Antiques Roadshow

HOST

Now over to the Big Apple to learn more about these performers' passion for the arts.

GUEST

I'm Rubn Blades, Rubn "Blah-dace," also, they call me in Latin America. I'm Luba Mason, and we are in Chelsea, New York.

HOST

Rubn and Luba are both acclaimed musicians and actors.

GUEST

(singing in Spanish) When lullabies multiply, I'll be dreaming.

HOST

Rubn is a nine-time Grammy winner, a master of salsa and Latin jazz, and has a long list of film and television roles, including the post-apocalyptic horror drama "Fear the Walking Dead." And for over 30 years, Luba has been performing on Broadway, most recently starring in "Girl From the North Country." While devoting their professional lives to the performing arts, offstage, they enjoy collecting art.

GUEST

What I look for in a piece of art is something that creates an impact on me. It

catches my eye. GUEST

We also look for the hunt, you know, kind of like the diamond in the rough, or go... You know, you're kind of, like, going through some paintings. They're just, like, stacked on the floor.

GUEST

Looking for that Monet that somebody forgot. Yeah.

HOST

A long life in show business has inspired Rubn and Luba to acquire art connected to their careers, some of it very personal. Here to appraise those more special pieces, ROADSHOW expert Alasdair Nichol.

APPRAISER

If you're on Broadway, I imagine the greatest accolade you can get is winning a Tony. And next to that, surely, it's being drawn by Al Hirschfeld.

Yes. GUEST

Absolutely.

GUEST

I had bought this, I was in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," the first revival, with Matthew Broderick. As soon as I saw the drawing in the paper, I said, "I got to go buy it," and so I did. This is a lithograph.

APPRAISER Right. GUEST

And that's me right there.

I was going to ask. There you are. GUEST

I'm there.

Arms raised aloft. GUEST

Hedy LaRue.

GUEST

Hedy LaRue, and I've got, I think, a couple of Ninas in me, because that was what Hirschfeld was known for, putting his wife's name in the...

APPRAISER

Well,

that was his daughter. GUEST

Oh!

APPRAISER

It was his daughter Nina-- yeah, yeah.

GUEST

Oh, there you go. And then, um, I did Paul Simon's "The Capeman" on Broadway. And

that's where I met this gentleman. APPRAISER

This fellow here?

Yes. APPRAISER

So that worked out quite well.

GUEST

Yes, it really did. I bought this maybe about 17 years ago as a gift to Rubn for, I think it was Christmas,

I got it for him. GUEST

I don't remember when it was, but it surprised the heck out of me, because, um, I thought that Paul would have bought it. Marc Anthony, I think. Marc would have bought it. Or Ednita or Renoly, I mean, somebody. I thought that was gone,

I mean... GUEST

Well, that's the original. I think I went to get this cleaned or something. I went to the gallery and I said, "Do you by any chance have the 'Capeman' Hirschfeld?" And I was shocked that they still had the,

the original. GUEST

It was my only Broadway play that I ever worked in; a musical or play. "The Capeman," and I'm very proud of that. And I always feel that it was such a wonderful opportunity. But...

And you met me. GUEST

I met you.

Best of all. GUEST

But also, but also the fact that I got a Hirschfeld drawing, I thought, like, "My God."

APPRAISER

You're a legend,

yeah. GUEST

What an honor.

APPRAISER

I know, absolutely. And this is you here?

Yeah. I had a little more hair then. APPRAISER

They're just wonderful things. I mean, he was such an amazing artist.

Yes. APPRAISER

I mean, they called him The Line King, you know? And you can-- just the line is amazing, the way it flows. And the... They're so characterful. And it's just, it's great to be immortalized by an artist like Hirschfeld. So have you ever given any thought to the values? I mean, you bought them, so you've

got some kind of idea. GUEST

I think the lithograph was somewhere around $1,200, $1,300.

Something like that. APPRAISER

Sounds about right, yeah.

GUEST

And the original I really don't quite remember. I think it was somewhere in the ballpark between like $3,000 and... $3,000 and $5,000?

APPRAISER

You couldn't let something like that get away.

GUEST

No!

I had to get it. APPRAISER

If you had the chance, you have

to get it. GUEST

I had to get it. Yes.

APPRAISER

Absolutely, yeah. It seems silly to even talk about values, because these are not things that you're ever going to part with.

No. APPRAISER

Yes, I mean, I guess if I was insuring that now, it would probably be up somewhere north of $10,000.

GUEST (gasps)

Oh,

wow. APPRAISER

You know?

GUEST

Really?

APPRAISER

Yeah.

Wow. GUEST

Wow.

APPRAISER

I would think so, and, you know, and that one...

Yeah... APPRAISER

I would think if you were paying for one now, retail, it might be $2,000 or so. It's an edition of, I think, 100.

GUEST

Yes.

APPRAISER

You know, so there's another 99 of them out there.

GUEST

Well,

that's interesting. HOST

Rubn's interests include more than just fine art. An avid comic collector for many years, he has amassed an archive of thousands of comic books and hundreds of pieces of comic book art. Later, collectibles expert Leila Dunbar digs into his stash to uncover some of the most coveted comics in the world.

GUEST

I try to be, without success, sparse in my collection. (laughs) But... (guffaws)

HOST

Rubn Blades' own personal comic book museum contains a wide variety of artwork, ranging from original illustrations to comic strips to first-edition comic books. To evaluate just a fraction of this eclectic archive, Rubn met with collectibles authority Leila Dunbar.

APPRAISER

This is, like, the room of my sueos, Rubn.

GUEST

(chuckling)

APPRAISER

This is unbelievable.

GUEST

Yeah, this is the room where I turn to be ten years old when I get up here.

APPRAISER

(laughing)

GUEST

Well, like, this is Raboy, Flash Gordon.

APPRAISER

Mac Raboy, he took over for Alex Raymond, the originator, when Raymond went

into the service. GUEST

That's right.

APPRAISER

Yeah, that's a great piece. I mean, the most sought-after ones are Alex Raymond. But Mac Raboy is, also, particularly his early ones, from the '40s. And this is probably somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000.

GUEST

Oh, wow. And this is a Frazetta, Frank

Frazetta. APPRAISER

Oh, Frank Frazetta. He's the godfather of fantasy. Although I tell you, looking at this, I think it's more of a nightmare, for the snake, at least. (both chuckle) But that's spectacular. He's best known for, of course, his cover work, which can sell into the millions of dollars. Your drawing here probably is in the range of $25,000 to $35,000.

GUEST

Yeah, wow. This is the original artwork for "Punk"

magazine. APPRAISER

Oh, my goodness. "Punk" magazine? And who is that?

GUEST

Lou Reed. They call him the grandfather

of the... Of punk. APPRAISER

(chuckles)

GUEST

Here's a picture of Lou and me. We're working together.

APPRAISER

Wow, that's not CGBG's, right? (laughs)

GUEST

That's, this is where the guy did the interview for, for, for him, actually.

Right. GUEST

It was there at CBGB's.

APPRAISER

But what year is this?

GUEST

This is 1987, but we're at Lou's house

doing music he recorded. We recorded together. APPRAISER

Wow.

GUEST

Love Lou,

miss him. APPRAISER

Well, this is great, because this magazine really brought punk into the mainstream. You know, it wasn't well-known before that. And I gotta say, the value on this, especially with Lou on the cover and looking a little bit like Frankenstein here, because he was such a monster in the industry, I think you're looking at probably somewhere between $20,000 and $25,000.

Wow. APPRAISER

You know, for that I think we can take a walk on the wild side. (both laugh)

GUEST

This is "Action" 1 and "Detective" 27. The first appearance of Superman in "Action" 1 and "Detective Comics" is first appearance of Batman. I knew about the, the comics, but I-- and I was collecting comics, but I wasn't really going for the keys, as they call them. I was just a completist. I was just completing runs of comics. And then one day, I, I thought, "You know what? "I really would like to have these books because of their historical significance." So I got them together about ten or 15 years ago.

APPRAISER

What do you think of when you think of Superman?

GUEST

First of all, he was like an immigrant, a force for good. Like I believe most immigrants

are. APPRAISER

And Batman?

GUEST

Batman is the same, although Batman is darker. In Batman, there's not just the fight against evil, but also, I think, a, a desire to redeem.

APPRAISER

I think you're absolutely spot-on when you're talking about Superman, because, let's face it, he changed the world completely in 1938. I mean, he's the first comic book superhero, and he created, basically, the comic book industry. Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the basement of, of Jerry Siegel's house in Cleveland, and what I find fascinating, they originally had him as a villain...

Hm. APPRAISER

...in 1933, and they realized after a while that this wasn't going to work, this comic strip. Heroes have longevity, and we can see that because both of these superheroes have lasted more than eight decades. This is "Action Comics" 1. This is the most important comic book in the history of comic books, because it is the dawn of the Golden Age, with Superman. And it's interesting, because when Detective Comics issued it in 1938, they printed 200,000 copies, but they didn't know, because there are actually 11 stories in the "Action Comics" book. It just happened that

Superman is the lead and on the cover. GUEST

Hm.

APPRAISER

And when they sold out of 200,000 copies, it still took them a couple of months to figure out it was Superman. The creators of Batman are Bob Kane and Bill Finger. All four of these creators were inspired, interestingly enough, by Douglas Fairbanks and "The Mask of Zorro." It's in this time period of the 1930s where you've got the rise of Hitler. These creators were all Jewish immigrants, and the fate of our world was really hanging in the balance. So why not create these superheroes who are going to give inspiration and hope to generations of people? What did you pay for these?

GUEST

For this one, at the time, I think I paid about $55,000. This one cost me less. It was about $40,000 $45,000.

APPRAISER

Today, believe it or not, you're looking at probably about 100 copies of each that exist. These have been restored.

Mm-hmm. APPRAISER

If you had a book that was in poor condition, this would bring it up to a much better, you know, higher level, much more presentable. Also,

it'd raise the value up. GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

But not nearly as much as one that's in original condition. We're looking at "Detective Comics" today, now, this is graded a 7.0 on a scale of one to 10 in restored condition. An estimate on this, an auction estimate, is going to be somewhere between $200,000 and $250,000

today. GUEST

Oh, wow. Oh. That's a lot more than

I would've imagined. (chuckles) APPRAISER

And that, that's quite the layaway

plan now. (laughs) GUEST

Well, no, the guy who sold it must be hitting himself in the, against the wall right now. But then we all did that at some

point. APPRAISER

Well...

But this is great to know. APPRAISER

If this was an original...

Oh. APPRAISER

Now you're looking $800,000 to $900,000.

GUEST

Hm.

APPRAISER

And "Action" is the same. I mean, this is the second-most important comic. This is the, the ultimate Holy Grail. Most important of the Golden Age comics. This is graded lower than "Detective," it's 5.5, but it's a more important comic. So again, you're looking at an auction estimate probably somewhere, at least $175,000 to $225,000.

Mm-hmm. APPRAISER

And again, if this were a 5.5 in an original condition, you're looking at $800,000 to $900,000.

My socks go up and down. APPRAISER

(laughs)

GUEST

Of joy. Thank you, socks. No, but, you know, it's, it's interesting. I mean,

I'm glad I did it. APPRAISER

Mm-hmm.

GUEST

I just, I'm a, like, like... I'm a collector. Like I said, a completist. So it's really wonderful to know that at least I'm helping protect the books, as well. But at the same time, they're gonna help me in the future. Not just me, my son. My, my family.

So it's good to know. GUEST

Thank you for making us a part of this. Uh,

we had such a wonderful time. GUEST

Oh, yeah, we're really...

We were so excited when we... GUEST

We, we're fans...

GUEST (laughs)

Yeah, when we got the word that you guys were coming here, so it's very

exciting. GUEST

Yeah.

And it's been fun. GUEST

So thank you very much, everybody who's watching. Uh, I hope that you had fun with us, as well.