Part 2 of the Andy Yanchus collection – 564 lots of rare and vintage comics and comic art gathered over the course of a lifetime by the renowned hobbyist – will come up for bid on New Year’s Day, Sunday, January 1st, beginning at 12 noon Eastern time, by Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers, online and live in the Bruneau & Co. gallery at 63 Fourth Avenue in Cranston.

Part 1 of the collection, which consisted of plastic models, diecast toys, American models and vintage toys from the 1960s thru the 1990s, was sold on September 17th, also by Bruneau & Co. A series of further auctions will also be conducted throughout the year, featuring more of Mr. Yanchus’s models, toys and more. Part 2 will be Bruneau & Co.’s largest comic auction to date.

Andy Yanchus was born and raised in Brooklyn and amassed his collection in his lifelong home. His passion for collecting goes back to early childhood and his love for building and displaying models led him to attend the Pratt School of Industrial Design in New York and to go on to have a ten-year career with Aurora Plastics. While at Aurora, he rose to the level of Project Manager.

Yanchus then became a staff colorist with Marvel Comics, a job he held for 17 years. He worked on Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men, Alpha Flight and G.I. Joe, among other titles. He also worked alongside Marvel great Dave Cockrum (1943-2006) and the two men became lifelong friends. Cockrum co-created the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus and Mystique.

“Many of the books in the Part 2 sale are the highest graded examples available. We couldn’t be prouder,” said Travis Landry, Bruneau & Co.’s Director of Pop Culture and an auctioneer. “It also includes a large selection of Andy’s original artwork from when he worked at Marvel. His friendship with Dave Cockrum produced an unreleased Ms. Marvel cover they did together.”

Also offered will be Cockrum’s original ink and watercolor box art for Aurora Plastics and the Metaluna Mutant model, from the 1955 film This Island Earth. Cockrum brought the mutant to life on the 20 inch by 14 inch paper circa 1974 with an ominous red background. It’s signed “Cockrum”. The Metaluna Mutant has gained cult status over the years (est. $7,000-$10,000).

A copy of Marvel Comics Tales to Astonish #90 (April 1967), graded CGC 9.8, featuring the first appearance of the Abomination and the first Silver Age appearance of Byrrah, has a pre-sale estimate of $10,000-$15,000. The comic is one of eight known and, per the CGC census, none are graded higher than 9.8. Remarkably, it sat unbagged in Andy’s collection for over 55 years.

A copy of Gold Key Green Hornet #1 (Feb. 1967), graded CGC 9.8, based on the Green Hornet ABC television series and featuring a Bruce Lee and Van Williams photo cover, should realize $5,000-$8,000. The book is one of two in the CGC census graded 9.8, with none graded higher, and per GP Analysis a 9.8 copy has never been sold on the open market; a 9.6 sold in Dec. 2011.

A copy of Marvel Comics Marvel Premiere #28 (Feb. 1976), graded CGC 9.8, featuring the first appearance of the Legion of Monsters, is estimated to bring $3,000-$5,000. As the MCU moves into phase 5 we have already been introduced to Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night and Morbius. Per the CGC census, 25 known copies of the comic are graded at 9.8, with none graded higher.

A copy of Marvel Comics Marvel Spotlight #5 (Aug. 1972), graded CGC 9.0, featuring the origin and first appearance of Ghost Rider and the first appearance of Roxanne Simpson, has a pre-sale estimate of $3,000-$5,000. Per the CGC census, 253 are graded in 9.0; 304 are higher.

The original cover color guide to the unreleased Marvel Comics Black Panther #16 (July 1979), the stat paper page of cover artwork by Rich Buckler and Bob McLeod and hand-colored by Andy Yanchus with color codes and due date hand-written on verso, should finish at $1,000-$2,000. Jack Kirby’s Black Panther series ran to issue 15; this book was written but unpublished.

An original 1980 birthday card drawing by Dave Cockrum for Andy Yanchus’s 36th birthday, decorated with the Blackhawk team and Chop Chop holding a birthday cake has an estimate of $1,000-$2,000. The drawing is signed “Cockrum 80” and annotated, “Best Wishes from Dave and Paty!” This unique piece nicely captures the career and friendship of two Marvel legends.

A copy of Marvel Comics Rawhide Kid #52 (June 1966), graded CGC 9.8, featuring a story, cover and art by Larry Lieber, is expected to change hands for $1,000-$1,500. Per the CGC census, this is the single highest graded copy (9.8) of this Silver Age classic in the world. Also up for bid will be a copy of Marvel Comics Silver Surfer #3, graded well at 9.6

Nearly 50 comic books from Andy Yanchus’s collection were graded 9.8, while hundreds of other high-grade books were 9.0 and higher. Comic art highlights, meanwhile, will include the full story color guides to Amazing Spider-Man #238, Shogun Warriors #1 and Alpha Flight #1.

Internet bidding will be facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com, bidLIVE.Bruneauandco.com and the mobile app “Bruneau & Co.” on iTunes or GooglePlay. Doors will open on auction day at 10 am Eastern time. Previews will be by appointment if needed. To schedule an appointment call 401-533-9980, or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

To learn more about Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers and Part 2 of the Andy Yanchus collection slated for New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2023 visit www.bruneauandco.com. Updates are posted often.

An auction of 270 never-before-offered historic California Gold Rush sunken treasure artifacts attracted nearly $1 million in sales from more than 7,500 registered bidders from across the United States and in six other countries. The recovered jewelry, mid-1800s clothing, glassware, and other items were retrieved from the legendary “Ship of Gold,” the S.S. Central America that sank during a voyage to New York in 1857.

“There has never been anything like the scope of these recovered artifacts which represented a time capsule of daily life during the Gold Rush. The auction took over eight hours for only 270 lots because of the exceptionally large number of bids,” said Fred Holabird, president of Holabird Western Americana Collections (www.HolabirdAmericana.com), the auction company that conducted the sale in Reno, Nevada and online on December 3, 2022.

Holabird advised there will be only one more opportunity to acquire previously unavailable S.S. Central America artifacts when the last items recovered from the fabled ship are offered in a public auction on February 25, 2023.

Highlights of the December auction included the unique wooden lid to a Wells Fargo & Co. treasure box that that sold for $99,600; the purser’s keys to the ship’s treasure room where tons of Gold Rush coins and assayers’ ingots were stored brought $103,200; and the oldest known pair of miner’s heavy-duty work pants sold for $114,000, the highest price ever paid for jeans.

“Those miner’s jeans are like the first flag on the moon, a historic moment in history. We can precisely date them because we know the Central America sank during a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean on September 12, 1857. There are no earlier five-button fly jeans in existence,” said Dwight Manley, managing partner of the California Gold Marketing Group, consignor of the recovered artifacts.

The auction catalog contained an extensive explanation of why the jeans may have been made by or for Levi Strauss Company. The miner’s pants and early Brooks Brothers undershirts with the company’s famous emblem were discovered in 1991 in the first-class passenger trunk of merchant and Mexican-American War military veteran John Dement of Oregon.

Two of the three recovered Brooks Brothers shirts were offered in the auction and sold for $3,240 and $1,320 respectively. A third shirt will be in the February auction. An 1849 edition of the novel, “The Count of Monte Cristo,” also found in Dement’s trunk, sold for $3,720.

A treasure trove of 1850s high fashion, recovered from the trunk of first-class passengers Ansel and Adeline Easton of San Francisco, included men’s scarves, bow ties, cravats, collars, dress shirts, vests, jackets, dress pants, and socks, as well as women’s bloomers, dresses, evening gowns, and gloves.

Winning bids on those items ranged from $100 to $200 for pairs of socks to $4,800 for a shirt made for the Easton’s friend, William C. Ralston, co-founder of the Bank of California, which was also found in the Easton’s trunk. It apparently was being taken to New York to have more shirts made for Ralston.

“Ansel and Adeline Easton were San Francisco ‘royalty’ on their honeymoon trip to New York when the legendary S.S. Central America sank in a hurricane in September 1857. Adeline survived in a lifeboat; Ansel clung to debris in the water for hours after the ship sank until he was rescued by the crew from another ship,” said Holabird.

“Ansel was a wealthy maritime provisions supplier and Adeline’s brother, D.O. Mills, was a co-founder of the Bank of California,” he explained.

Bidders also paid $26,400 for a circa 1851 gold watch cover depicting a miner and Yerba Buena which later became San Francisco; $14,400 for a ring made with a large gold-in-quartz gemstone; a stick pin with two gold nuggets went for $12,000; the winning bidder paid $3,360 for a white ceramic coffee cup decorated with gold lettering “To My Mother.”

An 1849 Colt pocket pistol sold for $30,000; and three sets of matched, brass luggage tags indicating the bags were going from San Francisco to New York via Panama sold for $5,640.

Four black glass beer bottles, some with the remaining dregs of their original contents, were sold for $1,200 to $1,680 each, and a whiskey bottle from the ship’s saloon brought $1,920. A rare medal of the order of Saint Maurice and Saint Lazarus, one of the world’s oldest orders of knighthood, sold for $13,200.

A $20 denomination gold coin struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1856 and later stamped with an advertising message by Sacramento, California drug store owner J. Polhemus set a record for one of his counter-stamped coins at $43,200.

The Central America was carrying tons of Gold Rush treasure from San Francisco and the northern California area when she sank 7,200 feet deep in the Atlantic off the North Carolina coast while on a voyage from Panama to New York City. Recovery missions were made in 1988 to 1991 and again in 2014.

Most of the recovered coins and gold bars were sold starting in 2000. The unique items in this auction and the one scheduled for February were kept in secure storage since their recovery.

Insurance claims for the loss were paid in the 1850s and the company that discovered and retrieved the treasure starting in 1988 settled with the insurers and their successors in 1998. With court approval, California Gold Marketing Group subsequently acquired clear title to all of that remaining treasure as well as all the items recovered in 2014.

All prices include a 20 percent buyer’s fee added to all winning bids. For additional information about the auction and the upcoming February 2023 auction of S.S. Central America artifacts, visit Holabird Western Americana Collections of Reno, Nevada at www.HolabirdAmericana.com, call 775-851-1859, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Web3 entertainment company Digital Entertainment Asset (DEA) has announced the launch of Lucky Farmer, a new NFT game on the PlayMining gaming platform. Lucky Farmer joins a rapidly growing catalog of PlayMining Play-and-Earn (P&E) games that enable players to earn DEAPcoin ($DEP) tokens, which can be used to purchase NFTs from the PlayMining NFT marketplace or traded on popular crypto exchanges such as OKX, Gate.io, Uniswap, Bitmart and more.

“We are sure that Lucky Farmer will be a hit with players,” said DEA co-founder and co-CEO Naohito Yoshida. “Lucky Farmer and in fact all of the games on the PlayMining GameFi platform are easy to play and great for casual players looking to enjoy some quick entertainment during their busy day. The best part is – you get to earn $DEP tokens through play!”

How to Play Lucky Farmer

Lucky Farmer is a farm-themed casual coin pusher game where players attempt to collect large numbers of medals through an in-game slot machine. These medals can then be exchanged for various items or used to advance pets in the game or participate in weekly ranking competitions. Incidentally, these medals can also be traded for DEP tokens.

Lucky Farmer is full of incentivized play which makes it both fun and rewarding for players. Players spin a slot machine to score certain combos to generate raining medals, crop growing or egg dropping. ‘Fever Time’ is triggered when the triple seven jackpot is hit, causing medals to rain down in torrents. Aligning pet patterns in the slot machine activates a pet’s skills, which can trigger dropping crops or eggs on the field. In addition, feeding a pet will make it friendly and increase the activation rate of its skills. More eggs gets a player more numbers which are used to play Bingo and ‘JACKPOTCHANCE’ to win even more medals.

The game uses two kinds of NFTs to enhance gameplay – Farmland and Character NFTs. Farmland NFTs give the players access to special crops, increase the odds of winning slot combos and also give players the chance to win DEP tokens directly during ‘Fever Time’ and ‘JACKPOTCHANCE’. Character NFTs allow the player to customize play experience, such as being able to change their avatar, game background and music. When specific character and farmland NFTs are paired together, it also increases the probability of scoring winning combos.

Players can use DEP tokens to purchase the NFTs on the PlayMining NFT marketplace, or from an in-game ‘Lucky Box’ where they can either receive a random NFT or an in-game item.

The PlayMining Web3 Entertainment Platform

In addition to Lucky Farmer, PlayMining features a number of other P&E NFT game titles, including Job Tribes, Cookin’ Burger, Menya Dragon Ramen and Graffiti Racer. As mentioned, NFTs purchased from the PlayMining NFT marketplace can be used in the games. The NFT market also sells premium artwork NFTs from some of the hottest creators in the Japanese video game and anime industries. Metaverse projects are also in development for the platform.

Notably, DEAPcoin was the first P2E token to be officially approved by Japan’s Financial Service Agency. In an effort to promote NFT gaming in Japan, DEA recently embarked on a business alliance with TV Tokyo to create educational television content about Web3 technology for the mainstream Japanese audience. DEA has also signed a separate MOU for a collaborative Web3 partnership with Rakuten Group, another major player in the Japanese Web3 space.

PlayMining develops many of their own games in-house, but also partners with third-party game studios to develop games for the platform. This is a major boon for independent developers, giving them access to intellectual property (IP) monetization opportunities on PlayMining’s NFT marketplace and upcoming PlayMining Verse, a metaverse initiative. Small game studios usually lose a lot of value to distribution channels — the most popular game distribution platforms such as Apple, Playstation and Nintendo notoriously take around a 30 percent cut of every sale — but PlayMining offers third party studios much fairer fees and a Web3 platform that keeps everything transparently recorded on the blockchain. The PlayMining NFT marketplace also pays out royalties to both official IP owners and fan artists, and has paid out over SG$9 million in royalties to date.

“We’re releasing multiple new game titles for PlayMining every single year, rapidly building our platform to satisfy our 2.6 million users,” said DEA’s other co-founder and co-CEO, Kozo Yamada. “Our goal is to bring more and more third-party studios on board and build out a game library that rivals Nintendo. Play-and-Earn gaming is the new wave of the future, and DEA is proud to be at the forefront of this innovative movement that rewards players for participation.”

About PlayMining:
PlayMining is a GameFi and metaverse platform that empowers creators who would otherwise benefit very little in the traditional IP creation industry. The PlayMining platform is a new business model for content creation, featuring an NFT Marketplace powered by the PlayMining DEAPcoin ($DEP), paired with an NFT gaming and Metaverse platform. Featuring both in-house games as well as third-party projects with their own native tokens that allow creators to capture nearly all of the value they create, the PlayMining platform has 2.6 million users and a catalog of P&E game titles including Job Tribes, Cookin’ Burger, Menya Dragon Ramen, Graffiti Racer and Lucky Farmer.

About Digital Entertainment Asset:
Digital Entertainment Asset Pte. Ltd. (DEA) is a Singapore-based global Web3 entertainment company founded in August 2018. DEA is a developer of Play and Earn (P&E) games, and also operates the PlayMining NFT game platform, the PlayMining NFT marketplace, the PlayMining Verse metaverse project and DEAPcoin - the first P&E token approved by the Financial Service Agency of Japan. The team is headed by two co-CEOs — Naohito Yoshida and Kozo Yamada — who together bring decades of experience in founding successful startups (with 3 IPOs), creating hit video games, producing Web TV programs and a deep understanding of NFT gaming.

Official Channels:
PlayMining Website: https://playmining.com
PlayMining Discord: https://discord.com/invite/xWeHGdt
PlayMining Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlayMining_SG
PlayMining Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayMining/
PlayMining Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGWmK0RLV4SB_PSXpj2j6dw

Lucky Farmer Website: https://luckyfarmer.playmining.com/en/
Lucky Farmer Video: https://youtu.be/ADN8rAfeOeg (English)

DEA Website: https://dea.sg

A bright red 1963 Chevrolet Corvette coupe with the rare and highly desirable split rear window roared off for $129,800 in an online-only Automobiles, Advertising & Toys auction held December 3rd by Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. The runner-up lot was a 1940s double-sided porcelain Chrysler Plymouth Fargo dealer sign that made $29,500.

Prices quoted are in Canadian dollars and include an 18 percent buyer’s premium.

All 241 lots in the sale were from the lifetime collection of the late Gary Archer, a collector who aggressively sought out gas pumps, petroliana advertising, automobilia, soda signs and old toys. “The family reflected on what Gary paid for certain pieces. It was like winning the lottery,” said Ethan Miller of Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. “Overall the auction was seen as a great success.”

Mr. Miller said that as the market for petroliana (gas station collectibles) matures, buyers are becoming increasingly more sophisticated. “The results in this auction showed that rarity and condition are trending as the most important predictors of price,” Miller observed. “While the top 20 percent crushed our highest expectations, the more common material was flatlined at best.”

Auto buffs are familiar with the '63 ‘split-window’ as one of the most rare and coveted Corvettes out there. Mr. Archer imported his from the U.S. in 1983 and stored it away as an investment in a dry, heated garage. Prior to that, the car received a cosmetic restoration that included a color change to red and many interior upgrades. The car more than doubled its $60,000 high estimate.

The Chrysler Plymouth Fargo dealer sign was produced for the Canadian market and measured 44 ½ inches by 41 ½ inches. The sign blasted through its pre-sale estimate of $4,000-$6,000. Following are additional highlights from the auction, which grossed $478,018 and attracted 382 registered users, who placed a combined 6,478 bids. One hundred percent of the lots were sold. Internet bidding was facilitated by both LiveAuctioneers.com and the Miller & Miller website.

Two signs posted identical selling prices of $12,390. One was a Chevrolet “Super Service” dealer neon sign, made in America in the 1940s. The single-sided porcelain sign measured an impressive 42 inches by 49 inches. The other was a Red Indian (“Gasoline / Motor Oils”) 5-foot single-sided porcelain sign (Canadian, 1930s), marked “The W. F. Vilas Co. Limited, Cowansville, P.Q.” Both signs finished at way above their estimates.

A Supertest (“Canada’s All-Canadian Company”) 1940s double-sided porcelain service station sign, round, 5 feet in diameter and in the original ring, marked “P & M Orillia”, sold within estimate for $10,030. Also, a larger Supertest double-sided porcelain sign, also round, 6 feet in diameter and made in the 1950s, in the original aluminum ring with hangers, with only minor porcelain loss, brought $5,900, which was also within estimate.

A Canadian 1950s Gulf Service Station double-sided porcelain sign in the original aluminum ring, 68 inches by 74 inches, fetched $7,670; a Canadian 1920s Gray-Dort Automobile dealer sign, single-sided tin and embossed, 11 ¾ inches by 35 ½ inches, also brought $7,670; and a Canadian 1960s GMC Trucks double-sided vacuum formed plastic illuminated sign, very rare, tagged “TEK Plastics Ltd., Rexdale, Ontario”, made $7,080.

A round White Rose double-sided porcelain service station sign with very good color and gloss (Canadian, 1940s), in a steel frame, 48 inches in diameter, settled at $6,490, which bested the $3,500 high estimate. Also, a rare 1940s Indian Motorcycle prismatic sign, made in the U.S. (“Genuine Indian Accessories / The Complete Quality Line”), celluloid over embossed tin backed with cardboard, 11 ¾ inches by 6 ¾ inches, reached $5,900.

A Canadian 1950s Fina Service Station double-sided porcelain sign, impressive at 72 ½ inches by 68 ½ inches, marked “P&M Orillia” on the lower edge, both sides exhibiting scattered chips, changed hands for $6,490. One of the sleepers of the auction was an American 1950s Bee Line Wheel Alignment single-sided tin sign, embossed, marked “Stout Sign Co., St. Louis, Mo.” The sign sold for $5,310 against a $400-$600 estimate.

Two very different lots realized identical selling prices of $5,015: the Canadian 1940s boxed pressed steel Minnitoy Pepsi truck (“Enjoy “Pepsi-Cola”), the box marked “Made by Otaco Limited, Orillia, Ont.”, new old stock in the original box; and the Canadian 1957 double-sided porcelain Texaco Service Station sign in the original metal ring, 5 feet in diameter, retaining the original mounting chain attached from the sign’s lower bracket.

Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd., has two major auctions planned for the first quarter of next year. They include an Advertising & Historic Objects auction on Saturday, January 21st; 2023; and a Canadiana & Folk Art auction on Saturday, February 11th. Both auctions will be online-only.

To learn more about Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. and the firm’s upcoming sales, please visit www.millerandmillerauctions.com.

About Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd.:
Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. is Canada’s trusted seller of high-value collections and is always accepting quality consignments. The firm specializes in watches and jewelry, art, antiques and high-value collectibles. Its mission is to provide collectors with a trusted place to buy and sell. To consign a single piece, an estate or a collection, you may call them at (519) 573-3710; or, you can e-mail them at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To learn more about Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd., please visit www.millerandmillerauctions.com.