Rare Anime Auction Breaks Sales Records After Multi-Million Turnout

It looks like anime is driving sales wherever you look. From Blu-ray sales to streaming subs, anime is on the rise, and that includes merchandise. Collectors are eager to nab the rarest anime goods when they pop up, and thanks to a recent sale by Heritage, a whopping $3.1 million was just spent on vintage anime goods.

Not long ago, Heritage released the results of one of its top auction weekends. The Art of Anime and Everything Cool auction resumed last weekend, and it set a record at the famous auction house.

"The sale realized $3,148,639 to beat the record high set last September, with numerous lots far exceeding their initial estimates. More than 5,000 bidders competed for their slices of history online, over the phone, and in person – by far the largest turn-out yet," Heritage shared.

As for what sold, the auction saw everything from Dragon Ball Z to Akira sell. The biggest sale of the auction went to Vegeta as a cell from "Final Atonement" was sold for a whopping $144,000 USD which marks a record for Dragon Ball production cells. Akira also saw some of its cels sold, and the same went for projects like Cowboy Bebop, Kiki's Delivery Service, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, and more.

Outside of anime, the animation industry also got some love from this Heritage auction. A 50-inch statue of Bender from Futurama sold for nearly $40,000 USD, and that is just the start. Production cels were also sold from some powerhouse animated series including The Simpsons, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You, and Tron. 

What do you think about this latest anime auction? Are there any anime holy grails on your must-have list? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!