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Original Art Aficionado [New Article - 1/12/17]
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491 posts in this topic

Congrats on the anniversary!  And I appreciate the coverage from our last auction.  What did you think of the framed Makara collection's performance?  Several of those pieces blew right past my estimates, especially the Jerry Robinson Joker piece going for 6k!  . 

I agree on every point you made and feel like someone got a great price on the Hulk #3 (I expected $25k) and the Byrne FF cover (I expected $28k), though in hindsight $20k and $24k has to be about FMV with the way we isolated/marketed those.  Your articles help me to tweak my evaluations with each passing week, so thanks again! 

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On ‎12‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 12:23 AM, Hal Turner said:

Congratulations on your first year! May there be many more ahead.

Thanks very much! Will do my best to keep pumping 'em out:busy:

 

On ‎12‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 1:37 AM, 1Toy2Many said:

Congrats on the anniversary!  And I appreciate the coverage from our last auction.  What did you think of the framed Makara collection's performance?  Several of those pieces blew right past my estimates, especially the Jerry Robinson Joker piece going for 6k!  . 

I agree on every point you made and feel like someone got a great price on the Hulk #3 (I expected $25k) and the Byrne FF cover (I expected $28k), though in hindsight $20k and $24k has to be about FMV with the way we isolated/marketed those.  Your articles help me to tweak my evaluations with each passing week, so thanks again! 

Appreciate your support:bigsmile: And glad you find the artices helpful! I didn't track those framed pieces, but do continue expanding your OA offerings(thumbsu

 

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5 hours ago, The Shoveler said:

Belated Happy Birthday!  Congrats on a year full of informative articles and profiles.  The STGCC coverage was tops!

Really appreciate your support:bigsmile: Gotta thank @alex13 for the STGCC coverage too!

4 hours ago, alex13 said:

congrats and keep em comin' !!!

Thanks for all your help and encouragement buddy(thumbsu

 

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22 hours ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

Would love to see an Artist Spotlight on Dale Keown OA collecting, similar to the McFarlane Spotlight you did a while back ?

 

Ha great timing, I was just thinking over which artist to feature in the next Spotlight! Will definitely give Keown some serious consideration; was also thinking about Frank Millerhm

 

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4 hours ago, O. said:

This 1983 Marvel Illustrated Novel is the legend Wrightson’s magnus opus, crafted over seven years, and considered one of the finest bodies of illustration art ever created. Starting prices for original artwork from this book are firmly entrenched in the $45k-50k range, with pieces (or “plates”) featuring the Monster commanding a substantial premium over those without.

 

Is this really true?  This OPP (Original Published Plate from the 1983 Marvel Illustrated Novel, as opposed to published later in A Look Back or The Lost Frankenstein Pages or remaining unpublished) sold for $45.1K, while the OPP of the Monster slaking his thirst by a stream sold for $46.6K in the last CLink sale.  Pretty much bang-on the same.  Similarly, an OPP without the Monster sold for $95.6K last May, while in July, an OPP featuring the Monster vs. his creator facing off in the Arctic sold for for less than that ($72K).  

To me, these Frankie plates are all about showcasing the very, very pinnacle of Wrightson's artistic powers.  To me, the content is almost secondary, and published vs. unpublished matters a lot less than with all other comics.  IMO, it is more important to have a plate with insane detail (such as the plate that just sold at CLink or the page that sold last year at Heritage, neither of which featured the Monster) than one that has the Monster, just for having the Monster's sake.  In art, sometimes "less is more", but, certainly NOT when it comes to Frankenstein plates - the worst thing any of these plates can have, IMO, is too much blank/white space (as some of them do, including some of the otherwise very good Monster/Dr. Frankenstein combo plates).  When I look at these plates, more than the scene itself, I want to feel all the time, effort and skill that Wrightson painstakingly put into it - I want my mind to be blown!  In many cases, some of the Monster-less and/or unpublished plates do that better than the published plates with the Monster. 2c 

And, yeah, just to pre-empt anyone from saying it themselves...I'm down with OPP (yeah you know me!) 

Edited by delekkerste
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2 hours ago, delekkerste said:

Is this really true?  This OPP (Original Published Plate from the 1983 Marvel Illustrated Novel, as opposed to published later in A Look Back or The Lost Frankenstein Pages or remaining unpublished) sold for $45.1K, while the OPP of the Monster slaking his thirst by a stream sold for $46.6K in the last CLink sale.  Pretty much bang-on the same.  Similarly, an OPP without the Monster sold for $95.6K last May, while in July, an OPP featuring the Monster vs. his creator facing off in the Arctic sold for for less than that ($72K).  

To me, these Frankie plates are all about showcasing the very, very pinnacle of Wrightson's artistic powers.  To me, the content is almost secondary, and published vs. unpublished matters a lot less than with all other comics.  IMO, it is more important to have a plate with insane detail (such as the plate that just sold at CLink or the page that sold last year at Heritage, neither of which featured the Monster) than one that has the Monster, just for having the Monster's sake.  In art, sometimes "less is more", but, certainly NOT when it comes to Frankenstein plates - the worst thing any of these plates can have, IMO, is too much blank/white space (as some of them do, including some of the otherwise very good Monster/Dr. Frankenstein combo plates).  When I look at these plates, more than the scene itself, I want to feel all the time, effort and skill that Wrightson painstakingly put into it - I want my mind to be blown!  In many cases, some of the Monster-less and/or unpublished plates do that better than the published plates with the Monster. 2c 

And, yeah, just to pre-empt anyone from saying it themselves...I'm down with OPP (yeah you know me!) 

I 100% agree that it doesn't matter to me if a Frankenstein plate made the final cut to be included in the book or not.  I absolutely want the best possible image regardless of whether it went into the final book, or A Look Back, The Lost Frankenstein, etc.  Talking to a friend and well known art collector/dealer recently, we both agreed that sometimes Wrightson was his own worst enemy in that he was so driven to perfection with this project that he abandoned superior works in favor of lesser second or third (or even fourth) attempts, all for some of the most minor and ill considered "flaws" that only Wrightson could see and that his perfectionism could not reconcile.  As a collector, I want what I think is the best version and would pay up to acquire it, regardless if it was chosen for the Frankenstein book or not, or even a gorgeous non monster plate versus a "meh" monster plate.  

Using this logic and back to the original posters comment, maybe we can just say that a great monster page will command a premium over a great non monster page, and a mediocre monster page will command a premium over a mediocre non monster page.  Determining what's great versus what's mediocre will be left up to the buyers and sellers I guess!

 

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On ‎12‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 2:44 AM, delekkerste said:

Is this really true?  This OPP (Original Published Plate from the 1983 Marvel Illustrated Novel, as opposed to published later in A Look Back or The Lost Frankenstein Pages or remaining unpublished) sold for $45.1K, while the OPP of the Monster slaking his thirst by a stream sold for $46.6K in the last CLink sale.  Pretty much bang-on the same.  Similarly, an OPP without the Monster sold for $95.6K last May, while in July, an OPP featuring the Monster vs. his creator facing off in the Arctic sold for for less than that ($72K).  

To me, these Frankie plates are all about showcasing the very, very pinnacle of Wrightson's artistic powers.  To me, the content is almost secondary, and published vs. unpublished matters a lot less than with all other comics.  IMO, it is more important to have a plate with insane detail (such as the plate that just sold at CLink or the page that sold last year at Heritage, neither of which featured the Monster) than one that has the Monster, just for having the Monster's sake.  In art, sometimes "less is more", but, certainly NOT when it comes to Frankenstein plates - the worst thing any of these plates can have, IMO, is too much blank/white space (as some of them do, including some of the otherwise very good Monster/Dr. Frankenstein combo plates).  When I look at these plates, more than the scene itself, I want to feel all the time, effort and skill that Wrightson painstakingly put into it - I want my mind to be blown!  In many cases, some of the Monster-less and/or unpublished plates do that better than the published plates with the Monster. 2c 

And, yeah, just to pre-empt anyone from saying it themselves...I'm down with OPP (yeah you know me!) 

Hi Gene:hi: Excellent points, all! The matter of insane detail/blank space especially, had been gestating in my head but never articulated(thumbsu

Scott pretty much nailed what I was trying to get at (in bold below), about the Monster commanding a premium when comparing pages of similar 'quality':

On ‎12‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 7:32 AM, stinkininkin said:

I 100% agree that it doesn't matter to me if a Frankenstein plate made the final cut to be included in the book or not.  I absolutely want the best possible image regardless of whether it went into the final book, or A Look Back, The Lost Frankenstein, etc.  Talking to a friend and well known art collector/dealer recently, we both agreed that sometimes Wrightson was his own worst enemy in that he was so driven to perfection with this project that he abandoned superior works in favor of lesser second or third (or even fourth) attempts, all for some of the most minor and ill considered "flaws" that only Wrightson could see and that his perfectionism could not reconcile.  As a collector, I want what I think is the best version and would pay up to acquire it, regardless if it was chosen for the Frankenstein book or not, or even a gorgeous non monster plate versus a "meh" monster plate.  

Using this logic and back to the original posters comment, maybe we can just say that a great monster page will command a premium over a great non monster page, and a mediocre monster page will command a premium over a mediocre non monster page.  Determining what's great versus what's mediocre will be left up to the buyers and sellers I guess!

 

 

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What I'd wish you'd do is pinpoint some key pieces prior to the auction commencing and post your thoughts prior, and then see how close your estimates are afterwards. I'm sure your blog is not influential enough to move the needle in any great way and it would be an education for newer collectors to actually see how difficult it is to nail down hammer prices. I'm afraid I'm slightly skeptical of all your pre-auction estimates.

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1 hour ago, LB JEFFERIES1 said:

What I'd wish you'd do is pinpoint some key pieces prior to the auction commencing and post your thoughts prior, and then see how close your estimates are afterwards. I'm sure your blog is not influential enough to move the needle in any great way and it would be an education for newer collectors to actually see how difficult it is to nail down hammer prices. I'm afraid I'm slightly skeptical of all your pre-auction estimates.

Agreed - I think the estimates need to be posted before the auction even starts, otherwise it's too easy to dismiss it as an exercise in curve (data) fitting after the fact, whether or not that's actually the case.  It also helps mitigate selection bias; even if the estimates being posted are true, pre-auction estimates, it's very easy to just spotlight the results that give the best spin.  Any potential bias can be mitigated, though, by posting pre-auction estimates in advance and opening them up to public scrutiny. 2c 

Edited by delekkerste
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5 hours ago, delekkerste said:

Agreed - I think the estimates need to be posted before the auction even starts, otherwise it's too easy to dismiss it as an exercise in curve (data) fitting after the fact, whether or not that's actually the case.  It also helps mitigate selection bias; even if the estimates being posted are true, pre-auction estimates, it's very easy to just spotlight the results that give the best spin.  Any potential bias can be mitigated, though, by posting pre-auction estimates in advance and opening them up to public scrutiny. 2c 

I know at this stage of my collecting, I tend to err on the high side with auction estimates. Mostly, I think, because I have not had as much experience seeing the "wow" pieces so I tend to overestimate them somewhat more than the more experienced (i.e. jaded) collectors. But I feel like I'm practicing target shooting, and my groupings are starting to get tighter and tighter at least.

Edited by PhilipB2k17
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On ‎12‎/‎9‎/‎2017 at 6:05 AM, O. said:

Ha great timing, I was just thinking over which artist to feature in the next Spotlight! Will definitely give Keown some serious consideration; was also thinking about Frank Millerhm

 

Matt Baker OA, his romance books are flaming hot setting new price records.

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