Value: Original Art

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tsanchan
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Value: Original Art

Post by tsanchan » Wed Apr 26, 2006 6:27 am

How much would the original art of Compulsion be worth? Is it even worth selling on eBay? I'd be glad if anyone who knows anything on this subject writes something here. Thx.

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l0qii
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Post by l0qii » Wed Apr 26, 2006 1:03 pm

Neither the card nor the artist have a huge fan following, which means it's value is based primarily on the art itself, what size/media it is, and how much a person just likes it. I've seen a lot of small, random card art pieces sell between $70-$200.

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Post by random » Mon May 01, 2006 6:50 am

The trouble with MTG art is that it keeps coming out... There's plenty of it available. I have a lot of the stuff and my best advice is to buy what looks good cause you likely wont make much money on it :-)
If you really want to sell I think your best bet is just put it on Ebay and pray or take it to a pre release or something and try to trade it for some cards you can make money on.
I spent a couple hundred dollars on a few Legends pieces that are nice on my wall but I'll never see that money again. I spent another 1600 on a "Major" card as an investment but looking at the other stuff I could have gotten for twice that money at the time I think I made a mistake.
Time will tell...

Time to stop boring everyone with nonsense and head to Commerce :-)

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mintcollector
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Post by mintcollector » Mon May 01, 2006 4:44 pm

Art is completely subjective to those who either like it, think it is ok, or hate it. There a varying degrees in between as well. Compulsion was created by Chris Moeller as everyone knows, or can quickly find out. His website is here:
http://users.adelphia.net/~moellerc/

Moreso, his original art page is here with his prices:
http://users.adelphia.net/~moellerc/Pri ... inals.html

When you deal in the world of original art, or even just prints, then you need to really be a fan of the artist in question's work. The reason is that only others interested in the artist's work will appreciate the material as you would. Thus, it is even a more specialized niche of persons you deal with in this fashion. Thus I think putting a piece up on eBay would not be the best of ideas. The reasons are as follows:

Time limitations on an auction
Specialized niche of collectors
Cost (not everyone has deep pockets, or if they have the money, they might prefer to sepdn it elsewhere, ie nice cards)
"Shipping Fears" - possible loss or damage of the item, which is irreplacable

I would stress in any purchase or a quality print or an original be given great consideration. A lot of times the planets do not align if you do decide to sell a piece after owning it. This of course does not mean that the piece is worthless, it just means that the media you choose to sell your piece in did not attract the correct or desirable crowd. Thus, I would never look at a print or original from an investment standpoint ever. so unless you think that Chris Moeller collectors happen to be looking at eBay during the times you have your auction listed, you might be very unhappy about the outcome. Your best bet is to attempt to locate Chris Moeller fans. This could mean either conventions, artist appearances, etc.

I did not mean to put the seed of fear into you, or anyone reading this, but simply wanted to state the reality of the situation. Certain artists will have greater following and also can command higher prices for their work. I think that loqii's comment is personally subjective as he does not like Chris Moeller obviously, nor is he aware of many Chris Moeller fans. I myself am not a overly zealous fan of his work, but there are a couple pieces I do find interesting like Copper Leaf Angel and some of his Battletech work, but netiehr warrant enough liking to get prints or an original in my opinion. This holds true for any artist. For example Rebeca Guay is a artist well know in the M:TG community. I know people who think she is one of the worst artists on the planet, but I also know others who are great fans of her work and collect anything they can get their hands on. I myself am not a fan of her style per say, and have my own list of favorite artists I pursue their work on in prints and/or originals.

random also has made some good points. M:TG art does indeed keep coming out. Also I reiterated some of his points as well. He also addressed the fact that any art purchased may see its final resting place in your collection. Art does move from collection to collection though. and also there are those that do desire pieces that others have. For example, I have been trying to track down Matthew Wilson's Dakmor Sorceress original for years now. My trail ends that it was sold at a event in Japan and there is no sale record at all. This does not stop my desire for the piece and it is on my ever want list. I wanted to point this out as there may be persons wishing to get the piece you have sitting at home collecting dust. I have had to settle with a print of the work, which I have had professionally framed.

In the end you need to make the best decision you can based on many of the factors I pointed out. More than anything though coming from a fantasy art collector, it is very hard to put a price tag on the enjoyment of owning a piece of art that you truely enjoy and also take elation in the fact that you are the sole owner, or in a special group of those who own a nice print of a piece you really do treasure.

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Post by hammr7 » Mon May 01, 2006 6:05 pm

I would like to confirm mintcollector's assessments. In the earlier days of Magic many of the artists commissioned limited editions of high quality prints. Typically these ranged from 30 to 500 copies, although a few went as large as 1,000 or even 5,000 copies. Most of these sold for at least $40 or more each, were numbered, included artist's signatures, and even fine matting.

You don't see these around too often, but they rarely go for more than $20 each, and can often be purchased for less than $10 each. I have seen many owners put them on eBay with grossly overinflated reserves or starting prices. If they want to sell them they will need realistic prices.

Original art is obviously more valuable. But similar market conditions apply. Unless the art is of a very popular card or an extremely popular artist, a lot more consideration is now given to how good a piece of art it is. For older cards this includes whether it was the actual original (or some preliminary sketch), the size and construction (oil or water based, canvas or paper, level of detail, etc) of the piece. Digital artwork may eventually depress the entire market, as there will no longer be just one original, since exact duplicates can be produced upon demand.

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mintcollector
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Post by mintcollector » Mon May 01, 2006 7:31 pm

Good point about digital art Hank. I did not even address this point. Some artists that work digitally do not have "original art" since they work digitally. This fact also divides the art world into two camps. Those who are pro-digital and those who are not. The art purists feel that it is too easy or detracts from true artistic skill. Others feel that it opens up a whole new tool box and allows them to excel to all new levels of creative output. I personally side with the later. John Avon is a perfect example. Although John's earlier pieces are nice, since he has gone digital, his work has progressed by leaps and bounds for breath taking appearances. I personally view computers and software as new tools for the artist. I have argued with purists that even tools like paint brushes are just a cruder form of a computer that allows artistic expression and creativity. I digress here on the topic at hand.
If you do factor in digital art, often there is less true original art out there. Now while art from digital artists can be mass produced, they contractually have certain limitations due to WOTC copyrights. For example, Matthew Wilson was only allowed to produce X number of Dakmor Sorceress prints. I know he is out of them as I tried buying a 3rd one from him for a project I needed and he was out and legally not able to replicate them anymore. When I met Mike Sutfin at a pre-release signing, I got into a discussion about this with him. He just started doing prints himselfs and was unaware of the limitations. I made him wary enough that he checked his contracts when he got home regarding this.
My point is that digital art had definitely thrown a wrench into the world of fantasy art. On one side there is less original art to collect, but some digital artists can produce high quality prints easily and more cost effectively. So this technically can sway the market in either direction. Digital art is realitively newer and the effect on the market is not overbearing, at least from what I have seen. I actually am a fan of digital art from not only the superior quality often produced, but the simple fact that more collectors can own a piece and equally enjoy it instead of one person having the sole piece to hang in their home or office. In fact as of a year ago I started collecting prints of my more favorite pieces and have an ever growing list as I sift through old card sets, find cards I have often loved art from, researched the artist, and then determined if I like the piece enough to add it to my collection. This has been an ongoing side project for me and I have quite a long way to go as I have only have gone back as far as Onslaught block. Please bear in mind that I also review ALL art the artist does. I have many non-M:TG pieces put out by the same artists. I love the art and the style the artist has. It need not be a M:TG piece to be great looking.

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