Page 42 - joa oct 22

After a Normally Slow August, September Shows Pop Culture Heat

hile August is traditionally a slow month for auctions in the Sonic the Hedgehog WATA 9.6 A sealed (printed in Japan, early
realm of popular culture, things in September were already production) Sega Genesis sold for $102,000. Only two sealed copies of the
Wstarting to crank up. And that doesn’t mean there was no “Printed in Japan” variant are graded higher than this copy.
activity in August either.
Hake’s Premier Auction Reaches $2.7 Million
Heritage Comics & Art Auction Sets Records, While we’ve paid a lot of attention lately to Star Wars at Hake’s
Sees $5M in First Session Auctions—a string of record-setting action figures, and in July six of the
Heritage opened their September 8-11, 2022, Comics & Comic Art prototype Star Wars daily comic strips by celebrated artist Al Williamson
Signature Auction with four auction records set in 90 minutes and a first set their own records—it’s probably a good idea to take another look at
session total of over $5.8 million. The results were “thrilling” according to the breadth and depth of their offerings.
Heritage Co-Chairman Jim Halperin, who said, “Comic books and comic The company’s auction #235 featured 2,033 lots of pop culture and
art are as coveted and collectible as ever.” historical material with everything from early baseball photos and
The first record set Thursday, September 8, was Steve Ditko’s Amazing campaign buttons to rare action figures and comic strip art. The premier
Spider-Man #18 Splash Page 1 original art, which realized event ended on July 26-27, 2022, with a total of $2.7 million.
$228,000. The art marked the third appearance of the A Mego Green Goblin rare 1975 A card AFA 80+
Green Goblin and became the most valuable Ditko page was the star of the pop culture sales, soaring to
ever sold at auction. $76,700 and decimating its pre-auction estimate of
The next record was Don Heck’s Tales of Suspense $20,000. The 8” figure from the World’s Greatest
#39 Story Page 12 original art from Iron Man’s Super-Heroes line has the Type 2 body Green Goblin
first appearance that hammered for $228,000. This with boots and satchel on a punched card. The figure
important piece of art is even more special considering was discontinued shortly after this version was
Tony Stark’s debut was in a 13-page story and he only released, making it one of the hardest to find. It is the
appeared in eight pages wearing the armor. only graded example in the AFA Population Report.
In comic strips, Heritage sold a Bill Waterson Calvin The aforementioned Star Wars original comic strip
and Hobbes hand-colored daily comic strip original art art by Al Williams came from the collection of the
dated February 6, 1992, for $216,000. The rare piece of original film’s advertising/publicity supervisor Charles
art personalized to Garry Trudeau became the most Lippincott. Williams illustrated 12 strips of preliminary
expensive Calvin and Hobbes sold at auction. art for the Star Wars comic strip, but the initial deal fell
through, and the proposal was scrapped. The first six
Heritage Video Game Auction Clears $4.46M strips were then given to Star Wars creator George Lucas
It might not carry the firepower of the comics and the second set were given to Lippincott.
auctions, but the Dallas/Fort Worth-based auction Star Wars daily strip #7 showing Darth Vader
house clearly leveled up on August 5-7, when their interrogating a Rebel captain about the whereabouts of
Video Games Signature Auction turned in a high score stolen Imperial plans more than doubled its estimate to
of $4,462,774. All 489 of the games that were offered Steve Ditko’s original Page 1 Splash art hammer for $46,726. Strip #8 featuring Princess Leia
sold, and many sealed, graded games achieved results for Amazing Spider-Man #18 sold for firing upon a Stormtrooper also doubled its estimate to
beyond their estimates. $228,000 at Heritage Auctions. grab $41,942. Strip #11 with the Sandcrawler stopping
The Legend of Zelda WATA 9.6 A+ sealed (Rev-A, The art marked only the third for Jawas to unload Threepio and Artoo for sale went for
round SOQ, mid-production) NES game took the top appearance of the Green Goblin. $23,364, just over its estimate. Strip #10 showing
spot at $384,000. It is the highest graded “round SOQ” C-3PO and R2-D2 traversing the desert canyon on
copy of the 1987 game and is one of only six graded 9.6 of any variant. Tatooine reached $21,417, also just over estimate. Strip #9 featuring
Valarie Spiegel, Managing Director of Video Games, said, “The Darth Vader and Stormtroopers with a captive Leia, went for $19,470.
relative consistency in prices realized and our average lot value compared Strip #12 with Luke and Owen debating buying droids while
to past auctions, not to mention the fact that we had many new significant Stormtroopers discover the escape pod cleared $18,585. The six strips sold
buyers, just goes to show the video games market is here to stay.” for a combined $171,504.
Super Smash Bros. WATA 9.8 A++ sealed NES hammered for Amazing Fantasy #15 CGC 2.5 with the first appearance of Spider-
$240,000. According to Wata’s March 2022 population report, this is the Man took the top comic spot at $31,152. X-Men #1 CGC 6.0 featuring
only copy graded 9.8 and the only one graded above 9.4. the first X-Men and Magneto hit $24,645, and Incredible Hulk #181
Resident Evil WATA 9.6 A+ sealed (ridged longbox, first production) CGC 9.6 with Wolverine’s introduction went for $23,883.
PS1 reached $192,000. This variant features artwork by comic industry
icon Bill Sienkiewicz and is tied for the highest graded example that All prices include the 18% buyer’s premium.
Heritage has offered. By J.C. Vaughn and Amanda Sheriff.
Duck Hunt WATA 9.2 A++ sealed (matte sticker, first production)
NES brought $144,000. This classic game debuted in console form in J.C. Vaughn is Vice-President of Publishing
1985 after its successful introduction to arcades the year before. for Gemstone Publishing. Amanda Sheriff is
Gemstone’s Editor – Digital.

40 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles