how many slabs of AmphoMan does this guy have... 2 2

[snitzer]

On 5/3/2021 at 5:24 PM, Qalyar said:

That's sort of been the whole story of Amphoman. Guy makes a comic book when he's 13 years old and then stores it in his shed, as the story goes. Years later, seeing film adaptations printing money, he pulls it back out and, flush with cash from his career in television set design, has copies privately printed. Um, okay, that's sort of a cool story, if not an entirely unique one. See, for example, many -- many -- of the creators of ComiXpress or Ka-Blam books. So what happened here?

Well, first, a local comic book store with a long history of supporting indie artists agreed to sell his books. Then, second, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel decided to make this a human interest story (very likely at the creator's prompting, frankly). And because there's no requirement for reporters to understand what's going on before reporting on it, Amphoman was described as this sunny success story that was now being sold "alongside industry giants like Marvel and DC Comics." Which I guess was true from a very literal sense; that one store in Florida had shelves of comics that physically displayed Marvel books, and DC books, and Amphoman books. But suddenly it attracted attention disproportionate to its quality. Some guy on a podcast said he was like a young Stan Lee. And so on.

The book's creator is nothing if not a relentless self promoter. He signs carefully curated copies and, via creator agreement, submits them for Signature Series slabs. He keeps his books visible in auctions and on eBay -- often at ridiculously inflated prices to make it appear as though these are some sort of TMNT #1-esque chase book. There's no actual proof, that I know of, of shill purchases made used in an effort to provide the book a manufactured FMV, but it sure looks like there have been, and I wouldn't be surprised. He even produced a "rare version" of #1, advertised as a text error that went uncorrected in early copies. Of course, there's no way to tell if that's true, and it's sort of inside baseball regardless. After all, these books aren't just print-on-demand like ComiXpress books were, they're print-on-demand with the creator in control of the printing process. Their rarity, and that of any versions, is arbitrarily controlled by one guy with a vested -- and highly active -- financial interest in the books. Heck, he's even shown up on these boards arguing that Amphoman is an investment-grade modern book. Spoiler: It is not.

There are a lot of indie books that I really love. A lot of them have great stories behind their creation, of struggling artists who fought to get into the industry. Some of the most successful either managed to make a career out of being the underdog, or earned their place with the bigger publishers. Their books are testament to their love of the art form. Amphoman's creator might be honestly passionate about his work, but everything about the way it has been presented and marketed is far more of a testament to the love of market manipulation and self-promotion.

I will never own these books.

This backstory reads like the comic book version of the Disaster Artist and Tommy Wiseau....”Oh hi Mark.”

[kav]

  he's probably also barraging hollywood with treatments for the Amphoman movie-
"It's basically a movie Stan lee would have created, like spider man or the avengers, but way more box office potential-

[greggy]

On 5/4/2021 at 2:08 PM, kav said:

They say sell the sizzle not the steak, but you still gotta have a steak-

[sconnie_comics]

Not to dig this thread back up, but I was reminded of this when I saw these new eBay listings from a seller who pretty much only sells Amphoman #1 and a couple random nick-nacks. No clue what's going on

 

[Dick Pontoon]

[Cat]

He also sells his dignity. You forgot that part. 

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 7/21/2021 at 6:50 AM, NEED MO DAKKA said:

Not to dig this thread back up, but I was reminded of this when I saw these new eBay listings from a seller who pretty much only sells Amphoman #1 and a couple random nick-nacks. No clue what's going on

 

After witnessing this Kermit decided he had enough.. 

[WolverineX]

On 7/21/2021 at 7:50 AM, NEED MO DAKKA said:

Not to dig this thread back up, but I was reminded of this when I saw these new eBay listings from a seller who pretty much only sells Amphoman #1 and a couple random nick-nacks. No clue what's going on

 

Incredible.  @Comics4All

[Qalyar]

On 7/21/2021 at 6:50 AM, NEED MO DAKKA said:

Not to dig this thread back up, but I was reminded of this when I saw these new eBay listings from a seller who pretty much only sells Amphoman #1 and a couple random nick-nacks. No clue what's going on

 

That seller is Mike Kaye, the book's creator. The frog costume is new, though. He's apparently dropped the million-dollar BIN listings in favor of this new gimmick.

The staging for this picture (which almost has to be intentional, right?) is a succinct summary of my opinions of the book.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 7/21/2021 at 9:26 AM, Qalyar said:

That seller is Mike Kaye, the book's creator. The frog costume is new, though. He's apparently dropped the million-dollar BIN listings in favor of this new gimmick.

The staging for this picture (which almost has to be intentional, right?) is a succinct summary of my opinions of the book.

Almost reminds you of the Dylan toilet pictures..

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 7/21/2021 at 9:07 AM, Mecha_Fantastic said:

He also sells his dignity. You forgot that part. 

Can't sell what you don't have.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 7/21/2021 at 9:40 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

On 7/21/2021 at 8:07 AM, Mecha_Fantastic said:

He also sells his dignity. You forgot that part. 

Can't sell what you don't have.

[Comics4All]

On 7/21/2021 at 10:23 AM, Wolverinex said:

Incredible.  @Comics4All

@WolverinexThat photo insures that he never would have a girlfriend in his life! 
This has Friday thread material all over it! 

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 7/21/2021 at 10:23 AM, Comics4All said:

@WolverinexThat photo insures that he never would have a girlfriend in his life! 
This has Friday thread material all over it! 

[kav]

On 7/21/2021 at 12:21 PM, onlyweaknesskryptonite said:

I can see @greggy as an Amphoman villain.  Dr Thatswhatshesaid.
He can make any woman say anything so like for example he can have female police captain say over the radio "all units destroy amphoman!!"

[catman76]

Man you are all taking this way to serious. it's a joke people they guy isn't serious thinking he is like stan lee or anything. It's a joke and silly marketing to get attention and it worked you are all talking about him.

Also I find it funny and ironic that a forum of comic collector nerds that argue about and care about decimal points of a made up grading scale and watch movies and tv shows with guys in stupid costumes jumping around are making fun of this guy saying he will never have a girlfriend

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 7/21/2021 at 11:26 PM, catman76 said:

Man you are all taking this way to serious. it's a joke people they guy isn't serious thinking he is like stan lee or anything. It's a joke and silly marketing to get attention and it worked you are all talking about him.

Also I find it funny and ironic that a forum of comic collector nerds that argue about and care about decimal points of a made up grading scale and watch movies and tv shows with guys in stupid costumes jumping around are making fun of this guy saying he will never have a girlfriend

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 7/21/2021 at 10:31 PM, kav said:

I can see @greggy as an Amphoman villain.  Dr Thatswhatshesaid.
He can make any woman say anything so like for example he can have female police captain say over the radio "all units destroy amphoman!!"

[kav]

On 7/21/2021 at 10:08 PM, onlyweaknesskryptonite said:

[kav]

If Ampho Man wasnt in a shed he'd be nothing.  Its the shed that pushes him over the top to epic.