Amsterdam, 31 January 2020 - The online platform for special objects, Catawiki, claims the leading title as the largest and strongest online platform for buying and selling comics in Europe - with no less than 9 million euros in winning bids in the comics category in 2019 More than 75,000 lots were auctioned on the platform last year, with a single lot often containing multiple strips. The comic market is growing fast and Catawiki is seeing a growing demand for US Comics , Italian fumetti and erotic comics. This demand is increasing not only for collection purposes, but also in terms of price and investment.
Collect trends in comics
Patrick Vranken, comic expert or Catawiki: “The past year has shown us that collecting comics is more than just a passion. All vintage Golden Age (1938-1955) and Silver Age (1956-1970) strips that are in excellent condition, in whatever language, are growing rapidly in value. Some collectors had clearly been aware of the value of comics for some time. We can see this by the way some comics have been carefully preserved over the past decades. Others now realize the same and we hope that this trend will continue in the coming years. "
Experts from Catawiki have seen the growing popularity of weird comics in price and investments grow. Catawiki specializes in weekly unique auctions for comics. In the last two years, the range of Catawiki for comics has also been expanding in France and Italy. These markets have now also discovered the benefits of the platform. The weekly unique auctions now include French comics with top lots from Tardi, Moebius, Franquin and others, all carefully compiled by experts. The weekly theme auctions by Hergé / Tintin are particularly successful and the demand for US Comics, Italian fumetti and erotic comics is also increasing rapidly.
Top lots auctioned in 2019
Catawiki repeatedly made headlines in 2019, thanks to the sale of weird comics that reached record amounts in the bids. The best lots that were auctioned were:
- Amazing Fantasy # 15 - Spiderman The ' Amazing Fantasy # 15 ' is one of the world's most wanted comics and is in the 'Top 3 most wanted comics in the world'. This was the very first comic that showed a full appearance of Spiderman. The comic was sold on Catawiki for 10,000 euros.
- Suske and Wiske on the island of Amoras A rare copy of the first edition of one of the most iconic albums of Suske and Wiske - ' On the Island of Amoras ' (1947) was sold for an amount of 12,200 euros.
- Tintin in the country of the Soviets2019 ended with the original edition of ' Tintin au Pays des Soviets ', which appeared in 1930. This number yielded a record amount of 50,000 euros in November. This comic was one of the first 500 copies ever printed. This edition was just as unique because it was numbered and signed by Hergé (as' Tintin ') and his wife (as' Milou).
To celebrate this breakthrough, Catawiki is launching the Year of the Comics in France ( BD2020 ) at the Festival d'Angoulème, with a selection of exclusive original comic art. Catawiki can be found in the Espace Para BD at Festival d'Angoulème from January 31 - February 1, 2020
