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THE SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON IN PICTURES:

Wonder Woman and Supergirl

Scott Bakula (who must someday play Dracula) was at the show to discuss his old series Quantum Leap, which may actually become a movie

Catwoman and Batman

Black Canary

Batwoman and Wonder Woman

Well, that's one way to undo the damage the Green Hornet trailer has done...

Adam Hughes

Catwoman and Hit Girl

Frank Cho

Not only the good guys showed up...

Hawkman

Following the hit film, we've noticed a definite upsurge in Star Trek costumes again...

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MORE ON THE SD COMIC-CON...

Comic-Con: Stan Lee

He's the only comic book creator who can generate widespread applause simply by walking through the convention hall.

Sure, there's a great deal of hype involved, but when you get down to it, if there's one living creator in comics who could act like rock star and not have it bother folks, it'd be Stan Lee.

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Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed recovers from the surprise of the Comic-Con Inkpot award he just received

Comic-Con: Berkeley Breathed

One of this year’s Comic-Con highlights, for those whose preferences run to actual comics-related programming, was the first-ever Comic-Con appearance of Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. “The only other convention I’ve ever attended was an American Booksellers Convention…” back in the 1980s, he said, ”…and THAT was obviously NOTHING like THIS!”

The panel began with Comic-Con representative Gary Sassaman presenting Breathed with Comic-Con’s Inkpot award for lifetime achievement. Breathed sarcastically thanked moderator and IDW editor Scott Dunbier “…for keeping this a secret from me”, and graciously accepted the award with the comment that “…this is the only award I’ve ever gotten, other than the Pulitzer” in the 1980s. He went on to comment that he never even got an award from the National Cartoonists Society “…because I wouldn’t join their little ‘club’!”

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Comic-Con: Billy Tucci Lands on SD's Fox 5

Kaushal Patel, one of the news anchors at San Diego’s Fox affiliate, Fox 5, stopped by Comic-Con over the weekend to check out the scene. One of the stops she made was at Shi creator and Sgt. Rock writer-artist Billy Tucci’s both, where Tucci immediately whipped up a sketch of the reporter. She aired a segment about it on the 10 PM newscast and showed the finished sketch.

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Comic-Con: The Hero-Overstreet Team-Up

At Comic-Con, The Hero Initiative limited Conan The Barbarian #1 recreation cover edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide proved to be a hit with fans and barbarians alike.

Jim McLauchlin, Hero’s President, said the limited edition has already proved to be a major plus financially for the organization.

"From the planning stages to putting the books on sale at Comic-Con, this project has really represented the spirit of support and cooperation that drives The Hero Initiative. It's great to be a part of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Overstreet, too," he said.

Now that the convention is over, Hero has made the remaining books from the 500 copy run available on its website. For more information, visit Hero’s blog. Our thanks to whoever Tweeted the great photo of Conan picking up the Conan cover.

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ComicConnect's COO Vincent Zurzolo with the company's latest offering of Action Comics #1 at Comic-Con.

Comic-Con: Action Comcs #1 Grade Announced on Twitter

There is no question that the belle of the ball at Comic-Con International: San Diego the unrestored and new to market Action Comics #1 on display at the Metropolis Collectibles/ComicConnect.com booth, the companies told Scoop this week.

“Already, news is circulating in articles around the world about this recently discovered comic, and how its impending sale in the upcoming August-September ComicConnect.com Event Auction will save the consigning family from foreclosure,” they said.

The market value of the comic, of course, will be greatly determined by its condition. The first announcement of the grade, as assigned by CGC, will be made at 12 PM Eastern on Monday, August 2, 2010 by ComicConnect.com CEO Stephen Fishler on Twitter.

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True bronze "Conan the Conqueror" statue, with the painted resin version behind it

Prototype statue of "Angelus", from Top Cow Productions

Comic-Con: CS Moore Studio

One of the best parts of the convention season for collectors of comic character statues is seeing first-hand what new projects are coming from their favorite sculptors and studios. And few new product revelations generate as much buzz as the works of Clayburn Moore and CS Moore Studio. And once again, Moore did not disappoint.

The centerpiece of the CS Moore booth this year was a life-size version of Moore’s 2002 statue of the late Michael Turner’s Fathom. Previously released in 1:6 scale and painted in full color, the new life-size Fathom is painted with a faux-bronze finish. Measuring nine feet four inches from the bottom of the base to the tip of her upswept hair, the Fathom statue on display was the first production unit, and was sold before the weekend was over. We will have more in-depth coverage of this amazing sculpture at a later date.

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A selection of full size power batteries adorned the top of the DC Direct display

Blackest Night mini-busts of Star Sapphire, Black Hand, and Green Lantern Hal Jordan

Blackest Night mini-busts of Orange Lantern Larfleeze, Black Lantern Batman, and Red Lantern Atrocitus

Comic-Con: DC Direct

The biggest news out of DC Comics over the couple of years has been the highly successful reboot of Green Lantern, and the massive expansion of the Green Lantern mythology, cast of characters, and pervasiveness throughout the DC Universe. This current Lantern-mania was heavily reflected in the selection of upcoming products from DC Direct.

In addition to eight previously announced series of Blackest Night action figures, a new series of Blackest Night mini-busts and mini power batteries was revealed to eager Comic-Con crowds.

The series of nine different-colored mini power battery and ring sets are scheduled to release monthly beginning in April 2011, concurrent to the release of the matching-colored character mini-bust.

The DC Direct display in the middle of the DC Comics booth was topped with a selection of seven differently colored full-sized power batteries, while the production versions of the green and yellow lanterns were part of the eye level display. While there were no specific plans for production pieces of the seven variants, the display models were intended to gauge interest in whether such a high-end product line would prove viable.

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Indiana Jones and not a crystal skull in sight...

Ms. Marvel

Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan... Now there's a name I have not heard...

Comic-Con: Sideshow Collectibles

Always one of our favorite booths to visit at Comic-Con, this time Sideshow had almost too much great stuff at which to look. Next week in Scoop we'll offer an extended array of photographs by various members of our team, as well as a quick report on what they have coming.

In the meantime, though, here's just a brief peek at what's on the horizon...

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Comic-Con: Stargate Universe

One of the most consistently well attended presentation at Comic-Con the last few years has been the Stargate panel. It started a few years ago with the cast of Stargate: SG-1 as they promoted their direct-to-DVD movies, and last year it served to introduce the cast of Stargate: Universe, which hadn’t even aired its first episode at that point.

This year, with a season under their belts, the cast and crew of Stargate: Universe returned to reveal that Eli (David Blue) would find love (well, love that reciprocates, anyway), Robert Carlyle (who plays Dr. Nicholas Rush) will direct an episode, Robert Picardo (Richard Woolsey from Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis) and David Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay, also from both from Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis) will guest star, and Dr. Rush and Colonel Young are finally forced into some sort of détente.

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Comic-Con: Chuck

Whether it’s because of its geek credibility or something else, Chuck fans definitely welcomed the show’s cast to Comic-Con again this year.

The show's creators and executive producers, Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak, announced in San Diego that a crowd favorite, Linda Hamilton (the original Sarah Conner in Terminator) will play the role of Mary Bartowski, Chuck and sister Ellie’s mom, who disappeared long ago.

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Family Guy's Alex Borstein and Seth McFarlane

Comic-Con: Fox Animation Block

Saturdays in Comic-Con’s Ballroom 20 have become home to an annual celebration of the animated hits of Fox television. What originally started 11 years ago as a gathering of fans of creator Matt Groening’s cult sci-fi favorite Futurama has expanded to encompass Groening’s signature series The Simpsons, as well as Seth McFarlane’s Family Guy and its spin-off The Cleveland Show. For some reason yet unexplained, the panel for McFarlane’s third Fox series American Dad is relegated to Sunday mornings, inexplicably placed amid more kid-friendly fare in Ballroom 20’s Sunday lineup. And even though Futurama has departed the Fox Network’s Sunday night line-up for greener pastures at Comedy Central, it’s still a 20^th Century Fox production.

All of the panels involve freewheeling discussions with cast, writers, and producers of each show, with behind-the scenes anecdotes, sneak peaks of upcoming episodes, and other insider information. Occasional joking references to the friendly rivalry between the Groening camp and the McFarlane camp also randomly surface among the panels.

The block began with the Family Guy panel. Mila Kunis (voice of Meg Griffin) was absent this year, but Patrick Warburton (voice of paraplegic police officer Joe Swanson) made his first Comic-Con appearance. The highlight of this year’s panel was a nine minute preview screening of footage from the upcoming direct-to-DVD release of the third in the series of Family Guy Star Wars parodies, subtitled “It’s A Trap”. Spoofing Return of the Jedi, “It’s A Trap” follows on the heels of “Blue Harvest” (jabbing the original Star Wars) and “Something Something Something Dark Side” (covering The Empire Strikes Back). During Q&A, McFarlane indicated that this would probably be the last of the Star Wars parodies, due to the escalating cost of production while remaining true to the original films’ visuals. He did not rule out the possibility of feature-length parodies of other films in the future, and cagily did not confirm or deny that Indiana Jones was a possibility.

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Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, UFC fighter Randy Couture, and Bruce Willis

Comic-Con: The Expendables

There are a million places you can go on the web for coverage of the Comic-Con panels on the upcoming Green Lantern, Captain America, Thor, and Avengers films, so there’s no point rehashing those here.

The other upcoming blockbuster spotlighted in Comic-Con’s now-legendary Hall H this year is the much-anticipated all-star action epic The Expendables. Written by, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone, The Expendables is the story of a group of aging ex-soldiers and mercenaries getting back together for one last mission. Stallone explained that the idea came to him after his recent successful revisits to his Rocky and Rambo franchises.

“Rocky V was a bad movie. I make no excuses and take full responsibility for that,” Stallone told the Hall H audience. He said that he felt the need to make amends for that substandard entry in the series, and wrap up the character’s arc in a more satisfying manner. Following the critical and commercial success of Rocky VI, Stallone then returned to the character of Vietnam vet John Rambo, with the similar intent to redeem the character and bring the franchise to a more gratifying conclusion. When the fourth and final Rambo film also successfully achieved its goal, an idea took root about the theme of old warriors and that final shot at redemption.

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Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, part of the cast of the new Hawaii Five-0

Comic-Con: Hawaii Five-0

Many fans of the iconic original Hawaii Five-0 television series felt serious trepidation when CBS announced a new “updated” series to debut in Fall 2010. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Why not just do Hawaii Five-0: The Next Generation, instead of trying to reboot and reinvent the classic original? Recasting the late, great Jack Lord’s larger-than-life Steve McGarrett is like recasting Columbo or Kojak or Jim Rockford. No one else is remotely capable of filling the shoes of the original star.

But they are determined to give it their best shot.

Peter M. Lenkov (24, CSI: New York, La Femme Nikita), creator of the new Hawaii Five-0 is an ardent fan of the original, a show he watched religiously with his father when he was a child. He wanted to create something that would honor the legacy of the original. Executive producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are no strangers to successful productions, with the recently-ended Lost, and J.J. Abrams’ big screen Star Trek relaunch among their impressive list of credits. Joining the list of heavy hitters involved is director Len Wiseman (Underworld trilogy), making his small-screen directorial debut.

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Al Capp's Li’l Abner

Al Capp (1909-1979) created Li’l Abner for United Feature as a daily comic strip in 1934 and as a Sunday page in 1935. Capp was an early assistant to artist Ham Fisher on the Joe Palooka comic strip where he “ghosted” a hillbilly sequence in 1933 before leaving, leading to a life-long feud with Fisher. Along with the handsome hillbilly from Dogpatch has come a string of unforgettable characters including Daisy Mae, Mammy and Pappy Yokum, Marryin’ Sam, Sadie Hawkins, Sir Cecil and Lady Cesspool, Hairless Joe, Lonesome Polecat, Fearless Fosdick, the bountiful Shmoos, the Kigmys, Kickapoo Joy Juice, and many others. Comic books appeared from the 1930s into the 1950s.

A Li’l Abner radio show on NBC in 1939-1940 featured John Hodiak as Abner.

Granville Owen played Abner and Buster Keaton played Lonesome Polecat in a 1940 feature film, and a brief run of five animated shorts was released in 1944-1945. A musical comedy ran on Broadway for almost 700 performances in 1956-1957, and a Paramount film was released in 1959.

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Ferdinand the Bull

Based on the 1936 Munro Leaf book which had been illustrated by Robert Lawson, Walt Disney’s Ferdinand the Bull cartoon debuted in November 1938. The story begins with a peaceful and content Ferdinand who is happy to sit in a field and sniff flowers. After being stung by a bee and having a fit, however, he is mistaken for a fighting bull and taken to a bullring. Being such a peaceful bull, he refuses to fight and is taken back to the countryside.

The short won the Academy Award for Best Cartoon in 1938. Directed by Dick Rickard, it featured the animation of Ward Kimball, Jack Bradbury, Milt Kahl and Hamilton Luske. The film is especially notable for the appearance of many of the Disney animators in the cartoon (they even portray Walt himself).

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Laurel and Hardy

Stan Laurel (1890-1965), the British-born thin one, and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), the pompous fat one, teamed in 1926 to become one of the screen’s finest comedy teams.

In silent two-reelers, and in feature films between 1929 and 1950, the slapstick misadventures of Laurel, scratching his head, and Hardy, fiddling with his tie, found them in “one fine mess” after another, 106 films in total. Stan Laurel wrote the scripts and sometimes directed the films.

Hal Roach Studios musical director Marvin Hatley wrote the theme song "The Cuckoo Song." A British comic strip ran in Film Fun (1930-1942), and Laurel and Hardy Comics appeared in the U.S. from 1949 to 1956 and in 1962-1963.

Vintage films were edited and cut for syndication to television in 1948 and ran locally for over three decades. Five-minute animated episodes based on the films, co-produced by Hanna-Barbera and Larry Harmon, were syndicated to television in 1966 with limited success.

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Virginia Comicon One-Day Show August 8

The last one-day VA Comicon of the year will be on Sunday, August 8, 2010 in Richmond, Virginia and show promoter Brett Carreras said it will be their biggest one-day event in Virginia after their co-sponsored DC Comicon last May.

“We will have Martin Grams Jr, the author of the Green Hornet, as well as several small press publishers, including indie sensation AdHouse Books! We will also have the ‘Bowman Body,’ the famous late-night horror host, who will have a party as a documentary will be filmed on-site,” Carreras said.

Admission is only $5 if you sign up for the mailing list at www.VAcomicon.com and just $6 if you choose not to sign up. Additionally information about the convention is on the newly updated site.

The website, www.VAcomicon.com, he said, is the first fully-interactive website for a comic book convention. Every update will also be instantly Twittered, and will update their Facebook account.

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Collectors Paradise edition

Midtown Comics edition

Second printing

Artifacts #1 Sells Out, Release Parties Set

Top Cow Productions has announced that Artifacts #1 has sold out at Diamond Comic Distributors. A second printing is being shipped to the distributor as the publisher’s 13-issue event series continues. The new printing will be available in the coming weeks.

Written by Ron Marz (Green Lantern) and featuring the art team of Michael Broussard (The Darkness), Rick Basaldua (The Darkness), Sal Regla (Magdalena) and Sunny Gho of IFS (Velocity), the company has identified the Artifacts event as their most ambitious limited series to date, It will weave together story lines from many different Top Cow titles and have ramifications for their entire universe.

”We have been working on Artifacts for almost two years and nothing has been more gratifying than hearing and seeing the reaction from reviewers and fans alike,” commented Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik. “Ron, Michael, Rick, Sal, Sunny, and Marc have delivered a breath-taking, show-stopping first issue and let me assure you, we are just getting warmed up.”

On Saturday, July 31, Top Cow will co-host two bi-coastal launch parties to celebrate the release of the first issue. The Los Angeles release party will be held at Collector’s Paradise from 7-10pm PDT. Broussard, Basaldua, and Publisher Filip Sablik will be at the event signing copies of the Collector’s Paradise exclusive variant cover of Artifacts #1, as well as an exclusive limited edition print featuring art from Broussard. Collector’s Paradise is located at 7131 Winnetka Ave in Canoga Park. Additional information can be found at the store’s website at comicsandcards.net.

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"Brady Bunch" Brothers Set for Big Apple Con

Barry Willams, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, better known to the TV viewing public as Greg, Peter and Bobby Brady from The Brady Bunch, will make their first East Coast convention appearance together at the Wizard World Big Apple Comic Con on October 1-3, 2010 at the Penn Plaza Pavilion in New York City.

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Rocky Mountain Comicbook Convention

The first ever Rocky Mountain Comic Convention will be held in Denver, Colorado on September 19, 2010. This show will be hosted by Terry O’Neill and Harley Yee and feature vintage comics.

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Harlan Ellison's Phoenix Without Ashes

With all the hoopla of San Diego behind us (well, sort of, right?), it seems like a good time to check out what's coming up. In just a matter of days we should be seeing the first issue of Harlan Ellison's Phoenix Without Ashes, the comic book version of the story that was train-wrecked into the TV show The Starlost.

Now we'll get to see what this Grand Master of science fiction intended, and what's better for us is that he's reunited with one of his (and our) favorite cover artists, John K. Snyder III.

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ComicLink Adds to August Featured Auction

With top quality seller consignments already on hand, the August ComicLink Featured Auction is shaping up to be another one that cannot be missed, the company’s Josh Nathanson told Scoop.

All consignments must be submitted to ComicLink by August 11, 2010 (preferably sooner), to make the August Featured Auction.

Golden Age superhero consignment highlights already on hand range from Batman #1 CGC 3.0 to Human Torch #1 CGC 9.4 to Detective Comics #38 CGC 4.0. Golden Age esoteric consignments range from Fight Comics #8 CGC 9.8 to Phantom Lady #17 CGC 7.5 to Four Color #386 CGC 9.4.

Silver Age consignment highlights range from Amazing Spider-Man #11 CGC 9.6 to X-Men #1 CGC 9.2 to Flash #147 CGC 9.8.

Bronze Age consignment highlights range from Giant-Size X-Men #1 CGC 9.8 to House of Secrets #92 CGC 9.6 to Zap #1 CGC 9.4.

Original Art consignments range from the rare cover to Superman #80 (1953) to a Charles Schulz Peanuts daily from 1960 (with Charlie Brown), to an Amazing Spider-Man #18 Spidey page by Steve Ditko (1964).

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Pedigree Grand Auction Adds "San Diego 50"

Following Comic-Con, Doug Schmell of Pedigree Comics reported that he has obtained “a fabulous new group of ultra high grade (CGC certified 9.4 and higher) Silver Age and Bronze Age Marvels” at the convention and that all of them will be featured in his company’s upcoming Grand Auction.

The auction is scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM EDT the night of Sunday, August 29, 2010 and last for 10 days, with the first half ending the afternoon of Wednesday, September 8 and the final half closing on Thursday, September 9.

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Heritage: Yankees' National League Application

One of the most important documents in the early history of the New York Yankees franchise, an 1889 National League application letter (made when the team was the original Baltimore Orioles) is expected to bring more than $10,000 on August 5 as part of Heritage Auctions’ Signature Sports Collectibles Auction at the Baltimore National Sports Collectors Convention,

“Though there is admittedly little drama in the current rivalry between the Yankees and Orioles, the best and worst teams in baseball respectively, we don’t expect the same to be true in the battle to win this lot at auction,” said Chris Ivy, Director of Heritage Sports Collectibles. “Collectors from both Baltimore and New York have shown great interest in the piece.”

Make no mistake, though: this is not the Baltimore Orioles of Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken. That team appropriated the name when the former St. Louis Browns baseball team moved to town in 1954. The offered document was penned by William Barnie, the president and manager of the American Association Orioles, which would go on to represent the National League from 1892 until the league’s contraction from 12 teams to eight at the close of the 1899 season campaign.

“The application can be definitively traced to the estate of Nicholas E. Young, first secretary of the National League, and N.L. President from 1885-1902,” said Ivy. “The provenance is unimpeachable and the history that flowed from this document is indisputable.”

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Summer Mini/Major Auction at eMoviePoster

The Tuesday-closing Part I of eMoviePoster.com’s Summer 2010 Mini/Major Auction features 313 items including inserts, half-sheets, title cards, lobby cards, window cards, and more. Part II, which closes Thursday, is also underway, and Part III will kick off on Sunday. Visit the site for more details. As usually during their Mini/MajorAuctions, everyone who buys even one item in any of the three parts gets a bonus t-shirt free.
Some of the top inserts offered in Part I of this event are House Of Frankenstein (Boris Karloff), Cat People (Val Lewton and Simone Simon), I Walked With A Zombie (Val Lewton), New York (incredible artwork of Manhattan skyscrapers over bridge and water), Them (classic sci-fi),

The Babe Comes Home(Babe Ruth), Running Wild (W.C. Fields), Señor Daredevil (Ken Maynard), Cabaret (Gilda Gray), Evening Clothes (Adolphe Menjou and Virginia Valli), Don Juan (John Barrymore and Mary Astor), and Action In The North Atlantic (Humphrey Bogart and Julie Bishop).

Among the half-sheets offered this time around are Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (James Stewart and Kim Novak by Saul Bass), Asphalt Jungle style B (Marilyn Monroe), Dirty Harry (Clint Eastwood), Human Monster (Bela Lugosi and Wilfred Walter), The Wizard Of Oz style A (1955 reissue, Judy Garland), Otto Preminger’s Anatomy Of A Murder, Sisters (Errol Flynn and Bette Davis), Some Like It Hot (Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon), and The Mark Of Zorro (Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell).

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Circa-1952 metal Ferrari, made by Toschi (Italy), 21 inches long and in working order, $5,200. Images courtesy of Dan Morphy Auctions.

Atom Jet tin friction race car, Japanese, 25 1/2 inches long, all original parts intact, $15,500.

1956 Haji (Japan) tin friction Ford Sunliner convertible with original box, 11 1/4 inches, $7,500.

Morphy July Event Tops $ 1 Million

Worldwide competition for a high-end collection of antique toys resulted in a million-dollar gross at Morphy’s on July 16-17, 2010 as the central Pennsylvania auction house presented the 28-year collection of retired California architect Michael O’Hearn.

“Interest in the O’Hearn collection, and in all of the toy consignments for that matter, was fierce,” said auction house owner Dan Morphy. “The gallery was busy all day with in-house bidders, and we had the largest number of Internet bidders in Morphy’s history.” The final tally for the 1,354-lot sale was $1,050,000. All prices quoted are inclusive of 15% buyer’s premium.

A futuristic postwar Japanese friction racer known as the Atom Jet, measuring an impressive 25½ inches long, commanded a strong price due to its originality and excellent condition. Against an estimate of $4,000-$8,000 the bizarre, dorsal-finned vehicle finished in a mint green color sped across the finish line at $15,500.

A toy vehicle of quite a different type, a 21-inch-long red metal Ferrari made around 1952 by the Italian manufacturer Toschi, had the added appeal of a (reproduction) factory tag featuring the trademark Ferrari horse logo. With hopes of making $2,000-$3,000, the car confidently achieved that and more, closing its hood at $5,200.

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German painted spelter Puss ’n’ Boots with Staff bank, one of only two known, $12,757.50. Images courtesy of RSL Auction.

RSL’s $1.8 Million Mechanical Banks Auction

Interest was keener than ever, and the bidding action was relentless in RSL Auction’s sale of antique toys and banks held May 22, 2010 at Richard Opfer’s suburban Baltimore gallery. “We started at noon and finished at 20 till three – it was about two hours and 40 minutes of very serious bidding,” said RSL co-owner Ray Haradin.

In all, the auction took in $1.8 million (all prices quoted include 21.5% buyer’s premium). “They came to buy; they didn’t want to sit there with an auctioneer trying to milk a few extra dollars out of them,” said Haradin. “When Rick [Opfer] is at the podium, you put your hand up or you don’t get the toy.”

The featured attraction of the 360-lot sale was the Richard C. Stevens collection, a 24-year assemblage of cast-iron mechanical banks boasting superb conditions and with provenance reflecting several of the most prestigious collections of the past half-century.

Many auction records were broken, said Haradin – “more than I can remember, and in the heart of a recession, as well.” The top lot of the day was a circa-1905 J. & E. Stevens Calamity bank with rare chocolate-brown base. When activated, the football-theme cast-iron bank depicts two Yale players tackling a running fullback from Harvard. Formerly in the Stephen Steckbeck collection and in near-mint-plus condition with original box, the bank scored a mighty auction price at $78,975.

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1965-66 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia 76ers game-used home jersey (MVP and scoring title season), style used for one year only, reserve $10,000. Images courtesy of Grey Flannel Auctions.

1984 Dennis Johnson Boston Celtics World Championship player’s ring, accompanied by Johnson family LOA, reserve $5,000.

Circa-1970 Elvin Hayes San Diego Rockets game-used and autographed home uniform (includes shorts, not shown), accompanied by LOA from JSA, reserve $10,000.

Annual Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Auction

Grey Flannel Auctions of Westhampton, N.Y., has announced details of its Fifth Annual Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Auction and other special events associated with the 2010 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The live auction will take place on Friday, August 13, 2010 onsite at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The excitement level is already running high for this year’s enshrinement, which is expected to draw the largest number of Hall of Famers ever to congregate for the prestigious annual event. The Class of 2010, which will be inducted in an evening ceremony on Aug. 13 at the Hall of Fame includes eight individuals and two teams. They are (alphabetically): Jerry Buss, Cynthia Cooper, Bob Hurley Sr., Karl Malone and Scottie Pippen, along with the 1960 USA Men’s Olympic team and the 1992 USA Basketball “Dream Team.” Three legendary players will be honored posthumously: Dennis Johnson, Gus Johnson and the great Brazilian center Maciel “Ubiratan” Pereira.

Grey Flannel Auctions will begin its Hall of Fame activities on Aug. 12 by hosting an invitation-only pre-induction dinner for Hall of Famers, inductees and VIPs at the Hall of Fame’s Center Court. The following afternoon, starting at 1 p.m., Grey Flannel will conduct its 244-lot auction of vintage basketball-related memorabilia.

“I think collectors are going to be ecstatic when they see what’s in store for them at this auction,” said Grey Flannel Auctions’ president Richard E. Russek. “We’ll be offering some of the rarest and most desirable basketball jerseys and uniforms, as well as some great mementos, like the Chicago Bulls 1991-1992 NBA Championship banner that hung in Chicago Stadium.”

A premier lot to be auctioned with a $10,000 reserve is Wilt Chamberlain’s 1965-66 Philadelphia 76ers game-used home jersey. Exhibiting a style used for only one season, the red and white jersey is emblazoned with the all-time single game point-scoring king’s number “13” and the word “Phila.”

Also entered with a $10,000 reserve is Elvin Hayes’ circa-1970 game-used and autographed San Diego Rockets home uniform. On the front is the name “Rockets,” while the “E” on the back of the jersey needs no further explanation. The number “11” appears on both front and back.

Grey Flannel has put together a very special and unprecedented selection of 12 articles related to the career of the late slam-dunking superstar Dennis Johnson, and each of the items in the sale comes with impeccable provenance: a letter of authenticity from the Johnson family.

Johnson’s 1984 Boston Celtics World Championship player’s ring features a green sapphire shamrock with a central diamond, the name “Johnson” and other symbols and words associated with the revered Boston franchise. The ring carries a reserve of $5,000.

MORE: http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=34&s=262&ai=98202

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MIB Captain Action Phantom Set Hits $2,600

No doubt caught up in the celebratory frenzy of Captain Action Month, a Mint-in-Box Sealed 1966 Captain Action Phantom Uniform by Ideal Toys sold for $2,600 on email. The seller estimated the complete package, with no cello tears or fading and “nice strong color,” would as C-9+ if certified.

The costume, which of course allowed the original Captain Action figure to be dressed as The Phantom, marked the first “meeting” of the characters. In terms of story, though, they never met until this year’s Phantom/Captain Action two-part mini-series from Moonstone Books.

MORE: http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=34&s=266&ai=98117

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