Could your anime collection break a record? This one did. Heritage Auctions announced last week that the world’s first auction dedicated to anime art had broken multiple world records!
“The Art of Anime and Everything Cool Auction,” brought to market animation cels from some of anime’s biggest pre-digital series and films, from AKIRA to My Neighbor Totoro.
Not only did the auction itself break a dollar record of $2.1 million, but it also broke an attendance record, with more than 2,800 bidders from around the world looking to bring home production art, collectible cels and more from series like Dragon Ball, Astro Boy, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Ghost in the Shell.
Some of the items going for the most included a cel setup and key master background from My Neighbor Totoro, featuring Mei and Satsuki, which went for $84,000 (almost 17 times its pre-auction estimate), and a sequence of four cels from AKIRA for $78,000.
These items and more set world records for sale of anime cels and production art. But it wasn’t all anime.
The “Everything Cool” segment of the auction included items like the Peter Lloyd concept art for TRON, and a surfboard with art by Lilo & Stitch director Chris Sanders.
Heritage Auctions is already planning “The Art of Anime and Everything Cool II,” according to the company’s art director, so collectors should keep an eye out to score a major piece of anime history!
Source: Press release
