"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Archive, ca. 1984
GUEST: I brought in a big plastic bucket filled with first-run issues of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: From '84... APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: ...to some stuff in the early '90s.
We could only choose a few items.
APPRAISER: What was your dad's connection to Kevin Eastman, the artist for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"?
GUEST: Kevin Eastman worked at what was at the time Johnny's Oarweed from '82 to '84.
GUEST: And my dad came in and took over the business in '83.
Kevin knew all the ins and outs of the business... ...and really helped my dad to open up that year.
They became friends, and for the printing of the second issue, uh, my dad gave him the loan... APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: ...to help start that out.
APPRAISER: So what was Kevin Eastman doing at the restaurant?
GUEST: Uh, he was a waiter, using all of his charm to take care of everybody.
Some of his artistic skill came out on the placemats.
He would sometimes write me little notes... ...that said, like, "Cowabunga."
APPRAISER: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a huge phenomenon, especially in the comic book world.
Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird started a small comic company called Mirage in 1983-1984.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was such a huge blockbuster right out the gate.
It was released in 1984 with the first comic book, and then it very quickly got licensed into role-playing games, and trading cards, a TV series, and later, in 1990, became a movie franchise.
And what you've got here is probably a very early representation of Leonardo written on yellow paper from Kevin Eastman.
You've got a first edition, first printing.
And what I find, actually, the most interesting piece is the T-shirt.
GUEST: Each year, they would make a shirt for the staff of the restaurant.
And this year, Kevin Eastman did the art... ...front and back of the Oarweed restaurant.
APPRAISER: They put together their first couple issues with no budget whatsoever.
They're really kind of starving artists at this point.
So that loan from your dad probably helped them launch in a huge way.
This is one of the earliest depictions I've ever seen, but is fairly mature in its style.
We've seen some earlier drawings by Kevin Eastman that are a little cruder.
The T-shirt is signed on the back by Kevin Eastman in the art, dated 1984.
I've never seen another one, so that's pretty exciting.
And the comic is gorgeous.
It's in fairly good condition.
This is the issue number one of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and it's also a first printing.
Do you have any idea what the value might be?
GUEST: $8,000 maybe?
APPRAISER: You nailed it.
Around $8,000 to $10,000 in this condition.
I love the shirt.
Yes, it's early art by Kevin Eastman, but doesn't have a turtle to be seen on it.
If this was to go to auction, I'd put a conservative estimate of around $800, mm, maybe $1,000.
This, on the other hand, is great.
It's a really early depiction, and the earlier the better.
If this was to go to auction, we'd put an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000 on it.
GUEST: Whoa.
Radical, man.
(both chuckling) I mean, it can't make up for the memories.
(chuckles) But, uh, that's, that's crazy.
$50,800 - $70,000 Auction
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