World’s Most Expensive Coloring Book

Sometimes a product is the most expensive because it’s a technical marvel. Sometimes the price comes from embellishment with gold, gems and other precious minerals. Other times, though, the merit is entirely in the price tag.

Such is the case, it seems, with “Les 4 Mondes,” which is likely the most expensive coloring book in the world.

Hailing from luxury house Hermes, famous for their scarves and other premium apparel, the costly coloring book features twenty-four designs printed on a mere twelve pages. The 15” x 11” book is featured among Hermes’ baby gifts, although it is marked “for kids and adults.”

“Les 4 Mondes” is priced at $130. Of course, you’ll want to find a set of expensive crayons to go with the book.

And try to stay within the lines, will ya?

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World’s Most Expensive Comic Book

Many people read comic books growing up as kids, but a certain few retain their passion and become meticulous collectors of expensive comic books. Other people think of comic books as juvenile superhero fantasies, but the sophisticated storytelling and artwork of modern comic books and graphic novels is changing that perception. The most expensive comic books in the world, however, will inevitably be the earliest and most historic examples of the medium.

Any serious comic book collector can tell you that the world’s most expensive comic book is DC’s Action Comics #1 (1938). Written by Jerry Siegel and illustrated by Joe Shuster, this book contained our first 12-page glimpse of the iconic superhero, Superman. One may wonder why this comic would outsell, say, the first appearance of Spider-Man, especially considering the success of the Spider-Man movie franchise and the box office flop that marked Superman’s return to Hollywood in 2006. The answer lies not in the fact that Action Comics #1 contains the first appearance of Superman, but that it contains the first appearance of the modern superhero.

All of the stereotypical devices of the superhero genre are combined for the first time in this issue; superpowers, secret identities, pseudo-scientific origins and, yes, even tights. Superman was the amalgamation of Greek myth with Flash Gordan and just a smattering of everyday life. Ultimately, it was the same combination that we still see today, to some extent, in the immensely successful Batman, X-Men and Iron Man franchises.

A copy of Action Comics #1 was sold by ComicConnect.com in March, 2010 for $1.5 million. Alongside the Superman story, the book included ten other features, such as Tex Thompson and Zatara, Master Magician.

Action Comics #1 may lose its place at the top of the pile, however, if this special ashcan edition of Flash Comics #1 sells for its asking price. That’s a big “if,” however, as the asking price is $5 million.

So what makes this comic so special? As the story goes, publishers Fawcett Comics and All American Comics scrambled to publish ashcan editions of “Flash Comics” in order to secure the copyright. All American, one of the three companies that eventually merged to form DC Comics, won the race and published 104 issues of Flash Comics, starring the Flash.

Interestingly enough, Fawcett’s Flash Comics (retitled Whizz Comics) debuted Captain Thunder (renamed Captain Marvel), a character later awarded to DC in a copyright infringement suit based on his similarities to Superman.

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World’s Most Expensive Floor Tiles

If you’re remodeling your mansion and want your floor to have all the elegance of a royal palace, it would be hard to think of a tile more suitable than Pietra Firma’s LuxTouch, the most expensive tile in the world.

Pietra Firma takes floor tiling to new heights with this black marble creation. Each tile is inlaid with 95 brilliant cut diamonds in a sumptuous flower petal pattern surrounding a rich, black agate circle. Each corner is inlaid with abalone shell and mother of pearl, creating a stunning overall effect. Pietra Firma recommends walking barefoot on these luxurious tiles, as the diamonds are slightly raised for maximum tactile enjoyment.

The LuxTouch tiles are a limited creation and will only be used in five projects in the world. If diamonds aren’t your thing, Pietra Firma offers a variety of other precious stones to cater to your tastes—as they should, considering the price of the tiles. Every ten square feet of LuxTouch tiles costs $1 million.

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World’s Most Expensive Toilets

If someone were to say, “I just bought a Toto,” you might think they’d purchased a little black Terrier and named it after the Wizard of Oz costar. They could, on the other hand, be the proud owner of a luxurious new commode. That technological marvel is just the first on our list of the most expensive toilets in the world.

Toto Neorest 600 – $5,000

What more do you need, when doing your business, than your standard lavatory offers? Toto’s most expensive toilet, the Neorest 600, has a wide range of features to answer that question. For starters, the lid automatically opens whenever you approach the toilet. As soon as you rise from your state of the art porcelain throne, it automatically engages its Power Catalytic Air Purifier function. Six seconds after you’re out of range of the toilet’s sensor zone, it will automatically flush and close both the lid and the seat.

For those functions that aren’t automatic, there’s a wireless remote control. A button-press can open, close or warm the seat, change the water temperature, perform a powerful “Cyclone flush” instead of the automatic light flush or control the Washlet functions you’ll use to tidy yourself up after using the expensive toilet.

“Dagobert” Wooden Toilet Throne by Herbeau – $14,123

For a commode that really puts the “throne” in “porcelain throne,” look no further than this magnificent, five-foot-tall latrine. The solid ash toilet is named after King Dagobert, the last ruler of the Merovingian dynasty in 8th Century France. As such, His Majesty’s Royal Privy plays “Le Bon Roi Dagobert” (“The Good King Dagobert”) when the lid is lifted. When you’ve finished your business, the pull chain flushes the toilet and rings a bell to let your attendants know their services are needed.

The Dagobert also includes both a candleholder and an ashtray.

Hang Fung Gold Toilet – around $5 million

This 24k gold toilet is a feature of Hang Fung jeweler’s solid gold bathroom in Hong Kong. The company had the toilet made when gold was merely $200 per ounce and planned to melt it down if gold ever reached $1,000 per ounce. When the price of gold neared the $1,000 mark in early 2008, however, the company stated that they would not have it melted down. One ton of the golden bathroom accessories surrounding the toilet would be melted down instead.

Moon River Art Park Toilet – $750,000

A toilet hidden in a cave in Shanghai’s Moon River Art Park cost 5 million yuan to build. The cave is manmade and decked out like a grotto. While entry to the park costs 30 yuan, using the toilet is free. It may be difficult to get in, though. Toilet cleaners reported people waiting in line up to two hours when the toilet was first opened in 2005.

International Space Station Toilet – $19 million

What may just be the most expensive toilet ever built isn’t the world’s most expensive toilet. That’s because it’s being launched into space! The toilet system NASA had built by Russia was delivered to the international Space Station in November 2008. The system, the same as the one in place on the Russian side of the station, recycles urine into water. It will replace a toilet system that has broken twice in 2008.

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Most Expensive Glee Episode

In 2011, Fox’s premiere musical dramedy is going to the Super Bowl.Glee, in its second season, will be celebrating the most important day in American football with their most expensive episode ever.

While it was already rumored that theGlee cast would be performing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” for their post-Super Bowl episode, it has been confirmed to EW.com that the song will be performed as a mash-up with another, unannounced song. The episode, revolving around coach Sue Sylvester’s cheerleading regionals and the local football championship, will also feature songs by Katy Perry, the Black Eyed Peas and Lady Antebellum. The “Thriller” mash-up will be performed during the game’s half-time.

The exact dollar amount is unavailable, but it is known that GM will be sponsoring the episode.

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Most Expensive English Furniture

England’s long and storied history has produced one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, various masterful literary works and some equally masterful pieces of furniture.

The Harrington Commode—no, not that kind of commode; it’s a chest of drawers—broke a record for English furniture when it was sold at a Sotheby’s in London auction in late 2010. The chest is thought to have been crafted around 1770 by London cabinet maker Thomas Chippendale, whose Rococo and Neoclassical works informed the style of the period. The most expensive piece of English furniture is made of gilt-lacquered fustic, rosewood and tulipwood mounted with brass.

The chest sold for £3,793,250—just under US $6 million. That’s ove three times its estimate and £1 million more than the holder of the previous record, another of Chippendale’s works.

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World’s Most Expensive Books

Like any historical work, first edition books can fetch enormous sums when sold at auction. This is especially true of those books written by influential authors, scientists and other extraordinary thinkers. The most expensive books in the world are the works of seminal masters whose legacies are all but impossible to ignore.

Ptolemy’s Cosmography – $4 million

This atlast is based on the work of the second-century Greek mathematician, geographer and astronemer, Ptolemy. Printed in 1477, only two copies are held by private collectors today. Atlases presented a unique challenge for early printers, as each map had to be etched into a printing plate by hand, precisely copying the original sources which were often over a thousand years old.

William Shakespeare’s First Folio – $5.1 million

Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies, a first edition collection of the bard’s plays, was the most expensive book sold at auction in 2006. The book was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s death, and contains a dozen plays that have never been reprinted, as well as many that are considered classics today. The original printing issued 750 copies of the book and perhaps a third of these still exist today, many of them incomplete. With its original price of twenty shillings per copy, the book has undergone a remarkable price increase. It was a literary custom and common practice for readers to make revisions, additions and annotations to original books and manuscripts and this piece is no exception, with many notes giving insight into the book’s readership.

The book was auctioned by Dr. Williams’ Library, a London library that contains a remarkable collection of first editions and manuscripts. It was said that the auction, carried out by Sotheby’s Auction House, would secure the finances of the library for the near future.

James Audubon’s Birds of America – $11 million

The most expensive printed book on record is James Audobon’s “Birds of America,” which sold in 2000 for $8.8 million. A second copy was sold in 2010 for a staggering $11 million. Audobon is a noted illustrator who pioneered much of early wildlife research, and the book’s dimensions reflect his attention to detail. Each original copy of this book measures 3 feet by 2 feet, because Audubon wanted to paint the birds in life size. His work vastly increased popular awareness of the breadth of species in our world, and is still very highly regarded today for its accuracy and poignant detail.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Codex Leicester – $30.8 million

This notebook filled with original drawings, notes and sketches was sold to Microsoft founder Bill Gates in 1994. The manuscript takes its name from Thomas Coke who purchased it in 1717, decades before he was created Earl of Leicester. In the Codex, Da Vinci devotes his attention to such topics as the movement of water and the luminosity of the moon.

Gates didn’t keep the manuscript to himself, either. He had the contents scanned and distributed as a screensaver with Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95.

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