Aspen Print Thread

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by Bobfrog

Aw man, now I feel peeved and feel like a sucker...thanks for the info although I wish in a way I hadn't seen your posts. I (stupidly with the benefit of hindsight) bought one of the muertos prints that was listed on evilbay as I was worried it would never be available again and saw a few come up and then disappear quickly. I paid like >3 times what it's worth as I saw no info on aspen’s store/facebook pages nor here from you guys (who seem to be pretty on the ball). Guess that's what I get for jumping the gun and buying an unnumbered print like you say – I wasn’t thinking clearly obviously.

I’ve collected MT’s stuff from the start and Aspen too but in all honesty it's almost the final straw for me with Aspen, I just can't abide their lack of consistency and information in putting this stuff out there. I know now from looking that Peter's site had info about the print but I didn't know to check it and as I say, there was no info on their Aspen website as far as I could see which I expect to be the one stop shop for all Aspen related info…it’s where there main business / forums are housed and to me it’s an Aspen print (its going to be sold on the aspenstore / its an aspen character) so why not advertise it there as well to keep people in the loop? Because of the lack of info and in my haste to get something I loved the look of I’ve now been burnt to the tune of >$100 . To make things worse I now find out that they are producing an unnumbered run of prints (so unlimited effectively). Overall it seems to me that there is also no thinking behind their their print runs (in this case it seems to be just ad hoc, whatever they decided on the day) and the whole aspen ebay auctions is another matter (I’m in agreement with Orangecrush there – one or the other).

That combined with the fact that they messed up my order by sending it too soon so I couldn’t add extra stuff + I don't exactly trust their ebay auctions anymore (I saw a print a few months back saying 'last one', so I bid on it, missed it but luckily got offered a second chance which was great. But then a month or so later they list another one – what’s going on there?) just makes me not feel inclined to give them my hard earned dollar.

I'll always love Aspen and what they put out but I'm glad I've got just about all the MT prints I wanted to get over the years so probably won't need to buy too many more. I just hope that for the future that they remember how they used to feel when they weren't in the industry and were just fans i.e. approach their prints from a fans point of view and with the same level of professionalism as they do with their statues (the service on the kiani breakages was unbelievably good). They want to be a ground breaking company so why not do something a lot of companies don’t and listen to the fans? In the meantime I think perhaps I’ll save my dough for a company that has a more rigid numbering system and gives better i.e. more timely updates to the fans on stuff that they know will be popular.

Finish on a good note – at least I got the print and it will be amazing I have no doubt, Peter’s work on this one is as good as anything Aspen have put out in the past imho.

Sorry to hear that! I probably would have done the same exact thing had it not been for the fact that I had already spent exorbitant amounts of money on SDCC and eBay items that week. I just didn't want to spend 150 on another print.

Of course, I agree 100% with what your saying. There needs to be FAR better communication in regards to print information. There are just WAY too many eBay sellers that will take advantage of people not knowing. For example, the 10 Lady Mechanika prints I purchased. I still know next to nothing about them, expect that only a small number of sellers have actually managed to get their hands on any at all. The dealer I use for SDCC items, the one who got me the 5 daily prints, went to the SDCC and he didn't even know about them. I emailed him and asked him if he had any when those first few prints got listed on eBay. He had no clue what I was talking about. So I sent him the link to the auctions and he said he never saw them there and was never told about them.

I also don't like the way that the Marvel & DC prints are being handled. Supposedly they cant number them due to the fact that the characters are DC & Marvel intellectual property but that doesn't mean they cant come out and CLEARLY state what the edition size is for each print. I have sent 2 emails asking this very question and I get very cryptic responses in return. Basically they say that the edition sizes are very low, with some being as low as 50. But in all honesty, that doesn't answer my question. I want to know the edition size of each print and given that this is Aspen were talking about, a company that clearly understands the importance and value of edition size...well, I just don't understand why they are hesitant to give out that information. I find it a bit suspicious. Basically its impossible to gauge a prints value without knowing how many were produced. Of course, without a stated edition size, they can go back and just print more anytime they feel like it.

About the only thing I am happy with in regards to Aspen is the print selection thus far in 2012. It has been outstanding, a substantial improvement over previous years (2009-2011) but as I have already stated, I think selling the newer prints on eBay, with regular styled auctions, is unethical. Its money grabbing at its worst and Aspen is the only company that I know of that is actually using eBay in such a manner. I am not saying anything I haven't already said. Prices, quality, communication in regards to print information, eBay sales, etc... Those are all issues I have with Aspen right now. At this point, I am just sticking with prints and my signed Turner book collection. Everything else I am holding off on buying.

The best advice I can give is to be vocal. Email them and tell them why your unhappy. I have emailed them many times in the past few months. The more people that complain, the better the chance that something will be done about it. And don't buy items on a whim. Be patient and research the items before you buy them. If we had both done this...well, we would both have an extra 100 dollar bill in our pocket right now. I wouldn't have purchased the sketchbooks and you would have waited and purchased the LM print directly from Peter.

[NorthernLadMSP]

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

About the only thing I am happy with in regards to Aspen is the print selection thus far in 2012. It has been outstanding, a substantial improvement over previous years (2009-2011) but as I have already stated, I think selling the newer prints on eBay, with regular styled auctions, is unethical. Its money grabbing at its worst and Aspen is the only company that I know of that is actually using eBay in such a manner. I am not saying anything I haven't already said. Prices, quality, communication in regards to print information, eBay sales, etc... Those are all issues I have with Aspen right now. At this point, I am just sticking with prints and my signed Turner book collection. Everything else I am holding off on buying.

Previous argument we had in the past aside, I completely agree with you regarding the auctions they put up for the new prints, as opposed to selling them on Aspen Store.

When I look at how Aspen does it verses say, J Scott Campbell, it is kind of infuriating, and I agree, there's no other reason beyond being greedy.

Campbell's prints are never released 3-6 different times all with different backgrounds or colors, in various regular vs. OP editions, with different edition sizes, and they certainly never go on eBay for ridiculous bidding wars.

They are all a set number of prints in a run, they are always simply sold on his website for retail price. Once they are sold out, that's it, they are sold out.

[coolandwarm]

the only good thing coming out of this with aspen auctions is that, I assume they are running out of older prints signed by turner and with those prices of prints that have been sold does bring up the price of the prints so when they run out of their(last one) the prices will some what set. and we can start to see more affordable prices on the newer prints like the con daily prints. At least I hope so.

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by NorthernLadMSP

Previous argument we had in the past aside, I completely agree with you regarding the auctions they put up for the new prints, as opposed to selling them on Aspen Store.

When I look at how Aspen does it verses say, J Scott Campbell, it is kind of infuriating, and I agree, there's no other reason beyond being greedy.

Campbell's prints are never released 3-6 different times all with different backgrounds or colors, in various regular vs. OP editions, with different edition sizes, and they certainly never go on eBay for ridiculous bidding wars.

They are all a set number of prints in a run, they are always simply sold on his website for retail price. Once they are sold out, that's it, they are sold out.

People sometimes get into arguments on message boards. No hard feelings, its all good.

Basically, all of these things point to one thing.....making more money. In fact, everywhere I look these days, in regards to Aspen, I see money signs. The bottle openers being priced almost 3 times higher than other Inkcorrect openers. Charging 100 dollars for sketchbooks that should have cost 35-40 dollars. Charging 80 dollars for variant comics that should have cost 30-40. Releasing 8 or 9 variant covers for a single issue of Lady Mechanika. Hording highly sought after prints so they can auction them off on eBay. Releasing the same image, with different colored backgrounds, 6 times in a single year etc. All of it points to making more $$$$.

Don't get me wrong, I am very fond of Aspen. Their approach to prints (high quality, limited, signed & numbered) was way ahead of the rest of the industry when they started producing them and still to this day, the quality is unsurpassed. They are really the only company I even buy prints from. I truly love their artwork. Turner was all about quality and giving Aspen fans their money's worth and that's exactly what you got from Aspen back when he was still with us. Unfortunately, I am just not seeing that same commitment from the current day Aspen.

I am willing to give them some slack as it must have been very difficult losing MT and keeping Aspen going in his absence. The merchandise they released in 2009 and 2010 clearly shows that they were struggling. But they weathered the storm. They have had some legitimate successes in recent years with Lady Mechanika and Executive Assistant and from what I have read, next year is going to be an amazing year for Aspen. I am really looking forward to their 10 in 10 initiative.

That said, they cant lose focus on what made them great to begin with, creating high quality merchandise and giving their customers their moneys worth. Again, I am just not seeing that from Aspen right now. If they are truly hurting for cash then there are plenty of ways to make more money and none of them entail making low quality merchandise or making people duke it out on eBay with their wallets. Maybe its time for a change of leadership over at Aspen.

[NorthernLadMSP]

I agree on all points you have made.

I too love Aspen, and Michael Turner is one of my top three favorite artists of all time. I've been buying from them for about three years now.

But, a lot of what you have pointed out is sadly true, especially regarding the humungous number of variants, and the situation you described earlier regarding the sketchbooks. I was really shocked when I read how much the sketchbooks were and how little you actually got in them.

[dechirico7]

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

People sometimes get into arguments on message boards. No hard feelings, its all good.

Basically, all of these things point to one thing.....making more money. In fact, everywhere I look these days, in regards to Aspen, I see money signs. The bottle openers being priced almost 3 times higher than other Inkcorrect openers. Charging 100 dollars for sketchbooks that should have cost 35-40 dollars. Charging 80 dollars for variant comics that should have cost 30-40. Releasing 8 or 9 variant covers for a single issue of Lady Mechanika. Hording highly sought after prints so they can auction them off on eBay. Releasing the same image, with different colored backgrounds, 6 times in a single year etc. All of it points to making more $$$$.

Don't get me wrong, I am very fond of Aspen. Their approach to prints (high quality, limited, signed & numbered) was way ahead of the rest of the industry when they started producing them and still to this day, the quality is unsurpassed. They are really the only company I even buy prints from. I truly love their artwork. Turner was all about quality and giving Aspen fans their money's worth and that's exactly what you got from Aspen back when he was still with us. Unfortunately, I am just not seeing that same commitment from the current day Aspen.

I am willing to give them some slack as it must have been very difficult losing MT and keeping Aspen going in his absence. The merchandise they released in 2009 and 2010 clearly shows that they were struggling. But they weathered the storm. They have had some legitimate successes in recent years with Lady Mechanika and Executive Assistant and from what I have read, next year is going to be an amazing year for Aspen. I am really looking forward to their 10 in 10 initiative.

That said, they cant lose focus on what made them great to begin with, creating high quality merchandise and giving their customers their moneys worth. Again, I am just not seeing that from Aspen right now. If they are truly hurting for cash then there are plenty of ways to make more money and none of them entail making low quality merchandise or making people duke it out on eBay with their wallets. Maybe its time for a change of leadership over at Aspen.

YES!!!!
Also, the wait for statues. I was informed months ago we would be seeing a new statue and still nothing.
That is the main reason I sold my Kiani and Aspen statues, just got sick of the wait.

[Glennfett]

It would be interesting to get feedback from an Aspen member themselves on these matters...

[NorthernLadMSP]

Originally Posted by dechirico7

YES!!!!
Also, the wait for statues. I was informed months ago we would be seeing a new statue and still nothing.
That is the main reason I sold my Kiani and Aspen statues, just got sick of the wait.

Months? More like spring of 2011.

[toyzplz]

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

People sometimes get into arguments on message boards. No hard feelings, its all good.

Basically, all of these things point to one thing.....making more money. In fact, everywhere I look these days, in regards to Aspen, I see money signs. The bottle openers being priced almost 3 times higher than other Inkcorrect openers. Charging 100 dollars for sketchbooks that should have cost 35-40 dollars. Charging 80 dollars for variant comics that should have cost 30-40. Releasing 8 or 9 variant covers for a single issue of Lady Mechanika. Hording highly sought after prints so they can auction them off on eBay. Releasing the same image, with different colored backgrounds, 6 times in a single year etc. All of it points to making more $$$$.

Don't get me wrong, I am very fond of Aspen. Their approach to prints (high quality, limited, signed & numbered) was way ahead of the rest of the industry when they started producing them and still to this day, the quality is unsurpassed. They are really the only company I even buy prints from. I truly love their artwork. Turner was all about quality and giving Aspen fans their money's worth and that's exactly what you got from Aspen back when he was still with us. Unfortunately, I am just not seeing that same commitment from the current day Aspen.

I am willing to give them some slack as it must have been very difficult losing MT and keeping Aspen going in his absence. The merchandise they released in 2009 and 2010 clearly shows that they were struggling. But they weathered the storm. They have had some legitimate successes in recent years with Lady Mechanika and Executive Assistant and from what I have read, next year is going to be an amazing year for Aspen. I am really looking forward to their 10 in 10 initiative.

That said, they cant lose focus on what made them great to begin with, creating high quality merchandise and giving their customers their moneys worth. Again, I am just not seeing that from Aspen right now. If they are truly hurting for cash then there are plenty of ways to make more money and none of them entail making low quality merchandise or making people duke it out on eBay with their wallets. Maybe its time for a change of leadership over at Aspen.

x2!

In my opinion, Aspen led the way in terms raising the bar on quality prints. But others quickly caught up to them as the popularity of them caught on. To me, J. Scott Campbells prints surpass them now. There's a lot of independent artists that do prints for conventions every year that are super high quality prints. Check out prints by Eric Powell for The Goon, and the yearly print that Frank Cho and Brandon Peterson do together for SDCC. BEAUTIFUL stuff for the last 5 or so years. Linsner does tons of Dawn prints and rarely are they every numbered. And they're always $10-20 a piece and great value.

I LOVE the Marvel & DC prints of MT's work. I would work on putting together a complete collection of all of them if either A) they were numbered or B) the prices were realistic for an unnumbered print. I'm sorry but those 2 factors do make me not pull the trigger. And OC, more than once I've thought about mentioning the horrible possibility that they run off extras here and there. I sincerely hope that's not the case for all our sakes. But especially for those of you that plop down serious coin on your collections.

I talked about sketch books in the past, and Aspen hasn't done anything significant there compared to others.

THEN you get to the variant covers lmao. You realize we've only got 3 actual issues of Lady Mechanika but yet there's 25+ total covers? And if you look at the cover listings, it's even multiple covers of 2nd, 3rd & 4th printings? So they're not even all planned ahead of time it's "oh let's do another #1 for this show and it'll be a 3rd printing variant". Of course Aspen is by FAR not the only guilty part of this tactic, Marvel & DC do it too and sometimes even worse on a single book.

[NorthernLadMSP]

Yeah, that is very frustrating regarding Lady Mechanika. I just love the story and have all three issues so far, but you're right. Why do we need 6 covers per issue, plus up to 4 printings?

Why can't they concentrate on getting the comic going and get out issues 4 and on?