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Prelim Cover prices/feelings
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50 posts in this topic

I've been collecting OA for about 4 months now and just came across two Frank Cho cover prelims.  I wanted to know what everyone thinks about the value on them, and how is value determined on prelim pieces?  Are prelims a collected market.  From what I can see, I would think yes, when someone cant afford a $10K original published piece, but then you have a similar piece where that shows the artist thought process and where hes going, I would think they would hold some value.  

Heres the two prelims I got.  By the way, they are huge, 14x20 so bigger than standard.

 

IMG_0824.JPG

IMG_0823.JPG

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Those look great.

The strange thing I have seen with pre-lims is that they go for 5-20% of the published piece. Depending on the piece. 

What I never understood is how a finished prelim could sell for less than a similar looking sketch or commission piece by the same artist.  

I agree with you that the process is very cool. At the same time - the prelim is where the spark of creativity took place. The artist created magic from a blank page. The finished piece is usually a more detailed copy of the prelim. 

The reality is - that most comic art collectors prefer finished(slick?) looking pieces. Perhaps thats why most of us like inked more than pencils.  

Interesting topic - hope more folks here chime in on how they feel about this stuff.

Edited by Panelfan1
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2 hours ago, malvin said:

yeah, 5-20% as a general rule seems about right.  It really depends and sometimes there is no logic. Like the rest of the hobby!

Malvin

agree and I think in general towards the lower end of the range.   20% is the real exception IMO

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 I love preliminary art and it represents (in raw numbers) probably 20% of my collection. I am actively seeking preliminary work from artists I like and over the period I have been collecting I have gotten preliminary work from a number of artists who may well have just tossed the stuff in the past, but now realize there is value to collectors and hold onto it and sell it as part of their overall art sales. Its not like writing Charles Schulz and getting a free Peanuts daily in the mail that is now worth thousands, but I always ask for the preliminary work whenever I get a commission and if I buy published work directly from an artist I almost always ask if there is a preliminary that I can get as well because I think that part of the process is very interesting and seeing the difference between initial idea and final piece is often filled with information about how an artist is thinking as they create.

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1 hour ago, RB3 said:

So with all that said, I'm thinking these would have a value of about $500 each??  Any thought?

I would have guessed 250-500 depending on the details (ebay auction vs finding the right buyer) but I have no particular knowledge of Cho 

Edited by Bronty
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9 minutes ago, Bronty said:

I would have guessed 250-500 depending on the details (ebay auction vs finding the right buyer) but I have no particular knowledge of Cho 

I agree with this valuation. The median price for a Cho cover is about $6k. If prelims are 5%-20% of a cover, than one of these is worth about $300-$1200. $1200 is likely too high, but $300-$500 for a Wolverine sounds about right. Knock the price down a notch if the character is not that popular, and put it up a notch or two if it was a female.

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1 hour ago, Nexus said:

James Jean considers the prelim to be his purest artistic expression. It represents his inspiration for the final art. The final finished art is in some sense just his blue collar labor in executing the original vision.

Well, now I feel better about owning a bunch of his preliminary art since I can't afford a painting!!

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1 hour ago, Nexus said:

James Jean considers the prelim to be his purest artistic expression. It represents his inspiration for the final art. The final finished art is in some sense just his blue collar labor in executing the original vision.

Yeah.   But what would you rather live in?    Your blueprints, or your home?  :insane:

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20 minutes ago, Bronty said:

Yeah.   But what would you rather live in?    Your blueprints, or your home?  :insane:

As a collector, the prelim isn't that important to me (I don't feel the need to own the prelims to any of my art, even when they're available). This is just how he feels about his own art. In terms of commissioned art, he sends the art on its way when it's done. But he likes to keep the prelims for himself.

Like Benno, when the finished art is cost prohibitive, I have no problem adding a prelim to my collection. And some prelims are quite finished and display nicely.

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 I bought my first prelim recently and probably paid the full 20%.  Worth every damn cent too.  There are some artist's for whom a prelim or initial sketch work is simply a must imho.  Just to see into the process. for amongst us, I truly believe, walk giants.  They are really moving freely and letting raw talent shine (without regard to final appearance, which they, at the very least, are aware of subconsciously).  Pencils flow freer, ideas aren't as constrained, if you're lucky you can see their excitement.

 

Edited by williamhlawson
i'm a mess
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Size matters.   It's cooler if it's the same size as the finished art.  They often are stationery letter sized which is smaller than the finished original art  (but, ironically, close to the size of the published art). 

I bought a prelim once thinking it was letter sized and didn't realize until it arrived that it was the size of a postcard.   And I bid way low on a prelim in a recent auction thinking it was letter sized only to realize after losing it was full board sized.   

Edited by bluechip
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