InsertBid are at it again with their incredibly rare and nostalgic auctions, this time they're auctioning a hand-drawn piece of Super Mario artwork created in the 2000s by renowned artist Hiroshi Takase, who is also known for illustrating a wide range of Pokémon books throughout the 90s and 2000s.
This piece is a hand-drawn piece specifically created for Super Mario-kun Manga, a popular manga released in 2004 that spanned over 5 volumes and featured many stories and characters featuring the main man himself, Super Mario.
"Unlike mass-produced prints or reproduction cels, this is the literal, physically rendered production artefact created by the artist’s own hand using ink, markers, and traditional manga media. It stands as an authentic, unique piece of publishing history from the peak of Nintendo's 90s gaming boom" states InsertBid.
This piece itself is actually featured in one of the manga volumes, during the run of Shogakun's magazines, and the strip of art perfectly captures Takase's comedic, vibrant, over-exaggerated look, featuring an iconic piece of retro gaming too, the Virtual Boy! You'll also find Princess Peach in all her pink glory, too.
The illustration is protected and displayed in a collector's frame, preserving its quality yet adding a sophisticated look fit for any game room wall. You can even see Takase's signature stamped onto the artwork for authentication purposes, but also to show true nerds that your piece is legitimate. Artwork like this is ever more in demand, especially original pieces taken directly from manga, another niche that has exploded over the years.
It's not often things like this come up for grabs. The auction is going live on 7th July 2026 with a starting bid of $50. Unlike other auction sites, InsertBid does not allow sniping, so with each additional bid towards the last few minutes of an auction, it will actually extend that auction time by a few more minutes to give buyers a chance of securing this dream piece and to not be sniped out of the opportunity. You can visit InsertBid's auction page here. We recommend bookmarking it for the 7th July if interested.
