Idolator: Auctions

Puns used in headines about the first guitar ...

Maura Johnston — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:15:00 EDT

Puns used in headines about the first guitar Jimi Hendrix torched onstage going for some $493,000 at an auction in London yesterday: "fire sale," "flaming bargain," "purple blaze." Somehow, no one thought to turn their story into a commentary on standing next to the aftermath of Hendrix's fire. Lost opportunities, people! [Press Association]

The Megadeth Wrist Splints: For When You Want To Hurt As Bad As Dave Mustaine

Maura Johnston — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:30:00 EDT

From the "That Which Does Not Kill My Career Can Probably Fatten My Paycheck A Little More" department: Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine is auctioning off the wrist splints he wore after suffering a compressed radial nerve in his left arm six years ago, an injury that many thought would end his career. (Mustaine was among them; he broke up Megadeth that April, only to reform the band two years later.) Bidding is at $300 now, but there are still five days left in the auction! And they're even autographed! In black Sharpie! After the jump, Mustaine demonstrates the gear.

ebay - wrist brace

Why do I have a feeling that whoever buys these is going to make a YouTube video of himself playing guitar while wearing the plastic mechanism? Call it a hunch.

MEGADETH- Wrist Splints Worn &Signed By Dave Mustaine [eBay via PTW]

James Brown's Auction Attracts The Curious, The Hairstyling Historians

Maura Johnston — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:30:00 EDT

Last week's auction of James Brown's belongings at the auction house Christie's sounds like it was a pretty depressing affair, with a few C-list sightings (Paul Shaffer, Nicky Hilton, DJ Shadow) and a lot of malaise. The sale had been projected to bring in some $2 million, but all the items wound up fetching half that—$857,688, according to The New York Times. Brown's children Yamma and Larry told the Times' Guy Trebay that the auction marked a "sad day" for the family, thanks to every item on the bill being forcibly sold no matter what price was offered and the likelihood of one collector buying up all the items and making them the cornerstone for a James Brown Memorial Museum being slim to none. There were, however, a few items that brought in surprisingly high dollar amounts.

Among relic collectors, objects with established physical connections to celebrities are particularly prized. So it was not entirely surprising that one of the day's highest bids was the $32,500 paid for a medical bracelet (estimated at $200 to $300) inscribed with Brown's name and the notation that he was diabetic and allergic to penicillin. For a James Brown devotee, a bracelet like that is equivalent to a splinter from the true cross.

The most curious lot of the day was not the bracelet, however, or the singer's platform shoe collection ($15,000) or the paranoid note he once scrawled on loose leaf paper alleging that his record label was out to kill him ($7,000.) It was not the suite of red leather furniture that conjured up images of the recreation room on a mother ship ($40,000.)

It was the single-lot offering of 80 hair rollers, accompanied by spray styling products like Smooth Sheen, Finisheen and Volumax, a Polaroid of Brown with his hair up in curlers, and a variety of picks and combs.

"James Brown was a reflector of black attitudes toward hair and you can go through the whole history of black hair in his lifetime," by tracking his evolution from a chemical "conk" to an Afro and Jheri curls and on to other processed hairstyles, said Nelson George, an editor of "The James Brown Reader."

"The one thing people always talk about when they talk about meeting James Brown is him getting his hair done," Mr. George said. "No matter who you were, you came backstage to see him and he was sitting in a chair with his hair in curlers and wearing a hairnet."

After spirited bidding, Lot 242, simply labeled "Hair Supplies," was hammered down to a private collector for $4,800, plus the auction house's 25 percent buyer's premium.

Other items of note: the Undercover Brother script went for $563; an inventory of items that he had with him before his 1989 incarceration in South Carolina fetched $4,375, perhaps because he was wearing a "Godfather" t-shirt and a "GFOS" belt.

More Tag Sale Than Tribute [NYT]

Why Is This Sealed, Longboxed Copy Of Living Colour's "Vivid" Worth $1,025 (Plus Shipping)?

Maura Johnston — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:00:00 EDT

• Corey Glover's cult of personality is that strong.
• This fan of the band is going to any length it can to avoid that "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" cover that was tacked on to the reissue.
• Buyer is opening a store that's a throwback to the late '80s and is looking for every "realistic" detail he can find, down to the ecologically unfriendly longboxes that protected CDs from fingerprints.
• Lou Pearlman's estate is doing everything it can to creatively "hide" its assets.
• A misplaced decimal point? A curious need for the color palette near the bottom of the album art? The longbox bubble is the new housing bubble? The mind reels.

Living Colour Vivid Sealed Longbox CD [eBay via Heavy Metal Addiction]

South Carolina Judge To Decide Whether The People Will Be Able To Get On Up With James Brown's Memorabilia

Maura Johnston — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:00:00 EDT

No news on whether or not the auction of James Brown's belongings that's set to take place this Thursday at Christie's in New York City is happening—a South Carolina judge is set to hand down a decision over whether or not a court had the right to appoint new trustees to the Godfather of Soul's estate later today—but that doesn't mean we can't look at the catalog's offerings, which include the "SEX"-emblazoned jumpsuit shown at left. It's wool, which would imply some itchiness, no? (I guess that helped encourage him to dance.) It's expected to sell for between $5,000 and $7,000, which seems a bit dear—but we've compiled some other, cheaper pieces of memorabilia after the jump.

The script to the 2002 movie Undercover Brother doesn't have a reserve, but it is expected to get between $100 and $200. Think about the hours of re-enacting fun you and your friends could have, complete with fights over who "gets" to be Chris Kattan's character!

If only it were still 2006; then you could try and get some cheap prescriptions with Brown's SAG and AFTRA health plan cards. Although who knows, these cards may still work at your not-as-reputable pharmacies!

These 10 bow ties are expected to bring the hammer down somewhere between $500 and $700, but at least they'd give you an excuse to actually wear that Avril Lavigne suspender-tee.

OK, so we're stretching the limits of "affordability" here—this blue cape is expected to sell for the low five figures—but is there really such a thing as a price that's too high for this, given that it'll transform you into a funk superhero?

THE JAMES BROWN COLLECTION [Christies]
SC judge to decide fate of James Brown auction [Fort Mill Times]

Whoever's Auctioning Off The "Sgt. Pepper" Drum Head Is Definitely In It For The Money

Maura Johnston — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:30:00 EDT

The latest bit of '60s nostalgia to be sold off to the highest bidder: The title-emblazoned bass drum skin that appeared on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which Christie's of London will auction off next month as part of a popular-culture-themed extravaganza. According to the Times of London, Christie's is hoping to fetch some £150,000 for the skin, which is a pretty penny considering that it doesn't even come with the drum. Those of you hoping to get some Beatles memorabilia for your home without laying out cash in the six-figure range shouldn't fret, though: An upcoming auction at Christie's NYC outpost is offering up the script for Paul McCartney's 1984 film Give My Regards To Broad Street, for which the auction house is only expecting to fetch about $1,500. Maybe we should all put our money together for the cause... or at least have a group listen to "No More Lonely Nights"!

Sgt. Pepper's icon set to drum up £150,000 [Times]

How Did This Guitar Only Sell For $255?

Maura Johnston — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:15:00 EDT

OK, so it's probably really heavy to tote around on stage. And a pain in the ass to take on tour. And if one neck breaks you're likely going to be in need of four replacements. But surely these specifications are at least worth $100 a paragraph before shipping?

First neck is 4 string bass neck with 22 frets on rose wood fret board-smooth maple neck great feel with two full size bass pickups which provide great bass sound-along with chrome tennessee brand tuning gears which hold solid tune- position marker dots on side of neck-chrome bridge-trus rod in neck

Second neck is 8 string mandolin neck with 20 frets on rose wood fret board-smooth maple neck with 1 single coil mandolin pickup -Chrome tuning gears hold solid mandolin tune- position marker dots on side of neck-rose wood fully adjustable bridge

Third neck is 5 string banjo with 22 frets and rose wood fret board -1 extra wide banjo pick up provides great banjo sound-position marker dots on side of neck-5th string geared .ivory color tuning gears hold great banjo tune along fully adjustable rosewood bridge-trus rod in neck

Forth neck is 6 string guitar neck with 22 frets on rose wood fret board-smooth maple neck great feel with two full size P-90 guitar pickups which provide great guitar sound-along with chrome tennessee brand tuning gears which hold solid tune- position marker dots on side of neck-chrome bridge and tail piece-trus rod in neck

That's 23 strings, people! And it has a "silver sparkly" finish. I wish I'd known about this before bidding had ended, because I would have gone for it.

NEW PRO QUADRUPLE NECK BASS MANDOLIN BANJO AND GUITAR [eBay via Listening Post]

eBay Item Allows You To Imagine What It Would Be Like To Have Shared A Gym Class With Slayer

Maura Johnston — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:30:00 EDT

My high-school yearbooks were notable for this one guy who wore Slayer T-shirts to portrait day year in and year out, but this eBay auction of a 1983 yearbook from South Gate High is doing old Hicksville High one better, as it features pictures of the metal kings in their awkward adolescent years. That school must have had the best Battle of the Bands ever!

This is an extreme rarity. This is an annual/yearbook that features some of the earliest pictures from Slayer. This yearbook is from South Gate High School in South Gate California where Slayer got their first start and a slew of bands followed their path.

This yearbook came out in 1983, so the pictures were probably taken around 1982, making this the pre-Show No Mercy era.

There are a total of 6 pictures in this annual featuring Slayer. All the original and current members of Slayer are pictured here. Kerry King is using his Original BC Rich Mockingbird guitar before he put tar (or whatever it was) to decorate it. The fourth picture shows Jeff Hanneman with a buzz haircut (he was the punk influence in the band).

In this auction I will also include a set of flyers from the era where Slayer played around the South gate area, and features more pictures from the band at this time.

Bidding is already at $51, which makes the yearbook just a hair more expensive than it was when it was first issued. Sadly, all of the band's members seem to have skipped senior picture day—"I chalk it up to being rebelious metal heads that didn't want to be like the rest of the students," the seller says.

SLAYER High School Yearbook Ultimate Thrash Rarity [eBay via Blabbermouth]

Gigantic Music Collection Heads Back To The Auction Block

Maura Johnston — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:30:39 EDT

After putting his six-million-song music collection on eBay and getting burned by a fake bidder, Pittsburgh rare-music collector Paul Mawhinney is once again trying to unburden himself of the 45s, LPs, and other pieces of recorded music he's amassed over the years via auction. But this time, he's switched up two key details: First, Mawhinney is letting registered buyers browse through his online database of music, which outlines the market value of each item (only 45s are in it now, but he's currently adding his long players to the site as well); and second—and perhaps most crucially—he's given up on the idea of selling the collection to someone who will keep it intact as a museum piece, thus allowing anyone who wants to turn around and open a rare record store of their own into the fray. [Official site; HT Listening Post]

If You Want A Piece Of Lou Pearlman, You Can Find One On eBay

Maura Johnston — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:30:08 EST

Pervy boy-band impresario Lou Pearlman, whose trial on federal bank fraud charges is set for April, has told friends that he's thinking about copping a plea on those charges that would result in him going to the federal pen for up to 25 years. But that doesn't mean he'll be free from jail after that; charges related to the huge investment scheme that he ran through his company Trans Continental Airlines have yet to be filed, and that'll probably add to his sentence if he's found guilty. What's more interesting: The "friend" who told the St. Petersburg Times this little bit of news is now reselling Pearlman's possessions—which he bought at Pearlman's two bankruptcy auctions—on eBay, under the username a-v sales. Among the items on offer are an actual MTV Moonman (bidding currently at $560); other highlights—including an award bestowed upon Pearlman by Mikhail Gorbachev—after the jump.

MCDONALDS COOKIE JAR CONTAINER RARE
Current price: $9.99. (Shipping costs are $15!)
Description: No description, although there's a close-up of the McDonald's Seal Of Authenticity that reveals that it's from 1997. I'm not really sure how this is "rare," though.
Which former boybander should buy it: Justin Timberlake. Ba da ba ba ba!

WORLD CONNECTION AWARD 2002 BY MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
Current price: $1,000.
Description: "DON'T MISS OUT ON A VERY RARE AND NOT OFTEN SOLD TO THE PUBLIC ITEM... THIS IS THE ACTUAL AWARD THAT WAS GIVEN TO LOUIS J. PEARLMAN BY PRESIDENT MIKAIL [sic!] S. GORBACHEV AT THE AWARDS BANQUET IN 2002 ... INCLUDED IS THE VIDEO OF THE AWARD BEING PRESENTED TO L.J.P."
Which former boybander should buy it: Lance Bass. He's the thinky one who wrote a book, right?

BACKSTREET BOYS 6,000,000 Units AWARD
Current price: $9.99.
Description: "BSB World Wide Sales of 6,000,000 Units ... The Album "Back Street Boys" 1997 ... 20x16"
Which former boybander should buy it: Aw, heck, I'll buy it and give it to the Backstreet Boys, just so they can be reminded of their better days.

ANTHONY ROBBINS PERSONAL POWER II CD'S
Current price: $23.82.
Description: The official line: "Starting today, you can design the life you've always wanted. You can have closer relationships. Greater success in business. More money. Better health. Real happiness and personal fulfillment. True passion in your life. All it takes is 30 days, and Anthony Robbins' Personal Power II: The Driving Force!" And a note: "SET MAY CONTAIN DUPLICATES AS EXTRAS."
Which former boybander should buy it: Aaron Carter, who clearly needs some personal power of the legal kind (or at least better name recognition) thrown his way. (He can give the extras to the guys from LFO.)

a-v sales [eBay]
Pearlman may seek deal to avoid trial [St. Petersburg Times]

Michael Jackson: Kinda Screwed Either Way?

Jess Harvell — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:30:17 EST

So at this moment MJ's scrambling to come up with the $24.5 million he owes in order to keep Neverland Ranch, which is currently in danger of being repossessed for Jackson's slack-assery in keeping up with his monthly payments. But with Jackson's financial solvency currently a question mark, it might be better if he simply defaults, loses a residence he hasn't occupied for several years, and lets whoever decides to bid on Neverland at the planned public auction pick up the tab, right? Wrong, unless he wants to become a smooth ~~criminal~~ tax evader.

The reason for this is: Jackson bought Neverland for between $12 million and $14 million back in 1988. If it sells for the full amount owed, $24.5 million, there's a conceivable difference of $10 million.

According to California law, Jackson would then be taxed on that money as if he'd sold the property and it was income. According to a California state-sponsored Web site, www.ftb.ca.gov, Jackson would be liable for this money. A ballpark figure could be as much as $5 million.

Ouch. Any well-to-do Idolator readers wishing to spare Jackson 240 million dimes (give or take 50 million) should take note that if Jackson fails to pay, the auction is now set for March 19 on "the steps of the Santa Barbara County courthouse" in sunny California. Prospective buyers should bring "cashier's checks for the amount they want to offer" and several spray bottles of Febreze in the scent of their choice.

Can Michael Jackson Find 11th Hour Help? [Fox 411]

Huge Record Collection Sells For $3 Million And Change

Maura Johnston — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:00:44 EST

The library-sized record collection that went on sale via eBay earlier this week has found a buyer, although the collection, which includes more than three million pieces, didn't quite fetch the $50 million that owner Paul Mawhinney had been hoping to get. In fact, the final price didn't inch much further past the $3 million reserve that Mawhinney had set with eBay, although the collection's final price of $3,002,150 is one of the highest selling prices in eBay's history. Details on the person who's claiming to have $3 million on hand are sketchy: He lives in Ireland and goes by the name of jopsoup, and he has 97.1% positive feedback. And it would seem that he's used eBay to buy music-related items before, although none of his purchases have been this big (not to mention expensive to ship across the Atlantic).

From his eBay feedback profile, we learn that items he's purchased in the past include:

• A 1-gig memory card for a Fuji camera.
• A Wu-Tang hoodie, the seller of which commented "Thank you for a smooth and pleasant transaction. Excellent buyer! A+"
• A piece of positive feedback from a seller named piercingpros, who commented "Fast payment and very friendly... Great Ebayer!"
• And three positive feedbacks from the_beatgraphter, all of which have the same comment: "Nice one Enjoy da Ardcore :) Pleasure doing business recommended A+"

jopsoup's sole piece of negative feedback comes from a user named bikerama!!, who wrote:

Item possbily damaged in post but neg'd me with no contact. Your loss no refund

Here's hoping that Mawhinney and jopsoup work out all of those nasty "postal insurance" details before the collection starts winging its way across the pond.

Record Rama collection sells for $3 million [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
eBay My World: jopsoup [ebay.com]
Earlier: How Much Would You Spend For Six Million Songs? (Hint: $50 Million May Not Be Enough)

How Much Would You Spend For Six Million Songs? (Hint: $50 Million May Not Be Enough)

Maura Johnston — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:40:16 EST

In case you were wondering just who owned that six-million-song music collection that's currently listed on eBay with a starting price of $3 million: Meet Paul Mawhinney, an obsessive music cataloger and record-collectors'-guide publisher who also owned the Pittsburgh-area shop Record-Rama. In a 2003 profile of his business, he was quoted as saying "Almost all the guys out on the front line of the music business are all conniving to get what they can." And given his past history of deals where he's almost made some cash from his collection, it's easy to see why he feels this way!

Mawhinney has had a few prospective buyers for his collection over the years; In 1997, former online-music powerhouse CDNow told Mawhinney they'd buy his collection for $28.5 million, only to wind up in bankruptcy court shortly after; then, a deal to sell his extensive collection of singles to the Library of Congress fell through after Mawhinney's asking price was too rich for the LoC's tax-funded budget. Mawhinney—who wants to have a deal in place by March 1—is still working the archivist angle for future buyers, as evidenced by his thoughts on what would make a suitable home for the collection:

The History of American music belongs in a museum or a library; a place where people who love music and have an interest in history and popular American culture can look, listen, touch, read and appreciate this legacy for future generations. It could be part of a stand-alone music museum, a major exhibit in an existing museum, or the basis of a university music library. Cleverly arranged and displayed, and surrounded by additional cultural memorabilia, the collection could even become a tourist attraction.

We're seeking a buyer who will guarantee to keep the collection intact (other than to sell duplicate copies, if so desired) and to keep the music alive for the enjoyment and music lovers, now and for years to come.

If you represent a museum, library, university, or charitable foundation, or you're a philanthropist interested in purchasing the collection and donating it, please contact the owner's representatives for more information, pricing and a personal on-site inspection.

He's also estimating the value of the collection at $50 million, although if someone can sweet-talk his representatives—one of whom is former sitcom staple Telma Hopkins—perhaps the asking price will be lower. This is the part where I do wish that there was some sort of popular-music museum out there, or at least that the Experience Music Project hadn't ceded all that space to the science fiction guys over the past few years. Sigh.

The Greatest Music Collection [Official site]
Failed deals for fabled musical archive strike sour note with owner [Pittsburgh Business Times]
The World's Greatest Music Collection [eBay; HT PTW]

Ghostface is selling a fitted cap, worn ...

mjohnston — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:30:13 EDT

Ghostface is selling a fitted cap, worn and signed by him, on eBay. Bidding is at $202.50 and the auction has a week to go, so if you're interested in winning, you may want to start checking behind your couch cushions. [eBay]

On The Block: A Clock That Is Permanently Set To Lyte Funky Time

mjohnston — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 15:34:56 EDT

To the right, one of the many boyband curios offered up by the liquidation of Backstreet Boys/'NSync impresario/Federal "person of interest" Lou Pearlman's assets: A clock made out of the single for LFO's "Summer Girls" (you know, the "I like girls who wear Abercrombie and Fitch" song). The auction is taking place today in Orlando, Fla., or, rather, it will once the auctioneers find a place that's big enough to handle the crowds. (Apparently, there's a lot of demand in Florida for the gold and platinum albums, Aeron chairs, and various aircraft parts that were left behind when Pearlman went on the run months ago.) If you're in the area, stop by—who knows, maybe you can build a business out of this lot of 500 Jordan Knight CDs.

MEMORABILIA/OFFICES/BOEING PART/ETC [bidspotter.com]
Lou Pearlman auction draws crowd [Orlando Sentinel]

Jackson Family Sells Fringed Jackets, Keeps Crippling Sense of Shame

idolguest2 — Thu, 31 May 2007 14:05:13 EDT

If you hurry, you still might be able to nab a few deals at the Jackson Family Going Out of Business Sale now happening at Guernsey's Auction House in New York. Thousands of items must be sold, including a Jackson's Japanese comic book, a signed photo of Tito from the Victory tour, and a pint of LaToya's facial fat. Watching Access Hollywood last night—don't look at us like that—we learned that you can purchase, among the more expensive items, a pre-teen Jackson's Motown ID card, which is just weird (and probably cheap enough) to bid on.

The Jacksons Auction [liveauctioneers.com]

Liner Notes: Lil' Kim Does Not Come Cheap

mjohnston — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 12:40:27 EST

- Lil' Kim is reportedly demanding nearly $1 million and an assortment of gifts as compensation for appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK. Warms the heart to know that there are still celebrities out there who won't just do these reality shows for exposure, doesn't it? [Metro]
- The baby-boomer disposable income watch continues: A signed copy of Meet The Beatles has been sold at auction for $115,000. [USA Today]
- Danger Mouse is going to head up a "producers' collective" of anonymous knob-twiddlers who will all be represented by Adult Swim-drawn cartoons. Please excuse us for thinking that this idea sounds kind of like a creepy Livejournal community. [Billboard]

Would You Buy A Used Thong From This Woman?

Brian Raftery — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 08:44:35 EDT

Never having been a fan of electro-sex mutant Peaches—the faux-facial hair is sort of a turn-off, as is the lack of a decent hook—it's safe to assume that we're also not a fan of Peaches' used underwear. Apparently eBay agrees, because they yanked her pink thong from a charity auction (though you can still bid on it here).

According to Three Gut Records owner Tyler Clark Burke, who's hosting the auction, eBay has a strict "no used underwear" policy. That's certainly within their right, but just who the hell is hashing out their sales guidelines over there? Because while (allegedly) sexy drawers might be a no-no, eBay's one of the last places in the U.S. where you can get a 98% positive-feedback rating by selling nine-disc white-power-rock box-sets.