What will the market bear for Michael Jackson material? Heritage Auctions is about to find out

Oct. 22, 2009

Posted by Noah

This is a crazy time of year at Heritage Auctions, with great auctions and amazing stuff everywhere you turn. Not that one auction carries more weight than another, but the Nov. 6-7 20th Century Icons Auction is about as sexy as they get.

It's got a JFK-signed Dallas Morning News morning edition front page from Nov. 22, 1963, the Fedora Jack Ruby wore when he shot Oswald, a rocking chair used by Martin Luther King, a Stevie Ray Vaughn used and signed guitar and much more than I can possibly list here. Really. Don't hate me, I'm just a busy guy...

What may well prove to be the sleeper of the auction is a gathering of just more than 40 lots of memorabilia relating to the late, great (and decidedly controversial) Michael Jackson. There are handwritten lyrics, jackets, autographs, awards and various other things that relate to all periods of MJ's illustrious career.

In the four months since he died, Michael Jackson has remained in the news steadily. Whether it's been sordid details, bad doctors, ex-wives, children, or the posthumously released music and the upcoming music documentary This Is It, it's been unending fascination. MJ remains more intriguing in death than in life, which is saying a lot.

On the Michael memorabilia side, we've seen a couple of his famous bejeweled gloves come up, very high profile to be sure. The Nov. 6-7 auction at Heritage Auctions, however, is notable and - dare I say it - probably more important for what it means to the wider world of MJ collecting. These are some very good items, certainly, but they are not five and six figure pieces of iconic costumes. These are lots priced to move, ranging from a few hundred bucks to a few thousand. There are scribblings of bible verses from a childhood notebook; there are sketches of his sister LaToya, lyrics to songs and autographed awards... It's actually a moving trove in a very human way...

While the prices are meant to move, I have a feeling the response is going to be much more than anticipated and that we'll see that even the most mundane MJ autograph is now going to be worth substantially more than it was a few months ago.

As a pop culture junkie, I can't wait to see what happens here. As for my personal opinion about Jackson sad and confusing life, I still feel about as I did when he died: He's the greatest mass entertainer ever, but still a weirdo. In truth, how could somebody with such fame and notoriety really be any different. We'll see...

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-Noah Fleisher

The Thriller is gone: Michael Jackson dead at 50

June 26, 2009
Posted by Noah

It’s been a rough week for greats of the 1970s, but perhaps nothing is quite a stunning as the death of Michael Jackson yesterday, June 25, at the age of 50. A stunner, a shocker, yes, but really surprising? Don’t think me callous, but the only thing surprising is the manner in which it happened. Somehow, though, we always knew it wasn’t going to end well for poor Michael considering the unbelievable amount of unhappiness and pressure heaped on the guy. It’s actually amazing he lasted this wrong, again I don’t mean to be callous, but I calls ‘em like I sees ‘em…

It’s been a difficult creepshow watching Jackson’s agonizingly slow fall from grace over the last 15 or so years; the saddest part of the tragedy has been that his amazing musical output has been overshadowed by heaps of plastic surgery, bizarre marriages, doppelganger chimps and episodes of blanket-covered baby dangling. And that’s really just the tip. Perhaps now, though, history can get on with the MJ skewering and remember him for the unbelievable talent that flowed through his veins.

Jackson’s influence on American pop culture can now begin to be measured, and it’s substantial indeed. He wrote more #1 hits than anybody before and anyone since and, really, all you have to say is the word: Thriller. There will never be another record like. Ever. It is, in my humble opinion, the greatest pop music record of all time. Whatever you’re into now or back in the early 1980s, you knew the tracks to Thriller and you probably had a copy of the LP or cassette. Come on, now, you can admit it… 61 million copies of that thing moved. Amazing by any standards.

As far as Jackson memorabilia goes, the general opinion is that whatever you had yesterday prior to his death is now probably worth double. There it is. The run is that in the long run, say a year or two, that spike in prices for Michael stuff – except the very best of the best, like a white glove – will probably recede and prices will level out. It all remains to be seen how his death will play out, how the disbursement of his estate plays out, and what his numerous creditors do. More than likely it’s going to get uglier – much uglier – before it starts to level out.

As for Heritage, we have indeed seen a fair amount of Michael Jackson memorabilia come through our auctions over the last decade or so, and none of the prices have been outrageous. Some have been fair, but nothing over the top. Suffice it to say, however, the prices you see in the archive linked to above are no longer going to reflect what the market will bear – it will be considerably higher for the time being.

Michael Jackson’s legacy is going to be the classic example of figuring out what’s more important, the art of the artist. This is a conversation my wife, Lauren, and I have frequently. She falls on the side of the artist – not too good for MJ’s legacy. For my part, I say the art, all the way. Jackson was a prolific songwriter and a great singer. He has 20 years of megahits to define his life, and that will be the monument to him.

Rest in peace Michael.

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-Noah Fleisher