A MoPo pal privately (and jokingly) asked me last night, "so
who's the ugly guy having dinner with Liza in the 4th
picture?" With a straight face, I admitted it was me. Those
pictures were taken about 2 years ago.
However, in my defense, I noted that with the mastery of CGI,
I can be cleaned up -- as is sometimes necessary in the field
of news and public relations; thus, for those "just getting
to know me," who've never met me in person (despite being a
MoPo member for years) -- I submit a "reasonable facsimilie"
of yours truly, an older pix taken for professional reasons
-- (but stripped of the "kidding on the square" caption
beneath it). Hey man, anything to reduce my "ass***e score"
among my detractors. I'm aware most will still mutter, "now
that stuck-up clown is torturing us with a picture of
himself." Trust me when I say I do not look like the
imposter below; vaguely similar, but with a lot less hair, a
lot more gray and a lot more pickled; after all, I was born
in occupied Tokyo during the Eisenhower years, so lay off. :-(
P.S. -- I will admit, though, that I did have a hilarious bit
role in film that people keep bugging me about. Remember
that goofy Japanese guy who tries to hit on Frances McDormand
in the restaurant scene in "Fargo?" Yeah, that was me. So
there.
http://tinyurl.com/d6g7t3
-----Original Message-----
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:45:35 -0700
From: davidmkusum...@hotmail.com
Subject: OT: Speaking of Stephen Fishler...
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Freeman:
OK, I'm busted. Liza felt sorry for me going alone, so after
30-minutes of begging and groveling, making a total Asian
spectacle of myself -- Liza agreed to stand-in as my "wife"
-- at Bruce's poster sale back in 1998. Below are more
recent pictures of Liza taken during our last visit to New
York. The woman below is not only Liza Minnelli -- she's
also, when the need arises -- my "wife." I have a receipt to
prove it. Keeping up appearances is expensive, man. But I
don't mess around. -d.
http://tinyurl.com/c7olph
From: flixs...@aol.com
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 03:12:40 -0400
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Speaking of Stephen Fishler...
To: davidmkusum...@hotmail.com ; mopo-l@listserv.american.edu
What was Liza Minnelli doing there?
In a message dated 3/15/2009 11:59:38 P.M. Pacific Daylight
Time, davidmkusum...@hotmail.com writes:
David I have always meant to apologize for hassling your
wife back then at that Comic-Con in the 1970s!
Bruce -- it couldn't have been you in the 1970s at Comic-Con
who hit on my girlfriend-who-later-became-my-wife. She
remembers the creep being definitely fair-haired and geeky.
And though you're obviously no George Clooney -- my wife
doesn't consider you a geek, as is evident in the two pics
she prodded me to share (see below) that were taken with you
both at your L.A. sale.
Meanwhile, I have to say that while showroom auctions are
prohibitively expensive -- (which explains the high buyer and
seller premiums other auctions charge) -- there's a
wistfulness I feel about those sales of the past. That sale
of yours in L.A. in that massive building was something, with
all the lots displayed in floor-to-ceiling rows around the
room -- and what was a "first" for an "auction house" at the
time -- you had lots of food stored in big coolers in the
back for everyone to help themselves. My recollection of the
news story I wrote -- was you had several hundred lots and
only about 4-5 passes. And the happiest guy in the room
(besides the winning bidders) -- was a fellow in his late 30s
named Marty Saltzman, who agreed to be interviewed and
proudly revealed he was the consignor of more than half of
the lots. That kind of openness among consignors and bidders
-- with media present -- will likely never happen again. I
think the only reason why normally hide-bound people would
reveal themselves in this way -- was because they were not
only happy, they were ecstatic -- and the noisy party-type
atmosphere in the showroom helped -- (a big contrast to more
stoic affairs held elsewhere). Whatta day that was... -d.
http://tinyurl.com/cjsft3
-----Original Message-----
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:26:22 -0500
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Speaking of Stephen Fishler...
From: brucehershen...@gmail.com
To: davidmkusum...@hotmail.com
CC: MoPo-L@listserv.american.edu
David
I have always meant to apologize for hassling your wife back
then at that Comic-Con in the 1970s!
Seriously though, I really have to admire Steve Fishler. Back
at the time of that auction, Steve and around a dozen other
guys were advertising hot and heavy that each one of them
paid the "most" for top quality posters.
Well, I knew when I got these two incredible posters (never
before auctioned, excellent unrestored condition, and
straight from a man who had owned them for 50 years) that
THIS would be the ultimate test of who was the real deal, and
who was "all talk".
My auctions have always been cash only, with no trades, no 6
months zero interest, no pretend sales, etc. I made it clear
before the auction that the high bidder on either of these
two posters would have to pay in full within 30 days of the
auction date (and only in the world of collectibles where
almost all the top players for the most expensive posters are
"collectibles rich, but cash broke" could these be considered
onerous terms).
Well the auction came, and not only did Fishler buy BOTH of
these, but none of the other "we pay most" guys even bid!
And of course I would have gone to my grave without revealing
who bought these except that Steve himself revealed that he
was the buyer.
The collectibles world is filled with lots of big talkers,
and huge sales that never really happened, but these were two
sales that did.
Bruce
On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 5:29 PM, David Kusumoto <
davidmkusum...@hotmail.com> wrote:
** I confess when my good-looking girlfriend (who's now my
wife) and I first walked into Comic-Con in the 1970s (which
was then held in the smallish El Cortez Hotel and later the
Civic Center here in San Diego) -- we were taken aback by the
geek factor, people dressed up in costumes and reciting every
line in Star Trek, going over plot lines and Trek-ideology,
all that jazz. I have never been a Star Trek fan or a
collector of sports cards, but I did have an interest in old
comics and movies. Other than my aversion to Star Trek and
sports cards -- I confess I was still a little rattled that
my interests were otherwise very much aligned with others at
Comic-Con -- who seemed geeky in appearance and manner, very
intellectual and socially awkward if they had to talk about
unrelated subjects like their jobs or what was in the news.
I seemed to need reassurance because I asked my girlfriend
(who went only because of my interest, not hers) -- "do I
seem that way to you?" And she said no. More than 30 years
later, she remains above my standing, not what people expect;
I obviously got lucky because I'm not an attractive match for
her and I'm not rich.
** But what was funny, I'll never forget this -- one year we
went to Comic-Con to buy more comics and folded one-sheets --
and this guy, he looked like the square dude who plays the
NBC page on "30 Rock" -- kept following my then girlfriend
around whenver I strayed into another direction in the
dealer's room, peppering her with questions -- and I
overheard this Boy Scout trying to pick her up, asking for
her phone number. I guess he was surprised to see a girl
like her at Comic-Con. (She worked at JC Penney at the time
and eventually became a department manager at Nordstrom.) My
then girlfriend politely declined to give out her personal
information and then she swiveled and gave me a glare that
said, "get me outta of this place, NOW."
** Today, Comic-Con is gigantic, with crowds of around
100,000 or more held at the huge San Diego Convention Center
on the harbor -- and though the event still retains its geek
factor -- it's far more inclusive, with tons of stuff for
children and movie-related material and events going
constantly. When Comic-Con started, its only attendees were
young adults and grumpy old men. The trouble today is few
can afford to attend Comic-Con. And I understand that this
year's bash is already sold out. In terms of its impact on
traffic and people crowding our streets -- Comic-Con is
bigger than the Super Bowls our city has hosted. Every Comic-
Con, locals avoid downtown. But now that we have a major
league baseball stadium downtown, it's a nightmare.
-d.
-----Original Message-----
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2009 09:13:34 -0700
From: aday_5...@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Speaking of Stephen Fishler...
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Guilty on all counts (btw ... I finally got the beautiful
woman, but she was born waaaay after ST left the airwaves).
ad
--- On Sun, 3/15/09, David Kusumoto <
davidmkusum...@hotmail.com> wrote:
From: David Kusumoto < davidmkusum...@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Speaking of Stephen Fishler...
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Date: Sunday, March 15, 2009, 2:46 AM
(truncated)
And we used to laugh because at lunch he would tell us off
and on that any woman he might marry in the future -- MUST
first know all about Star Trek and understand it. And oh, of
course, that woman would have to be gorgeous. He didn't
collect movie posters, but he DID collect comics and action
figures. I bet if I drew a line connecting all of MoPo's
members -- that I would find (besides a shared interest in
posters) -- a past or present interest in comics, sports
cards and sci-fi/sorcery stuff.
-d.
-----Original Message-----
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2009 23:46:19 -0700
From: davidmkusum...@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Speaking of Stephen Fishler...
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
** I saw Fishler in person that one and only time -- and he
struck me then as a very quiet but intense young man, almost
trying to hide from any attention. When I tried to interview
him, he was visibly uncomfortable and gave me only a few one-
breath quotes. But everyone in the huge room was curious
about him. "Who's the kid with all the money who looks like
he just got out of high school?," was the general buzz.
Instead of letting someone else bid on his behalf, Stephen
flew from NY to L.A. to bid in person. That was a helluva
sale -- and it was striking in that you got the feeling that
Stephen himself knew he was not going to lose those two
Universal horror posters; he had no limit. It happened at
Bruce's first stand-alone showroom sale (Dec. 1998) -- after
directing Christie's previous poster sales in New York.
Fishler struck me as a very mysterious figure. Since then,
I've seen him quoted many times and have learned that he has
ALWAYS been a big name in the comic book world.
** My wife and I have always found it intriguing that so many
movie poster collectors are hyper-intellectual guys who used
to collect sports cards or comic books, who love sci-fi and
Star Trek -- who have a high-geek factor that people (esp.
women) can instantly spot in a crowd. For example, the
character "Dwight" in NBC's "The Office" -- played by the
hilarious Rainn Wilson -- is the sort of guy you'd expect to
collect comics and posters, a guy who treats the Lord of the
Rings or Star Trek-type universes like a religion. And so he
does.
** There used to be this quiet, portly guy in his 30s who was
a graphic designer in our office in San Diego. And we used
to laugh because at lunch he would tell us that any woman he
might marry in the future -- MUST first know all about Star
Trek and understand it.. And oh, of course, that woman would
have to be gorgeous. He didn't collect movie posters, but he
DID collect comics and action figures. I bet if I drew a
line connecting all of MoPo's members -- that I would find
(besides a shared interest in posters) -- a past or present
interest in comics, sports cards and sci-fi/sorcery stuff.
Speaking for myself, I was real INTO comic books during the
first 5-6 years of Comic-Con before moving on to books and
movies big-time.
-d.
-----Original Message-----
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:36:24 -0700
To: davidmkusum...@hotmail.com ; MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
From: sa...@comic-art.com
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Speaking of Stephen Fishler...
David
first time I met Steve he was 12 years old looking for
Fantastic Four #1 and had the cash with him and much more.
a year later he was a dealer too.
Always a good friend, I know he won't be bothered by
mentioning that his father was a liquor distributor and that
should tell you everything. His mother is a sweet lady and
Steve is a very smart businessman
Rich
At 04:28 PM 3/14/2009, David Kusumoto wrote:
On the AP wires today, see below.
[BTW, Fishler was/is a big buyer of movie posters and is
loaded with $$$. I saw him at Bruce's huge auction held in
L.A.'s cavernous Pacific Design Center that I covered 10
years ago for Movie Collector's World. At the time he was
only 31 -- and he walked away with the biggest prizes of the
day -- two unbacked one-sheets for "Dracula" ($74,750) and
"The Invisible Man" ($55,200).] -d.
----------------------
Rare Superman comic sells for $317,200
Mar 14, 5:44 PM (ET)
By DAVID B. CARUSO
NEW YORK (AP) - A rare copy of the first comic book
featuring Superman has sold for $317,200 in an Internet
auction. The previous owner had bought it for less than a buck.
It's one of the highest prices ever paid for a comic
book, a likely testament to the volume's rarity and its
excellent condition, said Stephen Fishler, co-owner of the
auction site ComicConnect.com and its sister dealership,
Metropolis Collectibles.
The winning bid for the 1938 edition of Action Comics No.
1, which features Superman lifting a car on its cover, was
submitted Friday evening by John Dolmayan, drummer for the
rock band System of a Down, according to managers at
ComicConnect.com.
Dolmayan, who is also a dealer of rare comic books, said
he acquired the Superman comic on behalf of a client he
declined to identify.
"This is one of the premier books you could collect," he
said in a telephone interview. "It's considered the Holy
Grail of comic books. I talked to my client, and we made the
move."
Dolmayan said the client has "a small collection, but
everything he has is incredible."
Only about 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 are known to
exist and they seldom come up for sale.
"Maybe in a booming economy, it would have done a hundred
grand more, but in this economy, I think the price is great,"
Fishler said.
The man who had previously owned the book purchased it in
a secondhand store in the early 1950s when he was nine years
old.
He paid 35 cents.
---
Associated Press writer Adam Goldman in New York contributed
to this report.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
________________________________________________________________
___
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its
content.
