Which commissioned characters do you feel best hold value?

[Underdog07]

We all have our favorite characters for commissions. I was internally debating which character choices help to maintain the value of a commission and wanted to get people's thoughts.

Also, do you feel a character an artist is known for helps maintain value moreso than having the artist draw a character he/she is less versed in?

For example, do you have Herb Trimpe draw the Hulk and Walt Simonson draw Thor or do you have Herb draw Thor and Walt the Hulk?

[risingstar]

Here is my thought on commissions... If you are going to buy something that is unpublished, it needs to be as striking if not more striking than their published works. Anything less, you're risking a financial loss. You'll also need to post pics of that commission wherever you can so that the commission becomes a familiar image. In time, some people may actually believe it was a published piece, and it'll help the resale value, especially if it is a nice piece.

As for what characters/artists go... I would concentrate on the artist's strengths. Adam Hughes doing a hot A-list or B-list female works. However, a Bat-mite or Groot by Adam Hughes likely won't.

[DamonO]

I have the artists draw the characters I'd like to see them draw without regard to its future monetary value. I tend to personally see artists draw characters I've not seen them draw before as opposed to characters they've drawn umpteen times. For example, for the only George Perez commission I own I asked him to draw Brother Voodoo because a) He's a character I like and b) I'd never seen Perez draw the character before. Now, that may not have as much value on the open market as, say, a Perez drawing of Wonder Woman, but its special to me because its probably the only rendition of Brother Voodoo by Perez in the world -- but even if its not, I got to see him draw a charaacter I like that he's never drawn before (to my knowledge). My two cents.

[risingstar]

Originally Posted by DamonO

I have the artists draw the characters I'd like to see them draw without regard to its future monetary value. I tend to personally see artists draw characters I've not seen them draw before as opposed to characters they've drawn umpteen times. For example, for the only George Perez commission I own I asked him to draw Brother Voodoo because a) He's a character I like and b) I'd never seen Perez draw the character before. Now, that may not have as much value on the open market as, say, a Perez drawing of Wonder Woman, but its special to me because its probably the only rendition of Brother Voodoo by Perez in the world -- but even if its not, I got to see him draw a charaacter I like that he's never drawn before (to my knowledge). My two cents.

I think Undie was referring to higher priced cover quality-type commissions and not the simpler pencil and/or inked pieces.

[Underdog07]

Originally Posted by risingstar

I think Undie was referring to higher priced cover quality-type commissions and not the simpler pencil and/or inked pieces.

Yeah but also just in general what people's experiences have been and what they have seen and thought about value.

People tend to answer these questions with what in law school is called fighting the hypothetical (eg RS shoots Undie with a gun for stealing his art, what is RS charged with? And the response is "Well if there was no gun . . .") but I digress.

Over the last year,I have seen people try to sell off many of their commissions (of C/D level characters) and the prices fetched seem to be well below what it would cost to have the art created. Why exactly is that -- doesn't seem to be the artist or the quality of the pieces but the character.

So while Mega-Man by David Finch does not command a premium or maintain its value, does a SpiderMan by Finch when there are countless awesome Spidey pieces available?

[JadeGiant]

My collecting focus is more narrow so this doesn't come into play for me personally as I am looking for great examples of the Hulk so future value (while not unimportant) is not my primary motivation. I do often scratch my head when I see some commissions sold shortly after being done period as they often fetch less than they cost to be done originally. Making money on commissioned art is a tricky game to say the least. I would think OA from well known comics would be the way to go if you were looking buy buy/sell for a profit (and even that can be tricky as well). If I am commissioning something with intent to sell I would stick with more of the blue chipper combinations. A list artist drawing A list character is a good place to start. A list artist drawing and A list character that they drew in a well know and/or long running series is even better.

[carlito1978]

Originally Posted by JadeGiant

A list artist drawing and A list character that they drew in a well know and/or long running series is even better.

Agreed. That's the trifecta for a commission.

If its solely character based, to me its A list character that is well accepted in the mainstream that people can relate to. Perfect example: Batman. Mass appeal with mass merchandising that lives on outside of our comic realm. Quality pieces of him should attract a lot of eyes, which is why he is constantly in the top search word category in CAF.

Superman on the other hand, is an A list character with tons of merchandising, but generally unrelatable and as a result I don't think there is a ton of demand for superman related commissions.

I've found that for resale purposes A-List artist pieces with quality characters (A or B+ list) always trump A-list characters with B or C list artists.

That said, A-list artists with B, C or D list characters don't get as much love as they could given the character choices. And unfortunately owners of these pieces believe that their B, C or D list characters are A listers for a variety of reasons and probably don't price appropriately thinking that the strength of the artist will hold up the value. While the art may be great or amazing, there is only a finite universe of people willing to pay $x hundred dollars for a hawkeye piece with that universe probably consisting mainly of the person that commissioned the piece.

So in conclusion, get more Batman art in your collections!

[jick]

If he hasn't changed policies yet, John Byrne usually charges twice the price for commissions of X-Men characters for the simple reason that they sell more in the secondary market compared to other characters so Byrne doesn't want people flipping them for a quick buck, or something to that effect.

[Doc McCoy]

Pretty simple premise, but never go into a commission looking to flip it. 9 out of 10 times you'll loose money. And like Jade Giant said, if are going to try that, A list artist, A list character. Or in the case of guys like Hughes, Cho or JS Campbell, a female character.

[Underdog07]

There is a clear difference between entering a commission to flip it and getting a commission that is worth a fraction of what you pay as you hand the money over to the artist.


Do people believe every A list character by a top tier artist will maintain its value?