Snake Eyes Original Art - Is it about to roll?

Media hubbub is always a good thing for a fictional character.  A quick study of auction prices reveals art featuring Thanos and Captain Marvel fetched interstellar prices since the announcement and success of the movies.  Is Snake Eyes original art about to go on a roll with a new G.I. Joe movie coming soon?  Is Snake Eyes the next big winner, or will gamblers on comics and art lose big?

Interesting G.I. Joe Comics

G.I. Joe A Real American Hero 180

First, I want to direct readers to a blog by C.M. Boggs, Snake Eyes: Origin Keys.  C.M. did a fine job of tying into the upcoming movie and identifying potential big movers if Snake Eyes takes off.  I want to focus on some additional comics featuring Snake Eyes where known original art sales exist.  Beginning on the whimsical side, let's consider a variant cover of G.I. Joe Real American Hero #180 published by IDW.   Artists created multiple versions of the issue 180 cover to commemorate the San Diego Comic-Con.  My favorite is probably the one pictured here by Herb Trimpe.  Another variant features Scarlet posing reluctantly with some fanboys for a photo.  You gotta love Comic-Con.

Snakes Eyes Original Art for Bold and Timid Gamblers

While the SDCC covers are humorous, the original art for this cover grabbed some serious coin.  At $2,160, the Herb Trimpe art fared well considering the recent 2012 publication date. 
Trimpe is known for his long run on Incredible Hulk.   Considering Snake Eyes is no Hulk in notoriety,  two grand is not a bad price.  Further, the same art sold previously in 2015-- there's been about a 29% mark up since then.  As $2,160 is a modest price for a cover, one may assume there is still room for growth, especially if the movie exceeds expectations.

In the same year (2015) and for the same money ($1,673), the cover of G.I. Joe 164 sold through Heritage Auctions.

G.I. Joe Real American Hero 164 art by Herb Trimpe

The cover of 180 has the advantage of a close up view of the feature character Snake Eyes.  The cover of 164 engages art aficionados that enjoy a good ninja brawl.  Neither issue 164 nor 180 have sales support sufficient for GoCollect to generate meaningful graphs or fair market values.  Nonetheless, Trimpe's original art for G.I. Joe 164 pits Snake Eyes against his rival Storm Shadow.  That's an awesome selling point.  Without knowing what the movie may feature, I'm confident there's going to be a showdown between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow!

Are you ready to roll?

So, the interesting takeaway, you don't have to be a high roller to get premium Snake Eyes art from the big boy table.  I've found G.I. Joe art modestly priced in general.  Older Marvel cover art from the Eighties generally sells for $3,000 to $5,000, but newer IDW cover art can be had for under $1,000.  Newer or less recognized artists produce covers netting these lower rates.  Curiously, I'm having difficulty finding many interior pages available for sale.  Assuming there's a big stack of interior Joe pages on dealer tables somewhere, I suspect the cunning art buyer can get excellent pages anywhere from $50 to $500 bucks depending on the artist and featured characters.  Finally, if you believe the movie is going to be huge for Snake Eyes, I would identify art featuring this enigmatic Joe as quickly as possible.

My G.I. Joe

On a personal note, even though I grew up with the 11 inch, fuzzy-faced, Kung Fu grip G.I. Joe adventure figure, I like the diverse modern Joe team.  Artistically, they present more interesting characters than the old fashioned Joes in khaki and beige.  So, who would win in a fight: big Joe or little Snake Eyes?