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professionalism and intellectual honesty
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63 posts in this topic

1 minute ago, Bird said:

I stopped buying from The Artist's Choice a long time ago but more recently stopped visiting Romitaman's site as well. I just didn't like the revelations/discussions that came out last year or so about what looked like shilling and such. I was a bit dismayed at one of the last comic art cons to see that he had a MCP Sam Kieth piece prominently displayed and I would like to own one in the future; I hesitated about even going over to see it but in the end decided I would just gauge the price for future comps and made a quick fly-by. I haven't consciously made a hard and fast decision on him really but no longer read his email announcements or visit his site looking for art to buy. I have enjoyed buying from him on time payments in the past and it hurts a bit to let that go but I think that I have moved on. Maybe posting this will make the decision more rigid, especially if he sees it and doesn't like it! (I know there are collectors who like to alert artists & dealers & reps to these things, out of the kindness in their hearts of course!)

I'd still buy from Spencer in person at a show, that direct experience was fine, but no mail order until all major issue are sorted out.

As for Mike Burkey/Romitaman.com, I feel the same but also haven't been challenged by him having something on his site that I want for a price I'd pay. My recollection, without going through all his posts of the period, is that he really didn't see anything wrong with what he did, what most of us would (and did) call shilling, and only decided to stop when the negativity here was too much coupled with HA (and maybe others?) also asking him to stop. Recollection that, so if somebody wants to correct me, go for it and I thank you in advance. Gotcha-artists can take a long walk off a short pier ;)

Getting back to the subject of intellectual honesty, I'm reminded of the Friends of Romitaman (lol) thread, a real hoot to read serving double-duty also as a list of many people that I'm similarly disinclined to do business with, in either direction, ever again.

For those with short memories or that weren't around in January and February of 2016, I provide this public service...it all began here.

 

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Spencer usually sets up at the New York Comic Con in October.  My strategy is to look for art that I'd like, but think is slightly overpriced, and then make a note of it until the holiday sale.  I just put an order in for a page that I saw at the last NYCC and it was worth it to me at 30% off.  I've done that successfully a few times over the last few years.

I totally get the frustration with Spencer as the site is ridiculous and he's often super slow in getting in touch.  If I were an artist, I would have left him long ago.  Having said that, I'm personally in the pro-Spencer camp as I've been dealing with him since 2000 and have always found him to be very honest and above board.  There's a lot of flaky people in this field who'll think nothing of disappearing with your art or money, but he's not one of them.  On the few occasions that there were issues with a deal, Spencer has always come through eventually, sometimes even throwing in extra pages to make up for a delay.

Edited by tlatner
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On 1/28/2019 at 5:36 PM, Brian Peck said:

Getting his new site in order? Hasn't it been like a year since the announcement of a new site. The site hasn't changed in more than a decade, same issues percist.

Are you sure that you're not confusing him with Bechera?  lol

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On 1/30/2019 at 4:07 PM, Bird said:

I stopped buying from The Artist's Choice a long time ago but more recently stopped visiting Romitaman's site as well. I just didn't like the revelations/discussions that came out last year or so about what looked like shilling and such. I was a bit dismayed at one of the last comic art cons to see that he had a MCP Sam Kieth piece prominently displayed and I would like to own one in the future; I hesitated about even going over to see it but in the end decided I would just gauge the price for future comps and made a quick fly-by. I haven't consciously made a hard and fast decision on him really but no longer read his email announcements or visit his site looking for art to buy. I have enjoyed buying from him on time payments in the past and it hurts a bit to let that go but I think that I have moved on. Maybe posting this will make the decision more rigid, especially if he sees it and doesn't like it! (I know there are collectors who like to alert artists & dealers & reps to these things, out of the kindness in their hearts of course!)

Romitaman was shilling and he admitted it

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25 minutes ago, pemart1966 said:

Are you sure that you're not confusing him with Bechera?  lol

To Bechara's credit, of a sort, at least he isn't actively trying to sell from it or even responding to orders/messages though the site. (In contrast to...) How hard is it to just pull the whole site down though... :(

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1 hour ago, vodou said:

To Bechara's credit, of a sort, at least he isn't actively trying to sell from it or even responding to orders/messages though the site. (In contrast to...) How hard is it to just pull the whole site down though... :(

I guess the good side is that CAF gets advertising dollars from him, even if his site is not actively used.

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1 hour ago, vodou said:

To Bechara's credit, of a sort, at least he isn't actively trying to sell from it or even responding to orders/messages though the site. (In contrast to...) How hard is it to just pull the whole site down though... :(

That I don't doubt, especially when the last time "New Art" was added to the site was 2014 lol

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FWIW Spencer was set up at the Louisville Supercon here back in November. He was set up next to Keith Giffen, who was great. I didn't go to Spencer's booth because I didn't have much cash and didn't want to kick myself if I found something I wanted. I'm hoping he comes back this fall, and I'll come ready with some money. Onlline, I've bought a lot of stuff from him over the last 10+ years. We all know the drawbacks of his site and general confusion, but as has been pointed out, there are often some really good deals to be found on contemporary art, if you manage to find something that you want that he also actually still has in stock. I usually don't have a lot of luck with the annual sale, but when I do, the prices are hard to beat.

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6 hours ago, Catwoman_Fan said:

Has anyone heard back from Spencer on their Artist's Choice order ?

I know it's less than a month, but I'm getting antsy.  :bigsmile:

 

5 hours ago, T Shen said:

I'm waiting as well :(

One month would be downright fast to get the package in hand, considering the size of the sale and whatnot. But no reply of any sort...that's weak (aka unprofessional).

Nonetheless, you guys sort of expected this going in, so not much room to complain (at least not yet). Is it a sales event if nobody shows up?

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1 hour ago, eewwnuk said:

300+ for c2e2 

Well I got a reply 11 days ago saying he was working through over 400 orders and he would get to me when mine was the next one in the list. Unfortunately for me I want something unrelated to the sale or cons but it just so happens to be that time of year.

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I had found some info out about my requests and he got right back to me about my questions / comments.  He also re-iterated to me that he's got a ton of requests but would confirm once he pulled my orders.

So, worry not, this happens every year, it takes a while.

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