Antiques Roadshow guest breaks down in tears at price of children’s art prints that were ‘just sitting in a drawer’

An Antiques Roadshow guest became emotional when she received a valuation for some children’s art prints that she said were “just sitting in a drawer.”

The woman explained that her uncle, who owned his own party planning and promotional events company, gifted her the collection in 1998.

He also worked for Fox and was under contract with the network as the prints were part of a promotion for the station’s iconic Fox Kids Saturday morning cartoons.

After assessing the collection, which included “pastiche” pieces of some of the greatest historical works of art, appraiser Travis Landry told the woman they are worth between $4,000 and $6,000.

The woman was astonished as she said, “Are you kidding me? Holy cow! Okay. It was literally in a drawer.”

Travis Landry said the collection was worth $4,000 – $6,000 and was the first complete set at auction in 10 years

“No, I’m not kidding, Fox Kids is big business these days. So it’s not child’s play,” Landry replied.

The emotional woman explained that she had not taken the coveted prints out of the drawer since her uncle gave them to her when he finished the project.

Landry called the promotional print set a “parody of lithographs” with pieces from “some of the greatest canonized artists.”

The appraiser said that when he saw the prints, his mind “exploded with excitement” because the pieces had the perfect combination of fine art and pop culture.

He added that the set was released by Fox in 1995 and that the appraised value was so high because the woman had the original packaging that contained the prints.

Some prints featured well-known paintings, including Pablo Picasso’s ‘The Ladies of Avignon’, but instead of five women, the print was given a more modernized twist and featured five Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

The set included ‘pastiche’ pieces of some of history’s greatest works of art, including one of Sandro Botticelli’s ‘The Birth of Venus’ (pictured)

Landry also pulled out a print in which Grant Wood’s iconic 1920 “American Gothic” photographs were rotated and turned into “American Goosebumps.”

In it, the man and woman were seen in a more terrifying and cryptic manner, while the man’s face was covered with a mask from the cartoon horror series Goosebumps.

Another interesting piece in the collection showed the American live-action superhero, the Masked Rider, riding a horse and acting as the subject for Frederic Remington’s Night Rider painting.

The set also included a version of Sandro Botticelli’s ‘The Birth of Venus’.

Landry said the collection was “perfect for a collector of works on paper” because the prints had never been framed and had no sun fading or damage.

He added that although the set is part of an edition of 500, a complete set like this has not been sold at auction for about a decade.

“That’s what makes them worth keeping them in the drawer for so long,” said the lady, wiping the tears from her face.

At a recently resurfaced Antiques Roadshow, a guest was left speechless at the price of a wooden chair.

Melinda Murphy brought along several items from her father that were created or previously owned by artist and illustrator Norman Rockwell.

Melinda Murphy was stunned to learn from appraiser Alasdair Nichol that a Norman Rockwell chair was worth at least $50,000.

Murphy explained to appraiser Alasdair Nichol that she worked with Rockwell several times as a child model, even appearing as a baby in his famous Babysitter painting. Her late father Gene was also his photographer.

She was particularly stunned by the value of Rockwell’s chair, which appears in some of his most famous works.

When asked by Nichol how much she thought the chair was worth, she replied, “I have no idea,” before adding, “maybe a few thousand.”

To her surprise, Nichol revealed its true value: $50,000.

“It’s quite iconic of this painting and when you think about the amazing paintings he did sitting in this chair,” he said in the 2012 segment that aired as a special on PBS last week.