Detroit Art Collection and BK

[SAM MALONE-migration]

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/07/19/kevyn-orr-detroit-will-not-sell-howdy-doody-during-bankruptcy/

 

Howdy is worth $1,000,000. . . . who knew?

[Hekla]

...Well that dashes my hopes for buying Noguchi's 'Phylon' from the city on the cheap

[Bronty]

$1m my azz

[Hekla]

I don't know anything about toy collecting; how significant is the original Howdy to a toy collector & what is the OA equivalent? Is the original Howdy to toy collectors what the AF15 cover is to OA collectors?

[Bronty]

I am pulling everything in my post out of my buttocks, but I'd guess its more like the Prince Valiant of toys than the action 1 of toys. A big deal a long time ago, and a long time since anyone (ok most anyone) cared.

 

I'd personally estimate it (again based on not a whole lot) at 50 or 100k not 1m.

 

In all of action figure collecting, I think only the GI joe prototype sold for more than 100k. I could be wrong about that, but its a safe bet 100k in action figures is grail of grails money.

 

Now this is not an action figure, its a puppet, but I have a hard time thinking that a freeking howdy doody puppet is worth anywhere NEAR that kind of money. Last time I checked there were neither throngs of Howdy Doody collectors nor throngs of puppet collectors.

 

Howdy Doody as a property is cold as ice.

 

I don't profess to know what the "ultimate puppet" would be but its surely not HD and he's surely not worth a VF action 1 / $1m.

 

I dunno, Kermit the Frog maybe? No clue.

[Hekla]

Valid points. I realized after my post that AF15 was a bad comparison as Spider-man is more widely known today than ever while Howdy Doody was really only relevant for my parents' generation. Prince Valiant seems like a good comparison.

[Eric Seffinga]

Here is another take on the fate of Detroit's art...

 

http://hyperallergic.com/76076/should-we-be-worried-christies-called-detroit-museum-about-its-2bn-collection/

 

The previous article stated nothing was for sale, this one says nothing is off the table.

 

 

[theflashunc]

Maybe I'm totally wrong here, but if some of those pieces were donated to the museum, wouldn't it be beyond poor form to turn around and sell them? Or surely there must be some trust/will issues involved with those kinds of donations that prohibit future sales by the museum.

 

This just seems incredibly myopic from where I sit, though as I understand it Detroit's art museum has had financial issues by itself as long as it's existed, so maybe this is a fitting end in some ways.

[Eric Seffinga]

Art museums and poor form?

 

If you have not watched the documentary The Art of the Steal, you should definitely do so. I think it is still on Netflix. Go watch it!

 

[theflashunc]

Art museums and poor form?

 

If you have not watched the documentary The Art of the Steal, you should definitely do so. I think it is still on Netflix. Go watch it!

 

Great documentary, certainly one of my favorites.

 

Along those lines is "Who the $*&$&* is Jackson Pollock?"