NYCC 2017 art pics 1 1

[RabidFerret]

4 minutes ago, NinjaSealed said:

If those are the prices paid for the pieces at NYCC they are not THAT crazy.

a deal compared to what they are asking for the pages they listed for sale today.

I was watching as they posted them, refreshing every second or two. 

It started with a few prelims that were available and had prices(which sold quickly), but then seemed to move to pieces that sold at NYCC. Then the handful of lesser pages that are still unsold now.

The final 4 pages posted were the good Batman/Joker pages people would want, and seemingly at fair prices, but it seemed like they all appeared as sold. Can anyone that was at the NYCC Secret Auction confirm if any of these pages were sold then?

Also, the prices dropped from what they were listed at at NYCC.

Page 18 dropped from $2700 -> $2200

Page 22 dropped from $2400 ->$2200

Freeze Splash from $8000 ->$6000

Seems like they were fishing for the market a bit.

[RabidFerret]

1 minute ago, RabidFerret said:

Can anyone that was at the NYCC Secret Auction confirm if any of these pages were sold then?

Actually, I missed Mr. Machismo's post above where he already has 2 of those final 4 that were listed today.

[Mr. Machismo]

They've listed everything honestly. The rep is a good guy, very transparent. There's 7 pages (including the variant #2 cover...Joker and mini Bats, which went for 11K) that were sold which they haven't listed, however.

And correct, the three BIN pages not sold dropped slightly and the Freeze splash I picked up dropped a bit. That one also included the prelim, and Sean said DC will likely use it as the cover to the collected edition (but who knows!)

[MagnusX]

Kudos to Sean Murphy Art Dealer
he really know how to play the market and the buyers...

[delekkerste]

3 hours ago, Comic Art Factory said:

Just making a buzz by putting people vs one another. And losing people interested in his art by setting abusive prices.

"Abusive prices" is my new favorite phrase of the week! 

[Lucky Baru]

2 hours ago, Mr. Machismo said:

SGM posted some art for sale just now, as well as about half of the pages that sold along with prices. Not sure why half. http://seanmurphyart.bigcartel.com/category/batman?page=1

So, how does that translate into his work on Year One Batman:Scarecrow? 

[eewwnuk]

must mean the free sketch I got from sgm is worth at least 2k then right? 

[SquareChaos]

4 hours ago, Khazano said:

I am blissfully ignorant of most artists/artwork/stories that have come out in the last five years, so this is a genuine query on my part. 

Can someone explain to me what body of work this artist has done prior to this Batman comic to warrant these kind of numbers? Also, for an elseworld story, why this is being SO highly regarded?  The money being quoted in these threads for these WK pages is absurd. So Im really trying to understand the mentality...  Or is it just that deadly combination of hype and pretty pictures warranting these prices?

As for how these pages were sold... I think that was brilliant on the reps part. But thats easy for me to say when Im no longer buying current artwork. 

 

I've watched his pages for a few years... since around the time of The Wake. I don't see much logic behind these prices... unless we take the 'Batman multiple' talk seriously. I guess there is a possible 'unknown upside 1st issue premium' at play as well which is probably a real thing considering @Mr. Machismo's comments - anyone thinking this book is the first issue of a classic story arc may see the cost... if not as a bargain, then at least  as reasonable 

I'm personally wondering if his whole 'I don't work with writers anymore' thing will actually work out... he's been able to work with some really great writers and I think that has been a good part of the reason that he is as known as he is. I guess we'll know real soon if he can actually write.

 

[RabidFerret]

10 minutes ago, SquareChaos said:

 

I've watched his pages for a few years... since around the time of The Wake. I don't see much logic behind these prices... unless we take the 'Batman multiple' talk seriously. I guess there is a possible 'unknown upside 1st issue premium' at play as well which is probably a real thing considering @Mr. Machismo's comments - anyone thinking this book is the first issue of a classic story arc may see the cost... if not as a bargain, then at least  as reasonable 

I'm personally wondering if his whole 'I don't work with writers anymore' thing will actually work out... he's been able to work with some really great writers and I think that has been a good part of the reason that he is as known as he is. I guess we'll know real soon if he can actually write.

 

I find the whole thing fascinating

Both Capullo and Murphy have taken the approach of putting almost future prices on the art - where they think/hope it will be down the road, as opposed to what it will sell for openly today. Court of Owls was a very successful series, but you can have your choice of Batpages from Capullo or Glapion right now. They're not selling fast. Much different from the typical dealer who pushes to unload as much of the art as possible at low prices and let the market develop naturally over time. 

This approach likely means the normal fans can't afford the art, but it's also forcing people to pay a high premium that does not allow them to flip the art or view it as a quick investment the same way as cheaper pages may be. I would imagine in most cases these pages would not get back their purchase price if sold at auction, probably for years. Markets generally seem to move when the supply has run out, not when there's a selection to pick from. I could see us talking years from now about how this art hasn't moved an inch since it came out.

Very different from say, Hush(for those who remember when that sold originally), where pages were priced more in the $1-2k range but sold relatively quickly. As we've seen the Hush market has grown substantially since then, I'm sure in large part to the work being in the hands of a large number of fans and not consolidated with a handful of deep pockets only.

From what's been said, it sounds like Machismo bought 4 of the 12 pages that were sold. As he's said, it's based on one issue and some degree of optimism that the overall story comes together, which raises the question of what happens if the series doesn't follow through, or if the big fish in a small market gets out.

But, all that said, I imagine in the long run this probably works out best for the artists, who maximize their returns and set a high floor to start with, but with a tradeoff that not a lot sells now. It likely alienates some of their fans with modest pocketbooks, but maybe that pushes them towards the lower priced non-Batart they can afford?

So again, I find it all fascinating, and far more encouraging on the artist side that Capullo and Murphy likely won't end up as artists who lament selling all their epic art 30 years ago for pennies.

 

 

[Khazano]

 

3 hours ago, RabidFerret said:

Very different from say, Hush(for those who remember when that sold originally), where pages were priced more in the $1-2k range but sold relatively quickly. As we've seen the Hush market has grown substantially since then, I'm sure in large part to the work being in the hands of a large number of fans and not consolidated with a handful of deep pockets only.

I remember the damn auction that established those prices. It was the first piece of art Albert made available to the public via an eBay auction starting at a dollar. It was just Batman's hands. No faces. It landed at the 500ish range and my heart sank. I knew right away any decent panel page with Bats in costume would have a bottom floor price of 1k minimum. And I was right. Before that auction you could get decent Jim pages under 1k. After that? Sketches of bats were going for 300-400.   If SGM's agent had tried a similar approach of letting the market dictate what these are worth, we'd see these selling at 50-70% less than the asking price.

But again brilliant move by the dealer. He used hype,  speculation, and an "event" that targeted a small specific client pool to achieve prices for an indie artist that it would otherwise take an artist a prolific career and life time too attain/earn.  (By the time Jim Lee was getting "Hush" prices for his artwork. He had already sold 5 million + X-Men comics, co-founded Image, started his own universe which spawned toys and cartoons, and you know, solidified himself as a name in not just comics but pop culture as a whole.)  

This wont be the last time something like this is done. It worked once it'll work again. But the market will fall the way it always does when a dealer manipulates it.... When the eventual sell off happens.

Edited October 12, 2017 by Khazano

[SquareChaos]

I got around to reading the first issue... the art is nice, I can say that much. However, the classics are typically the classics due to their overall storytelling, and I'm definitely not feeling that from the writing side of this first setup issue... but lets see how it all turns out.

[Mr. Machismo]

@Khazano and others, what happened with Hush at first offering, anyhow? What were covers and splashes at originally? I know Jim and Scott sold a chunk to collector friends, and some pieces at monstrous prices even by today’s standards, but don’t know much beyond that as I wasn’t around then. Have always been curious. 

[Khazano]

8 minutes ago, Mr. Machismo said:

@Khazano and others, what happened with Hush at first offering, anyhow? What were covers and splashes at originally? I know Jim and Scott sold a chunk to collector friends, and some pieces at monstrous prices even by today’s standards, but don’t know much beyond that as I wasn’t around then. Have always been curious. 

Heres some scans courtesy of the way back machine. I also remember thinking real hard about going for the cover to 616 which was priced at either 8k or 10k. (Pretty sure it was 8) But it meant liquidating about 30% of my collection at the time so I never had the heart to pull the trigger. 

[Mr. Machismo]

Very cool, thanks!

I’ve chatted with the original owner of the 616 cover a number of times. He used to own another cover as well as that Ivy/Cat splash as well as the three pages I own. Had a lot! All gone now, however.

Edited October 12, 2017 by Mr. Machismo

[Dokstarr]

On 10/11/2017 at 8:22 PM, SquareChaos said:

I got around to reading the first issue... the art is nice, I can say that much. However, the classics are typically the classics due to their overall storytelling, and I'm definitely not feeling that from the writing side of this first setup issue... but lets see how it all turns out.

That is how I feel about SGM's writing. His art is amazing and pairs perfectly with the writing of Remender, Snyder, etc. I'm not sold on SGM as a writer though and wonder if he might hurt himself long term by not working with writers anymore.