Sure, it will cost you $20 just to attend the freakshow, but you know that will be money well spent just for the opportunity to browse through the King of Pop’s underwear drawer.
Bad example, perhaps. Think of that more figuratively than literally, please.
The auction will be broken up into 5 different categories, each taking place on different days:
- Garden Statues and Outdoor Furniture
- Furniture and Decorative Arts
- Antiques, Paintings, and Fine Decorative Art
- Amusements, Arcade Games, and Disneyana
- Memorabilia from the Life and Career of Michael Jackson
Individually numbered and signed copies of the catalog will be available for $500.
More than 2000 items will be available, all at reasonable real-world pricing. I’ve glanced through the catalog, and there are some items that are expected to start around $100 (a really cool teapot shaped like a train engine), and many others ranging from $1000-$5000.
Some of the more interesting items shown early are:
- A sparkly spandex glove, covered in Swarovski crystals
- A coin-operated fortune teller machine.
- A Peter Pan-inspired electric golf cart (featuring an airbrushed Michael dressed as Peter Pan on the hood)
- A robotic Michael Jackson head, from his film Moonwalker
- The scissor gloves props used by Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands
The collection of Disneyana will certainly be of interest to some Disney fans. Aside from some custom art that was created just for Michael being put on the auction block, there is one Michael Jackson rumor that will probably still be unconfirmed at the end of the auction.
Allegedly, when Tokyo Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride was being built, the Disney Imagineers built a duplicate version of the attraction just for Michael. He supposedly has it all packed away in a warehouse somewhere, waiting for the time when he can build his own Adventureland or New Orleans Square. If the rumor is true, imagine the craziness that would come as Disney fans finally have the chance to buy the Redhead themselves.
If I can track down my sources that have a more definitive “is a rumor/is not a rumor” answer on the Pirates of the Caribbean piece, I will definitely post an update on that. But until then, wishful thinking is all the casual auction-goer is going to get.
(originally posted on February 17, 2009)
UPDATE: the 242-page arcade auction catalog was finally published. More highlights include:
- Pinball: The Simpsons, Indiana Jones, Terminator 3, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Striker Xtreme, Austin Powers, Ripley’s Believe it or Not — all the pinball machines appear to be starting at around $1000-$1500.
- Megatouch XL, Megatouch Maxx
- Crazy Taxi – High Roller edition
- at least two Photo Booths
- 4-Player NFL Blitz ’99
- The requisite Dig Dug, Ms Pac Man, Galaga, and other video game classics.
- X-Men, The Simpsons
- At least 6 different jukeboxes
- HipHop Mania Complete Mix 2
- Karate Champ
- Darth Vader figure made out of LEGO
- A creepily high number of life-size statues in various poses and dressed from various eras
- A “Peter Pan chair”, where you would sit on a stump that Peter is also sitting on, and lean against Peter’s body. In essence, the occupant would be sitting on Peter’s lap.
…but alas, no Pirates of the Caribbean items in this auction.