When Michael Jackson’s denim jacket from his Jackson 5 days sold for $26,000 — more than five times its estimated sale price — it was the first indication that the late pop star’s belongings were going to sell for more money than anyone may have anticipated.
Even his brothers’ and sisters’ items were selling for thousands at Julien’s Auctions summer sale on Friday at Planet Hollywood. On the one-year anniversary of Jackson’s death, everything was a hot commodity.
Fans, bidders and curious passersby filled the auction area at Planet Hollywood for the nearly six hours of bidding on 251 lots of Jackson memorabilia.
But there was one item that everyone really came to see — one of Jackson’s signature Swarovski crystal-studded gloves.
After nearly 150 lots and much anticipation, the glove finally made its appearance.
At an auction in November in New York, a glove Jackson wore when performing his signature moonwalk for the first time at the “Motown 25” concert in 1983 sold for $420,000.
“I’ll start the bidding at $1 just so you all can say that you bid on Michael Jackson’s glove,” auctioneer Kathleen Guzman said as bidders raised their paddles in a frenzy.
Then the real bidding began. It started at $31,000 and rose to more than $100,000 within seconds.
Julien’s Auctions employees raised their own studded-gloved hands furiously as competing bids came in from anonymous bidders over the phone and online.
In the end, a $160,000 bid from Wanda Kelley of Los Angeles won out. The glove was expected to see for between $20,000 and $30,000.
Kelley said she was prepared to go higher than her $160,000 winning bid, but she was reluctant to say how much higher.
“Let’s just say I wasn’t walking out of here without that glove,” Kelley said coyly shortly after claiming her prize.
Aside from the glove, Kelley scooped up most of the gold records in the Jackson collection. She said she’s been a fan all her life but wasn’t aware that today marked the anniversary of his death.
“I’ve just been so busy. I was up in my hotel room watching CNN and it was a surprise to me to hear it was the anniversary,” Kelley said.
Julien’s Auctions owner Darren Julien said the price of Jackson memorabilia has skyrocketed since his death last June. That was more than obvious during Friday’s sale. Julien said Jackson's 251 lots sold for $1.98 million, nearly double what the auction house originally expected.
His MTV music video award, priced between $6,000 and $8,000 in the Julien’s catalog, sold for $37,500. Handwritten lyrics to “Bad” went for $8,000, 10 times its estimated sale price. A signed fedora went for $45,000 and a corduroy shirt for $23,000.
The jacket Jackson wore during his 1996 wedding to Debbie Rowe sold for $60,000 to a woman sitting with Anna Nicole Smith’s former boyfriend and the father of Smith’s daughter, Larry Birkhead. The T-shirt Jackson wore in his “Beat It” video sold for $36,000, and an autographed replica of the jacket he wore in the video went for $110,000.
Susie Lopez of California paid $24,000 for a caricature drawn and signed by Jackson. Lopez traveled to Las Vegas with the goal of picking up one his drawings after losing a bidding war at a New York auction in November.
“The drawings are just so personal, not like some of the other items up for bid. I don’t think people realize what a great artist he was,” Lopez said as she held her catalog marked with other items she was interested in. “I got what I came for.”
Noboru Ochiai scooped up one of the priciest items of the afternoon, a custom jacket for $100,000, along with a fedora for $37,500. Both were worn by Jackson during a 1997 interview with Barbara Walters.
Ochiai was bidding for Japanese pop star and magician Princess Tenko.
He was hoping to pick up a pair of Jackson’s autographed black loafers for Princess Tenko, but he lost to an anonymous bidder on the phone who purchased the pair for $75,000.
As for the glove, Ochiai wasn’t even considering bidding. “Too expensive,” he said.
Donning their Jackson T-shirts and “I love MJ” bracelets, Kandice Jones of Las Vegas and her daughter Deanna didn’t come to bid but to remember Jackson and compare prices with their own memorabilia.
Kandice Jones said she’s been collecting Jackson memorabilia since 1979 and has lost count of how many pieces she owns today. Perfume bottles once owned by Jackson, an autographed copy of his “Thriller” album and a signed Jackson doll are among her most prized possessions.
Her love of Jackson has become a family affair passed on to her children.
“I really didn’t realize how passionate I was about him until he died,” Deanna Jones said. “I was crying for days.”
The Jones family was devoting the day to celebrating and remembering Jackson, beginning with a memorial service Friday morning and the auction in the afternoon.
Later tonight, they’ll be watching their VCR tape copy of his memorial service from last year and making one of Jackson’s favorite dishes — cheese enchiladas.
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