he shouldn't be at all
he is a painter
not a print manufacturer
he has a gift and that will always be represented. Those that bought his prints because they loved the work will remain passionate about what they bought, framed and displayed and those who wanted to flip? Well who needs those supporters, and seriously who cares about their pain and long memories??

i thought that was cheap (hype hype) a few arrived that way, if i remember correctly

In regards to Banksy prints, that's not strictly true. The market price for any of the recent signed prints by Mr B is anywhere between £1000 and £2000, yet POW continue to sell new releases at around £300-£400. If they increased the price to reflect the market value, the need for lotteries/bun fights would cease to exist and flippers would disappear back into the woodwork.

As long as POW continue to do this, Banksy prints will continue to be an excellent investment.

As for Micallef, who knows what will happen. A Girl Tokyo went for around £500 on Ebay the other day and people are almost having to give away some of the POW/Laz editions. If AM is going to do any prints in future they should be in small editions and priced to sell out gradually over the course of several months.

He is still a brilliant artist, its just that the print market has been ruined for him for the foreseeable future.

Its a shame that Micallef seems to of taking a tumbling faster than most but i must admit its not a surprise. Agreed that it is mostly due to flooding the market but i have followed him for a long time and unfortunatly i genuinely believe that he has not progressed/developed in the way that artsits from a similar generation such as Adam neate have, certainly on a commercial level. Although his most recent show did have its fans how many people can honestly say that they would rather own an orginal from that instead of one from a few years ago such as dirty deluxe, orginal angel bomber or 21st century Love?

He is however still young and way to talented to disapear but i cant help think that since that Laz is responsible for making him degress. Sure they both have done well out of the deal in the short term. Maybe that was the plan.

Micallef's market fall has as much to do with bad management and hype overdrive gone awry. Another case of galleries pushing artists too far too fast. These prints should never have sold out at source for the absurd £4000 + vat they were asking for. Or even £1000 for the color litho series. But it's hard to blame them entirely when you could have sold almost anything printed on paper with a signature for £1000. Desire won, rational thought lost back then.

Beyond that it's up to micallef, I think he's talented but the content of his paintings often is just not very compelling.

$625 for a dirty deluxe and $2000 for a 21 century love. Ouch
phillipsdepury.com/auctions/online-catalog-results.aspx?sn=NY030209&search=micallef

compound creasing and soft pressure marks at the upper left margin corner, a crease at the lower right margin corner.

and
pale offsetting in places along the margins, four creases at the upper right margin corner.
still cheap tho

I paid over the odds for a few Mics. So as Sixpac says i am a mug.

But they are very nice hanging on my wall, and I am not losing any sleep over the purchases.

I've spunked my disposable income on much worse things than a few pics on my wall :-)

If the prices recover partly then great, but I dont know if i would sell, maybe when I tire of them I'll trade for something else I like.

Its not all about money, is it?

If it is, hows the pensions you've paid into doing at the moment?

Spartan I agree.. Unsigned?? Why buy unsigned?? Talking of posters.... I bought a 'Right Hand Red' (the first) signed print run. Now they are selling hundreds of posters for 25 notes?? not making much more money just pi**ing punters off. Its a shame these Micallef prices have come down but good if your a buyer and its going on your wall because you like the piece, not under the bed to make a profit... I doubt we will see any more unsigned from Banksy either.

I don't agree, I basically traded a newer banksy print for an unsigned LIITA and think it was a great decision. I think the early unsigned and very iconic works such as LIITA, Rude Cop, Queen Vic, Laugh Now, Happy Chopper etc. are basically of equal valley to a newer signed Nola, Donut, S&S etc. and I think they're value will hold up at least as well.

And no, it's not all about money. But it's pretty lame when I find out I paid $1000+ over the odds on something when I really don't have money to throw away. It happens, maybe I/we should know better, but it is a bit of a piss take that these galleries seriously took advantage of their clients and manipulated the hype and perceived market value of some of these artists and prints. Maybe we should have known better, maybe they should have known better. What I find surprising is how much people still vehemently support some of these galleries who make hundreds of thousands a year on these print releases.

I had an original static commission completed and must say they were really good and the finished product is fantastic!

Although not trying to hawk my goods, I had to list a Banksy of mine at the Bloomsbury Auction House due to the financial state of my household.

I decided to go with an auction house as I honestly don't think I would survive the stress of shipping a print and hoping that it got there intact while at the same time worrying if the buyer would pull a fast one on me (which is also not unheard of).

I let the auction house pick the estimates, the reserves and they handle the shipping, the insurance and everything in between.

I hope no one minds me posting this here.

best of luck to all of you.

ny.bloomsburyauctions.com/auction/NY049&printable

Love the grey Nola

that piece that was in los angeles is being sold on ebay.

cgi.ebay.com/Graffiti-Street-art-Banksy-guard-pink-balloon-dog-/120575643567?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c12de4faf

Anyone know the results?
What did the grey Nola sell for?