BABE RUTH MOVIE POSTER SELLS FOR $138,000

DALLAS, TEXAS: As part of Heritage Galleries' $4 million popular culture auction November 20-23, held in Arlington, Texas in conjunction with WizardWorld Texas, the Vintage Movie Posters section was highlighted by a rare example of the one-sheet version of The Babe Comes Home realized $138,000 in spirited bidding.

The poster was purchased by William Hughes, a well-known collectibles dealer and movie poster collector, according to Heritage's movie posters expert, Grey Smith, who added, "We had several bidders just below him, all well into the six-figure range."

According to Hughes, "This was a poster I had coveted for a long time, and I had unsuccessfully tried to buy the only other known copy many years ago. I was very excited when I saw that the piece showed up at the Heritage auction. Their catalog description and photography made it practically irresistible, and Heritage is also very easy to work with. I'm just thrilled that I finally own this poster."

The poster was estimated at $90,000-150,000 and described as follows:

Babe Comes Home, The (First National, 1927). One Sheet (27" X 41"). Sports-related posters have enjoyed popular demand for many years, and none more so than those that actually feature real sports legends. This incredible one sheet depicts the greatest legend to ever play the game of baseball, the Sultan of Swat, George Herman Ruth, otherwise affectionately known as The Babe. During his career, Ruth was the best slugger the game had ever seen, and his fame led producers to feature him in several films. Some of those films, such as this one and another called "Headin' Home" from 1920, cast him as the lead, while other films found him in cameos as in Harold Lloyd's "Speedy" in 1928 and "The Pride of the Yankees" in 1942. Ruth starred in an educational/short subject series, too, in 1920 and without his permission. He also did the "Babe Ruth Baseball Series" for Universal Pictures in 1932. This very rare one sheet was made the year that Ruth set his home-run record. The producers knew they had a winner in this star and of course featured him prominently on the poster in uniform. The public just couldn't get enough of this baseball superstar! Of all sports movie posters, none are more sought after or desirable than those which depict the Yankee slugger. Last year, a title card for "The Babe Comes Home" sold for $12,650.00. A very rare three sheet for "Over The Fence" sold for $55,739.00 and in 1999 a one sheet from the "Play Ball" short subject series brought $96,000.00. Yet none of these posters would seem to combine the graphics, ideal size, prominence of Babe Ruth's image, condition, and rarity of the presently offered one sheet. Due to the fragile nature of vintage posters, this example has been professionally conserved and mounted on Japanese Masa paper and linen with the strictest archival materials used today. Though very little work was needed on this piece it was decided to gently preserve it for at least another hundred years or more. The only other copy of this gorgeous Stone-Lithograph poster has been in a private collection for over twenty years and probably will not see the light of day anytime soon. This amazing piece of baseball and cinema memorabilia may never come around again -- so, step up to the plate and don't strike out, slugger! Very Fine+ on Linen

The entire movie poster section of the auction realized about $750,000 with numerous records smashed. The entire auction realized about $4 million and was extremely successful. More details to follow.

For more information about Heritage's auctions, and a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit www.HeritageComics.com.

HCA specializes in rare, high-grade comic books, as well as vintage comic and animation art, illustration art, classic toys, movie posters and comics-related collectibles.

Prospective consignors and sellers of top-end comics material, toys, and original art are invited to call Grey Smith at 214-668-6928, Ed Jaster at 214-252-4288 or Fred McSurley at 214-252-4293 to discuss their rare comics and original illustration and comic art. Or visit http://www.HeritageComics.com and click on the "consign" tab. Or email Ed Jaster at EdJ@HeritageComics.com or Fred McSurley at FredM@HeritageComics.com

Movie poster consignors, please contact Grey Smith at 214-668-6928 or via email at GreySm@HeritageMoviePosters.com

To order the next three sale catalogs, visit Heritage's website to pay by credit card, or send a check or money order payable to Heritage Comics in the amount of $100 (a fraction of Heritage's actual cost-to-produce the catalogs) to:
Norma Pedrero, c/o Heritage Comics, 100 Highland Park Village, 2nd Floor, Dallas, TX 75205.