As widely reported in the mainstream media, Michael Jackson has filed a lawsuit against Julien’s Auctions for the return of personal property from the Neverland Ranch that was consigned to the auction house with a sale planned for April 22-April 25, 2009 in Beverly Hills. Below is a PDF of the complaint filed in California Superior Court. [Read more…]
Mastro Auctions, the largest sports memorabilia auction house, has closed amid an FBI fraud investigation. Three Mastro executives have purchased the company’s assets and will launch a new company called Legendary Auctions. Part of the investigation by law enforcement is focused on charges of “shill bidding”. [Read more…]
As reported Thursday, Michael Jackson has filed a lawsuit against Julien’s Auctions over the upcoming auction event in April, liquidating Jackson’s personal property and memorabilia from Neverland Ranch. Now Auction Network, the online bidding service provider, has announced on their website that they are withdrawing as a partner in the auction “unless or until the controversy is resolved”. [Read more…]
There has been a great deal of controversy in the news in the past week with regards to three unrelated auction house events, including Christie’s auction of “national treasures” originally looted from Beijing in 1860, India’s attempt to halt the sale of Mohandas Gandhi memorabilia scheduled for auction today by Antiquorum, and Julien’s Auctions upcoming sale of Michael Jackson memorabilia (which today Jackson is threatening with lawsuit). [Read more…]
Today’s Ventura County Star features an article about the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) and their 17th annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition, which opens Wednesday. [Read more…]
The Associated Press and numerous mainstream media news outlets are reporting on the arrest of Arthur Moreira, following a sting operation in which he now stands accused of stealing $30,000 worth of assets (wardrobe and other accessories) from the set of Lipstick Jungle and selling them on eBay. [Read more…]
The New York Post reports today that the owner of a historical artifact – one that an American soldier plucked from Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” in the Bavarian Alps at the close of World War II – is contemplating legal action against United Artists for the prominent use of a replica of the globe in the latest Tom Cruise film, Bryan Singer’s Valkyrie. [Read more…]
There are two new features today on Forbes.com related to the original prop collecting hobby. One, “Behind the Scenes with an Obsessive Collector”, outlines Joseph Maddalena’s origins of acquiring an interest in collecting movie memorabilia, and his own lifelong pursuit for the broomstick from The Wizard of Oz. The other, “Inside the Search for Dorothy’s Slippers”, shares the story of the ruby slippers stolen from Michael Shaw in 2005. [Read more…]