• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Silver Surfer Black #3 Original Art Edition Volume
2 2

41 posts in this topic

1 hour ago, vodou said:

Oh yeah, me too. I don't even try anymore.

You may have seen it, but Felix sent an email stating there were over 400 requests for this last Surfer drop.  Crazy.  I offered a guy double what he paid for one of the Thanos Wins pages a while ago.  That didn't work out.  To your point about being more determined and hungry, I had an urge to make the same offer of double (or more??) for this great Surfer Black page, but came to my senses when I realized it would have been an offer of $3.6K+.  A part of me continues to believe it's worth it even at that price.  Stupid art.  Ha.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 minutes ago, Andahaion said:

You may have seen it, but Felix sent an email stating there were over 400 requests for this last Surfer drop.  Crazy.  I offered a guy double what he paid for one of the Thanos Wins pages a while ago.  That didn't work out.  To your point about being more determined and hungry, I had an urge to make the same offer of double (or more??) for this great Surfer Black page, but came to my senses when I realized it would have been an offer of $3.6K+.  A part of me continues to believe it's worth it even at that price.  Stupid art.  Ha.

 

2 hours ago, vodou said:

Thanks, not light that number at all but it would be for one of the hottest properties right now.

Oh yeah, me too. I don't even try anymore. It's just art; I am happy for Felix and his stable though that he's found a formula for insta-sellouts (in many cases). In general, the way this works is those that get shutout come back next time even more hungry and determined. So if 15 get what they want at each drop and 150 don't, and this is a repeating situation, it doesn't take long for Bill to have to shift server load handling specific to Felix drops ;)

Been there, done that, in other places and it works very well to keep collecting coin from those lacking discipline, particularly if you slowly ramp prices drop over drop. I do not lack :)

The only component missing to put the thing completely over the top (in Felix/stable favor, of course) would be if any of it was flippable. For the most part, Felix prices a little too perfectly and it's all break even or slight loss even a few years out. I don't believe anybody has ever tried to flip immediately post-sellout. Add another ten years though and maybe there will be some notable positive returns for folks other than the pride 'n joy of owning the art (which is not nothing, of course, most of us are comic/art/fans/collectors first and maybe only even!!)

You have to know which page(s) you want ahead of time and what you're willing to spend. I'm 2 for 3 so far and each time knew exactly which page I wanted and how much I was willing to spend. It definitely doesn't give time to assess the B&W pieces if you're unsure you'll like the piece in B&W.

While on the whole I agree Felix's pricing effectively undermines flippers, I know of several private sales where the seller made a substantial profit off a piece originally sold by Felix. Andahaion's comment on Thanos Wins and SSB is essentially a case in point that the right pages can turn a profit fairly easily. I also know I'm thrilled to have paid what I paid for the two pages I bought directly from Felix.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never been fast enough either.  I like to take my time especially online.  Sometimes the original looks vastly different than the published image because of the coloring.

I would take the Tradd Moore Silver Surfer cover at $8K over the Ryan Stegman Carnage cover at $15K.  I say this as a fan of Carnage and Ryan Stegman.  Let's face it, who wouldn't want the extra $7K to buy more art.  Lol.

Ironically, the only Tradd Moore art I've been able to purchase was when Tradd was still being repped by Cadence Comic Art, (whom I've had no issue with at all over the years).

Congratulations to Tradd, Felix, and anyone who was able to make a purchase.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey man if anyone is to make a profit off a piece of art I would want it to be the artist, so if Felix prices the pieces somewhat above market value, I'm good with that. There was one piece that fit my budget and had a bit of action in it I swear i jumped on it and hit submit in about 8 seconds... I guess that wasn't fast enough. That said I'm so very happy for Tradd, to be able to reap the rewards from his awesome talents is what it's all about. I want him in this game for decades to come, results like this may help us keep him. Way to go Felix!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, gumbydarnit said:

Hey man if anyone is to make a profit off a piece of art I would want it to be the artist, so if Felix prices the pieces somewhat above market value, I'm good with that.

I think most of us feel this way and most buyers from the site know the dynamics and understand the prices are set for collectors not speculators. Nothing wrong with that!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, vodou said:

I think most of us feel this way and most buyers from the site know the dynamics and understand the prices are set for collectors not speculators. Nothing wrong with that!

I'm happy for Felix and for the artists with the quick sell through, but if all the art sells instantly, doesn't that mean the art is actually underpriced and therefore ripe for speculators to do some sort of flip?  Or is the quick sell through just the result of Felix's business model, hustle (in a good way!) and mailing list, and therefore difficult for flippers to flip?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Keep in mind I'm just one guy making (silly?) comments on a board.  I think Tradd's work on SSBlack is super unique and want an example purely from an artistic admiration standpoint.  I wish I could speak with more authority as to whether it is initially under priced.  I'm just not that in tune with OA markets.  It feels to me that he has some hot artists on hot stories that drives demand.  I just understand what I like and what I'm willing to pay/offer to get what I want.  I could be in a small minority that would spend that much on these pages.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, delekkerste said:

How do these "art drops" work?  Is the person who runs through the checkout process the fastest the one who wins?  Or does one have to "reserve" the piece first? 

At a certain time (that everyone is informed of in advance via newsletter) the website automatically refreshes. The first Person to select a piece, complete the “checkout” process (basically sending a request - no payment at this point) gets the piece, judged by time stamp. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haha, I like the call-back to Cadence. My first attempt at Felix’s website was an absolute fiasco. 0-3 on a Skottie Young drop. VERY frustrating. I skirted Felix for a long time after that, buying some older pieces for which there was no “feeding frenzy”, but avoiding the drops. But eventually a few things came along that I really wanted. So I studied the system - made some smart choices, perfected a few physical techniques to increase the speed at which I can submit a request, and started having more success. But there are no guarantees ever. I will still walk away from some drops completely empty handed. 
 

SSB3 is obviously an exception - the way I see it, I took the steps necessary to get what I wanted. And I could also probably flip it for a profit. (Not that I would, just to address a point above - if anything I would probably hope in a few decades I might let go of a few pages to make trades etc). Also, I don’t know if @nexus would sell a whole issue to a known flipper? 
 

If I didn’t have any SSB and I wanted a piece, for the last drop I would have literally clicked the mouse on the first page I saw (filtering only for price) and bought it, and hoped for the best, knowing (A) you paid a reasonable price for it and (B) you can probably flip it if necessary because this IS a hot property. Now. Who knows in 5/10 years. 
 

Felix does price very very well, and he times his drops and the amount of product he releases very well too. For example, anyone who wants one will be tracking the MR Miracle covers left. 
 

It’s not perfect, but it is generating interest in the hobby, good prices for artists, and reliable dealership for fans  

My few cents  

 

Edited by dichotomy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, dichotomy said:

The first Person to select a piece, complete the “checkout” process (basically sending a request - no payment at this point) gets the piece, judged by time stamp. 

I'm just a guy that's been around the block a few times, and I've shared this with Felix -ultimately it's his business to run as he see fit, but having an active/automated inventory control and checkout is the only missing piece. That's my opinion. Of course our hobby is different than many as inventory is always "1" or "0".

Most art dealers are in the same boat here, except Anthony Snyder (recent upgrade iirc), you complete a request form and then they get back to you. This is far from frictionless and I believe in the very best customer service possible as one of the prime goals of any business. This would certainly include eliminating transaction friction and only one person "winning" and many losing because of microseconds and how various e-mail servers and internet jumpers handle timestamps! Again my definitions and opinions here; otherwise Felix has the whole thing nailed top to bottom - and I continue to be able to write that about pretty much nobody else in the business that I've done business with the last decade. It helps that Felix always has the art 'in hand' too, not the..."let me check" model which really means "cross my fingers the artist will ship it to me fast enough to not lose the sale" lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, Nexus said:

#1 art is #1 art...that's always special for collectors and carries a premium. But in terms of an entire issue...I think you're right, the later issues are when all the pieces that have been set up in the earlier issues fall into place. So those issues can be more exciting, complete.

As for how we got #1 back...I was about to type out the story just now, but then realized that it might be good material for the podcast;) It's not quite your scenario, but ended up a win-win, regardless. The main impetus was that Tradd wanted to make two issues available for fans (we always knew #5 would get broken up because he wanted to keep a page for himself). As issues #'s 1-3 sold complete, that left #4 along with #5 to break up. But then we got a monster offer for #4 complete. In order to preserve that deal, and still be able to have two issues to break up per Tradd's wishes, I had to get one of the earlier issues back. That's when the negotiations started. Rest will be for the podcast!

Good stuff, sounds like an interesting podcast

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
2 2