Appraisal of Charles Schulz
Original Comic Strip Artwork
By
Karen McKenzie
McKenzie’s Auctioneers & Appraisers
Westside Antiques Mall
2300 Badger Lane
Madison, WI 53713
(608) 467-6466
We are presented with three original Daily Comic strips by Charles Schulz. It had been in an attic in Arizona, for several years. The relative of our client had recently passed away and the client had received them from the estate. The relative’s husband had worked as an editor with the New York Times in the 1960’s and 1970’s. When he retired he moved to Arizona with his wife.
Validation & Authentication
The strips of artwork have never been wet or dry mounted to anything and were resting between two pieces of cardboard, the client very appropriately moved them to white tag board. After visiting us, I suggested that he get some acid-free cardboard and under no circumstances leave them in a frame shop to be framed. They should not leave his possession until they were insured.
There is no damage to the papers, any cuts, stray errant marks, or fingerprints. There is foxing on the edges that are consistent with paper that has been around since the late 1960’s or early 1970’s. The paper strip that has been affixed to the daily strip contains the “United Features Syndicate” copyright and date. (See photos). That strip of paper is from a lesser quality paper and had foxed at an advanced rate and is slightly darker than the paper it is attached to. This too is consistent with an original piece from that period. The Ink in which the artwork is completed in is not a chromolithograph copy; it contains no dot matrix and is irregular as hand drawn artwork should be. The three works also contain stray pencil marks that have been erased and faded in the background of some of the lines that are drawn in ink. This too is consistent with original artwork. The signature matches other works by Charles Schulz that are in the public domain. It is an original signature and not a facsimile.
The Trademark quote is consistent on each of the strips and states:
“Tm. Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. ____ All rights reserved
© 1970 by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.”
Two strips share the same trademark year date of 1970. Of those the specific dates are: “Last year wasn’t good for me” is dated 12/31; “Dr. is In” is dated 12/28. The third strip, “Problem Chuck” is dated 2/10 and is trademark year dated as 1971.
Local Values:
Since most people are unable to distinguish between original ink on paper versus a chromo-lithograph and very often do not care about the difference, original works of art have a challenge to meet fair market value in a local venue. Where a proprietor understands the difference and can properly market that to customers who understand and appreciate the investment value of original artworks, it can sell for a reasonable value near the fair market or retail value. Therefore, unless it is sold with someone who understands these variables, it will most likely be undersold in a local market. (In fact, the client stated that someone had offered them an amount to buy the items. We were of course glad that they did not succumb to a local opportunists and hired an appraiser who subscribes to the international society of appraisers code of ethics and prohibitions on conflicts of interest.)
$1,200 to $1,500 each
Regional Values:
Regional values would be higher since there are more collectors of original artworks as investments in Chicago and Milwaukee. We could not find any regional results. Therefore the value would be presumably 30% higher than local values.
$2,100 to $2,750 each
National Value
There have been published sales results between $6500 and $21,000. The variance in values for an original drawing of one of the United Feature Syndicate trademarked daily comic strip signed by Charles Schulz is both in the year it was issued, and in the content. The earlier strips from the 1950’s have a higher value than the later 1960’s and 1970’s. The subject matter of the “Red Barron” and the “Place Kick” were more valued topics sold for $101,000 and $77,765 respectively. Both of these strips were also larger layouts and than the single strip; three levels of strips were utilized.
Of the strips that are one level, three to four boxes, the prices also vary. Unless there is a unique strip that became world famous the price is less than $7,500. The strips that we have here is from January 31st, December 28th, and February 10th. “The Dr. Is In” is a more famous series, and gained worldwide notoriety. This would be at the higher end of the market range therefore it would be $7,500 to $9,500.
The New Year’s Eve 1971 doesn’t carry much significance for the date, and the topic is not as memorable (“Last year Wasn’t Good for Me”). Therefore, these would be at the lower end of the market.
The three we have here, if valued at $6,500 to $8,500 each, would be worth $19,500 to $26,500.
Wholesale Value
National Wholesale would be $8,000 to $12,000.
Retail Value
This provides a greater challenge this type of inventory rarely reaches the retail market. Based on these facts, the retail value of three strips must exceed the rental value of the items. The rental value is always a portion of retail value. Therefore, coupled with the valuations above, we concluded that the retail value of three original comic strips might exceed the national value.
Insurance / Replacement Value
Because of the limited amount of original artwork by Charles Schulz that is on the market and has been on the market, coupled with the fact that there is no more in productions, we would find it difficult to replace these exact strips. One would have to buy more expensive strips, if they were ever to become available again. The only strips drawn by Schulz that have come to market recently have sold for between $6,500 and $21,000 each.
Therefore, these three should be insured for $22,000 to $26,000 as the replacement value.
References:
Swann, New York
Heritage Auctions
Sales results from November 2009
Comic Art at Sanders
Compalcomics.com
