When Mike Glad set up The Art of Anime and Everything Cool Auction for late June, he hoped to raise a little money and awareness of anime and western animation. However, his expectations were blown out of the water during a three-day bidding war that showed just how popular this art remains.

Mike Glad is one of the world's most trusted animation collectors and is a massive fan of anime art. And his recent auction (the world's first dedicated to the art of anime and animation) attracted nearly 2,900 interested bidders. The buzz was huge around The Art of Anime and Everything Cool Auction, and the number of bids and the amount of money raised more than showed that interest in animation is high.

Between June 25-27 at various Heritage Auction centers, these bidders raised more than $2.1 million buying different animation cels and artwork. These cels came from films as diverse as My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Akira. These movies are among the most popular anime films of all time and have become classics within the Japanese film industry in general.

Amazingly, Mike Glad was happy to see that sell-through rates of 100 percent by value and 99.8 percent by lots sold. These record-breaking numbers were achieved in just a few hours of bidding, as people came and went with their purchases. As more and more people showed up to the event, it expanded its borders and welcomed other bidders, many of whom walked away with great art.

The biggest part of this auction was Glad's collection, known as the Glad Anime Museum Collection. As an Oscar-nominated film producer, Mike Glad has an eye for great art and was more than willing to put up his collection for auction to raise money and provide a unique chance for the animation world to share its many art assets.

In addition, such events help to raise awareness, he believes, and interest in the form.

Films that Mike Glad featured in his collection included Dragon Ball, Pokemon, Vampire Hunter D, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Astro Boy, and much of Studio Ghibli. As these are among the most popular films of all time in Japan and the world, it was not surprising to Glad to see them practically fly off bidding shelves uniquely and fascinatingly.

Some of the biggest deals of the night surprised Glad and others. For instance, a perfect cel setup for My Neighbor Totoro (including the master background) went for $84,000 at the auction. That was 17 times what Glad and others had expected. And a cel setup from Akira brought in a shocking $78,000 – which was much more than the $5,000 that most had anticipated for its bidding. The massive success of the bidding inspired a potential sequel soon.

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