TWICE UP ASM covers by JOHN ROMITA SR. numbers 42, 45 and 47
ORIGINAL COMIC ART LOCATOR
Friday, August 10, 2012
ART HIGHLIGHT: JOHN ROMITA SR. TWICE UP ASM COVERS!
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ORIGINAL COMIC ART LOCATOR
To my mind, the ASM # 47 cover was Romita's best out of all the cover images he illustrated for Spidey. It is reminiscent of Ditko's ASM # 2 Annual cover (which perhaps served as a model for this).
ReplyDeleteNot sure about value, Perhaps $125-150k-plus per cover.
Take value out of the equation . . . any one of these is far, far superior to anything McFarlane ever illustrated (IMHO).
Still prefer Ditko, though!
In answer to your last remark...No i am not going to tell you they are worth as much as the ASM #328 cover, i am going to tell you that the ASM #328 cover was bid up to create a market by a very shrewd Fishler, and that the real price on McFarlane covers are no where near that level. Therefore these 3 covers combined are definately more expensive than 99% of all McFalane pieces, probably in the region of $450k for the lot.
ReplyDeleteWho was runner-up on the McExpensive # 328 cover?
DeletePlease leave your name when you post. It's hard to take you seriously otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I sold two of those covers for Romita backin the mid 80's for $250 each.
ReplyDeleteStill better than anything McFarlane ever drew, IMHO.
Mitch I.
That really pisses me off, Mitch. I think I paid $800 for my Versace leather jacket in the 80's which got stolen a few weeks later at Studio 54. I should've gone for your covers. :)
DeleteVersace?
ReplyDeleteReally......REALLY?
When you're young...you do stupid things with your money.
Delete"REALLY?" I think that's what my father said at the time too.
What the McFarlane ASM #328 is worth to a handful of bidders is vastly different than what that cover is worth to me and maybe most of the comic original art collecting world. On the other hand, the Romita Sr. ASM's have shown a proven track record of selling for 100-175K@ and most collectors stand by those values. What once was a fantasy has become dependable reality. Let's see if more McFarlane ASM cvrs. can replicate the #328.
ReplyDelete--Hans
Take the low end of that range, $100K, and compare it to a good current salary, which for easy math, we'll also call $100K. Roll back to 1985, and the comparable salary is what, $35K? So in 1985, a Romita cover was less than 1% of a good salary, and now it is equal to that salary. Or another way, a $250 investment in 1985 would have to increase 60,000% to hit $150K. What a rocket ride.
Deleteandy
I must agree with anonymous that the bid up price for the McFarlane cover is no where near true market value-- come on, there's no reason or prior sales history to substantiate this price level.
ReplyDeleteThe powers that be are in a race to propel comic art to the $1 Mil dollar level asap. Clearly any of these Romita covers would be more desirable, and therefore more valuable, than the ASM 328, and working backwards, a Ditko cover would be multiple time more valuable.
I have studied other collectible markets-- you usually see newer stuff skyrocket, and then prices increase backwards -- can anyone remember Mattingly rookie cards selling for around what Mantle cards sold for? Eventually the market smartened up and the smart money went to the older, truly scarce and important material.
All markets move to break the ceilings-- a few years ago hardly anything did 100K...today, 100K will NOT get you something truly scarce like a twice up Romita, Ditko SPidey cover, etc. and the dealers/auction houses/ big collectors are pushing the $1 Mil mark as the new ceiling to break through.
Again, I predict a $1 MIL all cash sale within a year or two at the latest, and I would think that would be a Ditko Spider-Man cover, or perhaps an early Kirby FF.
Whether the entire market kicks up a few notches based on a few, targeted sales remains to be seen.
But, remember there is no real limit on the value of art, with Warhols doing 20-40-75 Million, etc. If money were no object, I'd drop $1.5 Mil on the cover of Spider-Man 8 before I'd send it on Warhol or a shark in formaldehyde...
Rob
Hey, Rob
DeleteDidn't the cover to Ditko's ASM # 8 get destroyed in a house fire?
I heard that story too. I think it was someone that lived in a trailer actually--His name escapes me.
DeleteI do think we've entered a new era of prices that began with the almost 500k Dark Knight sale. People feel justified to spend more on historic items when they see these more contemporary pieces go at this level. It's hard not to value quality items more when we see this kind of money spent at auction--even if it turns out that the auction was shilled. I don't, BTW, think the DK auction was shilled--just a case of two crazy collectors after the same thing. But it does have an effect on the overall marketplace.
DeleteThis kind of sale HAS to have an effect on the market! I don't own a Ditko Spider-Man cover, but if I did you can be damn sure that I'm not going to sell it for less than 657k--and most likely it's going to take more. That would be my perception, if I was sitting on a Ditko Spidey or a key cover from the silver age.
DeleteHey, Rob, I think it was the guy who had quite a bit of Woody's art (not Don Lineberger). I think it might have been Bill Pearson.
DeleteHi Glen
ReplyDeleteI like your blog. I am especially enjoying reading how things have come your way, and why you passed up one piece and chose another, and vice-versa.
Good stuff Glen.
Joe Le
Thanks Joe. That's the helter skelter of my collecting life. :)
DeleteWhat's it worth?
ReplyDeleteThere's no way to make sense out of why one cover would go for close to $700K, but other older, classic covers might not get the same amount.
I know if I had the dough, I'd surely pay more for the Romita covers than I would for any of the other artists that ever worked on Spider-Man. But it may be that the ASM #328 cover was the auction winner's holy grail. Who knows?
To each his own.
Glad to see you here, Joe. It seems to me that ONE of these covers should be equal to the 328--but I'm old school that way.
DeleteHey Terry,
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard that-- I just used it as an example.
I only know the whereabouts of a few of them for sure.
Rob
Great blog Glen!
ReplyDeleteI want that Spidey 45 cover!
and Mitch, I mean REALLY....?
Thanks Ashley. So you're saying you would have gone for the Versace Jacket too?
ReplyDeletewhy not! i can then join your gang!
ReplyDeleteLove this post Glenn.
ReplyDeleteI offered 250k for the ASM 48 about 4 years ago and was turned down (he said his wife liked it).
Anyone interested in ASM Covers....I created a gallery on CGC b4 they banned me for enthusiasm. :(
http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=866877&fpart=1
Thanks Matthew!
ReplyDeleteI'm not outing you, but I really would like to do a follow up post with your covers. What do you say?
Showing one's art on the net......DEVALUES the art ;)
ReplyDelete* perhaps some day Glen - seriously
I would be interested to understand why you think that showing your art on the net devalues the art, can you explain why this is the case?
DeleteSome people believe the term " Fresh to market," increases the amount a piece will fetch when offered up. If a piece isn't seen by anyone for a while it creates the illusion that the art has been recently unearthed. The new discovery is more likely to creat a feeding frenzy amoung buyers. At least that's the theory. It's probably true in some cases and in others, not.
DeleteIn 1997 I sat with a friend and talked about the future of original art.It was clear that blue blood art collectors dismissed our hobby as cartoon work unworthy of fine art mention.Money talks.Speculators are running around the net like it's Romper Room.Skilled historians like our ASM 328 winner are aware of this.Pied piper time. The conclusion of our 1997 discussion came down to this prediction. The largest price ever paid for a piece of comic art will come from an investor who never touched a comic book in his or her life.What will the consequences be if a few investor specs buy millon dollar covers and throw them back up for sale 3 months later when they get bored? I guess we'll see. I think Glen might agree that you should buy what you love and the $$$ wil follow.Best Mike Kenyon CAF
ReplyDeleteI agree that you should buy what you love, Mike. But unless you study the market and buy at reasonable market values the $$$ will not follow unless you are blessed with a fair amount of luck as well.
DeleteVery true.The blog is a great idea Glen.Our hobby is just super fun to talk about.Best Mike Kenyon CAF
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAre there really that many collectors with such deep pockets that these prices can be sustained? Not just in the six figure range, but even in lower tiers. There are so many key comic book covers and books out there, is this stuff really moving or Ultimately just going to a few super wealthy collectors and dealers?
ReplyDeleteHere's the question that vexes me, Tom. With prices being as high as they are, why are we not seeing more high end material and key material come to market? This suggests to me that people like holding on to their art more than their desire to get a sweet payday. Prices are not going to drop unless art floods into the market. It's strange to me that demand is so high and yet people aren't really selling. Prices under these circumstances should remain high. It kind of doesn't matter who this stuff is moving to.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible that collectors are still holding key items rather than deciding to sell Glen. But in the case of early Marvel material(particularly cvrs.) which hold special interest for me, I'm not sure these really all exist. It puzzles me that not a single cvr. example of certain early titles from the 1961-1965 period have ever surfaced. I'm speaking of western, romance, pre-hero monster, early TOS Iron Man, Hulk 1-6, and split cvrs. from Strange Tales w/Torch+Thing. That's just off the top of my head. To me it defies logic that there hasn't been at least ONE collector who owns these that hasn't decided to cash out by now.
Delete--Hans
I think some ex marvel staffers might be holding some surprises that they can't really sell publicly.
DeleteIt's highly possible. Editor Roy Thomas told me that when he first started working for Marvel in the mid-sixties, much of the original cover art would "disappear" after each current assignment. At the time, nobody thought much about it since the job was finished and it was on to the next one.
Deletemy question is does a strategic purchase by a pair of smart dealers who have a huge holding of 'A' art cause an entire hobby to reset it's price schedule? That's certainly their goal, after all.
ReplyDeleteWhy are we as a hobby so quick to follow them?
Rob
To follow up with a PS to my previous post, of course most are quick to follow them because increased prices means our collections are worth more.
ReplyDeleteOf course it also means we PAY more, not a good thing for us who LOVE this stuff.
I do think comic art is naturally on the ascent, but you know, this just seems so contrived to me...what a ridiculous piece to go for over 600K too. I don't mind saying it--it's a ridiculous sale in my view.
Rob
If I had to guess, Rob, I would say that the purchase of the 328 cover is most likely for a collector that they are in business with. The fact that it causes the art market prices to move up is just an added bonus for them.
ReplyDeleteHey Glen great blog!
ReplyDeleteI guess this post is as good of place as any to ask if anyone knows if any of the Ditko Spider-Man covers survived.
Thanks.
Mike
The Ditko ASM covers that I've seen with my own eyes are 11, 28 and 30. I heard that 8 was out there but destroyed in a fire. I've heard rumor of the 3 and 15 existing.
ReplyDelete