Here's a few snapshots from the convention. Thanks to everyone for being
so generous letting me take their photo and post it. I had hoped
to get shots of all the art dealers at the con, but I just couldn't
get it done. The art dealers' booths are empty in the pictures because I took
all the photos before the convention opened each morning. During the convention
hours, the dealers' booths were very busy.
Here's a few comments on what I saw in San Diego with regard to the
original art scene. These are merely some random observations. I'm
sure many others had experiences and perceptions widely different
from my own.
- In general, I saw a LOT of art getting sold. I never know
if art prices are high or low, but I can say there was a lot of
art in San Diego this year that was priced at what collectors
were willing to pay.
- You couldn't afford to blink or you missed your chance
on many pieces. A few of the pieces I missed by a hair's breadth
were Mitch's 2 Johnny Comet dailies, a solid but not special Dave
Stevens Rocketeer page, a great Kirby/Sinnott FF 55 page with the
Surfer all over it. The FF 55 page sold for $20K cash (and I mean
bills, not a check or credit card!), and I know there were others
besides me who wished they'd spoken for it earlier.
- Kirby twice up art seemed to be doing well across the board.
Kirby/Stone Thor pages that were $3.5-4K a few months ago now seem
to have gone to $5-7K. A couple of twice up Kirby/Colletta Tales
of Asgard pages went for $3K each. I saw some strong Kirby/Ayers FF
pages that were priced at $9K - I don't know if they found buyers.
- I didn't see a lot of strip art this year that was exciting to me.
There seemed to be a lot more great comic book art than strip art,
although there were certainly some nice pieces. My best strip art
find of the convention was a 1963 Apt 3-G daily that is easily the
best example I've seen.
