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We're pretty big Calvin and Hobbes fans here, so if we had the money we think we might have paid more than $107,550 for an original Bill Watterson watercolor of the philosophical six-year-old and stuffed tiger duo. But that's how much the print went for this week at auction at Heritage Auctions, according to The Washington Post.

The painting was produced for a 1989-1990 Calvin and Hobbes calendar cover (shown above), midway through the beloved comic strip's run from 1985 to 1995. After 1995, the semi-reclusive Watterson retired to paint, only releasing his first piece of art last April. Or as the Heritage Auctions website puts it, "Since Watterson is one of the few cartoonists to shun the merchandising bonanza of a popular character and is a very private person, his artwork is in incredibly high-demand. Only a very small handful of originals have ever come onto the market." Apparently, this one was personally signed by Watterson for a comic-strip historian named Rick Marschall who may or may not be in good graces with Watterson after selling a personal gift.

In any case, given Watterson's reclusiveness, we're just giddy anytime Calvin and Hobbes makes headlines. We wouldn't mind Watterson or friends of Watterson leaking some more Calvin-inspired art onto the open market. Once we can afford it of course.

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