Thoughts on the National...

[GKreindler]

Hey all,

So, I had a thought recently that I've been wrestling around with. I brought it up to the 800lb gorilla (Dean) today, and after our conversation, it seems like the match has gotten tougher. And at this point, I thought it was worth bringing up to the boards, as all of your opinions would be incredibly valuable. I should warn you that I'm going to ask a bit about money and how you spend your own, so please know that I do not mean to offend anyone or come across as being rude or crass. This is all just information that I'm trying to gather for my own understanding (and sanity).

For starters, some of you might remember that Dean and I did the National in Cleveland five years ago. It was the first time I had ever taken part in a convention or trade show like that. We had a GREAT time. In all honesty, it was one of my favorite long weekends of ALL time. We had a booth that was filled with larger paintings from my inventory, and there was even enough room for me to set up my portable easel and get some painting done while Dean sat around and handled other stuff (probably porn-related). The photo below illustrate it pretty well:



I got to meet a lot of people and made a ton of friends (many of whom are on this board today). It was basically an excuse for me to talk shop with fellow passionate collectors for five days and enjoy myself. From my point of view, it couldn't have been better.

But then there's Dean. He enjoyed himself for the most part, don't get me wrong, but I think he was a little bit disappointed with the actual sales that were made. In those five days, a collector purchased a 12" x 16" portrait, and another commissioned a smaller 5.5" x 10" painting of the T206 Wagner card. The larger ones, all of which included popular top-tier players like Ruth, Koufax, Cobb, Jackie, Mantle, Williams and DiMaggio didn't sell. For him money-wise, it was a losing proposition.

What Dean surmised was that though there were thousands of people who walked in and out of the convention center, only of few of them really made the jump from the idea of collecting cards to the idea of collecting art/fine art/illustrations/whatever. In other words, they were more comfortable putting their money into those cards - things that have many rubrics to determine their value - than they were with what I was doing. I did end up agreeing with him to an extent, but I also thought a lot of it had to do with the pricing. I'm not necessarily saying that they should have been lower or fairer, but the fact is, I'm well aware that these paintings aren't cheap. Not everyone is in the position to buy them if they want (which I do think sucks). The fact is, they're really a luxury item - I make stuff that people don't need. And that's especially true in a down economy. (Though it's still important for me to reiterate how grateful I am for everyone who likes what I do, whether they can afford an original or not.)

Over the past few years, I've wanted VERY much to exhibit again at the National. Any National. There's been a little bit of a problem with coming up with enough inventory (as that sort of thing does have to cut into the time I spend painting stuff on commission), but then there's also the problem that Dean mentioned. I wish that it all didn't really come down to money for him, but after all, he is my agent, so I guess it should. In the end, I think he just wants to know that if we did get a booth at some point in the near future, that he would be able to break even if nothing else, especially considering the cost of the space, all of the accoutrements within, lodging, food, transportation, and whatever else happens to come up.

Now, fast-forward to present time. Recently, Dean has started selling the small color studies I make in preparation for larger portraits (16" x 20"s and around that size). Any of you who are on his email list probably read about this a few months back. For those who aren't, in summation I do at least one of these sketches for each fully-realized portrait that I paint. In reality, they had always been for my own purposes, just stuff that I would throw in a closet and had no intention to sell. Though, I guess Dean saws the ol' dollar signs in his head and couldn't resist. And, since a number of them have been done that I have yet to turn into the larger pieces, he's been able to offer something pretty unique to his clients. I've included a few examples below:







As you can probably tell, they're rather loose and painterly. I try my best to limit my experimenting on them so that when I get to the final pieces, it's less guesswork. At 5" x 7", they're the smallest things that I create. Additionally, they're also the least expensive - Dean charges $599 for each one.

What I was wondering is whether any of you fellas thought that something like this might be an item that a larger percentage of convention-goers might be interested in. I think that the price-point isn't too bad, especially considering the cost of the larger guys, and the size makes it somewhat comparable to a typical baseball card in stature, so in my mind, that mental jump isn't so far.

My idea was that for an upcoming National, I could try to paint like 200 of them or something like that, and then just see what happens. I know that from Dean's perspective, the goal is to just knock people out with the size and presence of a larger oil painting, but I'm starting to think that for a lot of people there needs to be somewhat of a bridge there.

That idea especially applies since I feel like a lot of people do come to these conventions with a reasonable budget in mind, and perhaps, even a wishlist. I would imagine that no one is thinking that they 'need' something from me like they might need a few high-grade commons for their '54 Bowman set. I guess the hope would be to attract a number of people who would like what they see enough to inquire about purchasing one, and then not completely balking at the price. Granted, I do realize that even $599 is a LOT of money. And of course, there are just a good number of people who have no interest in what I do (which is totally fine).

In the end, do you think that these are items that people could get into in that kind of environment? Is your budget at one of these things at all conducive to that kind of purchase (and that can apply to either before or after you walk the floor and find whatever's on your list), or is that price point even too high for a casual convention attendee?

Any and all thoughts are GREATLY appreciated. You guys rule.

Thanks,

Graig