The physical artefact – the original drawing, the first edition, the authenticated original – sits at the apex of a value pyramid that digital will never threaten.

Last week I wrote here about two landmark sales reshaping how we think about print collectibles – a Pikachu Illustrator card fetching $16.5 million and Action Comics #1 changing hands privately for $15 million.

The argument was simple: physical, print-origin IP accrues cultural and monetary value over time in ways digital simply cannot replicate.

This week Christie’s has made that argument even harder to ignore.

Doraemon animation cels alongside Hokusai woodblock prints

On March 18, the auction house launches its first-ever sale pairing anime and manga collectibles with traditional Japanese art – Doraemon animation cels alongside Hokusai woodblock prints, original Sailor Moon drawings beside Tezuka Osamu’s 1953 Princess Knight artwork (estimated at $12,000–22,000).

The sale is called Anime Starts Here: Japanese Subculture Imagines Tradition, and Christie’s framing is deliberate: this isn’t a novelty category. It’s a long overdue cultural reappraisal.

For publishing and comics, the implications run deeper than collector nostalgia.

Long-Term Cultural Equity

Christie’s Asian specialist Takaaki Murakami notes that the criteria driving manga and anime valuations – quality, rarity, provenance, condition – mirror exactly those applied to traditional fine art prints.

That’s not a coincidence. It’s a maturation signal. When the world’s most prestigious auction house begins treating manga originals by the same framework it applies to Hokusai, the market is telling you something about long-term cultural equity.

The global anime market is estimated at $37.7 billion in 2025, projected to exceed $77 billion by 2033. Manga sits at roughly $10.2 billion, projected to more than quadruple.

These aren’t niche numbers. And behind every franchise, every animation cel, every original panel drawing sits an originating publisher or IP holder – most of whom are probably not thinking hard enough about what their physical archives and authentic originals are worth. Or will be worth.

Younger Millennial and Gen Z collectors are now moving from casual fans to serious buyers. They grew up immersed in these narrative universes. That emotional connection is converting into acquisition behaviour – and Christie’s is smart enough to position itself ahead of the curve.

The View From The Beach

The publishing industry has spent a decade obsessing over digital transition. Fair enough. But the Christie’s sale is a reminder that the physical artefact – the original drawing, the first edition, the authenticated original – sits at the apex of a value pyramid that digital will never threaten.

The question for publishers and comics houses isn’t whether their IP has this kind of long-term cultural equity. For the significant titles, it almost certainly does.

The question is whether they’re managing it as if they know that.

Do click through to the Observer for more on the Christie’s event and some breathtaking art samples that I’ll be sharing with the kids at my school next week.

This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.