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Art Recreated by Original Artist
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28 posts in this topic

Hi, I'm new to art collecting. Is there any value in a famous comic cover redrawn by the original artist? It is not the actual art used for publication but a very exact replica. E.g., a redraw of a famous cover. 

I'm basically asking what it would be valued at relative to the original. Dime a dozen or still pricey. X-Men 266 original cover art went for $130k. 

Edited by eastcoaster
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It depends but typically they aren’t valuable .   If you had one done for commission  price someone else could get it done for commission price too so why would anyone in the secondary market pay more than commission price?

Worst case scenario for value is that the original published cover exists, the artist has a low commission price, is still alive and producing commissions, and has no qualms about doing multiples of the same cover.   

Best case scenario for value is that the original published cover does not exist, the artist is long since passed, and your commission is the only one he ever did.    Even in the best case scenario though, it’s still not the real thing and people will bid accordingly.     But, you’ll get a better result than in the other scenario for sure.

As this illustrates part of the value in having published art is that the supply is permanently capped at one.    

Edited by Bronty
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How about if the original artist only did one recreation?

The Original exists and the recreation is the next best thing.

For example, didn't the ASM 100 recreation sell for a pretty good price?

Also the recent discussions of the Batman 251 Cover and the recreation that sold.

I would say these 2 examples fall unter the yes they are collectible and are valuable category.

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2 hours ago, wurstisart said:

I would say these 2 examples fall unter the yes they are collectible and are valuable category.

No. They fall into the extreme exception category.

What's the list of living guys not named Romita, Adams, Sternako whose recreations are four figures and worth it again at resale?

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I don't know that I would pay a bundle for such a piece, but it clearly depends on the artist and the cover you are talking about, how much the cost of the recreation would be and whether that person plans to do a lot of the same piece.  There are recreations by numerous artists that are pretty valuable and certainly more valuable than what was originally paid for them. I only have one in my collection, but it was a Silver Surfer Cover that Buscema did and it is certainly worth more than the original price of the piece-and even if I overpaid a bit to get it from the guy who commissioned it, I am glad to have it at a fraction of the cost of the original piece. I think my basic advice on commissions is that they are almost always worth less than what you pay when you buy them, but over time, some will appreciate and some will not. They will rarely, however, appreciate faster or to a greater extent  than original published pieces by the same artist though.

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2 hours ago, vodou said:

No. They fall into the extreme exception category.

What's the list of living guys not named Romita, Adams, Sternako whose recreations are four figures and worth it again at resale?

4 figures? Quite a few. 

Zeck and John Buscema comes to mind. I am sure there are others. 

It's just supply and demand, if I popular artist limits recreations or are just hard to commission, 4 figures is easy to reach. 

Malvin 

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35 minutes ago, malvin said:

Zeck and John Buscema comes to mind. I am sure there are others. 

I specifically used the word "living" but my mistake left out the word "actively taking" ;)

Zeck - not doing recreations and hasn't for almost two decades (but at least alive!)

Buscema (we mean John, right?) - dead.

Now maybe Sal is doing them and I think those would be four figures (cover recreations here) and would hold above the $999 level at resale too.

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3 hours ago, vodou said:

No. They fall into the extreme exception category.

What's the list of living guys not named Romita, Adams, Sternako whose recreations are four figures and worth it again at resale?

How do you know that the OP wasn’t talking about any of the ones mentioned? 

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46 minutes ago, wurstisart said:

How do you know that the OP wasn’t talking about any of the ones mentioned? 

I don't but referencing this:

9 hours ago, eastcoaster said:

X-Men 266 original cover art went for $130k. 

  is not encouraging...in that direction ;)

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I've seen a recreation or two that looked BETTER than the original published image.  I think there are exceptions, but generally the original published work commands a greater price.

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1 hour ago, Yorick said:

I've seen a recreation or two that looked BETTER than the original published image.  I think there are exceptions, but generally the original published work commands a greater price.

Some of the beauty of the actual original art is the flaws and production notes in the margins which give it the "panache" (is that a good word here?).  The recreations generally don't provide that.

David

 

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I don’t think most will appreciate in any major way but I think it is a great way to make a nostalgic cover achievable for your collection. For example one of the first comics I remember getting as a child is the thing 5 by Ron Wilson.not a major cover in any way but  I tracked down the original art in an owners collection and he was willing to part with it but for over 10k. I did not want to spend that much, so I am having Ron do a recreation for me that will cost me under 300 - I think it was the a great way to get a piece of my youth and not break the bank. 

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Curt Swan, a favorite of mine, did a number of cover recreations that have been resold on Heritage. They all went for four figures and some are much higher than Curt would have charged at the time.

Curt Swan Adventure Comics #333 Legion of Super-Heroes Penciled Cover Re-Creation Original Art (1995) 
Adventure 333 - $3883.75 (I was the underbidder, Gary Land won it and you can see it in his CAF)

Curt Swan Adventure Comics #360 Cover Recreation Legion of Super-Heroes Original Art (1994)
Adventure 360 - $2760 in 2018, $2390 in 2012

Curt Swan - Adventure #312 Cover Recreation (DC, 1994). Surely one of the best known and most beloved artists of the Sil...

Adventure 312 - $1495 in 2002

There are other recreations "out there" by Richard () Sprang that have sold for a lot of money over the years.

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In all honesty, it depends on a lot of variables. I've seen about half a dozen, or more, Silver Surfer 4 cover re-creations by John Buscema floating round the internets. It's pretty obvious he light boxes most of it, and only varies the cosmic starfield background a bit. How valuable is a lightboxed re-creation, even by the original artist? It all depends on supply and demand. 

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3 hours ago, PhilipB2k17 said:

In all honesty, it depends on a lot of variables. I've seen about half a dozen, or more, Silver Surfer 4 cover re-creations by John Buscema floating round the internets. It's pretty obvious he light boxes most of it, and only varies the cosmic starfield background a bit. How valuable is a lightboxed re-creation, even by the original artist? It all depends on supply and demand. 

FWIW, there are four sales of a SS #4 recreation by John Buscema in Heritage's archive. 

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image.thumb.png.73d0537b679c5270965a34de2b669420.png

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5 hours ago, PhilipB2k17 said:

In all honesty, it depends on a lot of variables. I've seen about half a dozen, or more, Silver Surfer 4 cover re-creations by John Buscema floating round the internets. It's pretty obvious he light boxes most of it, and only varies the cosmic starfield background a bit. How valuable is a lightboxed re-creation, even by the original artist? It all depends on supply and demand. 

I love the cover but passed on a few recreations based on most every reason you mentioned. Great artist going through the motions. Apologies to anyone that owns one. I imagine the first  or second recreation of 4 may have channeled Johns interest but after that?

 

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2 hours ago, alxjhnsn said:

FWIW, there are four sales of a SS #4 recreation by John Buscema in Heritage's archive. 

It looks like there are 4 sales but "only" 3 different pieces.  One is signed on the back.  One is signed on the art in the bottom right.  Another is signed in the margin in the bottom right, it looks like that was auctioned twice.

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2 hours ago, Will_K said:

It looks like there are 4 sales but "only" 3 different pieces.  One is signed on the back.  One is signed on the art in the bottom right.  Another is signed in the margin in the bottom right, it looks like that was auctioned twice.

I agree. 

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