A French auction house is selling rare memorabilia of Tintin, the comic strip reporter and globe trotter whose stories have been translated into 80 languages and sold over 200 million books in the past eight decades.

The late Belgian creator Herge launched the adventures of Tintin and Snowy the dog in 1929. Tintin fans, known as Tintinophiles or Tintinologists depending on their level of involvement, often compete fiercely for any artifact linked to the cartoon hero.

The Piasa art firm is putting 230 rare lots up for sale on Saturday at the Paris auction house Drouot-Montaigne.