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Any opinions on why Erik Larsen doesn't fetch higher prices?
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33 posts in this topic

I'm very new to this hobby, haven't bought anything yet, so I apologize if this is a stupid question. One artist I really like is Erik Larsen and I've been browsing current and past sales of his work. It seems like Larsen is selling for less than I'd think, given his talent, not to mention status in the comics industry. Does anyone else feel the same way, and/or have an opinion about why it might be? 

Here are a couple of examples of what I mean - they're not cheap by any means, but I'm also surprised they aren't more:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Savage-Dragon-Issue-2-Page-3-Inked-Original-Art-By-Erik-Larsen-1993-1st-App-Dart/183986722954?hash=item2ad676988a:g:zaQAAOSwOXBdnARq

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Cover-Art-for-Atomic-Clones-1-Unreleased-by-Erik-Larsen-Al-Gordon/362784811338?hash=item5477a8e94a:g:9GkAAOSwh4tdqhAw

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

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On 11/30/2019 at 3:39 PM, NewCollector101 said:

No Savage Dragon on this one.

On 11/30/2019 at 3:39 PM, NewCollector101 said:

Unpublished (important) and Atomic Huh?! (even more important).

On 11/30/2019 at 3:39 PM, NewCollector101 said:

It seems like Larsen is selling for less than I'd think, given his talent, not to mention status in the comics industry.

Demand (against supply) sets price. Don't let anybody else tell you different (especially if they're trying to sell you something lol )

The only people that want the above two examples (and there are more, many, many more, of the same) are those that can't afford Erik's Spider-Man art. That's what everybody wants, but if you don't have solid-high four figures to spend (right to begin with), do you have high three? (probably not, or you want something else by somebody else "more", every single time) That's the situation right there. I don't think there's anybody seriously chasing Erik's non-Spidey art except to "have something"; this will probably change over time as the other things he's worked on the last 30 years hit the sweet age bracket of earning/spending power, but that's a few years off yet. Maybe you want to speculate on these for that time, where you can double your money -maybe, but the rest of us old folks don't want to get stuck with the stuff, in case that doesn't happen. Why? Because we don't like the art.

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On 11/30/2019 at 12:39 PM, NewCollector101 said:

I'm very new to this hobby, haven't bought anything yet, so I apologize if this is a stupid question. One artist I really like is Erik Larsen and I've been browsing current and past sales of his work. It seems like Larsen is selling for less than I'd think, given his talent, not to mention status in the comics industry. Does anyone else feel the same way, and/or have an opinion about why it might be? 

Here are a couple of examples of what I mean - they're not cheap by any means, but I'm also surprised they aren't more:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Savage-Dragon-Issue-2-Page-3-Inked-Original-Art-By-Erik-Larsen-1993-1st-App-Dart/183986722954?hash=item2ad676988a:g:zaQAAOSwOXBdnARq

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Cover-Art-for-Atomic-Clones-1-Unreleased-by-Erik-Larsen-Al-Gordon/362784811338?hash=item5477a8e94a:g:9GkAAOSwh4tdqhAw

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

If this is what your looking for enjoy the pricing. If you’re looking for Amazing Spider-Man pages or art you’re going to pay a premium.

In 1991 the Oakland fires burned down Eriks house and much of his artwork burned with it. So a few factors working here.

1) Spider-Man always will be what art collectors in general desire most. It’s supply and demand (fire) it’s generational (so many pages passed around under a $1000 years ago ) and people were drunk on McFarlane(still are).

Over time collectors stop comparing (Ditko to Romita) (McFarlane to Larsen) and acknowledge each artist represented a unique artistic interpretation of the worlds most iconic superhero (apologies to Superman and Batman).

I remember the absolute damn right  crowd saying McFarlane, Larsen and even Mark Bagley would have no staying power.Collectors often learn too late and curse today’s prices vs. yesterday’s.

Savage Dragon and so on not my thing. If your looking to invest? Good luck maybe they’ll be worth more some day.

if you’re looking for E L Spider-Man start saving every penny and go strong the next time one comes up.
 

Not for sale but for fun an 11 X 14 convention drawing from 2002. My brother( I feel like Val and Steve) has ASM pages but not for sale.

Again if you just like Eric’s work buy something for the sake of art. Enjoy it as the money is secondary. 
 

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4 hours ago, Blastaar said:

There is no shortage of his pages as he has been working constantly since the late 80's early 90's. If George Perez had a monthly comic since '92 my guess is his price would be lower than it is now. 

I think it's more to do with subject matter and market desirability than quantity. To use your example, George Perez's work in the mid-90's on UltraForce or iBots is dirt cheap compared to his late 90's work on Avengers. I think the same can be said for Larsen to an extent. If you want his Spider-man work, you're gonna pay. If you're looking for Savage Dragon, it won't cost you nearly as much.

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7 hours ago, vodou said:

No Savage Dragon on this one.

Unpublished (important) and Atomic Huh?! (even more important).

Demand (against supply) sets price. Don't let anybody else tell you different (especially if they're trying to sell you something lol )

The only people that want the above two examples (and there are more, many, many more, of the same) are those that can't afford Erik's Spider-Man art. That's what everybody wants, but if you don't have solid-high four figures to spend (right to begin with), do you have high three? (probably not, or you want something else by somebody else "more", every single time) That's the situation right there. I don't think there's anybody seriously chasing Erik's non-Spidey art except to "have something"; this will probably change over time as the other things he's worked on the last 30 years hit the sweet age bracket of earning/spending power, but that's a few years off yet. Maybe you want to speculate on these for that time, where you can double your money -maybe, but the rest of us old folks don't want to get stuck with the stuff, in case that doesn't happen. Why? Because we don't like the art.

Thanks, that's really helpful! I'm not asking because I want to speculate, I don't have money for that though I wish I did, I'm interested in more of a learning-about-collecting sense.

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5 hours ago, shady64 said:

His Spidey work sure seems to fetch high prices, since that's the Larsen work I'm guessing most Larsen fans are going for.  Also doesn't help that the fire wiped out a lot of that supply.

Fire?

edit: nvm I saw in another post

Edited by NewCollector101
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3 hours ago, CartoonFanboy said:

I think it's more to do with subject matter and market desirability than quantity. To use your example, George Perez's work in the mid-90's on UltraForce or iBots is dirt cheap compared to his late 90's work on Avengers. I think the same can be said for Larsen to an extent. If you want his Spider-man work, you're gonna pay.

Agreed.

To note, OA from Larsen's 2000 run on ASM #19-21 is valued lower than his late-'80s/early-'90s ASM/MCP/SM work.

 

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3 hours ago, grapeape said:

In 1991 the Oakland fires burned down Eriks house and much of his artwork burned with it.

I believe the fire burnt his remaining pre-SM #18 OA (i.e. ASM and MCP OA). The complete "Revenge of the Sinister Six" artwork from SM #18-23 should be out there.

To illustrate how scarce prime-period Marvel OA from the Image founders is, here's a breakdown of Larsen's work:

ASM - 24 issues

MCP - 11 issues (short stories)

SM - 7 issues

 

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