The Official Feb 22-24 Heritage Auction Thread 4 4

[Bronty]

Isn't that dynamic what happens literally every time something drops at auction though?     I mean... I have a lot of time for the 'prices aren't going to go up forever' argument, but underbidders not being replaced, that's just how prices drop no matter what the scenario no?

[tth2]

5 hours ago, batman_fan said:

oh man, that salt really burns !

under bidder on four.  I really wanted that Lucy/Charlie Brown Doctor is in so I held off bidding too hard on the earlier ones hoping to pike that one up but I was out after it crossed $30k.

Man, what has happened in the Peanuts market?  Prices were always very strong, but there was a pretty clear range.  Then literally overnight, they doubled/tripled.

[batman_fan]

5 minutes ago, tth2 said:

Man, what has happened in the Peanuts market?  Prices were always very strong, but there was a pretty clear range.  Then literally overnight, they doubled/tripled.

I think it must be because I have started to try and pick up one.  That is the only thing that makes sense.  If you look at some of the prices, I mean $20k for a Sally only strip 

[Greenlake]

1 hour ago, DeadpoolJr. said:

Not in the featured auction, but the one that ended today. Thought the price was surprising for it even though it was a nice early issue battle page. Is this in line with early ROM, and have prices really increased that much?

 

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/panel-pages/sal-buscema-rom-4-story-page-3-original-art-marvel-1980-/a/121808-14027.s?ic2=mybidspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyBids-101116

I know this isn't much help, if any, but the comic OA lots I bid on today followed the event auction's lead of going above retail/comps by anywhere from 30% to 100+%. It seems like at least a few people made a lost (money) weekend of it.

[John E.]

2 hours ago, DeadpoolJr. said:

Not in the featured auction, but the one that ended today. Thought the price was surprising for it even though it was a nice early issue battle page. Is this in line with early ROM, and have prices really increased that much?

 

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/panel-pages/sal-buscema-rom-4-story-page-3-original-art-marvel-1980-/a/121808-14027.s?ic2=mybidspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyBids-101116

That is quite a bit of money. In the $1k-$2k I'd understand, but $2600? For comparison, ROM #15 p. 10, also by Buscema, sold on eBay for $450 on February 2, 2018. Not too bad of a price, but out of seven panels, ROM appears in only one. And for what it's worth, I'm looking for pages from a particular late issue of ROM. So maybe the nostalgia is really kicking in?

[chrisco37]

11 hours ago, tth2 said:

Man, what has happened in the Peanuts market?  Prices were always very strong, but there was a pretty clear range.  Then literally overnight, they doubled/tripled.

Seems like everything has exploded.  Some of these numbers are just head scratching to me.  

[CartoonFanboy]

Amongst my modest areas of collecting interest, I have to say I was very surprised to see the Robin #15 cover by Tom Grummett go for over $1,300 with the BP. The same piece sold as part of a two cover lot on ebay less than three years ago for just $760.

[zhamlau]

37 minutes ago, CartoonFanboy said:

Amongst my modest areas of collecting interest, I have to say I was very surprised to see the Robin #15 cover by Tom Grummett go for over $1,300 with the BP. The same piece sold as part of a two cover lot on ebay less than three years ago for just $760.

You know if you think about it thats not really that big of a price increase when compared to other covers. Seems about right to me.

[Hekla]

17 minutes ago, zhamlau said:

You know if you think about it thats not really that big of a price increase when compared to other covers. Seems about right to me.

I think he was saying two covers sold for $760 total

[zhamlau]

6 minutes ago, Hekla said:

I think he was saying two covers sold for $760 total

ah, ok...i was gonna say I can see a single cover being over 1000 so getting 760 for one seemed reasonable. Now that i see its 760 for a pair of older DC hero covers by a good artist, I think the the ebay ones were steals and the Heritage one just went for full market.

[CartoonFanboy]

1 hour ago, zhamlau said:

ah, ok...i was gonna say I can see a single cover being over 1000 so getting 760 for one seemed reasonable. Now that i see its 760 for a pair of older DC hero covers by a good artist, I think the the ebay ones were steals and the Heritage one just went for full market.

Right, two covers for $760, though I have to admit the second cover (Superboy #15 by Grummett) was on the weaker side. So maybe it's not that big of a jump after all. Still, I follow Grummett's work pretty closely and was surprised by the Heritage result, that's the nature of the hobby though.

[comix4fun]

1 hour ago, zhamlau said:

ah, ok...i was gonna say I can see a single cover being over 1000 so getting 760 for one seemed reasonable. Now that i see its 760 for a pair of older DC hero covers by a good artist, I think the the ebay ones were steals and the Heritage one just went for full market.

I was talking to some friends the other day and it was about covers and how it almost doesn't matter any more who drew it, or what the characters are, as long as it's from Marvel or DC there's a huge bump upwards on the floor of any Bronze/Copper cover. 

[zhamlau]

1 hour ago, comix4fun said:

I was talking to some friends the other day and it was about covers and how it almost doesn't matter any more who drew it, or what the characters are, as long as it's from Marvel or DC there's a huge bump upwards on the floor of any Bronze/Copper cover. 

With all the talk about impending market correction on comic art, something really occurred to me maybe in fact we are thinking about this bass-ackwards. Unlike fine art, where new entries are being made and accepted into the fold all the time, classic period marvel and DC art is special and limited, cover art especially. Cover art made before 1995 , with its physical stats and editors marks, is something special. The price point for these pieces of pop art even at its highest level, is just a tiny fraction of what "fine art" would sell for. Yet any individual pieces ability to influence other artists and collectors/fans is often times 100 fold greater than a comparable fine art piece. If you strip away the notion that "its just funny book drawings" and really appreciate it as a piece of narrative illustration art with significant cultural and historic importance...comic art of the era might actually be a steal.

Anyway, just another way to look at it.

[stinkininkin]

3 hours ago, comix4fun said:

I was talking to some friends the other day and it was about covers and how it almost doesn't matter any more who drew it, or what the characters are, as long as it's from Marvel or DC there's a huge bump upwards on the floor of any Bronze/Copper cover. 

This makes me sad if true.  Really, it's so antithetical to how I collect that I can't really wrap my head around this.

[Skizz]

3 hours ago, comix4fun said:

I was talking to some friends the other day and it was about covers and how it almost doesn't matter any more who drew it, or what the characters are, as long as it's from Marvel or DC there's a huge bump upwards on the floor of any Bronze/Copper cover. 

I reckon that at the time of ‘The Correction’, these pieces will be the first to be corrected. 

[DeadpoolJr.]

11 minutes ago, Skizz said:

I reckon that at the time of ‘The Correction’, these pieces will be the first to be corrected. 

Would it be a correcting, or would certain eras just start going for more, while others go down? I see 80's, and 90's art starting to heat up, but wonder how much art from the 50's-60's will maintain, or increase in value when many of the people who have that as their nostalgic time period pass on, or retire from the hobby. Not to mention when dealers start retiring, and start selling off the bulk of their pieces. Will it be one large sale, or done in a few auction cycles? Some pieces no matter what would surely go down in value since the smaller presumed market wouldn't be able to absorb it all, or even value it the same way.

[Skizz]

2 hours ago, zhamlau said:

If you strip away the notion that "its just funny book drawings" and really appreciate it as a piece of narrative illustration art with significant cultural and historic importance...comic art of the era might actually be a steal.

Anyway, just another way to look at it.

It’s a very optimistic look, in a glass definately not completely empty kinda way.  But just for posterity, I would note that, outside of being IP farms, unfortunately comics have very little cultural significance in any greater sense. I say this as someone who writes comics (although admittedly only at a small press level; so take it with a pinch of salt).

As an example from my own life, most of my friends are voraciously readers and consumers of fiction. And whilst a large percentage of those who watched and liked the Game of Thrones TV show went on to read the novels, literally no one who liked The Walking Dead show went on to read the comics, even after I offered it to them.

That said, I do hope you are right. 

[malvin]

24 minutes ago, stinkininkin said:

This makes me sad if true.  Really, it's so antithetical to how I collect that I can't really wrap my head around this.

While I believe that the floor is certainly high for any older big 2 covers, I think better covers (be it content or artist) would still fetch a premium over plainer covers.  It's just that a rising tide floats all boats (or however that expression goes)

Malvin

[GreatEscape]

1 minute ago, DeadpoolJr. said:

Would it be a correcting, or would certain eras just start going for more, while others go down? I see 80's, and 90's art starting to heat up, but wonder how much art from the 50's-60's will maintain, or increase in value when many of the people who have that as their nostalgic time period pass on, or retire from the hobby. Not to mention when dealers start retiring, and start selling off the bulk of their pieces. Will it be one large sale, or done in a few auction cycles? Some pieces no matter what would surely go down in value since the smaller presumed market wouldn't be able to absorb it all, or even value it the same way.

Big difference between 50's-60's non-superhero art and early 60's superhero (esp. Marvel) art in terms of nostalgic value and/or staying power through a correction.  In terms of collectability, 60's Marvel art is less tied to generational factors than the characters/titles that remain popular today.

[Skizz]

14 minutes ago, GreatEscape said:

In terms of collectability, 60's Marvel art is less tied to generational factors than the characters/titles that remain popular today.

Do you mean that Kirby/Ditko drawn Silver Age characters like Spider-Man, Thor etc will have a longer cross generational appeal than art of popular characters like Deadpool and Walking Dead? 

If so, I am inclined to agree. But I don’t think random Bronze Age Marvel/DC covers bought at premium will retain their inflated value once collectors who were teenaged during the Bronze Age move on. 

I think delekkerste gave a really good example in one of earlier pages how ‘The Correction’ might happen. 

Edited February 26, 2018 by Skizz