Van Eaton Galleries, one of the world’s premier animation artwork and collectibles galleries set a world record this weekend at the “Collecting Disneyland” auction when a Disneyland PeopleMover attraction ride car sold for $471,500 far exceeding initial estimates and breaking all previous records for Disneyland ride car attraction memorabilia being sold at auction. The auction which took place Saturday, November 21, 2015 at Van Eaton Galleries located at 13613 Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks, California was fast and furious with bids coming in from around the globe via online, phone and n-site. The massive collection of over 800 items devoted to Disneyland memorabilia featured some of the rarest and most sought after Disneyland memorabilia ever to be offered.
The PeopleMover attraction opened at Disneyland in 1967 as part of the new Tomorrowland and ran until 1995. The attraction took guests on a slow moving aerial ride through Tomorrowland and is estimated to have carried nearly 100 million guests during its time. The PeopleMover ride cars featured in the “Collecting Disneyland” auction were among only 13 known to still exist. Among many other attributes the PeopleMover came with a custom-fabricated control panel, created from original blueprints, shop manuals and parts lists that were used to make the original PeopleMover control panel at Disneyland. The system played a two minute explanation of the PeopleMovers by a 1967 tour guide.
“We knew the ride vehicles in our “Collecting Disneyland” auction would be one of the many show stoppers but we never thought it would sell for such a record price” said Mike Van Eaton, Co-Founder of Van Eaton Galleries. “When the bids just kept coming in at such a rapid pace we knew we were on to something pretty magical, just like Walt Disney himself.”
Other highlights of the auction included an Audio Animatronic A-1 frame which sold for $115,000, the Disneyland Golden Horseshoe Revue Marquee Sign which sold for $48,875, an Adventureland Concept Painting which sold for $33,350, the Indiana Jones Ride Model which sold for $40,250, the Rocket to the Moon original poster which sold for $28,175 and the Golden Horseshoe Revue Attraction Poster which also set a record for prices realized on Disneyland original posters at auction with the sale price of $28,750. For 60 years, Disneyland has influenced popular culture and built generations of loyal enthusiasts across the globe. Fans and collectors of Disneyland memorabilia have made everything from simple paper flyers, popcorn boxes, and matchbooks, to actual props and ride cars from the park among the hottest collectibles in the world to date.