May Heritage Auction 3 3

[Bronty]

56 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

I bid a little over $11K and wasn't too surprised to be outbid.  It's a gorgeous piece, but I also think it's a very good example of a piece that wouldn't have been valued anywhere near this price a few years ago, but now can attract multiple bids in the $10-15K range because the stuff that used to be $15K is now stickered at $30K. 

Jeez.    I would have guessed 6k

[romitaman]

8 hours ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

Someone scored the Leonardi ASM page for half price!  Nice page!

thankyou!

[Flambit]

Congrats on whomever got that Preacher 45 page!  I don't know how I missed that one - that is an incredible page!

[AnkurJ]

Wasn't bidding aggressively for anything but what I did bid on went far and above my max. Especially the marvel presents wolverine piece.

To the next auction!

[zhamlau]

Had a good experience this auction. All but one lot sold for what I had hoped, and with 2 really exceeding expectations It averaged to what I had hoped.

Picked up a cover, Thing 10. Not sure why but it just struck me, told myself if it was 3k or less I would go for it. Came close so why not.

 

[50 Cent #II (1st)]

With the talk about the Basquiat getting twice the previous high.  It was the same buyer as the previous high, by the way.  But this one got by most, a new high of over $6.5M for a Kieth Haring.  Reminded me that Eric Orr was friends with Haring and I think there was one page with Haring's art in Orr's comic book Rappin' Max Robot.  Anyone else know of any other comic books with Haring art in it?

[Nexus]

 

On 5/20/2017 at 3:42 PM, Shemp said:

I thought the same thing! Crazy! Last Sable cover I bought was less than a year ago under 2k.

I'm not totally surprised by the bids. A Grell JON SABLE cover was near the top of my want list when I first started collecting. But I wanted one with Sable in his battle mask, and preferably with his trusty Mauser. Considering how infrequently JS covers pop up, let alone with those crucial (to me, anyway) elements, and this is what happens.

I *will* be surprised if this is still the case 10 years from now, though.

[Nexus]

On 5/20/2017 at 5:26 PM, lobrac said:

I won the Scout Handbook #1 painted cover by Tim Truman. The Scout Retailer Poster which sold right before it was a stunner and sold well.

Congrats!

Unlike the SABLE cover, the SCOUT poster art, OTOH, went for way more than I would have expected. I've never been under the impression that collectors cared that much about this title (although I read and collected it back in the day). I can remember the SCOUT #1 cover sitting on eBay with an $800 BIN and taking a while to sell. Whoops!

[Nexus]

On 5/18/2017 at 6:32 PM, BCarter27 said:

$65K for the Comedian and $20K each for the rest of the Watchmen paintings. I wonder if they were kept together?

Heard consignor couldn't complete the set because the guy who owns the Rorschach piece wouldn't sell. IMO, he did phenomenally well here. Surprised by results, especially for The Comedian (even though I also did consider it the best of the bunch). Surprised because these pieces don't register at all with US collectors, in terms of nostalgia...wonder if these were bought by Europeans.

 

[Nexus]

Just a couple of other quick notes:

-- Congrats to buyer of the AMERICAN FLAGG! painted cover. Gorgeous piece.

-- Was hoping those pieces relegated to the afterthought Saturday session would go cheap. No such luck. Besides the aforementioned JON SABLE cover, there were also two Paul Pope BATMAN: YEAR 100  pages I was watching. Two of the stronger examples from the book. I thought the consignor erred by A. not splitting them up between two auctions (assuming both were consigned by same seller) and B. allowing them to be sold on Saturday. In the end, didn't matter. One went for $10K and the other $7K.

HA has been insisting that Saturday is as worthy as the main session. I'm still not convinced (there's a reason Saturday lots get thumbnails in the back of the catalog)...but it does appear that nothing good will go under-the-radar, and that there's always dry powder for quality.

[suspense39]

On 5/20/2017 at 9:42 PM, Flambit said:

Yeah.  Sales tax + the juice.  I always dread when I see something on Heritage that I have to have --- vs something on Clink.  And now that Kirby stuff isn't sold on Clink any longer... 

I wonder about that, I'm selling a Kirby page in comiclink's marketplace and no one from clink said anything about it. 

[delekkerste]

7 hours ago, Nexus said:

 

I'm not totally surprised by the bids. A Grell JON SABLE cover was near the top of my want list when I first started collecting. But I wanted one with Sable in his battle mask, and preferably with his trusty Mauser. Considering how infrequently JS covers pop up, let alone with those crucial (to me, anyway) elements, and this is what happens.

I *will* be surprised if this is still the case 10 years from now, though.

Interesting that this cover fetched 42% more than the complete story (including the cover!) to issue #24 did in the last Heritage sale.  Just shows you what a difference one bidder can make in a niche market like this (I did not go for the #24).  I have another Sable cover already, but am interested in getting at least one more - just has to be both a great image and from a storyline that I really liked.  The #14 definitely fit the bill - sad to see it get away. 

I think it's pretty obvious that there is no real market for this material once the '80s kids pack it up and call it a day!  That said, I'd be happy to take my Sable cover(s) to the grave...certainly not counting on them to be worth much down the line.  

 

[delekkerste]

1 hour ago, suspense39 said:

I wonder about that, I'm selling a Kirby page in comiclink's marketplace and no one from clink said anything about it. 

      

 

[suspense39]

34 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

      

 

I just read your other post Gene, interesting that HA received a second letter. 

[BCarter27]

1 hour ago, delekkerste said:

Interesting that this cover fetched 42% more than the complete story (including the cover!) to issue #24 did in the last Heritage sale.  Just shows you what a difference one bidder can make in a niche market like this (I did not go for the #24).  I have another Sable cover already, but am interested in getting at least one more - just has to be both a great image and from a storyline that I really liked.  The #14 definitely fit the bill - sad to see it get away. 

I think it's pretty obvious that there is no real market for this material once the '80s kids pack it up and call it a day!  That said, I'd be happy to take my Sable cover(s) to the grave...certainly not counting on them to be worth much down the line.  

 

I think it is an interesting case study, for certain. This is a good example of a "cover bump", of course, but also how once a piece attracts a high-level buyer, the curve for that particular artist goes out the window.

I did not bid on this cover (although an example is on my list. This just wasn't "the one.") but if I did, the comps all pointed at $2500. So factoring in a Heritage frenzy and BP, that means I, as a mid-level collector, am looking to STRETCH to $3500 -- knowing the whole time I am paying over market, but what the hay, right?

But two guys, as you said, can blow away the curve.

This happened to me twice on similar-era pieces this week at different venues that I WAS going after. I have sour grapes, I know! But I wonder if there is a more subtle question this raises...

Is there a disappearing "middle-class" in art collecting? In other words, once a piece is good enough to attract the eye of a high-end collector, it gets lifted up -- immediately blowing away the artist's curve.  And does this inflation for A-level pieces hurt or help the artist's market over time?

Further to the point, if all long-term collectors are really dealer-collectors looking for trade bait, then any splash or cover is going to get "lifted up". So nostalgia may not even play as much a factor in these foothills of the steep end of the curve.

[Nexus]

8 minutes ago, BCarter27 said:

I think it is an interesting case study, for certain. This is a good example of a "cover bump", of course, but also how once a piece attracts a high-level buyer, the curve for that particular artist goes out the window.

Yup.

8 minutes ago, BCarter27 said:

I did not bid on this cover (although an example is on my list. This just wasn't "the one.") but if I did, the comps all pointed at $2500. So factoring in a Heritage frenzy and BP, that means I, as a mid-level collector, am looking to STRETCH to $3500 -- knowing the whole time I am paying over market, but what the hay, right?

That's probably a reasonable FMV. But really, comps are tough for something where there have been so few transactions. That was about where I figured an "A" JON SABLE cover would be...TEN years ago. Indeed, I paid $3K in a private deal back then to get my cover. I knew I was overpaying, but I had to have it. I wanted it so badly that I paid the same price for another SABLE cover from the same seller just to get the deal done. If I hadn't, he would have started shopping them around and I didn't want to take that chance. I ended up trading the second cover (still a great cover in its own right) later for about what I paid.

I definitely could have spent the money more wisely, if I cared about the return. Just as the buyer for this cover could have done, as well. But like Gene, I suspect we're all prepared to go the grave with our awesome (and soon-to-be-forgotten-by-the-rest-of-the-world) JON SABLE covers.

16 minutes ago, BCarter27 said:

Is there a disappearing "middle-class" in art collecting? In other words, once a piece is good enough to attract the eye of a high-end collector, it gets lifted up -- immediately blowing away the artist's curve.  And does this inflation for A-level pieces hurt or help the artist's market over time?

It'll likely raise the artist's market, at least in the short term, in any private transaction. Try kicking the tires on any SABLE covers that are out there. If they've been paying attention, I have little doubt any owners who are inclined to sell will now use this latest sale to justify their asking price.

An auction is another story. I still think $5K is the ceiling for an A cover, with no bump for B/C covers.

16 minutes ago, BCarter27 said:

Further to the point, if all long-term collectors are really dealer-collectors looking for trade bait, then any splash or cover is going to get "lifted up". So nostalgia may not even play as much a factor in these foothills of the steep end of the curve.

Can't blame nostalgia for NYX #3, That appears to be pure speculation. OTOH, I highly doubt any "dealer-collector" types are bidding up JON SABLE covers to $5K in order to flip, for trade bait, etc. That window is closing fast.

 

 

 

 

 

[Lucky Baru]

22 hours ago, delekkerste said:

 

I think it's pretty obvious that there is no real market for this material once the '80s kids pack it up and call it a day!  That said, I'd be happy to take my Sable cover(s) to the grave...certainly not counting on them to be worth much down the line.  

 

In a conversation, Mike Grell relayed that Hollywood is sniffing around and interested in the character.

Edited May 23, 2017 by Lucky Baru

[drdroom]

On 5/20/2017 at 3:54 PM, npasto said:

Ended up getting a Kamandi page at the very ceiling of what I was willing to pay.  Probably overspent by a a few hundred, but I can live with that. I think Jack is in a league of his own as a comic artist and I really wanted to get something by him. While it isn't an action page and doesn't feature any of his most famous creations, I think it represents his trademark style quite well and I get a kick out of the sheer goofiness of the story here.

 

 

On the downside, my OA budget is tapped for the foreseeable future. Ramen and beans diet from now on.

Congrats! Gorgeous middle panel.

[Matches_Malone]

On 5/20/2017 at 11:52 PM, Flambit said:

I thought it was a great price, if you consider that it was the first appearance of all of those characters - it was the "BA 12" of the Boneyard universe 

 

That's why I snatched it .  Retirement Fund. 

[John E.]

On May 22, 2017 at 1:43 AM, Nexus said:

Just a couple of other quick notes:

-- Congrats to buyer of the AMERICAN FLAGG! painted cover. Gorgeous piece.

-- Was hoping those pieces relegated to the afterthought Saturday session would go cheap. No such luck. Besides the aforementioned JON SABLE cover, there were also two Paul Pope BATMAN: YEAR 100  pages I was watching. Two of the stronger examples from the book. I thought the consignor erred by A. not splitting them up between two auctions (assuming both were consigned by same seller) and B. allowing them to be sold on Saturday. In the end, didn't matter. One went for $10K and the other $7K.

HA has been insisting that Saturday is as worthy as the main session. I'm still not convinced (there's a reason Saturday lots get thumbnails in the back of the catalog)...but it does appear that nothing good will go under-the-radar, and that there's always dry powder for quality.

I followed those Paul Pope pages with huge interest, too. That "Batman with teeth" page is the one I would want the most from the entire series if I had that kind of money. I thought it would top out at around $5K. But $10K??? Sheesh...give budget collectors at chance, you high rollers!. That price makes the Batman 100 #1 cover look like a bargain, not that $25K is chump change. Well, Felix, here's another example of a 5-figure modern art piece...without any lettering to boot!