DCML Digest vol. 20 Issue 3

Don Rosa donrosa at iglou.com
Mon Oct 4 17:17:02 CEST 2004


> From: "Arie Fachrisal" <cien2 at cbn.net.id
> > From: "Heino" <j.heino at kotiposti.net>

...and others.
About the stuff you see showing up on eBay in the way of signed prints and
scribbled Duck heads. Just so anyone interested or curious knows exactly
what they're seeing:
When I had to stop doing those fancy full-color drawings for Duckfans at
American conventions (due to abuse by eBay louts), I still was getting
invited to a few shows a year, and I had to have *something* for fans to get
signed if they don't have anything with them (which in America is quite
often). I can't give away or sell copies of my comics at local or foreign
shows like other writers or artists since I often have trouble getting a
single copy of one of my own comics just for myself, much less even a few
extra. So I make color prints of cover parodies that I've done in years past
for friends or charity auctions and other published Duckscenes or covers,
and I take those to shows. I give away as many as I sell, but the ones I
sell are pretty cheap, $10 each. (And fans are "paying for the signature,
not the print", like the Disney artists do at Disneyana conventions.) These
prints are ONLY something for me to have at the one or two shows I'm invited
to attend in America -- that's their only purpose.
As for the scribbles, those I do always for free at shows. But, I would see
them sometimes go directly onto eBay before I even left the show, and the
eBay louts would get $75-100 each for something they obtained for free by
posing as a "big fan". I now insist on putting a dedication on all
scribbles -- this does not prevent the louts from rushing the free drawings
onto eBay, but it slows them down and lowers the undeserved fees they get.
(But right now there is a "custom cut" scribble on eBay being sold by a lout
who just took scissors and trimmed out Donald's head and my signature from
the paper with the dedication. The winner of that auction will be assured by
me that it was not "custom cut" by the artist and of the obvious reason it
was cut up.)
Yes, I see the signed prints also being rushed onto eBay and selling for up
to $75. Does someone have a right to do that? Well, "yes and no". It may be
his property in one sense. But whenever anyone wants a print without a
dedication I make sure they promise me that it's for themselves or for a
future gift to a friend. Naturally I will NOT sign anything for someone who
tells me it is for immediate eBay sale. Of course, what real guarantee do I
have? The only thing I know for sure is that if someone promises me one
thing and then exploits me with a lie, he might be making some $ but he's
losing far more, his integrity and self-respect, if any. That's a high price
to pay for a bit of profiteering.
But I can see (due to about a dozen signed prints on eBay right now sold by
one person I encountered in Baltimore recently who told me that all the
undedicated prints were "gifts for friends"), I must now *always* insist on
putting dedications rather than asking for promises. And I plan to have a
small rubber stamp made up saying "NOT FOR EBAY SALE" which I'll put on the
backs of the prints.
(And as someone said, personal financial problems may someday make it
needful for a real fan to part with some of his stuff on eBay. But when I
see a dozen prints or scribbles going directly onto eBay just days after the
comics show, if not actually *during* the show, I feel pretty sure that's
not the case in that instance.)




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