Friday 16 February 2018

Printing Cost Blues & Auction Mania!! (Dave's Weekly Update #222)

Hi, Everybody!

Heeeeeere's Dave:


I haven't found any Cerebus In Hell? original art auctions on the eBays, but I'll update as more info comes in. Promise.

UPDATE: There it is!

Next time:Gee what do I got around the house I could donate for Dave to auction?

9 comments:

ninja said...

Time for a prepaid limited edition slipcased hardcover, just saying.

Steve said...


It is encouraging to see what the bids are already at, and with some days still to go until the auctions end. While I've expressed my concerns about auctioning those OWHBB sets, these two current auctions show that there is some strong interest in unusual / unique / specialty Cerebus products.

Something I found out years ago when I was regularly selling things on eBay is that buyers would look for my auctions, I developed a small 'client base'.

I have no doubt the same will happen for Dave and 'Bonecrusher86', IF they are able to consistently list at least several auctions a month.

And with more auctions will come more exposure, more exposure leads to more interest, and more interest leads to more demand -- and auction values go up.

Speaking of auctions, Heritage is currently auctioning a Mike Zeck / Gerhard 'Punisher' image that (if only because of Gerhard's background) is quite stunning - both visually and price wise.

I often wonder what the circumstances are for an owner of such a personal piece of artwork like this, that it would end up at auction.

Steve

Damian T. Lloyd, Esq. said...

"Supplies are going down, so prices are going up." Well, that's a capitalist marketplace functioning as it should.

Dave's options are 1) Decrease costs, 2) Raise prices, or 3) Stop publishing phonebooks. It seems 1) is not possible, and Dave seems to have decided upon 3). Does anyone have an opinion on 2)? There is an upper limit to what he could charge for a Cerebus phonebook, but has it been reached yet?

-- Damian

Steve said...


**snicker**

Not to be a dick about it, but I don't plan to bid on the Codpiece.

**chortle**

rumrunner said...

300.00 to 500.00 for each volume in a slipcased hardcover collection would be about my limit. not sure what the page count of those Russ Cochran Mad And Barks collections were, but that is my guidepost for size and appearance. The slimmer later volumes could be bundled and the fatter early volumes could be split. The missing issues should appear in line with where the originally appeared in the run.

Glen said...

Charging $50 for a softcover black & white Cerebus TPB would probably be the limit.

Anything more than that should have some of the following; a hardcover, limited edition, signed, numbered, slip case, new colour cover, etc.

But I doubt there are enough Cerebus fans in the world that would make that profitable. Ever.

Glen said...

I know it's too late now but.....


Did Dave ever consider including pages of his notebooks in Cerebus TPBs?


I've purchased a couple of Watchmen graphic novels that have included Dave Gibbons drafts, sketches, mock covers, and early character designs. It was really interesting.

Steve said...


So from my experience, Dave has never been open to hardcover collections, additional material in the phone books, any of the sorts of perks which compel the buyer to shell out more money for something (especially Cerebus fans) they already own in some form or another.

Which is why I've had numerous custom hardcover Cerebus books bound by a local bindery -- and always made money on the sale.

As I understand it, Dave wants the phone books to be the Cerebus story itself, distanced from the additional material represented by everything else in the original comics.

Fans like myself want all that additional material, and custom binding allows us to build books to suit our own tastes.

The last set I had done included all the 'extras' from the Swords volumes, both stories and Dave's introductions, the ARGH story -- all the extra stuff I could find. And I could put all this other material in the storyline where I felt it belonged.

I do think, if some sort of limited slipcase set is produced, it needs to be limited to subscribers who have paid upfront some part of the subscription, bringing in some money to offset production costs.

For me personally, with the digitization going on, I'd like to be able to purchase the whole series as originally issued (ie, covers, editorials, letters, etc) and all the other stories and material like the Swords introductions, and then print the series at a larger size and once more make my own custom hardcover set. That way I'm getting the best of both worlds: the fabulously restored art at a larger size and the customized contents I want built into my books.

As always, a challenge in selling the remastered books at any price point is the easy availability of the older printings at much cheaper prices on eBay.

Steve

Jeff said...

Well, Steve, the distinct selling point of higher-priced remastered volumes is the vastly superior reproduction of the original line art, tone, and blacks on the printed page. I, for one, believe that Volume I is finally readable without distraction by bad reproduction, for example. And, in Going Home, we finally get to see Jaka's nether regions clearly, as she is cleaning up after the horseplay with Cerebus in the carriage. In that example, certainly, the devil is truly in the details. Of re-, I say, reproduction. Remastering, that is.