A CAPTIVATING BACKSTORY COMBINED WITH OWNERSHIP BY A NOTABLE PERSONALITY CAN TURN ORDINARY ITEMS INTO AUCTION BLOCKBUSTERS
By Colin Tait | July 16, 2025
Once considered niche, pop culture artifacts such as concert posters, movie props and costumes, trading cards, comic books, and vintage toys are now driving some of the most staggering sales in the global auction world. At the center of this shift stands Heritage Auctions, whose recent results speak volumes. In the past two years alone at Heritage, a pair of Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz fetched $32.5 million, a game-worn Babe Ruth jersey brought in over $24 million, Superman’s comic book debut realized $6 million, and a screen-used X-wing starfighter from Star Wars soared to a record $3.135 million, the highest price ever paid for a Star Wars prop. What’s driving this new era in collecting? In a word: provenance – and a whole new generation of buyers reshaping the market with their tastes, nostalgia, and considerable wealth.
In December 2024, Heritage made headlines when it sold a pair of Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers for a record-shattering $32.5 million. One of four surviving pairs worn by Judy Garland in 1939’s ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ the slippers are the cross-matched sister shoes to the pair at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
From Paintings to Pop Culture: A New Class of Investment
Since the pandemic, collectors have reevaluated their priorities as well as their portfolios. With rising nostalgia and digital culture, collectibles have emerged not just as conversation pieces but as prudent asset diversification. Adults lining up to buy Pokémon cards at Target and collectors shelling out six figures for signed guitars or screen-used lightsabers isn’t just a trend; it’s an evolution. Items that combine sentimentality, scarcity, and storytelling power are driving both prices and prestige.
This shift is especially pronounced with collectibles tied to celebrities, historic moments, or major franchises. Photo-matched game-worn baseball jerseys, sealed video games, and screen-worn costumes now command the kind of attention – and bidding wars – once reserved for fine art. But it’s not just about value. These pieces also drive visibility, lighting up Instagram feeds and going viral on TikTok and YouTube, where their cultural relevance is instantly recognizable. Today, an original Stormtrooper helmet from Star Wars, McCauley Culkin’s snow cap from Home Alone, or a graded Grateful Dead concert poster can generate far more online buzz and collector demand than a blue-chip abstract canvas.
It’s a shift from Art with a capital “A” to one-of-a-kind pop culture artifacts like a Back to the Future Part II hoverboard, the title sequence artwork from Dr. No, or the original cover art from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – items that carry emotional weight and instantly recognizable cultural power. In a media-driven world, visibility equals value. And in the collectibles space, value follows story.
The jersey worn by Babe Ruth when he famously called his shot during Game 3 of the 1932 World Series sold for $24.12 million in an August 2024 Heritage auction. The bidding war lasted more than six hours.
The Generational Wealth Shift (And the Taste Shift That Comes With It)
According to a recent report from the research and consulting firm Cerulli Associates, over the next decade, more than $100 trillion is expected to pass from baby boomers to their children. But this isn’t just a transfer of assets; it’s a transfer of monetary value if not value systems altogether. The new generation of collectors sees cultural impact and personal nostalgia as driving forces, placing first-edition comic books and iconic film memorabilia in the same league as fine art.
Heritage Auctions has seen these effects firsthand: massive spikes in participation, record-breaking results across categories, and a surge of interest from younger, globally connected collectors who want items that resonate both emotionally and culturally.
Last year saw historic results at Heritage, including the $32.5 million sale of Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz. One of four surviving pairs used in the 1939 classic – and the very pair once stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005 – the shoes are now the most valuable movie memorabilia ever sold at auction. And just four months before that blockbuster sale, the New York Yankees jersey Babe Ruth wore when he famously called his shot to deep center field in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series sold for more than $24 million to become the world’s most valuable sports collectible. These staggering prices demonstrate how personalities like Ruth and Garland can add tremendous value to otherwise everyday objects, elevating them through direct, one-of-a-kind provenance.
These numbers reflect a transformed marketplace, where cultural icons now compete alongside traditional auction categories like contemporary art, fine wine, and classic automobiles.
A screen-matched X-wing starfighter from 1977’s ‘Star Wars’ realized $3.135 million in an October 2023 Heritage auction. The filming miniature came from the collection of Oscar- and Emmy-nominated model-maker Greg Jein.
Provenance: The Golden Thread That Ties It All Together
What do Neil Armstrong’s LIFE magazine, Joan Crawford’s jewels, and a letter from Franklin Roosevelt to Amelia Earhart have in common? Provenance. More than rarity or condition, it’s often the story behind the object that drives value – and intense bidding. That principle defined several of Heritage’s recent headline-making auctions, each now ranked among the top five entertainment sales of all time.
The Greg Jein Collection showcased the private archive of the revered model-maker and Hollywood insider, featuring iconic sci-fi props and models from Star Trek, Star Wars and beyond. The October 2023 sale set multiple records, led by an X-Wing fighter filming miniature that raked in more than $3 million. Total auction sales surpassed $13 million, confirming Jein’s collection as one of the most significant sci-fi offerings ever brought to market.
The Treasures from Planet Hollywood auction in March 2024 tapped into star power and nostalgia, presenting screen-used pieces backed by the Arnold Schwarzenegger/Bruce Willis/Sylvester Stallone-era branding of the famed restaurant franchise. Top sellers included the infamous floating wood panel from Titanic ($718,750), Indiana Jones’ bullwhip ($525,000), and, perhaps most surprisingly, Bill Murray’s rose bowling ball from Kingpin, which realized $350,000. One likely explanation for the ball’s runaway success is the extreme rarity of screen-used Bill Murray props and the cult status of the film itself, both of which made the item irresistible to collectors. The auction totaled more than $15 million.
“There were so many bidding wars during the Treasures from Planet Hollywood auction that we lost track,” says Joe Maddalena, Heritage’s Executive Vice President/Partner. “The extraordinary success of this auction proves what I’ve known all along: The interest in and appetite for modern movie props and costumes is profound, deep, and insatiable.”
An original touring Iron Throne ruled Heritage’s October 2024 ‘Game of Thrones’ auction when it realized $1.49 million.
The Game of Thrones auction in October 2024, sourced directly from HBO’s archives, proved the power of provenance on a global scale. More than 4,500 bidders vied for original costumes, weapons, and props from across the series’ eight-season run, driving the total to $21 million. As the show’s legacy continues to build, the auction signaled the rising influence of younger collectors eager to claim a piece of recent cultural history.
Even personal artifacts have surpassed expectations when tied to big names. In 2017, Paul Newman’s personal Rolex Daytona realized nearly $18 million. And in June 2024, David Lynch’s personal espresso machine – a humble item tied to the famously coffee-obsessed director – sold for $45,500, proof that provenance alone can elevate even the most everyday object into a valuable collectible.
In December 2021, Heritage set a modern-literature world record when it sold a first edition of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ for $471,000.
Collectibles Redefined: Rarity, Provenance, and Record Prices
The new shape of the collectibles market can be seen in rising demand for original movie posters, concert posters, sealed video games, vintage toys, and items tied to pop culture legends. These aren’t just artifacts; they’re tangible links to cultural history, and when combined with strong provenance, they’re garnering record-breaking results. Heritage has proven this lesson time and again, as evidenced by this handful of sales from the past five years:
- George Harrison’s 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard Sunburst guitar sold for $312,500 in September 2022, reinforcing the value of instruments used by legendary musicians.
- Robert Peak’s original final poster artwork for Apocalypse Now sold for $300,000 in November 2024, demonstrating that iconic film imagery can rival traditional fine art in both demand and value.
- A production-used Godfather notebook – belonging to Mario Puzo and annotated by Francis Ford Coppola – sold for $100,000 in December 2024, highlighting demand for behind-the-scenes material from iconic films.
- A first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone fetched $471,000 in December 2021, a record for modern firsts, driven by a blend of nostalgia and literary significance.
These trends are part of a broader pattern. Original sci-fi props from franchises like Star Wars, Alien, Blade Runner, and Back to the Future remain perennial bestsellers, driven by a generation of collectors now coming into wealth and curating collections aligned with their own passions. Today’s buyers are looking not just for rarity, but for story. And the deeper the connection, the higher the hammer price.
A copy of ‘Action Comics’ No. 1 became the world’s most valuable comic book when it sold for $6 million in an April 2024 Heritage auction.
New Buyers, New Rules
We are watching the market shift in real time. Younger collectors aren’t just bidding; they’re reshaping what the auction world values. Their tastes are eclectic, driven by both nostalgia and cultural significance. They’re as interested in the Game of Thrones Iron Throne as they are in a Picasso, and often more willing to pay for it, as the $1.49 million final tally for the throne reflects. Understanding this shift is crucial for buyers as well as consignors. Because if you want a glimpse into the future of collecting, don’t look to the gallery walls – look to the silver screen, the playing field, and the comic book rack. That’s where history is being written – and sold.