Star Wars and sports cards land in the winners circle at Morphy’s smash $3.1M auction

Unopened 1952 Topps baseball brick of eight factory-sealed 5-cent wax packs, with each pack containing five cards. Extraordinarily rare and most likely from Topps’ first series. Authenticated by Steve Hart, owner of Baseball Card Exchange. Sold above high estimate for $873,300 to a private collector

DENVER, Pa.- Star Wars fans and diehard sports buffs called the shots at Morphy Auctions’ February 1-3, 2023 auction, which attracted head-spinning prices and closed the books at nearly $3.1 million. The sale featured both a phenomenal single-owner collection of early Star Wars action figures and a vintage sports card selection that included one of the most sought-after treasures of the “unopened” realm: an intact 1952 Topps baseball wax-pack “brick” that sold for a staggering $873,300. Absentee and Internet live bidding was facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.

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Prices robust for classic Disney comics, original art

A four-color ‘Donald Duck #4’ (Dell, 1940) made $18,000 plus the buyer’s premium in April 2021. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.
A Four-Color Comics ‘Donald Duck #4’ (Dell, 1940) made $18,000 plus the buyer’s premium in April 2021. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — Disney is the very definition of a household name, represented by theme parks and movies as well as a merchandising empire that spans toys, books, costumes and home decor. One of its most collectible genres harkens back to the company’s roots in animation: original Disney art, comic strips and comic books are perennially popular, and demand in recent years has been high.

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Collectors aimed high for robots, Disney toys at Milestone auction

Bandai (Japan) friction-powered ‘Flying Spaceman’ on ‘Super Cycle’ with original caped, green rubber “Superman” figure. Cape shown in foreground. Accompanied by colorfully illustrated box lid. The top lot of the sale, it sold for $55,200 against an estimate of $15,000-$25,000.

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – Bidders from more than 20 countries worldwide brought their A-game to Milestone’s May 1 Spring Spectacular Toy Auction, which ran 13 hours due to sustained bidding, primarily via the Internet. Interest was especially strong for robots, early comic character toys and an extraordinary collection of 150+ vintage toy boats and electric outboard motors in their original boxes.

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Milestone’s May 1 auction loaded with rare robots, early comic character toys

Masudaya (Japan) 15-inch battery-operated Target Robot from the famous ‘Gang of Five.’ All original and complete with correct dart gun and one dart. Estimate $8,000-$12,000

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – They came from the future and landed on Earth in the 1950s and ’60s, but now toy robots of that classic production era seem more like prophets whose mission is being fulfilled more than half a century later in the labs of MIT and NASA. For many collectors, the connection to robots is rooted in a childhood memory – discovering that Santa had left them a walking, flashing, noisy android under the Christmas tree. Collectors will relive that indelible memory on May 1st at Milestone’s 766-lot Spring Spectacular Toy Auction, which features a specialty grouping of more than 100 coveted vintage robots and space toys.

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