Original Art Hellboy Grail

[chiaroscuros]

Hey Gang,
I am not certain if any of you have been saving your pennies but there is a really nice splash page from Hellboy: Seed of Destruction on ebay.

The seller is making a big deal out of this being the first time you see the grown up hellboy in the comic... first appearance in his first comic and all that. That doesn't impress me but this is a wonderful piece of art with both hellboy and the professor (I really love how Mignola drew the professor).

Well worth checking out!

http://tinyurl.com/yvj3g5

This page was shopped around a year and a half ago for more than $3k (I wasn't privy to the final selling price), so it won't go cheap, if it meets its reserve at all. Still, it is a cool page and a nice trip down memory lane!

Enjoy,
Michael

[SpydaWeb]

I love that page. If I had any interest in buying original pages, that would be one of a handful that I'd get.

[gdeo]

Beautiful page!!!Thanks Michael!

[Andy Robbins]

Hey Gang,
I am not certain if any of you have been saving your pennies but there is a really nice splash page from Hellboy: Seed of Destruction on ebay.


That would be a standout page in any collection - right up there with "My name is Hellboy". It's not _really_ the first reveal, as I believe HB was featured in an earlier published SDCC comic-ette, but it is a gorgeous piece of Mike's art with all the signature elements and a very memorable moment from the beginning of the character/series. Not only that, but it's a great artistic example from the early-HB period of the mid-90's, featuring a number of stylistic differences from current-day pages.

But at $3G+, it should be all these things. That's about the peak for HB panel pages (as far as I know - please LMK if I am mistaken here).

andy

[chiaroscuros]

But at $3G+, it should be all these things. That's about the peak for HB panel pages (as far as I know - please LMK if I am mistaken here).andy

Yes, depending on what this sold for last time it was for sale... this is the most expensive panel page to ever sell (at $2700 to $3000 probably). That being said, there was another half splash with hellboy that sold for $2500 a couple months ago on ebay.

The really amazing half splash pages pages are starting to creep into the $2k to $2.5k range. I have a hunch that both of these would be in that range
http://tinyurl.com/2jkzhv
http://tinyurl.com/2wz9lp

I also have a hunch that this auction isn't going to make its reserve unless a European bidder (giddy with the conversion rate) decides to jump on it.... that or a movie director decides to jump on it. But who knows... my jaw dropped when that lovecraft cover went past $6k. Maybe top end hellboy prices will be doubling again... hope not...

[dogboy443]

I've bought art from this dealer and he is very reputable. He's helped me expand my Ryan Sook collection. He does not take PayPal but he does take bank money orders. Not sure this would sway anyone's decision or wallet, just putting in my 2 cents.

Mk

[Jake Capps]

That would be a standout page in any collection - right up there with "My name is Hellboy". It's not _really_ the first reveal, as I believe HB was featured in an earlier published SDCC comic-ette, but it is a gorgeous piece of Mike's art with all the signature elements and a very memorable moment from the beginning of the character/series. Not only that, but it's a great artistic example from the early-HB period of the mid-90's, featuring a number of stylistic differences from current-day pages.

But at $3G+, it should be all these things. That's about the peak for HB panel pages (as far as I know - please LMK if I am mistaken here).

andy

Sir, is this your auction?

[Andy Robbins]

Sir, is this your auction?

Nope - not at all. My only involvement is as an observer who knows he's not prepared to spend enough to consider himself a potential buyer... :)

I do have a fair amount of Mike's art, though, and I'd love to add this page to the collection. But probably not going to happin'...


andy

[jnapper]

Ohmygosh, Andy Robbins! Hi, Andy!! Long time, no see!

[Neil Hill]

Yes, Andy's definitely a lurker, and I have a feeling that Wondercon looming on the horizon has brought him out of the woodwork, nes'pa? :D

Very nice page and kudos to whomever is willing to part with that much cash to acquire it! Thanks for the image, Michael.

[Nick W]

Still 4 days to go & it's at 5 effing grand. We've entered a whole new realm... :eek:


N

[hellboyone]

Pages from these older books are so beautiful and rare, there are fans out there who will pay premiums for them. I can't blame 'em, really. 5 grand. Unreal!

[chiaroscuros]

5 ffing grand is right!!

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that this page would go this high (and we aren't at the end of this roller coaster ride yet).

Why do I think that ever dealer selling Mignola art just doubled their prices based on this one auction, sigh...

[Bailzzararco]

Wow, I didn't spend that much money on my last car. Who can afford this sort of thing anyway?:eek:

[Kamikawa]

Wow! I guess I didn't think we'd be seeing that kind of money yet for an HB interior. It is a gorgeous page, and if could, I would, but I can't. I just wish I owned more than my 1 HB page, but since it looks like I'm going to get priced out from ever buying another, I should be very grateful for what I have. Which I am!

[Neil Hill]

Wow, I didn't spend that much money on my last car. Who can afford this sort of thing anyway?:eek:

You'd be surprised. There are several high-roller Mignola collectors out there, mostly Hollywood types like Frank Darabont and David Mendel, who spend this kind of money on art simply because they can. I envy that kind of money supply of course, and who wouldn't!? :D

[Andy Robbins]

Wow! I guess I didn't think we'd be seeing that kind of money yet for an HB interior. It is a gorgeous page, and if could, I would, but I can't. I just wish I owned more than my 1 HB page, but since it looks like I'm going to get priced out from ever buying another, I should be very grateful for what I have. Which I am!

Every page is special, and to have one that is yours and hanging on your wall (or wherever it is) is something to be grateful for indeed, but there's no need to bum out over this auction setting new price records. All it means is you (and I) are priced out of buying the peak, cream-of-the-crop pages in a public auction.

You can still buy a great HB page directly from Mike in San Diego for around $700, or a sweet spot illo in the $300-400 range. I know that's still a lot of money, especially when you include travel costs, but speaking for myself, it's managable where $5K+ is not. Look at the Dr. Carp pages that were sold last year - they're not the first appearance of HB, but are very nice examples of Mike's work. I bought two myself, and IMO, they're just as cool as the uberspendy one on ebay.


andy

[chiaroscuros]

You can still buy a great HB page directly from Mike in San Diego for around $700, or a sweet spot illo in the $300-400 range.

And if Mike has a page sitting in his binder that has been for sale for a couple year, he tends to mark it down. That being said, I thought most of his "new" pages were $800-900 with older pages in the $500-700 range. Plus there were one or two $200 head shots.

If you are looking for a low end page, I would try to make it to his table early on preview night because they go fast. The higher priced pieces like covers tend to stick around thru saturday/sunday, but each year is different.

One year (2002) had a line so long that it cut the convention hall in half. Nobody on that side of the hall could move and the security guards tried to break up the line.

On the flip side, another year (2005?) had only a handful of people at his table on preview night (for some crazy reason).

Those are the high and low points but I don't imagine that 2008 with hellboy 2 coming out is going to be a slow one. :)

p.s. Hey Andy, when are you going to post those Dr. Carp beauties?

[chiaroscuros]

on an off-topic note, here is another piece of comic art that the seller is asking $1.5 million for. a bit optimistic, but it makes $5 grand look a little more affordable :)

This is a collection of drawings/sketches, some of which have bare breasts, so it may not be work appropriate.

http://qurls.com?i=7062

p.s. does anyone think that this seed of destruction page will go any higher? I think it has topped out, but a small voice is still telling me to watch, wait and see...

[Nick W]

[QUOTE=chiaroscuros;6294510]
This is a collection of drawings/sketches, some of which have bare breasts, so it may not be work appropriate.[QUOTE]

Oh no! Not... boobs!! My virgin eyes! :p

N

[Kamikawa]

p.s. does anyone think that this seed of destruction page will go any higher? I think it has topped out, but a small voice is still telling me to watch, wait and see...

Yeah I agree, I think the page hit it's limit, but I'm still keeping an eye on it. I'm sure it's really only down to 2 bidders: 1 who bid it to 5K and another that might snipe at the art for a minimal raise.

[Maija]

on an off-topic note, here is another piece of comic art that the seller is asking $1.5 million for. a bit optimistic, but it makes $5 grand look a little more affordable :)

Is it even possible to do a transaction that large through eBay? Man, I certainly wouldn't try to clear that amount through PayPal. Imagine the fees! :rolleyes: (Though he offers the option of a cashier's cheque, but still). Wouldn't Sotheby's or a similar "real" auction house with a better publicity machine be more appropriate for such a sale? I can't imagine someone with $2M to "buy it now" spends much time bargain-hunting on ebay, but then again, the times they are a-changin'. I also spend little time on ebay, so whaddoeyeknow?

Though it's a remarkable piece of history (naughty Seuss!), I think the seller's being a wee bit optimistic.

[hollow18]

i thought i would chime in on this one- 5k blew me away too. i think that is going to be the sale price as at least to me that price seems a bit bloated even for a grail piece. but hey that is me and i am glad i got a hellboy page for $800 and from a dealer a year ago! it has hellboy rodger the worm and Von Klempe all on one great page. Worth every penny! So i think there will be more reasonable HB pages out there. Glad to see what people are thinking about this one.

[chiaroscuros]

the winner is Corto at $5100...

Regarding market treads, I think this is a "mad money" price rather than what most hellboy pieces are going to sell for. It will take a half dozen more auctions before I believe that all Hellboy art just doubled.

But clearly both high bidders really wanted it and it is a heck of a nice page! That being said, I wonder if this will show back up for sale in a couple years and if so what it will sell for the third time around...

[Andy Robbins]

I find it a little strange that d***h bid exactly the reserve 5 days ago and not a penny more in the closing seconds.

Maybe that was his max and it just happened to be the reserve.

And maybe he contacted the seller, found out the reserve (I tell people the reserves in my auctions - it's not a big deal to me), and bid exactly that. But if I was him in this situation, I would have waited until the last second to snipe in my $5K bid, thus not making a target of myself for a week.

Don't get me wrong - it doesn't bother me if there was some collusion. Corto (the high bidder) made his bid and probably got the piece for less than he was willing to pay (his actual bid was probably more than $5100). But if that's what happened, then there were some sweaty palms at the end, as the final bid was a snipe with 3 seconds to go.


andy

[Nick W]

Gaetano has always seemed like a good guy when I've seen or bought from him, so I don't think (or at least hope) that there were any shenanigans. But with ebay you never know. I checked out what Corto has been buying (just through their feedback) and they've spent $8,000 (HB included) on art in the last 2 months. I really need a better job... :o

N

[Andy Robbins]

Gaetano has always seemed like a good guy when I've seen or bought from him, so I don't think (or at least hope) that there were any shenanigans. But with ebay you never know. I checked out what Corto has been buying (just through their feedback) and they've spent $8,000 (HB included) on art in the last 2 months. I really need a better job... :o

N

I didn't know Gaetano was the seller. I haven't seen him in years. Like I said, whatever happened or didn't really doesn't bother me. Corto bought the piece for a price he was willing to spend.

andy

[chiaroscuros]

I find it a little strange that d***h bid exactly the reserve 5 days ago and not a penny more in the closing seconds.

And maybe he contacted the seller, found out the reserve (I tell people the reserves in my auctions - it's not a big deal to me), and bid exactly that. andy

Before the auction hit $2k, I asked the seller about the reserve and I mentioned that this page had been shopped around for a little more than $3k last year. The seller wouldn't confirm anything other than to say that the reserve was higher than that. So I don't think the seller revealed the reserve.

Sometimes when I bid on an auction with a reserve, and my max. bid is higher than the reserve, it will automatically jump it up to the reserve amount. Luckily it happened for a $100 page and not a $5k page, but I was still suprised... maybe that is what happened here.

p.s. that or there was a shill bidder. But why pay the extra auction costs of a reserve auction if you are going to shill it yourself?

[Neil Hill]

And if Mike has a page sitting in his binder that has been for sale for a couple year, he tends to mark it down.

This is going to make me sound like the know it all I'm sometimes accused of being, but I've not known this to be true, Michael. Generally if Mike has a piece in his portfolio that isn't selling, it just continues to show up there at his asking price until it's gone. Now, he may make deals with Albert Moy for instance and sell art in bulk at a discount, but I'm not really privy to those kinds of deals, and can't speak to that.

I agree with you Andy that this new record high eBay auction merely points out that the parties involved wanted this piece at any cost! Doesn't necessarily mean all pages will be this expensive, but this one was certainly worth the extra extension of financial effort, I think. :D

[Neil Hill]

I didn't know Gaetano was the seller. I haven't seen him in years. Like I said, whatever happened or didn't really doesn't bother me. Corto bought the piece for a price he was willing to spend.

andy

Ah, Gaetano was the seller? It makes complete sense then that he'd truly know the value of what he's selling. He sold David Mandel that 8K Dracula commission of Mike's at WonderCon several years back, and definitely seemed to have a handle on what he could nab for Mike's art even then. I'm sure two plus years has only honed his seller's knack. ;)

[Andy Robbins]

Sometimes when I bid on an auction with a reserve, and my max. bid is higher than the reserve, it will automatically jump it up to the reserve amount. Luckily it happened for a $100 page and not a $5k page, but I was still suprised... maybe that is what happened here.


That will always happen. For example:
- an auction has a reserve of $2K
- the current bid is at $1050, reserve not met
- the current high bidder has bid $1500 and the underbidder $1000
- you then bid $2500
- you will be the high bidder at $2K with reserve met

I don't have any issue with this. Continuing the example, the seller wants at least $2K, you have said you are willing to spend $2.5K, so ebay sets the current bid at $2K with reserve met.


andy

[Nick W]

Another thing I've recently noticed is that if the reserve is met, the reserve fee is waived by ebay. Which is kind of strange since it seems like ebay wants as much money as possible. :p

N

[dogboy443]

Back in the 09's when Fred Greenberg used to do his shows at the Penta Hotel, Mike was there quite a few times and I bought a bunch of pages from him. Some of them were Corum pages inked by Kelley Jones and one, which was stolen, was from the Swamp Thing 5 Annual, Parliament of Trees. That was one of my fave pages and some little sh!t made off with it when I was doing a lecture on comic book illustration. I picked up a beautiful skull Illo from Mike back in SDCC 96 from the first HB novel by Chris Golden. I think it sold for only $50.

[Nick W]

My best Mignola buy (the oldschool 'boarders have seen this plenty of times)- $40 or so off of ebay around 2000.

http://members.aol.com/bigdaddyschwinn/xmasskull

I look at it every day & every day it makes me happy. :)

N

And once again, thanks to Neil for getting it signed before I was able to hop on a plane and actually see Mike at shows.