The Rory Kurtz Thread

[aldobishalini]

Probably one of those FB admins that are balls deep booted you out. They're pathetic haha

[35mmpaul]

He prices them basically at market. people have been slinging offers before he posted his lotto of willing to spend $1200 on one.

i think you are the ballsy one to bring up that point in the fan group. while yeah that group is very 'I WORSHIP YOU RORY ZOMG', speaking to the artist directly about his pricing is a bold move.

i said this above or somewhere. Rory is a very talented artist. But he fell into a overly passionate fanbase, and he knows how to get money out of them.

[Kramerica]

Many artists wait their entire career to have an opportunity at the kind of exposure that Rory has recently gotten. That notoriety rarely lasts forever so why shouldn't he charge as much as he can for his own work? It is how he makes a living, how he pays his bills, supports his family, puts his kids through college. Many times these artists don't have a 401k, employer provided health insurance/benefits, or a guarantee of steady work. Cashing in when you have the opportunity at a big payday is the obvious choice. People should blame the folks who have the money and are willing to pay the price for where the market is set.

[35mmpaul]

This^

[mfaith]

Don't you think it has the potential of doing harm if taken too far? In the sense that it can have an alienating effect on the more casual fans. And once the super passionate ones become super passionate about some other thing, the casual fans who would've remained aren't there anymore. I don't know, it's a balancing act I guess.

[Codeblue]

Especially once he inevitably LDs.

[Bluecow]

He prices them basically at market. people have been slinging offers before he posted his lotto of willing to spend $1200 on one.

i think you are the ballsy one to bring up that point in the fan group. while yeah that group is very 'I WORSHIP YOU RORY ZOMG', speaking to the artist directly about his pricing is a bold move.

i said this above or somewhere. Rory is a very talented artist. But he fell into a overly passionate fanbase, and he knows how to get money out of them.

I guess where I was coming from was that I thought it was relevant, as a fan, to express how I thought it was a turn off. I thought it was relevant to express that there was more than just the one side of cult-like praise. I'm not against him making money. Not at all. However, I would suggest making larger print runs so he can bring the cost down while still making the same amount of money. I get that this was a commission, but then why even offer it to the public if he's forced to charge prices like that or why not negotiate a larger run to bring the cost down? It's just a bad look in my opinion to charge prices like that when other courses of action are out there (larger print runs). Like I said, there are tons of other artists out there that I respect a lot more because it doesn't feel like they are trying to milk their fan base like the way it seems Rory is doing.

Many artists wait their entire career to have an opportunity at the kind of exposure that Rory has recently gotten. That notoriety rarely lasts forever so why shouldn't he charge as much as he can for his own work? It is how he makes a living, how he pays his bills, supports his family, puts his kids through college. Many times these artists don't have a 401k, employer provided health insurance/benefits, or a guarantee of steady work. Cashing in when you have the opportunity at a big payday is the obvious choice. People should blame the folks who have the money and are willing to pay the price for where the market is set.

Fair enough, but it's still a turn off as a fan and basically none of the other artists I follow (and are as popular or more so) do similar things like this, at least not to this level. And yes, the fans that pay these prices are definitely partially to blame. That was also my point of posting in the Facebook group about the price, to point out that not all fans feel that any price he chooses to charge is reasonable and hopefully help some fans stop and think to realize that they don't have to succumb to absurdly high prices for reproduction prints. I've paid some high prices for prints before ($600 was my max and that was a fair amount higher than the next highest one I've paid), but it just gets really silly in my opinion when they start getting close to $1k...for a print. Too much good art out there for cheaper.

[jkw3000]

In the sense that it can have an alienating effect on the more casual fans.

mwahahahaha

[Bluecow]

Don't you think it has the potential of doing harm if taken too far? In the sense that it can have an alienating effect on the more casual fans. And once the super passionate ones become super passionate about some other thing, the casual fans who would've remained aren't there anymore. I don't know, it's a balancing act I guess.

To the bold, that's where I'm at now. I really don't have any interest in following his work anymore with prices like that. His current fans are too rabid and I don't want to be in the rat race to try to keep up. Lots of other good artists out there with more reasonable fans.

[matowest]

In the sense that it can have an alienating effect on the more casual fans.

mwahahahaha

[mfaith]

Oh no. What did I do.

[matowest]

Oh, it's okay. We welcome signs that we're in the right space

[Kramerica]

Don't you think it has the potential of doing harm if taken too far? In the sense that it can have an alienating effect on the more casual fans. And once the super passionate ones become super passionate about some other thing, the casual fans who would've remained aren't there anymore. I don't know, it's a balancing act I guess.

No. The vast majority of his pop culture work is with Mondo, which prices everything well within the means of most of the fanbase. The only real issue is the entitlement of fans who think every piece should be available to them. There's no way to please all your fans. He prices them lower, all these so called trufans will be looking to cash in once their dog gets sick, their wife shoots it down, or they become enamoured with the next hot artist.

[jkw3000]

I'd just say that it seems like a lot to extrapolate how he wants to price and handle a tiny AP edition for a small, exclusive private commission against the norm of his usual releases - via Mondo, via timed edition sales on his site, even his normal AP pricing. Yeah it's high, god knows I neither lucked out into it nor participated in the lottery because of it, but I wouldn't imagine other artists doing tiny run commissions opting to make their APs a lower price either (or at least at cost), if they even participate or sell at all.

TL;dr - situation seems more like an exception than the norm, can't always get everything, yadda yadda yadda, hardly a reason to nuke the fandom from orbit.

[mfaith]

Don't you think it has the potential of doing harm if taken too far? In the sense that it can have an alienating effect on the more casual fans. And once the super passionate ones become super passionate about some other thing, the casual fans who would've remained aren't there anymore. I don't know, it's a balancing act I guess.

No. The vast majority of his pop culture work is with Mondo, which prices everything well within the means of most of the fanbase. The only real issue is the entitlement of fans who think every piece should be available to them. There's no way to please all your fans. He prices them lower, all these so called trufans will be looking to cash in once their dog gets sick, their wife shoots it down, or they become enamoured with the next hot artist.

That's true. And perhaps that is what gives it the right balance, and makes it work ok for him.