Dan Dare Sale

By John Freeman on March 5, 2008

Steve Holland reports on the recent collection of the late Bob Rothwell, a major Dan Dare fan and collector, over on Bear Alley. “A huge number of collectable Dan Dare items went under the hammer—so to speak—and some were fetching silly amounts of money,” he recounts. Read his full report…

A few highlights from the auction included a Dan Dare bust, only the third ever made by John Fowler and originally sculpted for Southport’s celebration of Dan Dare back in 2000. This went for £120, although all prices also had a 15% buyers premium plus VAT where applicable, while a Dan Dare spaceship (boxed) went for £150, a presentation belt (Crafton) and tie (Theros) in original box went for £70.

Steve has a number of pictures of lots from the auction which are sure to be of interest to Dan Dare fans but as he says, it’s sad to think that Bob’s collection, which he spent a lifetime collecting, was sold in under 30 minutes…

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.