Cowabunga! The original artwork for Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 has just sold for a record price of $250,099 after receiving 47 bids on eBay. The collection of artwork comes from the personal vaults of Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and sole owner of all the original artwork from the first issue. Included in the offering were the 40 pages of original artwork, the original pen and ink cover and the original logo design, a first printing of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, the original artwork for the inside cover, and a pencil layout for the first advertisement for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as it appeared in the Comic's Buyers Guide.

"I have a million wonderful memories of my contribution in the creation and foundation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and own countless pieces of "personally drawn" artwork in my collection--those I will leave to my son Shane Brooklyn Eastman. Others that I am less attached to I have decided to let go at the right time to serious collectors, after all, I will always have the printed works to carry on the correctly represent that end of the work from the early days, said Kevin Eastman co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

“As the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film geared up for release I decided it was time to let go of the original art for the landmark first issue, and put a price I expected no one would pay. I'm thrilled it has sold to the collector it has--it will have a wonderful home, and I hope he enjoys having it around as much as I did for the twenty three years it spent in my home studio,” said Eastman.

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