Anthony
I think we did speak for a moment on my last day. But it was too late
for both of us.
Sorry about your dad..
art.. if I could find collections at what I think are fair prices,
I'd still be there. But I feel that the hobby has lost anything that
makes it humble anyway and that the real collectors have been pretty
much pushed out by the focus away from the golden age of strips &
books to the bronze & silver crap that so many people pay these
ungodly amounts for. The other killer in the hobby is of course
prices and the focus on CGC encapsulation. Things like Jim Aparo
covers for $15k sicken me... and John Byrne X-Men pages for $50k+..
you really have to be kidding!
few of the collectors (by %) today are true collectors. They are all
looking for the next $1million comic, the next big name, or the next
big pedigree collection and 98% of the hobby is gone. I recently
priced up 15k of gold. No hero stuff. I put the list up to the CGC
boards and expected to sell a couple thousand.. I sold about $400.
Then I priced up $3k of silver and bronze crap and sold more than
half of it (it was all in nicer conditions). The hobby just doesn't
speak to me anymore
Posters feels so much more like the comic hobby used to. The people
who buy them really want them and few are concerned if it's a good
investment (by comic standards). Plus you can actually buy posters
and make a fair margin, which is not available in comics anymore
unless you find something from mom & pop. To make what I used to make
on 350k in sales 20 years ago, I have to do $1.5mil in comics today.
Just not interested in that much more work, and seeing as buying nice
collections is impossible due to Heritage and fleaBay, it's not a
favorable scenario
I still have lots of stuff of course - even over the last 20 years, I
haven't been able to sell it all because I had/have so much and some
things like Plaster of Paris (Spirit by Eisner), a great Val, great
Tarzans, Kat etc.. I'll not sell. But I have almost no comic book art
anymore (in my collection) while at the same time I'm buying more posters
the comics hobby I think is in the first stage of collapse..
Everything is focused on the big time (can we say housing market) and
what doesn't sell so well today is a shocker in comparison to what
does, plus seeing as there are 20% or fewer comic book stores today
than there were 20 years ago, that Geppi is the only distributor
(that was never a good deal for the hobby in general) and that even
Geppi is under siege ... well, I think it speaks volumes for the
future - or lack there-of - of the comic hobby which is no longer
robust as it once was. Not that we don't have some parallels in
posters. we do indeed, but the curve is different. Comics may still
have some air in it's lungs.. but with prices where they are, I see
suffocation at some point and I don't want to be around to see it..
Maybe I'm not seeing that girl anymore, but I don't want her to get the clap.
all the best
Rich
At 10:35 AM 5/6/2010, you wrote:
Hey Rich,
Nice to hear from you. Sorry for not returning your call but if I
remember I was dealing with my father who was in the hospital for
the last time. I believe you were in town for the weekend and I
didn't get the message till much later. I should have responded but,
well, you know how it is. I let a lot of stuff slide...
But these days everything is golden. Or so I am told!
Do you still dabble in original art or are you fully into the movie
paper world?
Best,
A
-------------- Original message from Richard Halegua Comic Art
<[email protected]>: --------------
HI Anthony
I hope all is well by you. It's been a very long time since we ran
into one-another but you always had cool art when I did see you at
SDCC or where ever else. Never knew you were on MoPo. sorry we
couldn't get together when I spoke to you a few years back while I
was in Houston on business.
maybe next time
Best
Rich
At 08:32 AM 5/6/2010, Anthony F Smith wrote:
Hello Everyone,
Let me delurk for a moment and say hi. I've been involved in
collecting movie material for 30 years but rarely venture out of my
hometown, Houston. I know Richie & several others on MOPO but
mostly interact with the regional crowd, guys like Gene Arnold, Jim
Cullen, Roy Bonario, Captain Bijou, Ed Neal, et cetera.
I put on the first Houston Stargazer show with Jim many years ago.
He continued with it building it into the World's Most
Intimate movie show & now in its second decade. These days I deal
and dabble in original comic art & rare books as a business & movie
paper as an advocation.
I am currently looking to buy anything I don't already have on two
movies, LEAGUE OF FRIGHTENED MEN & MEET NERO WOLFE.
While there is a much longer list of interests I thought I'd start
at the top and see what happens. In any event I enjoy watching all
the back and forth on MOPO even if I don't engage.
Thanks and have a productive day!
Anthony Smith
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
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