This week a new auction service/event was announced by toy dealer Cloud City Collectibles:
Cloud City would like to introduce Premier Collectible Auctions to you! Premier Collect specializes in investment grade collectible action figures, toys, comics, & other pop culture memorabilia from the 1960’s to the present day. The world’s largest collectible action figure auction will be brought to you by Brian Semling, of Brian’s Toys, and Tom Derby, of Collectible Investment Brokerage and formerly of Cloud City.
The first live auction will be held July 24-26, 2008 in San Diego, California, within walking distance of the San Diego Comic-Con convention. Bidding will also be conducted online and by phone. The first auction will include some of the finest AFA graded toy collections in the world, with merchandise exceeding $2,000,000 in value!
Bid online at Premiercollect.com starting May 1st, 2008.
While this is obviously designed with the advanced toy collector in mind, there are a few original props included in the auction, and I think it is promising that specialists in the pop culture collecting field are endeavoring to create a new business offering more transactional opportunities for buyers and sellers alike.
The PremierCollect.com website offers more information and details as well as the ability to order a printed catalog, which can also be downloaded: LINK
I think there is a lot of crossover interest between the toy and prop hobbies, in that in many cases the film and television properties are the same.
Another intriguing aspect of this event is the coordination with San Diego Comic Con, which is a huge annual international event for fans of pop culture.
Also, many of the non-prop items offered are extremely rare and highly collectible in their own right, including a carded Rocket Firing Boba Fett Kenner action figure starting at $100,000:
High Resolution Archive: Premier Collectibles Rocket Firing Boba Fett Auction
Here are some sample pages from the catalog related to original movie props, courtesy Premier Collect:
High Resolution Archive: Premier Collectibles Auctions – Catalog Page Sample #1
High Resolution Archive: Premier Collectibles Auctions – Catalog Page Sample #2
High Resolution Archive: Premier Collectibles Auctions – Catalog Page Sample #3
I am very interested to see how this progresses for this group, and wish them success.
Jason De Bord