What's the value of a Dragon magazine painting • Collecting Appraisal • The Acaeum

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What's the value of a Dragon magazine painting
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Grimball4
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2017 11:17 pm

Since it has been established in my other post that artwork related to an actual D&D product greatly increases its value, and one can only imagine the value of the original handbook paintings or basic set painting. I'm wondering what about a Dragon Magazine cover painting. Such as the one I have from issue number 50.

Deadlord
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 9:19 pm

Talk about weird. I JUST read that one last night.

If you hit a Rowsdower, you get to keep it.

Skullhammer
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 9:36 pm

Grimball4 wrote in What's the value of a Dragon magazine painting:[ Image ]

Since it has been established in my other post that artwork related to an actual D&D product greatly increases its value, and one can only imagine the value of the original handbook paintings or basic set painting. I'm wondering what about a Dragon Magazine cover painting. Such as the one I have from issue number 50.

This probably goes without saying, but is this Carl Lundgren's original TSR commissioned painting? I've always found it difficult to put a reliable value on original art. Since it's a Dragon Magazine piece and not necessarily "iconic", I would take a wag at the value being in the order of hundreds, but not thousands. Of course, if a motivated buyer comes along...

Blackmoor
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 9:46 pm

I would say between $800 - $2200 at auction ymmv

Games can get you through times of no money but money can not get you through times of no games!!

Grimball4
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 10:29 pm

Yes, this is the actual painting from the magazine. I bought it from the artist himself.

Prufrock
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Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 8:05 am

Again, size counts. Dimensions? Blackmoor has given a pretty wide range that feels pretty good to me. However, I will give a smaller range of $1000 - $1500.

Martin

Grimball4
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Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 9:43 am

21 1/2" x 25 1/2" Pretty big

misterspock
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Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 9:49 am

I think you can get way more. I'd bet you could get at minimum 3500

Lordan
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Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 10:05 am

misterspock wrote in What's the value of a Dragon magazine painting:I think you can get way more. I'd bet you could get at minimum 3500

I'd have to agree....especially to the right collector, or just the "Acaeum" impact on anything in general

For me, there are a few covers from Dragon that really invoke a memory or some sort of nostalgia, and for those I would bid much higher than say any other cover....Especially #55, #86 and #165

I'm sure there is someone who would pay pretty well for it.

Skullhammer
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Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 10:28 am

So, in a nutshell - the perceived value of this painting is anywhere from several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. To me, this is one of the most exciting *and* frustrating facets of collecting ... and one of the reasons why placing a concrete value on a piece of art or collectible is so very difficult.

If you're looking to sell, but want to feel out the marketplace - I would recommend putting on eBay with a high-end BIN, but enable a unrestricted "Make Offer" option. After you post, advertise the posting on the Acaeum, Facebook auctions, and other collector sites. Then see where the rubber meets the road.

-Skull

Prufrock
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Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 1:58 pm

As I said size matters. That's a big painting and a cover painting for Dragon magazine. I will raise my valuation to 2500 - 3500.

Martin

stahlnee
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Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 7:42 pm

Grimball4 - Value of art is not always based on size. You might have better luck on getting a value outside the gaming community. Carl did a lot more work in other fields.

What you paid Carl is probably a good indication of its value.

Also notice what appears to be glare. Is that glare from the flash and not fading going on?

TheHistorian
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 6:18 pm

Lordan wrote in What's the value of a Dragon magazine painting:For me, there are a few covers from Dragon that really invoke a memory or some sort of nostalgia, and for those I would bid much higher than say any other cover....Especially #55, #86 and #165 I'm sure there is someone who would pay pretty well for it.

That's a fair point. Every cover is going to be meaningful to someone; the question is which ones would be meaningful to many people?

For me:

92 - Bridge Of Sorrows is iconic. I like it even more than Beauvais' chess series. I think it would be on quite a few lists!

Keith Parkinson - I love most of them, but 129's The Big Stash is probably my favorite.

Daniel Horne - Same class as Parkinson for me, and I think 128 would be the winner here.

Areas of interest/knowledge: Harn, WFRP, Ars Magica, anything BRP based such as CoC, Runequest, Pendragon and all their related games

Mister Yuk
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Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 12:33 pm

Agree with the fellow posters that it being a large piece will add value. If I gave a guess, I'd say $1-5K. How ironclad is your documentation for it, I wouldn't think it would come into question selling it - but as the price goes up, so do the worries. I know one thing, if you sell, you'll want the Magazine issue sitting right next to it for comparison - don't assume anything.

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