First Tarzan Leads Heritage Pulp Auction to $1.86M
Heritage’s Pulp Magazines Signature Auction featuring key, rare variants, and highly sought books totaled $1,864,073. The auction was held on June 5-6, 2026, offering examples from 20-plus consignors.
The Dr. Richard Meli Collection accounted for a significant portion of the auction, which contains many of the highest condition examples and is considered among the finest collections. The Meli collection results are now up to $3.75 million between this auction and the one held in December 2025.
A rare All-Story #94 CGC 2.0 UK price variant with the introduction of Tarzan of the Apes was the auction topper at $58,560. The UK version that sees the debut of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ popular and influential hero is the same as the US version, except that it has a sixpence price on the cover. A CGC Restored 0.5 copy of the US release that is trimmed and missing the back cover went for $29,280 display the flaws and low grade.
Heritage’s December pulp auction ended with five lots that sold higher than the All-Story #94 CGC 2.0 UK price variant, including two over $100,000. Yet the June auction produced cumulatively higher results.
“What makes this record-breaking auction especially impressive is that it was done without any six-figure books. We are seeing slow and steady growth in an already strong market, which is especially exciting,” said Sasha Fraze, Heritage Comics & Comic Art Consignment Director for Pulp Magazines.
She also noted that 32 books sold for $10,000 or more in this auction, while only 66 pulps hit that mark or higher in previous auctions dating from 2002 to 2024. “What was a decade’s worth of five-figure pulps in days past, we can now do in one auction,” Fraze said.
One of the big highlights was the Weird Tales #1 CGC 5.0 rare color variant that achieved $51,240. The majority of copies of the book are from what is called the “first state” edition with black and orange tones reversed on the front cover. This copy is from the small “second state” with the colors corrected and is considered one of the three most sought after pulps.
The auction’s third highest result went to Harlem Stories #1 CGC 7.0 that rose to $34,160. This scarce title focused primarily and positively on Black characters with a story set during the Harlem Renaissance.
Saucy Movie Tales #10 CGC 4.0 with a cover by Norman Saunders and a “Marcia of the Movies” comic strip realized $23,180. This result is well over a CGC 8.5 copy that sold for $15,600 in the December 2025 auction.
Heritage’s next Pulps Signature Auction will be held from late November to early December.
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First Tarzan Leads Heritage Pulp Auction to $1.86M
Heritage’s Pulp Magazines Signature Auction featuring key, rare variants, and highly sought books totaled $1,864,073. The auction was held on June 5-6, 2026, offering examples from 20-plus consignors.
The Dr. Richard Meli Collection accounted for a significant portion of the auction, which contains many of the highest condition examples and is considered among the finest collections. The Meli collection results are now up to $3.75 million between this auction and the one held in December 2025.
A rare All-Story #94 CGC 2.0 UK price variant with the introduction of Tarzan of the Apes was the auction topper at $58,560. The UK version that sees the debut of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ popular and influential hero is the same as the US version, except that it has a sixpence price on the cover. A CGC Restored 0.5 copy of the US release that is trimmed and missing the back cover went for $29,280 display the flaws and low grade.
Heritage’s December pulp auction ended with five lots that sold higher than the All-Story #94 CGC 2.0 UK price variant, including two over $100,000. Yet the June auction produced cumulatively higher results.
“What makes this record-breaking auction especially impressive is that it was done without any six-figure books. We are seeing slow and steady growth in an already strong market, which is especially exciting,” said Sasha Fraze, Heritage Comics & Comic Art Consignment Director for Pulp Magazines.
She also noted that 32 books sold for $10,000 or more in this auction, while only 66 pulps hit that mark or higher in previous auctions dating from 2002 to 2024. “What was a decade’s worth of five-figure pulps in days past, we can now do in one auction,” Fraze said.
One of the big highlights was the Weird Tales #1 CGC 5.0 rare color variant that achieved $51,240. The majority of copies of the book are from what is called the “first state” edition with black and orange tones reversed on the front cover. This copy is from the small “second state” with the colors corrected and is considered one of the three most sought after pulps.
The auction’s third highest result went to Harlem Stories #1 CGC 7.0 that rose to $34,160. This scarce title focused primarily and positively on Black characters with a story set during the Harlem Renaissance.
Saucy Movie Tales #10 CGC 4.0 with a cover by Norman Saunders and a “Marcia of the Movies” comic strip realized $23,180. This result is well over a CGC 8.5 copy that sold for $15,600 in the December 2025 auction.
Heritage’s next Pulps Signature Auction will be held from late November to early December.
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