William H. Bunch to auction Disneyana collection of "the Disney tattoo guy," Nov. 15 The incomparable Disneyana collection of George Reiger, a k a "the Disney tattoo guy" because of his 2,200 Disney character tattoos, will be auctioned Nov. 15 at the William H. Bunch gallery.
Disneyana conventions actually helped Reiger finance many of his purchases. “If you brought your spouse along, you’d each be entitled to buy the special, limited-edition item made just for the convention’s attendees. You could keep one and resell the other to a collector who didn’t want to go to the expense of attending a convention in, say, Paris or Tokyo. It would pay for your own trip,” Reiger said.
Reiger’s vast collection includes many unique large-scale items from actual Disney theme park rides, like a 15-foot-long, custom-built Nautilus submarine. “There are only two others in the world. One is at the Magic Kingdom Hollywood Studios, and the other is in Tokyo,” he said. Another super-size item in the collection is an 8-foot-tall articulated Jack Skellington figure from the Disney/Tim Burton stop-motion musical fantasy film The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Other figural rarities include a gold-finished fiberglass Mickey Mouse figure that was actually used at Disney World. Reiger purchased the 38½ inch-tall figure at a convention in the 1990s. An Arribas Brothers crystal figurine of Mickey Mouse as the “Brave Little Tailor,” from a limited edition of 50, stands 2 feet tall and had an original cost of $1,700. Another Armani production, an 8-piece porcelain Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs set, was originally purchased for $3,000.
“The best way to see the many different aspects of this collection is to view the online catalog,” said auctioneer Bunch. “There are small items that may go for $20 and others that will sell for thousands. Regardless, each lot will be sold to the highest bidder, no matter what the final bid might be.”
The William H. Bunch gallery is located at 1 Hillman Dr., Chadds Ford, Pa., approx. 30 minutes from Philadelphia International Airport. For additional information on auction contents, call 610-558-1800 or e-mail info@williambunchauctions.com. View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com. The catalog may also be viewed on the auctioneer’s Web site at www.williambunchauctions.com.
# # #
CAPTION FOR IMAGE AT TOP:
Gold-finished fiberglass Mickey Mouse figure used at Disney World, 38½ inches tall, obtained at a Disneyana convention in the 1990s. William H. Bunch Auctions image.
