Signed figure's (rarity, value,...)? (1 Viewer)

[Aleš]

Sometimes i can see on auctions (like Ebay for example) that sellers sale SIGNED figures. I think there was an Denis Britain (son of William Britain) signature on one figure that seller wannt's 1500 usd...So, is this a normal price or what?
The figure was probably rare (wbritain of course, some dude wearing white jacket,...) with the Denis Britain signature on the box....Usualy that kind of figure WBritain will sell for around 34 usd, but yes this one was old, and probably rare, with the signature,...anyway it didnt sale (at least i follow that figure for some times to see if the price will drop,...than i stop follow that figure, maybe there is still on Ebay,...).
So, the main questions are:

-how rare are SIGNED figure on the market (auctions)?
-What is the REAL (not how much the seller wannts) value of such a figure?
-is figure more valuable if it is signed on the bottom or if it is signed on the box?
-is the price smaller if the figure is dedicated (example TO BOB, TO JIM,.....and than signature from the maker, company owner,sculptor,...of the company) instead of only signature, without dedication from a maker, sculptor, manager,...

I am asking this, not because i wish to sale such a figure ( i will rather buy such a figure haha), but also to see how other collectors feel about that (the prices, the rarity, the interesting in signed figures,...)?

 

[Mirof]

I think, it all depend of what you call " signed"
Some editors make series they called Signed, such as a serie coming from illustrations by xxx, you can today buy serie of glasses ( drinking) under the name Klimt ( signed ) and we know Klimt is dead long before those glases were made . Usualy, it means also, limited and numbered quantity .
So 50 years later they sell a bit more than at first production .

Now If Mr D. Britain sulpted, molded and painted 1 unique piece, OK, the seller can expect very high price
But, then the piece must come with the signature on the rear/top of the base and come with the proof thats a unique piece ( historical trace in a text, photography, identificaion by an expert .

For exemple Mr Ciuffo produced in the mid 70ies pieces in plasticine ( platicine : so unique ) selling at that time at 10$, a last sale at Christie, 6 years ago showed price arround 1000$, but we are sure they were unique by a talented sculptor


Signed TO BOB
do you reallly think that the value of an artist work change because it's dedicated to somebody ?
Yes if it's dedicated to .. let's say The Prince of Whales, because the receiver is of renown
If it's dedicated TO BOB, the value is the same as if it is not dedicated


Now I have seen for exemple a King & Country ( retired) sold for 600$ when I was buying also from e-bay the same piece for 80$ the same week . So the right price, is what you are willing to pay .
Allas lot of new seller on e-bay find their inspiration for price on ... e-bay, and they usualy use the highest one .

 

[Aleš]

When i write signed, i was thinking of signature,....like for example Mr.Denis Britain signed (his signature) on the certificate that goes allong with the figure. So, another person own exactly the same figure, with the certificate but with NO signature of Mr. Denis Britain, because he buy the figure for let say 60 usd when it was released, but than some other person see Mr.Denis Britain (when he was still alive of course) let say in Supermarket and he ask him if he could sign the certificat or box or figure stand,...so how much is this figure more value of the same figure without signature?
That was my question, i hope i made it clear now....

When i write about the dedication to Bob (for example) in the world of Comic books this is lower price than with out the "TO BOB", only the author signature....because if you are a fan of Superman and you wish to buy the comic book with the original authograph (signature) of the Author and your name is Jim, you will not be so much interested to buy an comic book where it is already written to Bob, would you?
But if you buy without dedication (no BOB) you will get the signature (authograph) of the artist and no one will know that you didnt get this DIRECT from the artist (even in real you buy it on the auction,...)

 

[hotel3alpha]

Gents,

I had the honor and privilege of having Andy Nielsen sign some of my boxes of my figures and man it is just too cool. Nevermind the value, I think rarity of it alone is cool. For example, a few years back I found a figure set called Imperial China IC002 "The Boy Emperor and Mandarin Kowtowing" that I have been looking for-FOREVER. This set is rare and have yet to see it again since then, but anyway I picked it up for a $150 bucks and when the Texas Toy Soldier show came to town I asked Andy to sign it and he did inside the box. When he did, we talked about the piece, the era, the rarity of it, how it evolved and so forth. I packed it away and have since forgot about it. So, to me it was a moment where I got to meet the "man" have him put his name on a piece he created and autograph it. It is no different from having George Lucas sign a Star Wars toy.

But to someone else, it is the most incredible thing in the world. A relic, a piece of history and that may be so, and the selling price of a piece may reflect that. But to me, the moment of getting the piece signed is priceless and you know what 40 years from now when my kids sell off my collection at Christies and the auctioneer says "up next from the John from Texas Collection-King and Country's Imperial Collection IC002-The Boy Emperor and Mandarin Kowtowing piece-Signed to Big John by Andy Nielsen-opening bid starts at...." Then we shall see if the signatures matters. Until then I just think it is cool and it surely doesn't hurt to have a creator, author, or founder of an piece autograph his or her work.

Who knows maybe one day their signature could be the difference between 10 dollars or 10 thousand.

John from Texas

 

[thebritfarmer]

I believe the Dennis Britain figures that were signed were for a commemorative dinner (100 sets)and were issued to the guests (50 sets were also given away in a prize draw fir the Collectors Club). The regular release of the figure did not have a certificate.


The certificate version was worth about $50.00 and the regular version about $30.00 These prices are from 2008 however so allow for a little inflation.

 

[Aleš]

well i find this on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/W-BRITAINS-...709?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd7cddd35

But last time i think it was only the figure with white Jacket (no coronation....) well maybe the seller change his add or is this another seller, anyway, the price is the same....
So, is this worth that much?

Maybe this is more interesting for the people who collect authographs....