ORIGINAL ART: Thunderbirds from TV21 #213 (Page 1)

Art for "Thunderbirds" in TV21 #213 by Frank Bellamy

What an interesting surprise! Excalibur is an auction house specializing in toys and movie merchandise and comics. Their auctions are online at The Saleroom As they say "Our next auction will be held on 6th / 7th September." and it's called "Model Railways; Movie, Music, and TV Memorabilia, Posters, Autographs, Comic Book Original Art and Comic Books" - so just about everything!

"Thunderbirds" header - compare to printed box below

"Thunderbirds" as printed in TV21 #213

The above original artwork is the first page of the story that appeared in TV21 #213 and you can see another fine example of how storing Bellamy's artwork brings dividends in terms of preserved colour. There appears to be no fading here. I remember when the TV21 comic came out at this period and the colour reproduction was nowhere near as good as when Bellamy first appeared in it in issue #52. And indeed if we compare the artwork to the comic reproduction we can see this - a sort of 'dulling' of colour with a hint that there was something lovely. Mind you the reproduction towards the end of TV21's run was worse still!


The auctioneers have shown close-ups of the artwork so I have grabbed there here for posterity.

Brains

The Hood

Scott

Excalibur describe the piece:

THUNDERBIRDS (1969) - ORIGINAL ARTWORK from TV21 Comic- FRANK BELLAMY (Artist) - TV21: Issue # 213 - Part 5 Page 1 (of story) - "Leaving Scott (Tracy) for dead in the cavern Professor Beresford peels the face mask away to reveal the Tracys' arch enemy, The Hood ..!" Also features Brains, Thunderbird 4 & Thunderbird 2 'pod' - Bright Pelikan inks on board with hand written annotations to title area - (18" x 15" - 45.75 x 38 cm) 15.5" (26.5 x 39.5 cm) Flat/Unfolded - Very Fine (Full Colour) In addition the buyer will receive a copy of the original TV21 Comic issue number 213 February 15th 2069 (1969)

The lot (#1192) auction is on Saturday 7 September 2019 at 11:00 BST (includes Lots: 1001-1655) - the day before (6 September 2019 at 14:00 BST,  Lots: 1-333 are up for auction. It previously sold for £821 ironically on 7 September 2014

Gordon and Thunderbird 4

I'll update the spreadsheet and the details below after the auction

AUCTION SUMMARY
WHERE?: Excalibur c/o TheSaleroom
STARTING BID:£900 (Auctioneer's estimate: £1,500-£2,000)
ENDING PRICE: £2,200
END DATE: Saturday 7 September 2019