How I spent my Sunday.

[billryan]

Week after the Big Game means its time to find a new Sunday routine.
McManus Auctions, my go to Vegas auction house had a huge celebrity auction today.
It featured stuff from the estates of both Debbie Reynolds and her daughter Carrie Fischer.
For those who don't know, Ms.Reynolds was a huge collector of Hollywood Memorabilia and it seemed to get passed on to Carrie.
At one time they jointly owned a Hollywood Museum, and had a satellite of it in Reynolds Vegas casino while it operated.
In the mid 1960s, MGM decided to downsize their prop department and as one of it's biggest talents, Ms. Reynolds got a shot at some PREMIUM **** for next to no money. Much of was displayed in her two museums
Today, a lot of it finally got out to the public.
Among her many treasures was Marilyn Monroe's wardrobe for Gentleman Prefer Blonds, and some of it was auctioned off in this sale. Evidently, the famous red dress was sold sometime ago for charity and brought in over a million dollars.
Her Choker went first and sold for about $15,000, followed by a ring that went for $800. Keep in mind, these are all rhinestone and costume jewelry. The only value is the silver and that's worth about $10.
The way the bidding works, if you start at $100, the next person must double the opening bid, then it goes up $100 a time. I took a chance and bid $1,000 on her bracelet, thinking that would make the next bid $2,000.
It worked great as I was the only bidder and am now the proud owner of a bracelet worn by Norma Jean herself.
I'm not a huge fan, but how often does one get a piece of anything belonging to a legend.
Ended up spending just over $2,000 for the day but picked up a few really nice items for resale. With luck, I'll quickly sell the other stuff and recoup the money.
One item I think went real cheap was a helmet for an F-15 pilot. It is inscribed VIPER but has no certification it is from Top Gun. In any event, I paid about 20% the going rate of a used helmet so it should be an easy flip.

[DaBurglar]

Week after the Big Game means its time to find a new Sunday routine.
McManus Auctions, my go to Vegas auction house had a huge celebrity auction today.
It featured stuff from the estates of both Debbie Reynolds and her daughter Carrie Fischer.
For those who don't know, Ms.Reynolds was a huge collector of Hollywood Memorabilia and it seemed to get passed on to Carrie.
At one time they jointly owned a Hollywood Museum, and had a satellite of it in Reynolds Vegas casino while it operated.
In the mid 1960s, MGM decided to downsize their prop department and as one of it's biggest talents, Ms. Reynolds got a shot at some PREMIUM **** for next to no money. Much of was displayed in her two museums
Today, a lot of it finally got out to the public.
Among her many treasures was Marilyn Monroe's wardrobe for Gentleman Prefer Blonds, and some of it was auctioned off in this sale. Evidently, the famous red dress was sold sometime ago for charity and brought in over a million dollars.
Her Choker went first and sold for about $15,000, followed by a ring that went for $800. Keep in mind, these are all rhinestone and costume jewelry. The only value is the silver and that's worth about $10.
The way the bidding works, if you start at $100, the next person must double the opening bid, then it goes up $100 a time. I took a chance and bid $1,000 on her bracelet, thinking that would make the next bid $2,000.
It worked great as I was the only bidder and am now the proud owner of a bracelet worn by Norma Jean herself.
I'm not a huge fan, but how often does one get a piece of anything belonging to a legend.
Ended up spending just over $2,000 for the day but picked up a few really nice items for resale. With luck, I'll quickly sell the other stuff and recoup the money.
One item I think went real cheap was a helmet for an F-15 pilot. It is inscribed VIPER but has no certification it is from Top Gun. In any event, I paid about 20% the going rate of a used helmet so it should be an easy flip. Very interesting, and believably realistic, post....If you ever think you could tolerate spending an afternoon with moi, I'd seriously love to discuss and pick your brain about this business.....for the past decade (almost) I buy & sell memorabilia (mostly sports but really all types), antiques & collectibles...Anyway, again, nice post.

[billryan]

As long as it's a conversation between collectors, or hobbyists , I welcome such conversations. I have a lot of experience but don't offer expert advice, only friendly advice.