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10 Canvas Giclees Stan Lee signed of Variant Comic Covers
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39 posts in this topic

Dear all Hi.
I am a new member of this forum. My motivation to join this community was my lack of knowledge regarding the "art" pieces linked to comics. I am a Marvel collector as my father was. Me being 40 and my dad 66, means i have inherited loads of comics some of them in imaculate condition, some showing the wear of time. To me and the comic community of my country are very valuable since it was not a common thing for a boy in Greece, in the 60s and 70s to seek out comic books in English....! 
Anyway, to the point....I am in a business trip in Asia and trying to close a deal, finally Job is done and while having a business dinner, a guy of the opposite party explains to me about his Marvel Comic Covers giclee collection that wants to sell. 10 pieces of art he said. They are all canvas giclees of variant covers signed by Stan Lee . Captain America, Hulk, Thor, The Avengers,Spiderman, Iron Man all in variant comic covers. He sustains that the above mentioned items were exhibited in the Halcyon Gallery. My question to all you specialists is wether such a buy has sense or not. By sense, i mean following. As everybody knows Stan's signature is long from rare anymore ( that does not make it insignificant though ) and there has been always a big discussion if the variant covers should be of a bigger value or are they just a trick to "pull up" the prices. And last but not least, after a whole night research post to the dinner discussion, i had seen such canvases with the original cover around 2500,- english pounds in galleries throughout the UK, while this guy paid 11 to 14,000 euros for some of them and 24000 for a Thor , Avengers and Spiderman (each) canvas. Of course all are one out of 9 pieces or sth like that.
How should someone argument these prices. Are there any others out there that came across such a thing. 
 I thought that my query could fit in here since i am really tempted to get a couple of his canvas collection.( one for 24k and one for 14k). 
Any thoughts of help about that....Thank you all in advance

Chrysaetos

Edited by Chrysaetos
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the glicees basically just canvas prints? Paying 24K for a signed print seems bonkers. 

By original comic art, he means art that was used in the production of a comic. The actual art, not a print. Hell, for the money you're willing to spend you could even get an insane commission from the comic artist of your choice.

but yeah, I'd stay away from that canvas collection.

Edited by cloud cloddie
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I imagine you are referring to something like these below. These are sold in an art gallery chain across the UK. These are basically blown up posters in a fancy frame.

I imagine that the target customer is not comic art collectors but people who may think superheroes are kinda cool right  now and want to add some hipster sheek to their pads. 

They're kinda cool and the presentation does add some respectability to geekdom. I might get one of these if they were about £200 with the frame included. Anything more than that, I'd rather get an actual piece of original art.

 

image.thumb.png.220b5c0db512529d6ea79141e9c4b530.pngimage.thumb.png.a772c04476f45977290b8fb789ee7e27.png

Edited by Skizz
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You can buy a wooden reproduced comic cover at Wal-Mart for $20-$30 and get a really cool thing to hang on your wall. 

But if you want to shell out thousands, buy some original hand-drawn and inked art (as others here have said). Stay away from giclees or prints. 

Edited by PhilipB2k17
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Welcome to the boards!

I think you'll find almost all of this forum's OA collectors in agreement on this subject. If you want to move forward with the purchase, do so, but be aware that giclees almost always lose value at the moment of purchase. Even if that weren't the case (and it is), these pieces seem aggressively priced. In a staggering, I-can-barely-believe-it way.

If you want to complete your business transaction, however, you might not want to share this information with your associate.

 

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This will always be an interesting topic for discussion.  "Original art" collectors will be puzzled by the attraction of the buyer to a "print".  For some buyers, the importance is the image and presentation, in this case with a signing.  As learned as our online collecting forums are, situations like this are an interesting reminder that we are a subset of a larger consumer group.

Personally, I don't attach a high value to a print of a common cultural item unless there is a limitation, provenance, or technique which makes it special.  The signature will allow the piece to hold some value as an autograph, if the COA holds up over time.

Meanwhile, there are multiple live auctions right now (not linking) where the real art-interested person could pick up a piece of actual art.

Fun to chat about this, David

 

Edited by aokartman
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The dirty secret I came to learn about this "limited edition" print market is that they can change the format or paper size and do a new run and the collectors of this stuff are apparently fine with this. I have also never understood the appeal of canvas prints. I think they look awful. The texture works when doing a repro of an oil painting  but what's the point of a canvas reproduction of GSX1? 

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5 hours ago, aokartman said:

This will always be an interesting topic for discussion.  "Original art" collectors will be puzzled by the attraction of the buyer to a "print".  For some buyers, the importance is the image and presentation, in this case with a signing.  As learned as our online collecting forums are, situations like this are an interesting reminder that we are a subset of a larger consumer group.

 

Great points. In terms of aesthetic appeal to the masses, OA is the exception, not the rule. 

I agree though the others on this post though: spend your money on Jack Kirby Avengers-related pages.

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8 hours ago, aokartman said:

This will always be an interesting topic for discussion.  "Original art" collectors will be puzzled by the attraction of the buyer to a "print".  For some buyers, the importance is the image and presentation, in this case with a signing.  As learned as our online collecting forums are, situations like this are an interesting reminder that we are a subset of a larger consumer group.

Personally, I don't attach a high value to a print of a common cultural item unless there is a limitation, provenance, or technique which makes it special.  The signature will allow the piece to hold some value as an autograph, if the COA holds up over time.

Meanwhile, there are multiple live auctions right now (not linking) where the real art-interested person could pick up a piece of actual art.

Fun to chat about this, David

 

A cheap wall poster that you put in a frame has exactly the same aesthetic value as a giclee. And Stan will sign that too! 

 

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15 hours ago, stinkininkin said:

Listen to what these people are saying.  The prices attached to these art beyond absurd.  No brainer, just walk away.

Lookitmeeeeee!!! I'm makin' millions!!!

printing-company-animated-gif.gif

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You are all great for taking time to answer to my query. I am at the moment flying back from Singapore and after the jet lag effect i will post photos of the canvases in question as well as details about them that i have received. I would also be interested tin learning more about OA and commissioning someone to "reproduce" a cover of comics in my possession . As far as Kirby is concerned a short research gave me only original ink pages of comics and no covers...at least yet, guess i have to "surf" the net more.....

thank you all and i will get back again with new material......:$

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19 hours ago, stinkininkin said:

Listen to what these people are saying.  The prices attached to these art beyond absurd.  No brainer, just walk away.

“Just walk away, and there will be an end to the horror.” 

A07C4D73-CDE9-4A10-8D34-72614A6ECE21.gif

Edited by PhilipB2k17
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55 minutes ago, Chrysaetos said:

You are all great for taking time to answer to my query. I am at the moment flying back from Singapore and after the jet lag effect i will post photos of the canvases in question as well as details about them that i have received. I would also be interested tin learning more about OA and commissioning someone to "reproduce" a cover of comics in my possession . As far as Kirby is concerned a short research gave me only original ink pages of comics and no covers...at least yet, guess i have to "surf" the net more.....

thank you all and i will get back again with new material......:$

For Kirby, this is an idea of what we do here (in contrast to giclee editions):

https://www.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?Ntk=SI_Titles-Desc&Ns=Time|1&Ne=1058&N=790+231+3186+1067&Ntt=jack+kirby+cover&ic4=Refine-ComicCategory-102615

That's why you're getting so much pushback (kind-hearted as it is). That link is "original art" from Jack Kirby's drawing table that has sold for less, sometimes much less, than the numbers you're contemplating.

If giclees is still where you want to go, it's not that we don't like or want you but...you may have a better time of it with a more giclee-centric group or board.

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