Pop culture and Americana collectors came out in droves to compete for a plethora of material in Hake’s Auctions’ first premier auction of 2019. Steady bidding on desirable items and rarities, led by original comic art, baseball memorabilia, and Star Wars toys, raised the auction to $1.25 million.

A New Mutants #98 original comic art page by Rob Liefeld cleared $40,382. The pen and ink art for page 27 comes from Deadpool’s debut issue and is one of only seven pages to depict the character in his first appearance. The artboard also shows Cable, Domino, Cannonball, Sunspot, and Boom-Boom.

Another significant art sale was the All-Star Superman #6 original cover art by Frank Quitely that soared to $15,576. The graphite and blue pencil original art shows a full body image of Superman standing at the grave of his adoptive father Jonathan Kent, alongside his faithful dog Krypto. This sale achieved a record price for a cover by Quitely.

Competitive bidders pushed the Sandman #14 original comic page art by Mike Dringenberg to $14,278. This piece depicts seven panels, including a splash at the top of the page showing Dream and Rose Walker. This clinched a record price for an interior page of Sandman art.

“The prices we continue to get for art is simply incredible. This is a market that shows no sign of slowing down and our bidders more than proved that this auction,” Hake’s President Alex Winter said. “It helped that we had some truly special and very desirable pieces, including a few high profile pages that came to the auction block for the first time, like New Mutants #98 and Sandman #14. We put everything we have into promoting the art we offer each auction and it is great to see that our tireless efforts pay off. Our July Premier Auction will be here before you know it, so contact us today and find out just what we can do for you and your original art.”

The top comic book sale in this auction went to Amazing Fantasy #15 CGC 3.0, which zipped to $16,954. Containing the first appearance of Spider-Man, as well as Aunt May and Uncle Ben, this major key features a story by Stan Lee with art by Steve Ditko and cover by Jack Kirby.

The galaxy saw their last hope fight to the top of the auction when a Luke Skywalker 12-back-A double telescoping AFA 80 reached $25,311. This rare, popular action figure has the lightsaber with a second extendable piece that was only made for a small number of figures.

A duo of Star Wars trios also led results from the sci-fi franchise. The Empire Strikes Back Bespin Alliance three-pack Series 1 AFA 75, with Bespin Security Guard (white), Lando Calrissian, and Luke Skywalker (Bespin fatigues), realized $24,402. The Star Wars Android Set three-pack Series 1 AFA 85, housing C-3PO, R2-D2, and Chewbacca, brought $15,705.

Leading the wave of Americana collectibles was the 1924 inaugural Negro League World Series Monarchs/Hilldale panoramic photo, which swung for the fences at $23,364. The 6-3/4” x 35” double-matted pre-integration era photo was housed in a frame with UV glass. Among the players depicted are hall of famers Bullet Joe Rogan, Jose Mendez, J.L. Wilkinson, Alex Pompez, Rube Foster, Louis Santop, Judy Johnson, and Biz Mackey.

Another exciting baseball related sale was the 1915 Cracker Jack “Shoeless” Joe Jackson #103 card PSA Good 2.0 that homered for $18,347. The rare card is for one of the greatest players in history, who was only featured on a small number of mainstream baseball card sets. This sale marks a record price in this grade, per Vintage Card Prices, who lists the previous best 2.0 grade at $12,109 from a sale in 2017.

“Hake’s has sold sports memorabilia, including baseball cards, since our inception in 1967,” Winter said. “While we are not a ‘sports’ auction house, we get stand-up prices for this material every auction. We easily eclipsed the $1 million mark when offering the Richard Merkin collection, and all of the record prices we set for his Negro and Cuban League material still stands. What we got this auction for the Joe Jackson card shows just how strong our prices for graded sports cards can be and we welcome such consignments for our next auction in July.”

Bidders also cheered for presidential and political material, such as the rare “For President Abram Lincoln” 1860 parade flag that hammered for $19,210. The 16-1/4” x 26” glazed cotton flag has additional text that reads “For Vice President, Hannibal Hamlin.” The flag was owned by one family and in private hands for over 50 years, making this the first time it was offered publicly.

A 1960 “Kennedy Election Night Staff” 3-1/2” button rose to $9,408. This rare piece was worn by Kennedy’s campaign staff so that Secret Service would admit them to the Hyannis Port Compound.

Several pieces of Americana memorabilia sold well above their estimates. A rare Debs Seidel jugate pocket mirror sold for $8,324, a Taft green plaid portrait button unlisted in Hake reached $7,139, and a 1912 Roosevelt/Johnson progressive party jugate button Hake #265 hammered for $7,139. All eclipsed their $2,000-5,000 preauction estimate.

Prices realized include an 18% buyer’s premium. A full list of prices from Auction #226 can be seen on Hake’s website by viewing the Wednesday and Thursday lists.