'Pawn Stars' guest brings Andy Warhol's Superman poster and Rick Harrison gets it for a small fortune
Harrison managed to get a pretty good deal for the artistic item after the appraisal.
Aug. 1 2025, Published 9:45 a.m. ET
"Pawn Stars" boss Rick Harrison has come across a lot of comic book merch. But few things among superhero memorabilia are as artistic as the Superman Poster created by renowned artist Andy Warhol. This happened when the seller named Josh brought in the custom poster, looking to pawn it for cash. While the item was exiting, Rick Harrison chose to do his due diligence before making a low offer of $2,500 to bag the item.
The poster was created by Warhol for an art exhibition held in 1989. "I know that it's fairly rare, and it's been held in a case for the whole time. I've had it and I've never taken it out and I'm hoping to get $12,000 for the poster," Josh said in his interview. He shared that he got the item as payment for work in Los Angeles.
"I don't know if Andy Warhol technically invented pop art, but he's the king of it," Harrison noted. He further added that Warhol was one of the reasons why people started appreciating comic book artists. However, Harrison said he wasn't too fond of Superman as he felt Batman was more realistic. He then asked the seller for the price, and Josh told him that he was looking to get $12,000 for the poster. Hearing the number, Harrison decided to call in his expert, Chad Sampson, to come to take a look.
After looking at the item, the expert noted that it was an iconic piece of art. "It's a very nice piece. This poster, which is obviously not the original, was done in 1960, two years before he [Warhol] did the Campbell Soup cans," Sampson noted.
"Superman was very special to Andy Warhol, the reason why, when he was 13, he had scarlet fever, so he used to imagine himself when he was 13 as Superman," he added. Harrison then asked Sampson for the appraisal, and the expert told him that the average price for such posters in the market was $4,000.
Once Sampson left, Harrison got straight down to negotiations and made a low offer of $2,000 for the item. "So obviously, $12,000 is just completely out of the
question," he said. Josh then countered with an ask of $3,000, and Chumlee chimed in to up the offer to $2,500. "Come on, it's Superman, Rick," he said. Josh then asked for $2,750, but Harrison stood firm at $2,500. The seller eventually settled for it and agreed to close the deal.
"$2,500 sounds pretty good. It was a day's work. I think I could take $2,500 for a day's work," Josh said in the end, before shaking hands with Harrison. "If it were Batman, I would pay $3,000," Harrison joked in the end.
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