All the trinkets, collectibles, and other belongings of the King of Pop are up for sale to the highest bidder later this month, as a four-day auction in Beverly Hills allows bidders to nab some of Michael Jackson's most prized possessions.
Despite a lawsuit filed last month from Jackson's production company seeking to halt the April 22-25 sale, Julien's Auctions in Hollywood says the auction will proceed as planned.
"We're extremely confident that the auction will go ahead and we're very proud of the exhibition that we've set up here to show off these items," Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien's, told AFP at a press preview of the sale.
Representatives of his production company, MJJ Productions, filed suit last month in L.A. Superior Court in an attempt to stop the auction, claiming that certain items, including a carousel horse with an inscription from Elizabeth Taylor, are "priceless and irreplaceable", and that Jackson had not signed the auction contract.
Although a judge dismissed the attempt to have the contract ruled invalid, the company is seeking a preliminary injunction to delay the sale. The battle is scheduled to continue in court on Wednesday morning (April 15), reports the LA Times.
The vast collection, taken from Jackon's Neverland Ranch (where he hasn't lived since being acquitted of child molestation charges in 2005), include Jackson's iconic, jewel-encrusted glove featured in his "Billie Jean" music video, a customized Rolls Royce limousine -- featuring an interior finished in leather, walnut and 24 carat gold -- a life-size Lego model of Darth Vader, and tons of furniture, paintings and more.
Julien's expects the items to fetch anywhere from $10 and $20 million dollars, and up. The white glove alone is expected to sell for $10,000 to $15,000, or even more. Even the gates of the Neverland Ranch are for sale, and are expected to sell for $20,000 to $30,000.
"We've had worldwide interest in the gates already, with bidders from Italy to Australia," Nolan told the LA Times.
The bidding's already begun at juliensauctions.com, and barring an 11th-hour intervention, a live auction from April 22 to 25 will determine the winners.
The auction proceeds, less the auction house's commission, will go to Jackson and a music charity.
Potential owners are flying into Beverly Hills from all over the world, said the company, including Russia and all over Asia.
Nolan says next week's auction will mark the end of an era for Jackson. "What we're doing with this exhibition is celebrating Michael's life and career to date," he told AFP. "The auction of Neverland represents the closing of a particular chapter in his life."
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