Tintin memorabilia raises $1 million in Paris auction

An auction of rare memorabilia of the Belgian cartoon series Tintin has raised more than €1 million ($1.23 million), organisers said on Monday.                                           
 

The Tintin series, created by Georges Remi under the pen name Herge, has become one of the most popular comics in the world with translations in more than 50 languages and 200 million copies of the 24 books sold.                                           
 

There is huge appetite for collectors of anything related to the adventurous investigative reporter and his little white dog.                                           
 

The Paris auction on May 29 included 230 items from about 70 collectors that even Herge's foundation Moulinsart, a partner in the sale, never knew existed.                                           

Total proceeds of the latest sale came to €1,072,110, the organisers Piasa said in a statement.                                           
 

The item which attracted the highest bid at €243,750 was a couple of frames from King Ottokar's Sceptre.                                           

In 2008, the original cover of "Tintin in America" sold for about €750,000. Last year, a lot of almost 600 items, including hand-drawn original cartoon strips, raised nearly €1.2 million with buyers from as far away as China and Lebanon.