Showing posts with label Dean Young. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dean Young. Show all posts

Thursday, April 28, 2022

Signed by Four Cartoonists: Bob Kane, Walter Lantz, Charles M. Schulz, and Dean Young

On a collaborative souvenir drawing, four leading cartoonists drew their classic characters: Batman by Bob Kane, Woody Woodpecker by Walter Lantz, Snoopy by Charles M. Schulz, and Dagwood by Dean Young. These artists came together on an unknown date, or dates, from the worlds of newspaper comic strips, comic books, and animation. The characters were all popular, but there isn't all that much synergy between them.


Nevertheless, when bidding hit $1,500 with ten bids placed a full four days before the April 27 auction, I was pretty sure this set of souvenir sketches was as good as sold. But the estimate was an ambitious $2,500 to $3,500 and the reserve, undisclosed, was never reached. Why set it so high? I recommend reserves be set at half the low estimate. Sellers may or may not be pleased with the result of this strategy, but either way the market will set the price and, one hopes, move the merchandise. It's no achievement to be left holding an unsold piece that you want to unload and numerous bidders want to possess.



Charles M. Schulz, Dean Young, Walter Lantz, Bob Kane
Lion Heart Autographs listing accessed April 23, 2022











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Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Ten Items Signed by Eight Cartoonists

A group of ten items signed by eight comic strip cartoonists was sold at auction this past March in L.A. First day covers signed by a cartoonist unassociated with the stamp's subject matter don't generally do much for me unless the cartoonist interacts in some way with what is already printed, stamped, or postmarked. A signature even by the great Charles M. Schulz gains nothing, in my opinion, from its placement on a Walt Disney cover postmarked with the first day of issue. I'd prefer to keep the Disney cover and the Schulz signature separate, or better still, of course, to have the Schulz signature in a Peanuts book. I suppose any oddball, signed cover becomes an instant rarity, but so what? Among the sample of covers shown here, I give Bo Brown the highest mark. Chester Gould drew one of his ubiquitous Dick Tracy profiles on an unstamped Canadian Papineau cover; I don't see how this is in any way preferable to a sketch on a plain blank card or sheet of paper. The signed cards with printed cartoon images are nice enough, sure, but Marge's hand-drawn and personalized sketch of Little Lulu seems more thoughtful and therefore more desirable.

Cartoonists


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