Jim Lee commission prices (WAS Lake Como Comic Art Festival 20-22 April) 4 4

[fsumavila]

13 hours ago, SquareChaos said:

All respect to Mr Lee, but why do artists let this situation arise? All this does is make Jim look bad, regardless of if this is 100% him or not.

How does this make him look bad? Fans ask him ALL THE TIME to do commissions, and now he's doing them. It's not cheap because he's a top talent who recognizes the value his artwork has on the secondary market. He doesn't owe anyone free or discounted art (and BTW, Jim probably gives away more free sketches than any other highly collectible artist).  I just never understand when people get upset when an artist aggressively prices his art. No one is forcing anyone to buy it. 

[ESeffinga]

Amusingly and curiously to me, this was the same reaction people had to when Albert first posted the Hush pages for sale. They were priced VERY high relative to the rest of contemporary modern pages at the time. And yet they sold well. It wasn’t over minutes like some of Felix’s art releases. Some pages lingered for sale for years, and yet here we are today.

 

Make of that anecdote what you will.

[williamhlawson]

Serious take ...

1. Wow, those prices are a little out of line with realized published prices imo, but you aren't paying for that.  This is an 'elbow rub' while they draw type gig it appears.  At this rate, you might even catch some ink on your ear... High end event, high prices go hand in hand as well.  And go look at the event and the location in the original post. Hmmm...more on that later.

2.  Jim Lee can charge whatever he wishes, he's earned that right by any stretch of the imagination.  I can't afford it, but if I'd just won a lottery, or found my mysterious benefactor etc...why not.  If you can 'throw' this much at a commission, you have what you want in your collection already.  If I had 3 of the pages I'd spent $50 each on in the 80's(sadly I do not) I could at least 'trade' for that if it mattered to me personally.

 

Snowed in comedic take ...it's 10" and rising...

My first comment here was on this art festival, the scene has shifted to Jim Lee sketch pricing ... but...why???

1.  This place and event look amazing and soooo far out of my league.  How far?  Very, very but there's always next year.

2.  Obviously, the OP realized too late he had posted the location of the Cabal's Annual 'Haul to the Hall of Hidden Art' event online.

3. Phones rang, doors knocked; threats, promises, tears, and ink mixed with blood flowed.

3. Mr. Lee was contacted regarding his willingness to assist in a cover operation.

4. Prices were established, then doubled to ensure chatter would change to uptick in sketch pricing.

5. Mission accomplished.  Wait, who could be knocking on the door in this storm? Uhoh...

 

[Mr. Machismo]

4 hours ago, comix4fun said:

"Steal" in the context of one requires removal of all four of your limbs in a chipper-shredder and the other only takes three........

No arguments there.   

[zhamlau]

At 15k honestly you are probably looking for something very specific that might not exist. No one (i would hope) spending this much on a convention drawing is going to get just batman standing on a gargoyle. You have a mission and a specific look/recreation of an image for that price. To them, its scratching an Itch that a regular (or even exceptional) published page just cant scratch.

[comix4fun]

8 minutes ago, zhamlau said:

At 15k honestly you are probably looking for something very specific that might not exist. No one (i would hope) spending this much on a convention drawing is going to get just batman standing on a gargoyle. You have a mission and a specific look/recreation of an image for that price. To them, its scratching an Itch that a regular (or even exceptional) published page just cant scratch.

I hope not...I don't know if "gargoyle" fits into the "light backgrounds" description. 

[eewwnuk]

2 hours ago, zhamlau said:

At 15k honestly you are probably looking for something very specific that might not exist. No one (i would hope) spending this much on a convention drawing is going to get just batman standing on a gargoyle. You have a mission and a specific look/recreation of an image for that price. To them, its scratching an Itch that a regular (or even exceptional) published page just cant scratch.

i would be shocked if the majority of requests weren't batman or batman related. 

[comix4fun]

12 minutes ago, eewwnuk said:

i would be shocked if the majority of requests weren't batman or batman related. 

And he's only taking six requests, so I think that's a good bet...although I think there are probably just as many fans of his X-men work. 

Would be funny to see someone spend that kind of coin and ask for Jim's take on a Keebler Elf or General Ursus from Planet of the Apes. 

[alxjhnsn]

I'd like to go to this show. I sent my wife and 2 eldest daughters to Italy for college graduation trip and they fell in love with the location. I think that if this happens next year, we'll go.

That said, I wouldn't mind a piece of Jim Lee art; I really liked this Legion take in the Icons book, but $4K was/is too much for me. There's no way I would pay $15K for a commission when the published stuff is available for less or similar.

Of course, I'm not much of a Jim Lee art fan (I like the guy; I've met him a few times and he's great with fans) or that of his peers at Image so my POV may be out of alignment with the rest of the world.

 

Good luck to those that go this route.

[Kohei]

That kind of money should include dinner and a dance at least.

[rotembk]

40 minutes ago, comix4fun said:

And he's only taking six requests, so I think that's a good bet...although I think there are probably just as many fans of his X-men work. 

Would be funny to see someone spend that kind of coin and ask for Jim's take on a Keebler Elf or General Ursus from Planet of the Apes. 

Chris, let me use terminology you’ll understand: Jim is like the Supreme Court, he decides which commissions he’s willing to entertain. So the real question is “is the Supreme Court interested in hearing the People v. K. Elf et. al. or not”.       

[Carlo M]

On ‎19‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 10:08 PM, pestonaccio said:

Hello everybody,

next month, for the first time, an incredible comic convention will be held in Cernobbio, a tiny tiny town by the Como Lake in Italy. Just artists and some dealers. Not cheap to get in.

http://www.lccaf.com/

Is anyone coming?

No, I am not advertising, as I just purchased my own ticket. It would be nice to meet in person!

Luca

 

 

Hi Luca, thanks so much for raising this on this board.  I was not aware of this event.  I have just purchased my ticket, I will probably go on the Saturday.  I am very excited to be able to go to an art convention here in Italy, there are many strong artist and a few interesting dealers.

Happy to link up with anybody going! Let us connect via PM before the date.

Carlo

[bisquitodoom]

1 hour ago, rotembk said:

Jim is like the Supreme Court, he decides which commissions he’s willing to entertain. So the real question is “is the Supreme Court interested in hearing the People v. K. Elf et. al. or not”.       

Who knows?  That might make it more likely that he'd take it on.  I can imagine him getting pretty bored doing all Batman sketches.  

[vodou]

45 minutes ago, bisquitodoom said:

Who knows?  That might make it more likely that he'd take it on.  I can imagine him getting pretty bored doing all Batman sketches.  

When is $15k ever boring?

[Bronty]

20 minutes ago, vodou said:

When is $15k ever boring?

I get the impression he does well.   He probably doesn't care too much about about 15k (or 4k depending on the type of commission) less taxes.

Might pay for a couple sets of braces for those 8 kids or a family vacation and that's about it.

He must care about it somewhat, or he wouldn't bother, I suppose.    But I think we are talking, in his world, little side hustle more than uncle scrooge money swim.

Edited March 22, 2018 by Bronty

[vodou]

5 minutes ago, Bronty said:

I get the impression he does well.   He probably doesn't care too much about about 15k (or 4k depending on the type of commission) less taxes.

Might pay for a couple sets of braces for those 8 kids or a family vacation and that's about it.

He must care about it somewhat, or he wouldn't bother, I suppose.    But I think we are talking, in his world, little side hustle more than uncle scrooge money swim.

I know. It was a throwaway comment.

Nonetheless, I think if there is only one taker that guy should get a detailed background

Just cuz.

[Bronty]

hehehe

[SquareChaos]

11 hours ago, fsumavila said:

How does this make him look bad? Fans ask him ALL THE TIME to do commissions, and now he's doing them. It's not cheap because he's a top talent who recognizes the value his artwork has on the secondary market. He doesn't owe anyone free or discounted art (and BTW, Jim probably gives away more free sketches than any other highly collectible artist).  I just never understand when people get upset when an artist aggressively prices his art. No one is forcing anyone to buy it. 

Jim Lee commissions are going for $15k? The few I've seen over the last few years haven't gone anywhere near that. To me, this looks like a potential gouging of his super fans. I know it is easy for me to say, but if I were in his position I'd never go this route, I'd go about offering commissions differently, and that is my choice just like this is apparently his choice.

 

Personally, if I were spending this kind of money for Lee work, a brand new Jim Lee commission is probably the last thing I'd look for, but I guess there is always 'the fan that has everything else' to consider.

[SquareChaos]

10 hours ago, ESeffinga said:

Amusingly and curiously to me, this was the same reaction people had to when Albert first posted the Hush pages for sale. They were priced VERY high relative to the rest of contemporary modern pages at the time. And yet they sold well. It wasn’t over minutes like some of Felix’s art releases. Some pages lingered for sale for years, and yet here we are today.

 

Make of that anecdote what you will.

There is a massive difference between a published page and a commission, we all know that. 

[ESeffinga]

Of course. Doesn’t  change the facts of my observations.

Jim’s published pages for Hush were suuuuuuper super high for a modern release, compared to everything else at the time. Everything else.

Much like these commissions are what they are compared to other commissions at this time.

 

Maybe you had to be there to take that kind of notice, or feel that shock?

Again, you can make of it what you will. I’m just amused to see folks saying the same things. That is all.

I was never in the market for either, so I have no dogs in this hunt.

Edited March 22, 2018 by ESeffinga