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CollectorZoo is proud to announce that we will be attending MoCCAFest. Stop by and let’s talk shop.

From MoCCA:

The Society of Illustrators is proud to increase the visibility of comics as a major component of its storied institutional mission by hosting the MoCCA Arts Festival on the weekend of April 6 – 7, 2013 at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan. Beginning in 2013, the MoCCA Arts Festival will be one of the Society’s signature public programs, with the mission of honoring the artists who are advancing the landscape of comics and illustration via a world-class
festival emphasizing their achievements.

Anelle Miller, Executive Director of the Society of Illustrators, says, “It is a great privilege to welcome the incredibly dynamic creative community that exhibits at the MoCCA Arts Festival to the Society’s rich heritage. For more than a century, our mission has been to promote the art of illustration, and to appreciate its history and evolving nature through exhibitions, lectures and education. We are elated to host the MoCCA Arts Festival as a key component of that mission, and to honor its artists with the high caliber of exhibitions and recognition that are the Society’s trademark.”

In addition to continuing the Festival’s tradition of hosting an exhibit hall spotlighting comics’ leading edge creators, the MoCCA Arts Festival will now include a variety of new programs directly benefiting the artist and audience communities attending the shows, including:

• Juried awards recognizing the best work at the Festival with medal winners being honored with an exhibit at the Society’s headquarters, and finalists’ work archived in Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library;
• A lavishly produced, large format souvenir journal that showcases the work of exhibiting artists;
• Discount entries for exhibiting artists in the Society’s Annual competition;
• Curated programming emphasizing the artistic achievements of the Festival’s creative community;
• An exhibition gallery of original comic and cartoon art curated by the Society’s professional staff;
• An onsite café featuring a full bar and menu as well as a lounge for networking.

The 2013 MoCCA Arts Festival is hosted by the Society of Illustrators, under the guidance of a Steering Committee that includes:
Anelle Miller, Kate Feirtag, and Katie Blocher from the Society, as well as Leon Avelino (Secret Acres), Charles Brownstein (Comic Book Legal Defense Fund), Karen Green (Columbia University), William Hatzichristos (CollectorZoo), Paul Levitz (Writer/Educator), Barry Matthews (Secret Acres), and Tucker Stone (Bergen Street Comics).

In the weeks to come, the Society will release more details about the 2013 Festival, including naming guests of honor, featured guests,the Festival jury, and much more.

Julia Wilkinson of AuctionBytes spoke with our founder, William Hatzichristos , about CollectorZoo and our exciting plans for 2013.

If it’s a jungle out there in the collectibles world, collectors are the animals who make it up: birds of a feather, as it were. CollectorZoo, http://collectorzoo.com/, is hoping those collectors will find its unique cataloguing and valuation tools an irresistible lure for them to flock together on its site, which just launched its Sports Memorabilia Beta program in October.

“Our model is very different from a lot of the other somewhat competing sites out there,” said Founder William Hatzichristos. In their Sports Memorabilia category, CollectorZoo is powered by content partners such as Steiner Sports Marketing & Memorabilia; Sports World Chicago; Wrigleyville Magazine; and F&W Media.  The site offers an inventory management system; a valuation tool, and a marketplace, along with a discussion area called “Talk Shop Network.”

You can read the entire article at AuctionBytes.

It’s crazy to think now, but 20th Century Fox didn’t hesitate in giving young film director George Lucas all the rights to profit from Star Wars’ action figures. The movie studio simply didn’t see any long-term potential the tiny toys.

Even crazier, Lucas’s foresight that escaped 20th Century Fox’s executives was shared by Robert Fisher, a suburban dad in Pittsburgh, Florida. According to Derek Fisher, Roberts’s now 41-year-old son, his dad was hooked right from the start.

Very coveted, it is… An original Star Wars Jawa action figure.

“My dad jumped on everything that had anything to do with Star Wars,” Fisher told local newspaper the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

“He actually started collecting before the movie came out. He sent away for a mail-out from [the toys' manufacturer] Kenner for one of the first toys. After that, he didn’t stop until almost the day he died last year.”

Star Wars went on to earn $460m in the United States and $337m elsewhere, and six academy awards. Today, Star Wars collectibles from props to monsters are among the most coveted on the markets.

Roberts’s collection comprises LEGO sets, posters, sheets and pillow covers, comic books, mugs, skateboards, kites, Halloween costumes, clothing and even Pez dispensers. What could all this stuff be worth? Fisher reckons his dad spent more than $100,000 on his collection.

Given the relentless appeal that surrounds Star Wars, it stands to reason that much of Roberts’s collection could be worth even more on today’s markets – especially given the collectibility of the early Kenner figures, whose new small size pioneered the way action movie toys are produced.

Famous Star Wars toy collectors have included Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio. The Inception and Shutter Island star sold his figures in 2006. All were in their original card – essential to their condition and collectibility – and many were un-punched.

Given that DiCaprio’s sale saw a rare vinyl Jawa figure from the first batch of released Star Wars figures sell for $4,500, and the entire collection bring $110,000, it will be interesting to see how the Roberts collection does when it goes up for sale.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A comic collector has been caught in Spider-Man’s web, paying $1.1 million for a near-mint copy of “Amazing Fantasy” No. 15 that features the wall-crawler’s debut.

The issue, first published in 1962, was sold Monday by a private seller to a private buyer, ComicConnect.com chief executive Stephen Fishler told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

It’s not the highest price ever paid for a comic book, an honor that goes to “Action Comics” No. 1 with Superman on the cover, which went for $1.5 million.

But Fishler says the price paid is the most for a book from the Silver Age, the mid-1950s to about 1970.

“The fact that a 1962 comic has sold for $1.1 million is a bit of a record-shattering event,” he said. “That something that recent can sell for that much and be that valuable is awe-inspiring.”

Usually, it has been comics from the Golden Age – typically from the late 1930s to the early 1950s – that draw seven-figure sums.

In March 2010, a copy of the 1938 edition of “Action Comics” No. 1 sold for $1.5 million on ComicConnect’s website. That issue features the debut of Superman and originally sold for 10 cents.

In February 2010, Heritage Auctions in Dallas sold a rare copy of “Detective Comics” No. 27, which featured the debut of Batman, for $1,075,500. Fishler said the same issue had initially sold for just $2,500 in 1985 and for $140,000 in 2000.

“Over the last decade it has become a rather legendary copy because it was in the hands of a collector and no one thought he would sell,” Fishler said. “The owner came up with a figure that he didn’t think anyone would pay, and it was paid.”

“Amazing Fantasy” No. 15 has long been prized by collectors because of Spider-Man’s debut. It has been reprinted and made available as a hard-cover, too.

The cover, drawn by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, shows Spider-Man clutching a villain in one arm and swinging from his web with the other. It originally sold for 12 cents.

Writer Stan Lee and Ditko co-created the web-slinger and his alter ego, the awkward but educationally gifted Peter Parker, who was bitten by a radioactive spider.

“Spider-Man is one of Marvel’s flagship characters so, yeah, I’d say ‘Amazing Fantasy’ is very important,” said Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Axel Alonso. “Funny thing is, the series – which was formerly titled ‘Amazing Adult Fantasy’ – was scheduled for cancellation before issue ‘Amazing Fantasy’ No. 15 hit stands. It ended up being one of Marvel’s highest sellers at the time, and paving the road for the ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ series that’s run monthly ever since.”

It also helped pave the way for Spider-Man adventures on the radio, television and the movie screen.

Lee worked for Marvel for decades, eventually becoming its editor-in-chief, and then starting other businesses, including most recently POW! Entertainment.

He said, given the price paid for the issue, “I wish had saved my old Spider-Man books.”

Back in the early 1960s, there was never any thought of saving extra issues or the original artwork that made up comics because there was no space to store the artwork or books sent back by the printer.

“So if someone came to deliver our lunch or sandwiches or something, before he’d left we’d say ‘Hey, fella! You want to take these books with you or this artwork with you?”‘ Lee said. “We were giving all that stuff away. Nobody thought to save these books.”

Lee said there is more to the price tag than just money.

“I think it’s just wonderful that these old books are now considered, in some way, ancient treasures and are thought of so highly that people would give so much money for them,” he said. “I would never have believed it, but I am very impressed.”

Looking for something to take that man cave, bachelor(ette) pad, powder room to the next level? Take down the 80′s pin ups and Lamborghini posters and tack up one of these great wall murals from Art.com. Murals feature both covers and panels from one of the greatest periods in Marvel history. If the lady friend complains, just tell her you saw it on Martha Stewart. Check ‘em out here.

Great collection of the various Bat Symbols used to represent the Caped Crusader.

via ModernAlliance

the fondation cartier pour l’art contemporain presents an exhibition devoted to the work of
french comics artist jean giraud, more commonly known by his pseudonyms moebius and gir.
‘moebius-transe-forme’ is the first major show in paris dedicated to giraud’s contribution to
the graphic medium, chronicling his earlier work to his more progressive delineation that often goes
beyond the traditional boundaries of the discipline. presented in an impressive collection of
original notebook sketches, comic book panels, paintings, unpublished drawings as well as
an animated film, the exhibition explores the theme of metamorphosis, an overriding motif present
in the artist’s body of work.

via designboom

'inside moebius 6', second park, by moebius, 2007 © moebius production

curvy display unit exhibiting the artist's work image by olivier ouadah

preparatory drawing for 'arzach' by moebius, 1975 © moebius production

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Download Model Power’s latest catalogs.

New York Luxury Die Cast, LLC has released it’s die cast metal models of the 2009 United States Presidential Motorcade. These brand new releases from Luxury Collectibles are fully licensed by both General Motors and The United States Government.

Luxury Collectibles from Luxury Die Cast LLC re-creates the 2009 Presidential Motorcade with authentic realism and outstanding attention to detail. Features include rolling rubber wheels, opening front and rear doors, wood-look interior, twin rear antennae, identifying flags and the front and rear license plates that adorned the cars on Barack Obama’s first trip down Pennsylvania Avenue. All of these features and more are packed into these amazing miniatures. The Cadillac Presidential Limousine measures 6.5 inches long and the Chevrolet Suburban Presidential Armored Escort measures 5.5 inches long. Both models come complete with a clear covered display stands for years of proud and protected display.

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Indianapolis, IN (January 19, 2011) Need a vacation? Take a trip with GreenLight as we travel the world with the successful series, 1:64 Motor World.  First released in the summer of 2009, GreenLight was looking to offer a toy product line to complement their assortment of high-end collectibles. Behold! Motor World was created to fulfill this division of the die cast industry.

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