Prices for Art

[Monty Props]

So like many here, my dream is to own an original piece of Mike Mignola Hellboy art. With chemo finishing and radiation starting, I won't be making it to any conventions this year. I am looking around at what's for sale out there and assume more will be made available with conventions this summer. I'm wondering what Mike's work is going for these days. I have seen three types of his work out there: the "quick" convention Hellboy head sketch, the convention pen & ink commission sketch, and original published pages. I realize that when your a fan and a collector, the piece is worth more than the dollar value, but I am just trying to get an idea before I jump into the art buying market. The only original piece I own is an Eric Powell Goon cover. I probably paid more than I should have for it (not from Eric), but consider it worth every penny.

To all of you lucky people who own orignal Mignola work, I hope to be joining you soon.

[Neil Hill]

Sketches- $100-400 (or more, depending on how involved the sketch is)
Pages- $300-900 (again, or more depending on how detailed Mike got with the layout, characters included, etc.)
Covers- $1000 and up

Prices may be going up this year, but the above is kind of a general rule from those of us who purchase from him pretty regularly at conventions. Also, please allow me to state that I'm not posting this information as a represenative for Mike's work. His prices are of course at his discretion and often vary wildly depending on many factors which I cannot even begin to go into or guess at. :)

This seems to be a question that comes up every year, as new people join us all the time. I'm wondering if we can create some kind of Original Art price breakdown thread or something, so that those of us who collect and continually post there if necessary, and it makes it quite obvious to people with questions of this nature as to where they need to go. Just a thought.

[Hellcow]

Is it only possible to buy from Mike at conventions?

The thing is, I willing to make the trek, but I hate to fork out $5000 or more on airfares, etc, just to get to the convention, only to find Mike was sick that day, or he'd sold all of the artwork.

It would be a bit painful to spend over $5000 and come home empty handed.

[Maija]

Where are you travelling from that it would cost you $5000 to get to San Diego? :confused:

I did all my booking around this time last year travelling from Canada and it didn't cost me more than $1000CDN including food and accomodation. And probably also including quite a few books. (Note that I stayed in the hostel so my accomodation was $23/night).

I would imagine that you could find SOMETHING else to fill your time with at the massive SDCC, otherwise you might as well wait until WonderCon in February so you can book way ahead for the best deals. (Wait until Mignola confirms attendance first). Or watch eBay. The difference you'd pay in price for the art would be less than your travel costs by far. But your selection is much more limited.

If you're just coming for just one person and for just one transaction, then yes, you are taking a gamble that he might take ill (though he seems to be a hale and hearty fellow). You're better off watching ebay in that case. Or maybe you can be really, really nice to someone you know who is going and offer to pay a fee to them and trust their judgement to pick up a piece for you.

As for Mignola running out of pieces, he does very well and you should line up early on Preview Night to get the best selection, but he didn't run out last year that I could see and in fact I think he brought new pieces on Friday or Saturday that he didn't have earlier in the con. Our group was a ways back in line on Preview Night (I think we got in line around 4pm) and still managed to get some very nice pages.

But going to a con should be somehow about general fun and something more than just buying a piece of art from a guy, otherwise you're doomed to be disappointed, or at least bored for the rest of the weekend after you've bought your piece. Heck, why bother booking a room: buy a full pass in advance so you can get in on Preview Night, fly into SD Wednesday morning, line up, get your art, leave and fly home on the red eye.

[Hellcow]

As for Mignola running out of pieces, he does very well and you should line up early on Preview Night to get the best selection, but he didn't run out last year that I could see and in fact I think he brought new pieces on Friday or Saturday that he didn't have earlier in the con. Our group was a ways back in line on Preview Night (I think we got in line around 4pm) and still managed to get some very nice pages.



Thanks for filling me in. Gives me something to think about/plan for. Cheers.

[Neil Hill]

If you're just coming for just one person and for just one transaction, then yes, you are taking a gamble that he might take ill (though he seems to be a hale and hearty fellow). You're better off watching ebay in that case. Or maybe you can be really, really nice to someone you know who is going and offer to pay a fee to them and trust their judgement to pick up a piece for you.

As for Mignola running out of pieces, he does very well and you should line up early on Preview Night to get the best selection, but he didn't run out last year that I could see and in fact I think he brought new pieces on Friday or Saturday that he didn't have earlier in the con. Our group was a ways back in line on Preview Night (I think we got in line around 4pm) and still managed to get some very nice pages.

But going to a con should be somehow about general fun and something more than just buying a piece of art from a guy, otherwise you're doomed to be disappointed, or at least bored for the rest of the weekend after you've bought your piece.

I agree with everything Ruta's said here. Although it can sometimes feel like you're going to a particular convention with seeing Mike as your only goal, there are always other cool things to see and do if Mike doesn't happen to be there, or takes ill at that last moment. Also, keep in mind that there are usually plenty of Original Art dealers on the floor, some of whom usually have a Mignola piece or three for sale. Just plan to spend more at a dealers table than you would at Mike's.

Also, as Ruta said, the majority of what you should plan to do at any convention is just have fun and see the sites. If you score a great Mignola then you've hit bonus land. If for some reason that great Mignola piece alludes you on day one or day two, again as Miss Ruta said, day three may be the charm! :)

Heck, why bother booking a room: buy a full pass in advance so you can get in on Preview Night, fly into SD Wednesday morning, line up, get your art, leave and fly home on the red eye.

Don't laugh Ruta (and others) but in the past I've done this very thing. Earlier in the year I planned to attend WonderCon for the express purpose of seeing Mike and picking up a page or two. Mission accomplished on day one I took off for home (PHX, AZ) later that afternoon. Granted, I didn't take the Red Eye to get home, but I did end up getting in late.

I can completely sympathize with the travel expenses thing though, as I would have ended up paying double everything if I'd decided to stay an extra day or three. I really didn't need to though as I'd accomplished the overall goal I'd set out to take care.

[Maija]

Don't laugh Ruta (and others) but in the past I've done this very thing. Earlier in the year I planned to attend WonderCon for the express purpose of seeing Mike and picking up a page or two. Mission accomplished on day one I took off for home (PHX, AZ) later that afternoon. Granted, I didn't take the Red Eye to get home, but I did end up getting in late.But didn't you end up (unintentionally) in that scary-ass hotel in the Tenderloin or something? I would have left early too rather than go back there! :)

Hellcow: one word of caution, both Mignola and SDCC get more popular every year. 80,000 people showed up for SDCC when I went in 2004. 100,000 showed up for 2005. So maybe 120,000 will be there this year? Line up as soon as you can. Don't use our 4pm luck as a benchmark.

And we can't be sure how much artwork Mignola will bring, so my description of what things were like in 2005 with him bringing new work on subsequent days, etc, might not hold for 2006.

[Neil Hill]

But didn't you end up (unintentionally) in that scary-ass hotel in the Tenderloin or something? I would have left early too rather than go back there! :)

And we can't be sure how much artwork Mignola will bring, so my description of what things were like in 2005 with him bringing new work on subsequent days, etc, might not hold for 2006.

Yes and thanks for reminding about that hotel Ruta. :) I've sometimes thought, after reading your hostel experience stories, that there is no way I'd rent a bed in a hostel, but after my hotel experience, maybe that wouldn't be so bad after all.

Also, Ruta is correct about the artwork aspect of her message above. There is no guarantee of what or much much artwork Mike may bring. Chances are good that if he says he's bringing artwork that he'll have enough for any comers, but you never want to bet the farm on that.

[Neil Hill]

But didn't you end up (unintentionally) in that scary-ass hotel in the Tenderloin or something? I would have left early too rather than go back there! :)

And we can't be sure how much artwork Mignola will bring, so my description of what things were like in 2005 with him bringing new work on subsequent days, etc, might not hold for 2006.

Yes and thanks for reminding about that hotel experience Miss Ruta. :) I've sometimes thought, after reading your hostel experience stories, that there is no way I'd rent a bed in a hostel, but after my hotel experience, maybe that wouldn't be so bad after all.

Also, Ruta is correct about the artwork aspect of her message above. There is no guarantee of what or much much artwork Mike may bring. Chances are good that if he says he's bringing artwork that he'll have enough for any comers, but you never want to bet the farm on that.

[Maija]

Yes and thanks for reminding about that hotel experience Miss Ruta. :) I've sometimes thought, after reading your hostel experience stories, that there is no way I'd rent a bed in a hostel, but after my hotel experience, maybe that wouldn't be so bad after all.Hehe, sorry for bringing back the painful memories!

Yeah, I've stayed in a lot of hostels in my world travels, and I'm quite involved with Hostelling International in southern Alberta as a volunteer and I can safely say that the San Diego Downtown HI Hostel is a crappy hostel. If you only had to stay one, maybe two nights it might be okay. It's not scary (to me) just poorly maintained. The location and price are great. The noise, lack of AC and mostly the poor upkeep of the place are not so great. It was actually *better* when I stayed there in 2004 and had gone downhill by 2005. More stuff was broken and dirty and I suspect they've contracted a bug problem (not a surprise in an old building).

This is taking things a bit off topic perhaps, but Hellcow, if you're travelling from far out of state, you may be able to stay here:

http://www.usahostels.com/sandiego/index.html?lang=10

I haven't stayed there, but some online review sites for hostels suggest that although this place is noisy and doesn't have AC either, it seems to be a much nicer hostel experience than the HI hostel a few blocks away. It's also close to the convention centre, the 24 grocery store and only $25/night. HOWEVER, you must have proof that you are from out of state to stay at this hostel. You may even need to be a student, although the comments by other travellers suggests that you might get away with an out-of-state driver's li. and an airline ticket showing that you're travelling for pleasure and leaving in a short time (not there looking to live). Be sure to confirm that you can stay there when you book so you don't get a nasty surprise when you check in, since you will be asked for ID when you check in.

For that matter, you might need to be from out-of-state to stay at the HI hostel (or the San Francisco HI hostel). You'd have to ask them. We don't have that policy with the HI hostels in Canada, so it's weird news to me, though I can kind of understand it.

Generally, hostels are like hotels in range of quality. There are some wonderful ones I've stayed at that are like a really nice, pleasant B&B, and there are some that I've stayed at that are dumps (HI San Diego being around the bottom of the heap).

[Neil Hill]

Great advice, Ruta! I think that in Europe I might be much more open to the idea of a hostel (as you save a bundle on hotel expenses), but in the US, with hotel prices in most areas being fairly reasonable, I'd rather stay in a room which I don't have to share with a bunch of strangers. Just my uninformed opinion is all. :D

[Jake Capps]

If anyone is in the military like myself you can stay at the MCRD. Its only 10 mins away, and its $15 a night. Also if you guys bring a sleeping bag I might take a few of you in. That is if my better half Amber doesn't care.:confused: