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Byrne Superman on eBay
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17 posts in this topic

4 hours ago, oldwhy said:

Just came across this Byrne Superman page on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/John-Byrne-Terry-Austin-SUPERMAN-1-original-page-signed/293900669662
 

3.6k with 2 hours to go. I would have priced this at 1.5k max. What am I missing?

 

 

That’s a crazy price unless someone is trying to put the entire book together. 

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8 hours ago, batman_fan said:

That’s a crazy price unless someone is trying to put the entire book together. 

Or, a shill bid.

I think you have to factor that risk in on any bidding these days. It’s too rampant to consider an occasional threat to the process. Same with Heritage, of course.

Edited by Rick2you2
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On 12/21/2020 at 5:21 AM, Rick2you2 said:

Or, a shill bid.

I think you have to factor that risk in on any bidding these days. It’s too rampant to consider an occasional threat to the process. Same with Heritage, of course.

I feel like shill bids are common

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6 hours ago, D2 said:

I feel like shill bids are common

If you want to spend a horrifying few minutes, go to Google News, type in shill bidding, or something like it, and get blown away at how common it has become across collectibles like cards and coins. I think that at least for the more noteworthy items, it is very common. And that is raising all market prices. It’s not just inflation fears (actually, dollar devaluation in this context) or boredom.

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4 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

If you want to spend a horrifying few minutes, go to Google News, type in shill bidding, or something like it, and get blown away at how common it has become across collectibles like cards and coins. I think that at least for the more noteworthy items, it is very common. And that is raising all market prices. It’s not just inflation fears (actually, dollar devaluation in this context) or boredom.

Holy this is a serious issue!

I feel like this is a crime organization doing this junk. 
 

this is nuts

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13 hours ago, Michael Browning said:

Not every high sale is due to shill bidding, but Rick seems to think so.

No, I don’t. But as I understand what I have been reading elsewhere, not enough people realize it has embedded in the bidding matrix for any on-line bidding and contributed overall to an increase in prices. A healthier part is legitimate supply and demand, both by collectors and speculators/dealers.

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Protecting your market sometimes comes into play for particular artists’ runs. Not at all saying it happens here, but they are collectors with deep specific collecting focus that place bids to make sure the floor doesn’t go low, and thus keeping up the perception of strong demand for a run. Sometimes that is what is at play on these high results. in this case it’s BYRNE/AUSTIN!!!!! What more needs to be said. In my eyes it’s their last stand, where their styles still remind us of their X-Men days, after this issue their subsequent art team ups drift a bit too far away from those days. Still good to see, but doesn’t quite feel the same. 
 

My Mount Rushmore of comic art teams:

Byrne/Austin 

Miller/Jansen

Kirby/Sinnott

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On 12/25/2020 at 7:17 AM, Rick2you2 said:

No, I don’t. But as I understand what I have been reading elsewhere, not enough people realize it has embedded in the bidding matrix for any on-line bidding and contributed overall to an increase in prices. A healthier part is legitimate supply and demand, both by collectors and speculators/dealers.

Since you have done so much thinking and posting on the subject, what is your solution and how do you make it happen?

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This is typically the point where someone says "there ought to be a rule"... the problem is, even if there is rule or law, it will still be broken at some point.  There are lots of rules/laws in everyday life and we know every one of them has been broken by someone. 

Sometimes I'll complain about something and the response will be that it can't happen because "it's against the rules".

I think @Rick2you2 is trying to explain what might be "unexplainable". 

Anyway, for posterity (e.g. whenever this topic is picked up again and the ebay link goes bad), here's the art in question.

superman1page.jpg

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4 hours ago, Michael Browning said:

Since you have done so much thinking and posting on the subject, what is your solution and how do you make it happen?

There is no “solution” except to use common sense. We are clearly in a period where prices are shooting up. When you look at a particular piece, and given comparable history, does the price make sense to you? Does the bidding pattern makes sense? Is the high bid sensible? Have you seen it for sale before, and did it come with a sale price that, curiously enough, is around the same as the earlier list price?
Example: why did BWS pieces seemingly die in pricing, and then get a new lease on life? Has Conan suddenly become more popular? Are the particular pieces extremely beautiful examples?

What about the artist (not referring now to Smith)? Is the work in question really that good, or was the series just that popular? 
I hope you get the point. 
 

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5 hours ago, Michael Browning said:

Since you have done so much thinking and posting on the subject, what is your solution and how do you make it happen?

I just wanted to add that I have a strong personal dislike for it because of my work where I see the “flip side” of abusive bidding practices (and advertising for bids)  on public works contracts, some illegal, others merely evasive of the law but legal. I also have some familiarity with illegal practices involving public auctions, like bidding rings which suppress prices (and are wholly illegal). They are closely related to this.  At least there, I can often find a remedy. All I can do here is sound an alarm, which is why I harp on it.

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On 12/26/2020 at 3:35 PM, gumbydarnit said:

Protecting your market sometimes comes into play for particular artists’ runs. Not at all saying it happens here, but they are collectors with deep specific collecting focus that place bids to make sure the floor doesn’t go low, and thus keeping up the perception of strong demand for a run. Sometimes that is what is at play on these high results. in this case it’s BYRNE/AUSTIN!!!!! What more needs to be said. In my eyes it’s their last stand, where their styles still remind us of their X-Men days, after this issue their subsequent art team ups drift a bit too far away from those days. Still good to see, but doesn’t quite feel the same. 
 

My Mount Rushmore of comic art teams:

Byrne/Austin 

Miller/Jansen

Kirby/Sinnott

doesnt look like austin at all though. if he did ink this, i'm pretty sure byrne spanked the hell out of him beforehand, telling him 'none of that super tight xmen stuff!' looks like byrne on byrne. he always thought he was his own best inker but not many of us did. 

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