Thunderball poster sells for $13,145

Thunderball British quad that was auctioned Saturday

A 1965 Thunderball poster was sold for $13,145 on Saturday, including a buyer’s premium, as part of an auction of James Bond film posters and lobby cards by Heritage Auctions.

The Thunderball poster was a British quad, put up for sale by collector Gary J. Firuta, who earlier this month sold off his collection of first-edition James Bond novels.

Here’s part of the description of the Thunderball poster by Heritage:

This extremely rare and highly sought country of origin British quad will surely be the highlight of all Bond fans’ attentions. Ian Fleming’s agent 007 is at his most spectacular, with Sean Connery in his fourth, and some say best, outing as Bond. As seen on this advance quad, the non stop action takes place in the air, on the land, and in the sea. Only a small number of copies still exist left uncut and this is the only poster from this film to use the artwork featured on the lower right side by Robert McGinnis and Frank McCarthy.

Another highlight of the sale was a Goldfinger “Style B” British quad that went for $10,157.50, including the buyer’s premium. This version had “more conservative artwork for the film was produced primarily for Ireland,” according to the Heritage description. It was also put up for sale by Firuta.

Prices varied widely and 1970s posters put up for sale by Firuta fetched less. A version of The Man With The Golden Gun‘s poster that included Bond villains from previous films went for $1,971.75. A British quad of Moonraker, which also plugged Seiko watches, sold for $406.30. A British quad for The Spy Who Loved Me, that also plugged Seiko, sold for $370.45.

007 collection, including first edition novels, up for auction

First edition copy of 1953’s Casino Royale that’s up for auction

A large James Bond collection, including first-edition copies of Ian Fleming’s novels and short stories, is now up for auction at Heritage Auctions.

Collector Gary J. Firuta is selling off his 007 properties, which also include vintage movie posters.

Firuta’s collection includes both U.K. and U.S. first editions of Fleming’s originals, including a U.K. first-edition copy of the author’s first novel, Casino Royale.

As of Thursday evening, that copy of the novel had an opening bid of $12,500. Heritage describes it as “a near fine copy that shows well.”

The major auction for the books is underway and is scheduled to conclude Nov. 5. The auction for posters (and other items) will begin around the end of the month and conclude Nov. 22.

Among the posters being auctioned are a 1965 U.K. Thunderball quad poster.

To track down the items being auctioned, you may want to go to Heritage’s website and search for both “Ian Fleming” and “James Bond” because Heritage apparently doesn’t cross promote merchandise.

If you CLICK HERE, you’ll get the results of a search of “Gary Firuta” on the Heritage website. There are four pages of results.

Full disclosure: Firuta is a friend of the blog and has supplied copies of his 007 film scripts, which we’ve used for a series of posts.

UPDATE (Oct. 16) If CLICK HERE, you’ll see 83 books and related items (it’s from using “Ian Fleming” for the search). If you CLICK HERE, you’ll see 214 posters, lobby cards and related items (using “James Bond” for the search).  Most of the Firuta collection material can be found somewhere in these searches.