Wednesday, August 29, 2007

First actual appearance page of Gambit sold!


If you were watching at home, the Gambit first actual appearance page from Uncanny X-Men #266 just sold on eBay for more than $1200.00 ! That's a nice realized price for a piece of art that was done by Mike Collins, an artist that doesn't have as big a following as other Uncanny X-Men artists. This is a nice page of art for any Gambit fan however. This was page 18.

I think I was expecting it to sell for around that price, maybe just shy of $1000.00. As popular as Gambit is today, he could get more popular if there is a new X-Men movie and he plays a key role. Then this page might just be considered a bargain..

Would love to hear your thoughts on this transaction.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

X-Men 1 (1963) page doesn't sell on eBay


In case you didn't notice, a rare page from X-Men #1 (1963) appeared on eBay and did not meet reserve, and or was ended early. But did it switch hands into a new collector's gallery anyways? I was closely watching this auction as it hit the $25,300.00 price and actually expected it to go even higher, but the auction ended. Would it go as high as the Heck Batman cover that sold for $50k+? Would it sell for more than ALL the original art from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 as sold by Eastman Studios? Was that $250,000.00? Original art from 1963 does not become available for sale often, and when it does, don't expect it to come cheap. But in the case of art from X-Men #1, the original book, there are many reasons to buy a piece as prestigious as this one.

-
The incredible art by a ground-breaking artist Jack Kirby.
- The landmark first issue of a landmark comic title.
- The original story by Mr Superhero Stan Lee.
- This is where the X-Men franchise started!!

Of all the titles and characters in the Marvel Universe, the X-Men are probably number 1 (or maybe 1A next to Spider-man). Regardless, the X-Men have the best characters (Wolverine!!), best storyline (Days Future Past!!), usually the best artists on it (Kirby, Neal Adams, John Byrne, Dave Cockrum, Jim Lee, etc), and how many top grossing comic book movies have come out so far, with a few more spin-off movies lined up.

As more and more premiere art pages and covers show up at auction houses or eBay, stay tuned for more larger and more significant pages to sell in the very near future.

Collect original comic book art as a hobby.

Original comic book art as a hobby and investment vehicle is alive and kicking! Maybe that's an understatement. Due to economic instability and other usually stable investments going through a rough time, seems like people are starting to look at alternative places to put their money. And why not.

Comic books are starting to be accepted as more than just for geeks. The revenue generated from comic book movies is staggering. 5-10 years ago, comic book movies were risky and usually very poorly made. Remember seeing Arnold as Mr Freeze? Remember Christopher Reeves in Superman 1, 2 or 3. Were there more? Now, people are lining up to see costumed heroes on the big screen, such as the X-Men movies, Spider-Man movies, Fantastic Four movies (with Jessica Alba!!), the new grittier Batman, the new sophisticated and action-less Superman, etc. People want to buy into the merchandising around the characters. And if you are reading this, then I'll assume you are also into original comic book art and want in, on either getting a small piece of this franchise, trying to buy back your childhood or some fond memories, or maybe speculating on the next big investment. But you aren't alone if you think original comic book art is going to only grow in popularity. There is a lot of money moving around in original comic book art.

Original comic book art has been sold and bought on eBay for many many years now. Before internet dealers were selling and buying art, most low-tech dealers (things never change) advertised at cons, through word of mouth or in comics buyer guides. I bought my first piece off eBay back when it still wasn't too cool to be associated with comics, unless you enjoyed hanging out with other nerds including some of those that you see in costume at your local comic book con. I admit, I never dressed up, but I did geek out at a few of those cons. Back in the day, I've met some of my "hero" artists back. Only within the past 10 years or so, I started to get more into collecting art. I guess I liked comics but found that everyone also collected them, and it just seemed too mainstream. I wanted something more "one-of-a-kind".. I saw a few pieces of colored art, and instantly said I want that. My collection grew quickly.

I think I quickly realized that it was becoming a habit, almost a bad habit, to grow my collection. Then I started to understand that it would be wise to only grow the things I really enjoy and really wanted to keep. Otherwise, what was the point of just buying and hoarding. Buy, enjoy and share.

Anyways, this post is getting long and rant-like, but just wanted to quickly share a story on how my passion for collecting original art came from, some thoughts on the hobby, and confirm that I too think it is still growing.