Tin Tin: Flong Time No See
 
These are some light blue printing flongs, preserved in excellent condition, for Hergé’s Les aventures de TinTin et Milou, Coke en Stock (The Red Sea Sharks), one featuring the famous final scene in front of Marlinspike Hall (Le château de Moulinsart) with the “Volant Club” of Séraphin Lampion (Jolyn Wagg in Tintin’s English version). This story was first serialised weekly in Le Journal de Tintin, a Franco-Belgian comics magazine, from October 1956 to January 1958, before being published in a collected volume by Casterman in 1958. These Tin Tin flongs were likely produced for the magazine series. Flong (or flan in French) is a temporary paper mold, invented in the 1800s, primarily for use in newspapers.
 
Most flongs were discarded after their use: after all, they were made to be conveniently disposed of. Only a handful survive in printing museums. They are even hard to come by in private hands—and Tin Tin’s flongs are extremely rare.  Most flongs are beige. These are the only blue flongs I have seen—and they are, perhaps most importantly, ones that depict Tin Tin and Captain Haddock, one of the most beloved comic book duos in history. Seeing images such as Tin Tin and Haddock walking together cast in blue is remarkable, and it is a shame more flongs were not preserved for posterity.
 
$2,800 - $3,800 per piece