GA COMIC BOOK Collecting in the Financial crisis of 2020 3 3

[Mmehdy]

18 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Don't most of the major auction houses offered advances on your consignment as an enticement for consignors to consign their books with them?  

I believe Richard stated on the boards here that he had no problem getting an advance from Vinnie for the Marvel Comics 1 which eventually ended up selling for $215,000:

https://www.comicconnect.com/item/744183

I agree, but with CC new website having some problems as alluded to on another theads,, I would assume that HA would be in a stronger position to offer Bedrock a better return until the new website systems has all of  its bugs out, plus the fact that HA at or around that time indicated that they were seeking additional funding at the same time, it looks like HA is the better candidate. I don't think Bedrock would consider CL and certainly not Hankes. I think Ha AT this time would be the best and most logical place those books are ending up as HA's Website is the best in the business. Further it appears Ha is increasing its Major auctions to 6 from 4 per year. It is Bedrocks decision to let the board know when and where his consignment was made and  available for the board to find a timeline. Still, save you money, for the Bedrock collection.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Mmehdy

[lou_fine]

34 minutes ago, Mmehdy said:

Still, save you money, for the Bedrock collection.

I don't believe this is Richard's personal collection that he is putting onto the auction block for sale.  

As the article stated and per my post above, it sounds as though they are basically going to be books which they were hoping to sell at their summer comic conventions.  Since there won't be any conventions this summer though, the books are simply being redirected to one of the major auction sites for sale instead.  

At least, that's my take from the newspaper article.  

[Mmehdy]

13 hours ago, lou_fine said:

I don't believe this is Richard's personal collection that he is putting onto the auction block for sale.  

As the article stated and per my post above, it sounds as though they are basically going to be books which they were hoping to sell at their summer comic conventions.  Since there won't be any conventions this summer though, the books are simply being redirected to one of the major auction sites for sale instead.  

At least, that's my take from the newspaper article.  

Richard has some of the best CGC stock in the businss every time I see him and at Wonder Con especially. His tables are full of great stuff so convention, collection whatever...its gonna be great for all GA collectors.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Mmehdy

[batman_fan]

36 minutes ago, Mmehdy said:

Richard has some of the best CGC stock in the businss every time I see him and at Wonder Con especially. His tables are full of great stuff so convention, collection whatever...its gonna be great for all GA collectors.

Which auction house is he going to use?  I can’t read the article 

[lou_fine]

34 minutes ago, batman_fan said:

1 hour ago, Mmehdy said:

Richard has some of the best CGC stock in the businss every time I see him and at Wonder Con especially. His tables are full of great stuff so convention, collection whatever...its gonna be great for all GA collectors.

Which auction house is he going to use?  I can’t read the article 

I don't believe the article mentions which auction house.  

I couldn't read the article either as I am not a paid subscriber or whatever it takes.  The only way I could read it was to take out my cell phone camera and snap some quick pics of the story as I refreshed the screen before it would disappear on me again.  Took me quite a few times before I was able to piece the whole story together though.  

Edited April 22, 2020 by lou_fine

[Mmehdy]

GA MARKET CONDITION UPDATE

1-Ha.com Illustration art auction last week: It grossed $1.5 million dollars and Pulp art seemed especially strong on the results. A Virgil Finley Weird Tales  1930's pulp cover sold for $25,000. A Margaret Brundage Weird Tales cover also, sold for $27,500 which I consider a strong price given the piece. The HJ Ward was sold by the previous owner at a loss- It sold for $33,500.00- minus commission and it had sold prior in 2014 for $43,500 plus shipping. That is a substantial loss on investment for 6 years of holding time as well on that Spicy cover. Pulp art in general is rare and it has surprisingly held up.

 The Pin Up art market as deflated even before this Virus. The Patrick Nagel  sold for $112,500, however there is a big premium on Canvas originals which are rare..in the old days it would be a solid $150,000.00 Still  it is the best result of all the pin up art post Covid 19. The Edward Runci pin up painting tanked, like it did last auction In October 2109 "Pleasing her Flock sold for in 2011 for $37,343 and 8 years later it sold for $5,250..thats right $5,250-minus commissions so the seller ended up with less than 5K. In that auction . This auction" Wall Paper" mishap got $5,250 minus commission and that piece was sold collector to collector for $16,000 in 2017. Another example was the Peter Driben "Beauty Parade" cover from April 1948 which sold yesterday at $7,187 minus auction commission which means 6K. It had sold previously in 2008 for $11,353...a 12 year hold period. I see further declines in prices due to a ample supply of pantings for a very limited number of collectors. The " Elvgren " market is lukewarm also with one panting not selling even for minimum reserve.

2-Ha Auction next week with the big days on April 30, and May 1: So far bidding has been strong, but for a few over the top Reserve bids. $130K for the oversized Carl Barks panting Surprise Painting is absurd. Also the Frazetta seems high at $250K plus BP. I like the Adventure 40 if it stays under 25K however. I like the current bid on Superman#2 at $13,500 collectors who need that book or want a upgrade should pay attention to that along with Young Allies #1 at only $10,500 you never know what is gonna happen, next week let alone tomorrow. I will keep eye on that auction and I predict there could be some gem deals out there with a better chance on Sat to get those.

3-Recent Auction House ramp up. You are gonna see more emails, more cold calls and more pressure or temptation to sell by the promises of large advances(I received a email myself, it looked like a group one). Why now? Two reasons 1-They realize that collectable markets take time to react to sudden economic events. What that really means is people STIIL have money. That means you had better get it while it still out there. That is why the big push, they are afraid of a second and third wave of this virus, and also of people running out of money the longer this economic downturn is played out waiting for a virus cure. 2-It is your books, you spent the money, they have little or no risk to simply put them up on their website only than the costs associated with the auction. Note Ha has ramped up their buy the comic book direct owner to owner section. This will occur in much greater fashion at time goes on in looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. If this is anything close to the prior Virus in 1918..it appears that the third wave was the worst after people had relaxed. We as true comic book collector have to hope that we are far ahead of our counterparts from 100 years ago. Watch for increased competition to get your material on their website quicker than pre-virus market conditions and that could be another reason why Ha has ramped up those Signature auctions from 4 to six times a year.

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Mmehdy

[lou_fine]

16 minutes ago, Mmehdy said:

That is why the big push, they are afraid of a second and third wave of this virus, and also of people running out of money the longer this economic downturn is played out waiting for a virus cure.

Mitch;

It's rather obvious you have been spending far too much time in your fantasy comic book world and really need to get out and spend more time in the real world.  

After all, have you not heard that there will no such thing as a 2nd or 3rd wave of this virus and even if it does come, it will be much smaller and easily containerable.  Even better yet, it sounds as though they have already found the perfect cure for this Covid-19 coronavirus that will work in less than a minute, the only qualifier being that it might kill you in less than 30 seconds if you do take it.  

Why in the world would you want to make your comic book related buying and selling decisions based upon what boring old scientists and medical professionals tell you, when somebody with a proven track record and able to use their brain and common sense tells you that everything is beautiful and you have nothing at all to worry about?  Especially when it was going to be one and done, and then it was going to be 15 cases this week, zero next week, case closed, etc.  Since it now looks like a million cases any day now, what's a couple million here and there between friends.  

You really do need to take your head out of the comic books as this is absolutely one of the best and funniest comedy shows I have ever seen on TV as you never know what's going to happen on a day to day basis.     

 

[lou_fine]

On a more serious note though, I certainly hope the local comic shops will be allow to reopen as they start to lift these restrictions in some of the states.  

Especially in light of the fact that these stratosperhic commercial rents might put some of these LCS's out of business for good if they cannot see any sales revenue for a few months.  At least for now, it looks like the Canadian governement has come up with a plan to reduce these rents for small businesses by 75% for the months of April, May, and June if their rent is $50K or under per month.  So, hopefully that might help to tide them over for awhile until they get closer to being back to a new normal.  

Edited April 25, 2020 by lou_fine

[lou_fine]

59 minutes ago, Mmehdy said:

1-Ha.com Illustration art auction last week: It grossed $1.5 million dollars and Pulp art seemed especially strong on the results. A Virgil Finley Weird Tales  1930's pulp cover sold for $25,000. A Margaret Brundage Weird Tales cover also, sold for $27,500 which I consider a strong price given the piece. The HJ Ward was sold by the previous owner at a loss- It sold for $33,500.00- minus commission and it had sold prior in 2014 for $43,500 plus shipping. That is a substantial loss on investment for 6 years of holding time as well on that Spicy cover. Pulp art in general is rare and it has surprisingly held up.

 The Pin Up art market as deflated even before this Virus. The Patrick Nagel  sold for $112,500, however there is a big premium on Canvas originals which are rare..in the old days it would be a solid $150,000.00 Still  it is the best result of all the pin up art post Covid 19. The Edward Runci pin up painting tanked, like it did last auction In October 2109 "Pleasing her Flock sold for in 2011 for $37,343 and 8 years later it sold for $5,250..thats right $5,250-minus commissions so the seller ended up with less than 5K. In that auction . This auction" Wall Paper" mishap got $5,250 minus commission and that piece was sold collector to collector for $16,000 in 2017. Another example was the Peter Driben "Beauty Parade" cover from April 1948 which sold yesterday at $7,187 minus auction commission which means 6K. It had sold previously in 2008 for $11,353...a 12 year hold period. I see further declines in prices due to a ample supply of pantings for a very limited number of collectors. The " Elvgren " market is lukewarm also with one panting not selling even for minimum reserve.

Wow oh wow!!!  

With sample results like these, it definitely sounds as though the OA for the Pin-Up market has really tanked over the last several years.  

Makes me glad that I have stayed far away from the entire OA market because I have always thought  it to be a much more narrow market, as compared to the comic book marketplace, especially in terms of the vintage collectible portion of the market.     

[Mmehdy]

20 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Mitch;

 

 

 

Lou Let me respond to you and your interesting comments.

1-" Too much Time in my comic book world" ..how would I ever know, I  am never out of it, I live, breath, GA comic books and the History and Smithsonian cable channels. I love the fact that comic books played an important rule in defeating the most evil man in history and at least once a day I think of that Cap #1 cover if not more. Lou you are right, fantasy or real I am all in.

2- "The second and third wave will be much smaller and containable" Historically that is not accurate. Further, today WHO announced that having the virus does not mean you are immune from reacquiring it or possibly reacquiring it in a different strain. If we have no heard immunity we are on a different playing level than ever before on this type of virus. I wish were were Lou, but we are not out of the clear by any means and the longer we are in the dark, the greater the possibility that we will get into the biggest world wide recession ever recorded. At that point,GA comic book collecting is gonna be low on everybody's totem pole.

3-I am not suggesting that you make your GA/SA buying decisions solely on scientists or medical professionals but this is a major factor in that decision. You decision should be based upon where you stand today financially. Bedrock made a early decision to let a major part of of his stock or collection go to just stay in business and help his  employees and if people were more like him, it would be a far far better world out there. If you have the resources to last possible 12-18 with no or a limited income and can survive retaining you pre-virus lifestyle, I agree who cares about science. But for the other 99.9% of us..we have very important decisions to make on a LONG TERM basis. Selling today or even buying today is a much risker proposition than before this virus and financial crisis hit. Timing has now become even more critical, especially given the recent GA price increases and a wrong move can you cost you dearly down the road.

 Just look at peoples actions Lou....the auction houses know the market better than anyone for the long run, they are like the stock market whales or market controllers...If you are lucky in both you follow those moves behind and win. There is a TIDAL WAVE coming and not just for GA/SA comic book collectors but for all collectables in general.

Our goal his is to collectively help each other out figure out what is the best thing to do, in these unknown times and we will win and  become better in the long run as a stronger and more real community. 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by Mmehdy

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

5 minutes ago, Mmehdy said:

 

1-" Too much Time in my comic book world" ..how would I ever know, I never out of it, I live, breath, GA comic books and the History and Smithsonian cable channels. I love the fact that comic books played an important rule in defeating the most evil man in history and at least once a day I think of that Cap #1 cover if not more. Lou you are right, fantasy or real I am all in

[Mmehdy]

15 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Wow oh wow!!!  

With sample results like these, it definitely sounds as though the OA for the Pin-Up market has really tanked over the last several years.  

Makes me glad that I have stayed far away from the entire OA market because I have always thought  it to be a much more narrow market, as compared to the comic book marketplace, especially in terms of the vintage collectible portion of the market.     

The original comic art market will take a  much bigger hit than the GA/SA comic book market in the next 2/3 years t. It has been much more manipulated by a close set of comic art dealers who sell between themselves and raise the price up artificially. Right now in that market there are a few whales collectors who are bidding it up, when they go it will be the same thing as the PinUp art market.  You have only so many collectors who can pay 50K per comic book cover. I would get now of that market and go into high grade gold...much safer.

Edited April 25, 2020 by Mmehdy

[lou_fine]

30 minutes ago, Mmehdy said:

Lou Let me respond to you and your interesting comments.

1-" Too much Time in my comic book world" ..how would I ever know, I never out of it, I live, breath, GA comic books and the History and Smithsonian cable channels. I love the fact that comic books played an important rule in defeating the most evil man in history and at least once a day I think of that Cap #1 cover if not more. Lou you are right, fantasy or real I am all in.

Mitch;

Greatly appreciate your thoughtful response to my post here.  

As a word of advice though, maybe you should go back into your post and edit out my quote to the form of a simple reply.  Especially if you want to avoid getting a spanking in the form of a warning from the Mods once they get back into the office or if a boardie with no sense of humor gets personally offended and decides to flag this post out to them.  

After all, I wouldn't want you to get into any trouble because of my post since I have already gotten enough warnings on similar posts like these that I am due to be booted off the boards sooner rather than later.  

[Axmen]

26 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Mitch;

Greatly appreciate your thoughtful response to my post here.  

As a word of advice though, maybe you should go back into your post and edit out my quote to the form of a simple reply.  Especially if you want to avoid getting a spanking in the form of a warning from the Mods once they get back into the office or if a boardie with no sense of humor gets personally offended and decides to flag this post out to them.  

After all, I wouldn't want you to get into any trouble because of my post since I have already gotten enough warnings on similar posts like these that I am due to be booted off the boards sooner rather than later.  

Oh i see now be careful being funny - I got a similar warning

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

37 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Mitch;

Greatly appreciate your thoughtful response to my post here.  

As a word of advice though, maybe you should go back into your post and edit out my quote to the form of a simple reply.  Especially if you want to avoid getting a spanking in the form of a warning from the Mods once they get back into the office or if a boardie with no sense of humor gets personally offended and decides to flag this post out to them.  

After all, I wouldn't want you to get into any trouble because of my post since I have already gotten enough warnings on similar posts like these that I am due to be booted off the boards sooner rather than later.  

Say it ain’t so @lou_fine! 

[lou_fine]

50 minutes ago, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

Say it ain’t so @lou_fine! 

I thought you had also gotten a similar warning from the Mods for posting one of these no-no comments about this whole Cornavirus fiasco we all are now unfortunately having to suffer through?  

Well, if you don't see me on the boards for awhile, I guess you'll know the reason why then. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by lou_fine

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

15 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

I thought you had also gotten a similar warning from the Mods for posting one of these no-no comments about this whole Cornavirus fiasco we all are now unfortunately having to suffer through?  

Well, if you don't see me on the boards for awhile, I guess you'll know the reason why then. 

My warning was for suggesting that in today's world, Captain America might be viewed as a little too jingoistic, to the point it may be affecting the prices of Cap 1.

[Mmehdy]

3 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Mitch;

Greatly appreciate your thoughtful response to my post here.  

As a word of advice though, maybe you should go back into your post and edit out my quote to the form of a simple reply.  Especially if you want to avoid getting a spanking in the form of a warning from the Mods once they get back into the office or if a boardie with no sense of humor gets personally offended and decides to flag this post out to them.  

After all, I wouldn't want you to get into any trouble because of my post since I have already gotten enough warnings on similar posts like these that I am due to be booted off the boards sooner rather than later.  

Done, in the form of pondering questions...thanks Lou.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Mmehdy

[Mmehdy]

1 hour ago, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

My warning was for suggesting that in today's world, Captain America might be viewed as a little too jingoistic, to the point it may be affecting the prices of Cap 1.

 Speaking of Cap#1....I reread today Whiz #2, A1, Cap1, and Tec 27 and all the good stuff..the origin stories although I reread the entire Cap#1 on downtime here in San Diego. I am really amazed how good the Whiz#2 Captain Marvel origin story was, and its tough tone....to me it seemed  that they never seem to capture that  real dark side in 3/4 again. the entire Cap#1 taken as whole packs quite a punch.

[lou_fine]

1 hour ago, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

My warning was for suggesting that in today's world, Captain America might be viewed as a little too jingoistic, to the point it may be affecting the prices of Cap 1.

Sounds as though it was fully deserved then, and in fact, you probably got off lightly if you was trying to denigrate the good Captain's name.  

After all, this is the land of the free and mighty and it's only because of heroes like the good Captain who keeps it this way for all of us regular nobodies.  

Hence, it's absolute sacrilege and you indeed should be punished accordingly for daring to disparage the good Captain's name with your anti-patriotic talks, so as to devalue these tales of his heoric deeds on our behalf to protect the red, white, and blue.