It’s a new year and so far 2022 is looking as exciting as ever - if you're in the antiques and collectibles world a least! While we're still facing “real world problems” whether it be COVID-19 or global political unrest, I'm happy to report that Pop Culture is still on an upward climb since the pre-COVID world. If you refer back to our Top Picks article from this past December, you'll recall that the market had undergone a correction since the height of COVID. This is still the case, which is a good thing! The market for Pokémon, late Bronze and Modern Age comics, and anything in that 1985+ category with a high population has nicely plateaued and is maintaining since last quarter. For example, the New Mutants #98 CGC 9.8 we referenced in December is still averaging the same $1,500.00. However, important key issues, early Silver and Golden a...Read More

One of the reasons I love living in New England is the way our daily, seasonal weather acts as a natural calendar. Snow is beginning to fall, the sun is set by 4:30 and the drive-through line at Dunkin’ is at an all-time high! All signs that we are headed into the New Year bringing on resolutions and new trends to track in the collectibles market. If you refer back to our previous Top Pick’s articles, I’m happy to report it was a phenomenal year for Pop Culture. While it certainly contained a lot of quick-changing peaks and valleys, overall, it's ending significantly in the black. Comic books, trading cards, toys, and related collectibles on average are trading at an all time high. We've experienced some market correction with Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and modern era sports cards and comic books though. Prices have slightly softened for the more ...Read More

As summer winds down we begin to see the leaves starting to change color, slightly cooler mornings and pumpkin spice everything popping up on menus near you. September is not only the start to fall but also a good time to review the market as we close quarter three in the marketplace. If you refer back to our Top Picks article from July, 2021 the Pop Culture market was continuously breaking records only set a month or even a week before. People couldn't get enough Pop Culture! I’m happy to report the market has largely stayed the same. While there may have been a subtle market correction for items that underwent a rapid price inflation, their values are still 100% to 500% higher than a pre-pandemic market. But just slightly depressed from peak COVID time of January-July, 2021. However, items of true rarity and collector quality could not be...Read More

The month of July; a month typically filled with family barbecues, beach days, and a bright, full sun in the sky. July also marks the end of the second quarter of 2021, making it a good time to reflect on how the Pop Culture collectibles market has changed. If you refer back to our Top Picks article from March, 2021 the market had been at an all time high compared to years past. Record results were continually being set and broken within weeks’ time. There was vast concern through the trade - is this a bubble fueled by the pandemic? Will there be a market correction with the world attempting to return to a post-COVID environment? Or with society beginning to return to normal with activities and entertainment would collecting enter a recession? I’m happy to report that restaurants are open, you can go to Disney World and none of those wonder...Read More

As we end March heading further into Spring, we notice the bright sun, the smell of fresh air, and the birds chirping in the morning. The end of March also gives us a great opportunity to review the first quarter of 2021 from a collectible economist’s standpoint. If you refer back to our Top Picks article from October 2020, Pop Culture had already been setting records compared to years prior through the pandemic. When compared to the present day, October, 2020 was in some cases a 50% clearance sale in comparison to the prices we’re realizing today. The market is strong, more buyers enter the market every day while supply only goes down. We’re living in the time of cryptocurrency, NFT digital art, and people are seeking alternative investments more and more. Comics, trading cards, toys, video games, fine art, watches, automobiles - you name ...Read More

It's October 2020 and most people are currently thinking that life is pretty crazy. Even outside of the pandemic, there's endless political unrest, natural disasters, financial uncertainty, and let us not forget about murder hornets. However, outside of these happenings, the Pop Culture collectible marketplace is hotter than ever before. Comics, toys, trading cards, video games (you name it) have been selling for record prices the past eight months. In my opinion, many collectors are home and the expendable income they might have spent on vacations, movies, etc. has ceased! Simply put, there's more money in the kitty to spend on Pop Culture goodness. My quick synopsis: the Pop Culture market is roaring through the current chaos and the auction scene has been quite the spectacle to watch. On October 17, Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers will host a ...Read More

One of the many questions I receive, working in the antiques and auction industry is, "What is Pop Culture?" The funny part is, it’s not all that different from saying something is Jacobean, Victorian, Art Deco or Mid Century Modern. The term is used to describe something as being from “Popular Culture.” That’s it! Whether it’s Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger or Pikachu, Optimus Prime, Steve Austin, and Luke Skywalker, “Pop Culture” is used to describe anything that relates to a property that is or was popular during a particular period of time. The cool part is, there's no time stamp of a certain period - anything can become part of Pop Culture, regardless of age! It's an ever-expanding field of study. People collect Pop Culture items because it takes them back to a time, typically childhood, (which for most) is filled with fun and happy me...Read More

For most people who peruse the antiques and collectibles auction market, TCG may appear outlandish and strange in the sense of, “How can a trading card that’s 20 years old be worth more than my Meissen dinnerware or a landscape painting?” The answer is, we are in the year 2020. TCG which stands for “Trading Card Game” originated in 1993 with Magic: The Gathering. Following in the footsteps of Magic are Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! All of which are worldwide phenomenon’s in their own right, but Pokémon especially has become a global brand. Introduced to the United States in 1999, Pokémon was published by Wizards of The Coast in collaboration with Nintendo following the huge success of the cartoon and video game as well as the brand’s overall glory in Japan beginning in 1996. So, twenty-one years, twenty-three movies, and one hundred and twenty-two ...Read More

CRANSTON, R.I. – Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers, Altered Reality Entertainment and Travis Landry, Bruneau & Co.’s Director of Pop Culture, are combining forces to hold a Winter Comic Book & Toy auction extravaganza on Saturday, December 14th, online and in Bruneau & Co.’s gallery at 63 Fourth Avenue in Cranston. The auction will begin promptly at 11am Eastern time. The sale is packed with over 350 lots of rare graded comic books, to include many Marvel and DC comics; generous key book lots; an original graded set of Star Wars 12 backs; a Vinyl Cape Jawa; a factory sealed Blue Snaggletooth and more. Since its inception, Bruneau & Co. has partnered with Altered Reality Entertainment (the parent company of Rhode Island Comic Con) to organize toy, comic, and collectible auctions, bringing Pop Culture to a live auction setting. “There is no better su...Read More