LAS VEGAS — A crystal-studded shirt worn onstage by Michael Jackson: $52,500. A young Jackson’s painting of Mickey Mouse: $25,000. Owning a piece of a pop icon who died before his time: Priceless. Or, at least, very expensive.
Twenty-one items once owned by Jackson sold at auction Friday for a total of $205,000, dwarfing the auction house’s early conservative estimate of $6,000 for the collection.
The estimate was made before Jackson died unexpectedly Thursday at a Los Angeles hospital. On Friday, the items took on new meaning, and likely new value, as collectors and a few fans gathered at the Planet Hollywood hotel-casino with the hope of walking away with a piece of the late King of Pop.
"I grew up with him,” said Larry Edwards, a 55-year-old Tina Turner impersonator from Las Vegas who came to the auction aiming to buy the primary-colored depiction of an African-American Mickey Mouse, signed by "Mike Jackson.”
"It’s so unique, and it means even more to me that it’s so soon after his passing,” he said.
Edwards said he was prepared to spend $1,000 but was elbowed out at the get-go by an opening bid of $1,500. The painting sold for $20,000.
The items for sale Friday came from a collection owned by David Gest, the producer once married to Liza Minnelli. Jackson introduced the couple and was best man at their wedding. Among the lot were handwritten lyrics of Jackson’s hit song "Bad,” an album cover signed by each member of the Jackson 5, and a handwritten note from Jackson to an unidentified "Greg.”
by the associated press
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