DENVER, Pa. – Morphy’s spring toy auction, which took in $3.1 million, made headlines worldwide with its phenomenal single-owner collection of factory-boxed Star Wars figures and a sports card selection that included an $873,300 Topps baseball wax-pack brick. No other event in Morphy’s 20-year history could top that one for the amount of social media buzz or the number of pre-sale inquiries from prospective bidders. The fun will resume on August 2-3, when Morphy’s presents its summer offering of Toys & General Collectibles featuring both classic toys and pop-culture favorites: vintage sports cards, comic books and early video games. Bid absentee or live via the Internet through LiveAuctioneers.
Bid Smart: Women are wielding their superpowers in today’s comic books
NEW YORK — Since they were first published, comic books have been mostly male-centric. They were and still are, created primarily by boys and men for just that audience: boys and men. In today’s collector marketplace, rare vintage comic books starring Batman, Superman, the Green Lantern and Spider-Man can bring six- and even seven-figure prices. But one would be hard pressed to find a comic book featuring a female character on the cover that hits the five- or six-figure price range — not yet, anyway.
MVPs in multiple pop culture categories drove in $2.57M total at Hake’s
YORK, Pa. – Hake’s served up a pop culture feast at their March 21-22 Premier Auction, with one exciting rarity after another eliciting pre-sale comments like, “I’ve never seen one of those in the marketplace before” or “I never even knew that piece existed.” Closing at $2,570,000 inclusive of buyer’s premium, the two-day event was led by heavy hitters from the baseball, political memorabilia, Star Wars, comic art and vintage toy categories. Many items powered past their high estimates, and some set new world auction records along the way.
Comic books, pop culture, fashion and art join forces in Jan. 28 auction
LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. – On Saturday, January 28, Urban Culture Auctions, a division of parent company Palm Beach Modern Auctions (PBMA), will offer bidders 90 lots of prized comic books, including many key issues. Key issues – those featuring character debuts and major narrative moments – are especially sought after by collectors and can command significant prices compared to others in the same series.
Pop culture rarities, Americana drive Hake’s auction total to $2.4M
YORK, Pa. – Financial markets may be taking a breather, but there’s never a time out for those who pursue investment-grade vintage collectibles. Hake’s, the auction house that lit the fire for America’s pop culture obsession 55 years ago, rang up yet another high-flying auction total on November 15-16, achieving excellent prices across many specialty categories and closing the books at $2.4 million.
Hake’s Nov. 15-16 auction answers demand for Star Wars collectibles, vintage video games
YORK, Pa. – The quest for early Star Wars collectibles has reached a fevered pitch, but the auction market tells us the journey is just beginning. Interest in Star Wars items is stronger than ever, especially for prototypes and samples, rare variations, and toys produced in low numbers or no numbers at all. To some, it may seem that Hake’s – the auction house holding numerous world records for Star Wars material – has already sold the ultimate rarities from that wildly popular category. But exciting surprises continue to emerge, some from unexpected sources, and those fresh consignments and new discoveries will be front and center at Hake’s November 15-16 pop culture auction.
Morphy’s Aug. 9-10 toy auction a bonanza of rare robots, space toys, banks, high-grade comics
DENVER, Pa. – Many a great toy and bank collection is highlighted by rarities acquired from Morphy’s, which still holds the world record for the highest-grossing one-day toy auction of all time. Many would recall the record-setting event: Morphy’s 2007 sale of the legendary Stephen and Marilyn Steckbeck bank collection, which drew national TV crews to the Pennsylvania gallery and knocked down an astonishing $7.7 million.
Hake’s pop culture auction hits $3.2M; Star Wars prototype figure tops $204K
YORK, Pa. – Record-setting prices just kept on coming at Hake’s $3.2 million online auction of pop culture rarities and didn’t stop until the last-minute clash of the titans that determined ownership of the sale’s top lot: a Star Wars Boba Fett “J-slot” rocket-firing prototype action figure. Conceived by Kenner in 1979, the J-slot Boba Fett Version 2 was designed with a J-shape triggering mechanism on its back for firing off rockets, but the toy never made it to the production stage due to safety concerns. On that basis alone, the pre-production archetypes became immediate rarities, but more than four decades of Star Wars mania have catapulted the J-slot prototype to an extraterrestrial level of desirability. The coveted example offered by Hake’s ignited a bidding war that ended at a sky-high $204,435 – a new auction record for any Star Wars action figure.
Hake’s auctions Capt. America shield for $259,540, closes 2021 at $10M+
YORK, Pa. – A Captain America “hero-prop” shield screen-used by Chris Evans in Marvel Studios 2019 blockbuster Avengers: Endgame sold for a heart-stopping $259,540 at Hake’s Auctions on November 3. The marquee item in a Nov. 2-3 online auction of premier entertainment and historical memorabilia, the star-emblazoned shield opened at $20,000 and attracted 17 bids before selling to its new owner, Wilmot “Wil” Creasy. A commercial analyst with Creasy Group, a Western Australia business focused on mining and metals exploration and investment, Creasy now adds iconic aluminum to his burgeoning pop-culture portfolio, which reportedly also includes extremely rare Pokémon cards [Instagram: Pokewizard96].
Capt. America ‘Avengers: Endgame’ shield tops quarter-million-dollar mark at Hake’s
YORK, Pa. (ACNI) – A Captain America “hero-prop” shield screen-used by Chris Evans in Marvel Studios 2019 blockbuster Avengers: Endgame has sold at auction for $259,540. The marquee item in Hake’s Nov. 2-3 online auction of entertainment and historical memorabilia, the star-emblazoned shield opened at $20,000 and attracted 17 bids before selling to its new owner, Wilmot “Wil” Creasy. A commercial analyst with Creasy Group, a Western Australia business focused on mining and metals exploration and investment, Wil Creasy now adds iconic aluminum to his burgeoning pop-culture portfolio, which also reportedly includes extremely rare Pokemon cards.