI, based on what I see the cream keeps rising faster than the middle of the bell curve.

[Ironmandrd]

Unfortunately, these types of questions have no one-size-fits-all answer because the answer always is: "it depends." Artist(s) involved, specific 10K level piece, specific smaller pieces, cost/value of everything, modern vs bronze age, etc. Not to mention specifics about you, your risk tolerance, nostalgic connection to the piece or pieces (even presuming you "love" everything, there are still degrees of "love" that can differentiate between pieces, including how much you'll miss a particular piece if you end up selling/trading it), what the rest of your collection looks like, where you want your collection to go in the next few years, etc.

 

All of us can think of examples when trading/selling smaller pieces (or not buying them) in order to obtain and hold one larger piece is better as well as examples when holding a number of smaller pieces that are appreciating well is better than one larger piece that may not appreciate as well (or that one overpays for and may not appreciate at all for a time).

 

IMHO, best to confide in a knowledgeable hobby friend who can help you weigh the specifics.

[Mr. Machismo]

I prefer a large piece over multiple smaller pieces, but multiple large pieces over one huge piece. Example:

 

- I rather purchase one $10K piece over five $2K pieces.

- I rather purchase five $10K pieces over one $50K piece.

 

This is primarily for two reasons:

 

- The "$10K" pieces are great pieces. Wonderful imagery, moments, etc., and they aren't so expensive that I feel guilty keeping them. Additionally, in my limited experiences, they're much easier to net profit from versus the huge $50K piece (though, I'm speculating quite a bit here—the higher you go, the smaller the available buyer pool.)

 

- The $2K pieces are typically impulse purchases – a fix, if you will. Nice images, not very significant, the kind of thing I'd remove from the wall to make room for one of the nicer $10K pieces. They accumulate too fast and become forgotten, and they don't tend to sell at much of a profit (again, in my limited experience.) The collection becomes too big, with too many of these pieces. I prefer to keep it tight, focused, strong meaning and attraction to me...but also strong resell potential.

[Bronty]

Unfortunately, these types of questions have no one-size-fits-all answer because the answer always is: "it depends." Artist(s) involved, specific 10K level piece, specific smaller pieces, cost/value of everything, modern vs bronze age, etc. Not to mention specifics about you, your risk tolerance, nostalgic connection to the piece or pieces (even presuming you "love" everything, there are still degrees of "love" that can differentiate between pieces, including how much you'll miss a particular piece if you end up selling/trading it), what the rest of your collection looks like, where you want your collection to go in the next few years, etc.

 

All of us can think of examples when trading/selling smaller pieces (or not buying them) in order to obtain and hold one larger piece is better as well as examples when holding a number of smaller pieces that are appreciating well is better than one larger piece that may not appreciate as well (or that one overpays for and may not appreciate at all for a time).

 

well stated

[Garf]

Interesting question...

 

I have only ever bought a couple of pieces which I consider to be expensive (larger aquisitions) but nothing that I would ever be worried about if it was a near total loss at resale. I don't think that I could ever remain in this hobby if I had to start constantly worrying about my collection maintaining its value as I wouldn't be collecting well within my means.

 

I can't speak from an investment perspective but if someone is looking to buy below $600 (when it comes to the more popular runs) then there are fewer choices available from an ever shrinking pool of vintage art. Want a Preacher (or insert another top title here) page? Sorry but you are mess out of luck mate. After a while there comes a time where you have to either consider stopping altogether or moving up a bracket or two to gain access to other pieces. You also have to consider what other factors are in play with more expensive stuff (scarcity, demand, availability, has it been hanging around forever, is it modern/recent, are there more being produced) and how this may affect your choice and if you need to pull the trigger quickly. I don't know if I would advise anyone, especially a new collector that it's better to buy big though, start small and work your way up is a much safer bet.

 

I think the smaller stuff doesn't hang around for as long so if it's popular, if you really love it and if it's the right price then grab it. If I could do all of this over I would certainly have grabbed more smaller pieces two or three years ago.

 

[thehumantorch]

It's really a personal choice. Do you want a big collection of lower cost pages or a smaller collection of better pages?

 

In general I'd rather spend my limited resources on covers, splashes or panel pages by iconic artists than unremarkable panel pages. And I do believe quality pieces are easier to sell than those unremarkable pages when that day comes.

[JadeGiant]

I agree with the post that there is no cookie cutter answer for these types of questions as there are way too many variables involved. And when you added the investment angle at the end it makes it really hard to answer as buying for appreciation vs investment is very different.

 

For me, I stayed on the more inexpensive end of purchase size when I was learning the ropes. I advise this for newbs as well because of all the things you don’t know when you get started. Much better to learn a lesson at a lower price point than one that is much higher.

 

Personal collecting style comes into play as well. Are you the kind of person who needs to get their art fix daily, weekly, monthly, annually, etc.? At the higher price points you are going to have longer periods between purchases.

 

I started at lower price points and it served me well. I am now looking at higher price point purchases and feel more comfortable as I feel I know the hobby better than even a couple years ago.

[Eric Seffinga]

All of the previous posts are correct, and I agree with them.

 

My most expensive piece is not my most popular one. Not sure how much resale value I could recoup should I sell it.

I don't care because I love it.

 

I receive high dollar offers all the time for pieces in my galler (i.e. very popular with others) that were low dollar pieces when I bought them. I don't care because I love them.

 

Much of my collection was purchased before a lot of the art that is in it became the classic work it is now considered to be, so value can and does occasionally come later. Good luck predicting that.

 

I'm sure many people here could point you to a dozen old art listings with art priced at a time when, what are 5 and 6 figure pieces today, were selling for the same or for less than three dozen other 3 or 4 figure pieces a decade or so ago. Pieces that would be hard pressed to have retained their original $xxx-$xxxx price value today.

 

The lesson i would impart to anyone is buy what YOU love. If the 5 pieces would bring you more joy than the 1 piece, go that route. If the one is truly THE one, but you really love the others, only you can check the weight on that scale. When the internet is off, the money is spent, and it's just you at home alone with the art... how do you feel about it? Some buys want a full run of comics. Some folks want the 1 trophy comic, or maybe just the 1 they remember best from childhood, or makes them think of a specific nostalgic time, or it's their favorite example of a beloved character. Some only do covers, or splashes, or panel pages. Some only do published pieces, or published in comics ONLY, or commissions. Painted or pen and ink...

 

There are a million and one reasons to collect, and approaches to that. Go with what feels right to you. If the financial aspect of it at any level is freaking you out, it might be a good idea to take it back to the lower tier, because this stuff should be all fun. The monetary appreciation is best left to happen naturally (or not), and the aesthetic visceral enjoyment should be value enough.

 

IMO

[vodou]

Left unsaid by all previous posters is this: if the aggregate amount in question, whether divisible by 1 or a larger number is ultimately a number you feel a bit uncomfortable with (but you still want to roll the dice anyway)...make sure whatever you buy is something others do and more importantly will (in the future) want also. Because that is your liquidity pool. And most of us face one day, some day, that time we'd either really like to sell (to get something/s else) or must sell (three Ds, etc). Awesome to always buy what you love, even better (awesome++) if you're not the last sucker to "pays the most" for it

[zhamlau]

When I think about my want list, it's small. I've had some of everything (cause it was cheap back then). The stuff I want now is the stuff I never got even in the throw-away days, back when you can choose price wise between buying a movie ticket or buying a nice Buscema bronze age page. Having said that I cant imagine i'll find many personal collection items at this point under 5k....which shocks me when I say that outloud but its true. I'd rather go for the special high dollar item, not cause they are high dollar but because they are so nice the competition drives them to these suspect high prices.

 

 

If you want a gallery you can frame/present to others and say "wow, this is so cool", Go big. If you just want piles of art so much you can get lost in them, go small. simple as that probably.

[JadeGiant]

Left unsaid by all previous posters is this: if the aggregate amount in question, whether divisible by 1 or a larger number is ultimately a number you feel a bit uncomfortable with (but you still want to roll the dice anyway)...make sure whatever you buy is something others do and more importantly will (in the future) want also. Because that is your liquidity pool. And most of us face one day, some day, that time we'd either really like to sell (to get something/s else) or must sell (three Ds, etc). Awesome to always buy what you love, even better (awesome++) if you're not the last sucker to "pays the most" for it

 

I don’t subscribe to this thinking very much. If I am considering something I might be a little uncomfortable with (ie moving into a new high price point purchase), my consideration is primarily how much I want the piece for myself. I am not thinking about who else might want it in terms of possible resale. I am not worried about being the “sucker” that paid the most.

 

[Fred Chamberlain]

mother @!#$@$!, just responded to a post and had put a decent amount of time into it, clicking post..... to find that it had been deleted.

[Matches_Malone]

mother @!#$@$!, just responded to a post and had put a decent amount of time into it, clicking post..... to find that it had been deleted.

 

[Fred Chamberlain]

... yer gonna delete this reply on me, aren't ya?

[spider9698]

1. Buy what you love

2. When I got started in this hobby a friend told me "quality over quantity". I have been happy with that decision.

 

My 2 cents