Do you guys prefer Production pieces or Commissions?

[MONSTER]

Originally Posted by risingstar

Given the choice, original art. Sadly, quality splash pages are either too expensive or too hard to come by. For a while, commissions were a reasonable alternative. Unfortunately, over the past couple of years, commissions have been getting a bad rap, in part because the costs of many of them have become comparable to that of actual published pieces. Also, it doesn't help things when some artists (emphasis on "some") have proven to be unreliable, if not, unscrupulous.

Nowadays, when fans pay in advance for a commission, they half expect deadlines not to be met, update-request e-mails to be ignored, and refunds to be very hard to get unless some public venting is made. Perhaps the scariest part is discovering you don't like the final product, or feel it's a half-assed job. It doesn't help that commissions generally do not seem to carry much of an investment value.
Verdict -- If you have 1k to spend on something, why not wait for your OA piece to pop up?
Of course, if you have a genuine shot at getting a stress-free commission from one of your favorite artists, go for it.

P.S. If you truly want to buy a commission, the BEST thing to do is to ask around about the artist. Chances are someone has dealt with him/her before. Some experiences have been described as amazing while others have been deemed a disaster. You owe it to yourself to do some homework so that you can avoid the heartache/headache.

That's the the big decision maker for me. Once the price of commissions hit investment type prices it was time for me to slow down on them.

I've purchased published pieces and have immediately been offered 3 times my purchase price. The odds of that happening with a commission are slim.

[Wookiee]

Originally Posted by goingbroke223

I guess I agree that commissioned price for some artists are too much...but I still like the commissioned ones . I know when i commission a piece I have alot of input into what I want from the artist .SO to me he is creating my vision and I love that about commissioned pieces..

Originally Posted by liamsynclair

For me....I love to be able to create a one of a kind concept....take what we know of characters and create some unique images u might never get to see any where else...I see commishes as quality over quantity...ur money...create what u want to see...sometimes OA can't give u that....

I tend to lean this way to. I like that in commissioning a piece, you are essentially getting a fps as you see it. Even if you are getting a single character with no background you are getting the full character.

Don't get me wrong, I love OA pages as well, but I find for the rising price of OA pages where you only get one or two shots of the character you are interested in and you are typically paying pretty decent $$$ for these. Both commissions and OA in my view, tend to vary based on artist, availability, popularity, etc. Either way you end up paying. Right now I am sticking with both.

As usual I like what most don't, commission for me!

[ReplicantSavior]

Originally Posted by MrYac

just curious what you guys like more in your collections, actually production pages used in making the books, or personalised commisions from your favorite artists?

i'm still fairly new to comic collecting but i've always loved production used art be it pages or animation cels.

anyway would love to hear your opinions.

Production art by a long shot. It is cool having the actual published artwork. Although, I would like to get some commissions. Just because I have a few good ideas for my favorite artists. But most are busy and slow with actual work so I wouldn't even bother right now. Plus, I need to be able to work with the artist and whole 100% of money up front that some ask for is out of the question. I would never deal with anyone who wanted to do a commission on that basis.

On a side note, what sort of animation cels are you collecting?

[MrYac]

Originally Posted by ReplicantSavior

On a side note, what sort of animation cels are you collecting?

i've actually been out of cels for awhile now, have almost 100 or so, mostly anime (i had a dragonball phase a few years back) with a few american shows like The SImposns, Futurma, Family Guy & Ninja Turtles in for good measure

[liamsynclair]

Originally Posted by liamsynclair

For me....I love to be able to create a one of a kind concept....take what we know of characters and create some unique images u might never get to see any where else...I see commishes as quality over quantity...ur money...create what u want to see...sometimes OA can't give u that....

Originally Posted by MONSTER

That's the the big decision maker for me. Once the price of commissions hit investment type prices it was time for me to slow down on them.

I've purchased published pieces and have immediately been offered 3 times my purchase price. The odds of that happening with a commission are slim.

This response is a whole nother poll question.....why do u get the art......is it for investment or is it cuz of the actual art and artist itself? ...the reason of me starting to collect artwork is my love of the characters and the way I can imagine them to be.....due to guidelines and red tape....we will never get to see certain characters mesh thru OA....even the particular artist becomes irrelevant when it comes to the character and the concept for me....if I can pay a decent artist trying to make it and has phenomenal skills...a fraction of the costs to create a wall mural....as opposed to a paying the same amount for a bust shot from let's say Silvestri or Lee (any of the Lees)...I'm going to pay the lesser known for this full on scene that I created as opposed to some small sample style sketch from an established artist.....if I had to limit myself to OAs....then it would be the pages that represented a iconic moment in comic history or something to that effect...not just cuz of who drew the page....

[The Batfan]

well being I have over 1,000 commission/sketches in my collection I would say I lean towards commissions/sketches. I only go for pages etc if they really are something I have to have or are at a a great deal. But I do see the prices of commissions going crazy over the last few years.

I see the trend that you are now mostly paying for the artists name on the piece not the quality or amount of time/work put into the piece. Now that being said there are lots of nobodies out there who are tryin to charge rates for commissions like they are big names. I pay for the quality of the art not who is drawing it except in certain cases where it's an artist I really want a piece by then I might shell out the extra cash for their name. But I do see one problem is that lots of collectors pay these artists prices that the art is not worth so they continue to charge these type of rates and even go up. I see some of you paying prices for commissions that no way would I pay the artist the prices for, it falls back to the point your paying more for the name than the quality/amount of art you get for your money.
just my batty 2 cents

[punisher129]

I collect both OA and commission. The number of commissions/sketches far outweigh the amount of published pieces that are in my collection. I'm not a big fan of panel pages so splashes are what I usually go for but the prices for them tend to be very high. Commissions are great because you can opt to get characters and scenarios that you like. You are only limited by your imagination and of course your wallet.


---PUNISHER KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE---

[statman]

Well I would have to lean towards the commission side of the question. I like getting commissions over OA mainly because I get to have some input into the content of the piece. I like being able to be a part (as small as it is) of the creative process. Additionally, most of the OA that I'd be interested in is WAY out of my price range.

[VinReaper]

Production for me. Only because I am not at the level of play as are some of our SF family when it comes to spending on statues. The prices on commission work are astronomical. Not that its not worth it. Just out of my realm. May be one of these days I will strike it rich and then I am sure the commissioned statue would be my favorite!


VR