By the time Heritage’s Comics & Comic Art Auction wrapped on November 22, 2020, it had achieved a total of $14.2 million and grabbed a few world records. A copy of Detective Comics #27 CGC 7.0 hammered for $1.5 million, becoming the highest selling Batman comic. A sealed Pokémon First Edition Base Set Booster Box nearly doubled its world record, selling for $360,000. A sealed copy of the Super Mario Bros. 3 variant release brought $156,000 – besting the previous high score for a video game by over $40,000.
“Considering how many years collectors have searched for a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 from the first production run, it comes as little surprise that this was the next game to topple the previous world record,” Heritage Video Game Director Valarie McLeckie said.
The Super Mario Bros. 3 sale was the centerpiece for the first ever million dollar video game auction, according to Heritage.
A Charles Schulz strip from November 1950, the oldest Heritage has offered, reached $192,000 – setting a world record for highest price paid for daily Peanuts panels.
“As it’s exceedingly rare to see such an early days Peanuts, we are thrilled but not altogether surprised to set the world record for a piece of Schulz art,” Matt Griffin, a consignment director in Heritage’s Comics & Comic Art department, said. “The price realized proves the enduring appeal of Charles Schulz’s work, which remains as beloved and essential today as it was 70 years ago.”
Original art sales included the Jim Lee and Scott Williams original cover art for The Uncanny X-Men #268, featuring Captain America, Wolverine, and Black Widow, that sold for $300,000. Douglas Shuler’s original art for the Magic: The Gathering “Demonic Tutor” card hammered for $168,000. Todd McFarlane’s original art for Amazing Spider-Man #328 page 17 brought $120,000.
A rarely seen copy of Action Comics #7 CGC 4.0 totaled $144,000 and a Batman #181 CGC 9.8 (first appearance of Poison Ivy) nabbed $90,000.
All prices realized in the November 19-22 Comics & Comic Art event are available on Heritage’s website.