Former heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson used to say that everyone has a plan until you hit them in the nose. Mastro Auctions chairman Bill Mastro just got smacked.

Less than two months ago the brain behind the largest sports memorabilia auction house boasted to the Chicago Daily Herald that his business was recession proof because he catered to high-end clients.

"When we do our big auctions we're typically dealing with well-heeled guys, and this is what gives them pleasure," Mastro told the paper. "If anything, I think guys are getting more choosy and discriminating about what they buy and how they buy it. But at the end of the day a Mercedes is a Mercedes, and if you want and have the means, you'll pay for it."

Now the company is out of business, the FBI has launched an investigation into shill bidding, card doctoring and other allegations of fraud and Mastro is taking “some time off.” Three former Mastro honchos purchased the former company’s assets and are rebranding as Legendary Auctions with a promise that there will be no more mixing of business and pleasure.

And they don’t call this the land of opportunity for nothing.
 

Did you know that only Walt Disney licensed more items than Roy Rogers? True. The "prince of marketing" lent his name and image to nearly 2,100 products.

Now a rare guitar owned by singing cowboy and actor Roy Rogers is hitting the auction block next month, the first of its kind ever to be offered at auction, Christie's said on Wednesday. The C.F. Martin OM-45 Deluxe guitar is one of only 15 made by the Nazareth, Pennsylvania, company founded by a German immigrant in the 1830s. Only 14 were believed to have been manufactured in 1930 but recent research brought to light a 15th, owned by Rogers since 1933 and the very first one produced.

The auction house expects the OM (Orchestra Model) guitar, last played by Rogers and in its original, unrestored state, to sell for $150,000 to $250,000 when it is offered along with three more of Rogers's guitars on April 3.

The guitars are being sold by The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Mo.

To see the Auction Network’s coverage of a Roy Rogers auction click here.
 

A soft-cover copy of the first Harry Potter book sold for $19,120 in a rare books auction in Dallas this weekend. The 1997 first edition of Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone (retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States) is one of only 200 copies of the first printing issued in illustrated wrappers by the London publisher Bloomsbury. The book came with an illustrated card signed by author J.K. Rowling (above).

Maybe the winning bidder isn’t a big fan of Amazon.com, because for $4.00 the Dubai resident could have had a used (but acceptable) copy.
 

Good and evil. Right and wrong. The definitions vary according to whom you ask.

So what about a website that profits from the sale of artwork, clothing, collectibles and even greeting cards from murders? That’s exactly what goes on at murderauction.com. Where else are you going to be able to bid on a 1988 Christmas card sent by Ted Bundy or original artwork created by Robert Bardo who is serving life in prison for murdering My Sister Sam actress Rebecca Schaeffer?

A framed picture of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and a business card from his lawyer Stephen Jones are also currently being offered. The April 19, 1995 terrorist attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building claimed 168 lives and left over 800 people injured. The auction has met with resentment from some.

"I think it is horrible. I don't think anyone needs to make a profit off this. Too many people lost their lives. I think it's terrible," said Karen Nelson, who was visiting the bombing memorial, to Tulsa’s NewsOn6.

So what do you think? Should items like these be offered for sale? Should people and companies be able to profit from those who have taken other’s lives? Let us know.


 

Due to the legal controversy that has arisen between Julien’s Auctions and Michael Jackson/MJJ Productions, Auction Network is withdrawing as the online bidding service provider unless and until the controversy is resolved between the parties. We apologize for any inconvenience, but this controversy is not a matter that is within our control. Please check back periodically for updates.

For more on this developing story, click here.

Remember the "something" that blew through the Texas sky earlier this month? The Federal Aviation Administration has yet to officially call the Feb. 15 sighting a meteor instead claiming it was either debris from colliding satellites or a natural phenomenon.

Regardless of which Area 51 label the government wants to use, a few pieces of chondrite the size of large pecans (covered with fresh fusion crust) were discovered south of Dallas by an Arizona meteorite hunter. One of the 8-ounce rocks is projected to bring around $5,000 when it’s auctioned May 17 by Heritage Auction Galleries. The director of the astronomy laboratory program at the University of North Texas has run at least one of the rocks through a series of authentication tests.

Maybe they should also give the rocks the Joe Dirt “check for peanuts” test.

The paleontologist who discovered several famous fossils in and around Malta, Monta., pleaded innocent Thursday to federal charges that he stole fossils from Bureau of Land Management property.

Charged with theft of government property, Nate Murphy, 51, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison with another three years of probation and a $250,000 fine.

Murphy was the director of paleontology with the Dinosaur Field Station in Malta for 15 years before resigning July 1, 2007 ... one month after the Montana Division of Criminal Investigations, the FBI and the Bureau of Land Management began their investigation.

In September, state prosecutors charged him in Phillips County District Court with stealing a turkey-sized raptor fossil. Those charges allege that Murphy intended to sell replicas of the fossil, worth between $150,000 and $400,000.

Just last year, one of the nation's foremost fossil restorationists, Joe Taylor, sold a mastadon skull for $191,200 to help his museum avoid bankruptcy.

As if Hallmark doesn’t already have enough opportunities to bleed us dry for $3.99 a pop, today is Make Up Your Own Holiday Day.

Sky’s the limit, huh?

Well after seeing that another comic book collector is selling off a 1938 premier issue of Action Comics … the first appearance of Superman … and is expected to get a final price of somewhere around $250,000, we declare today Dorks Know Best Day.

From this point forward, Feb. 26 will now be a day of vindication for all those who were persecuted for spending money buying comics instead of dating, putting spoilers and lift kits on cars or trying to impress friends and family with the best home theater surround system on the block.

The owner of the comic, who wasn’t identified, bought the comic for 35 cents in 1950. According to Comic Connect, about 100 copies of the comic are known to exist.
 

The death mask of Oliver Cromwell is up for auction.

He loathed vanity so much that he insisted his portraits depict him faithfully, 'warts and all'. And even after his death, Oliver Cromwell's instructions were followed to the letter.

This death mask shows the puritanical Lord Protector of England in all his grizzled, lumpy glory. There has been no attempt to conceal the growth on his lower lip or straighten his crooked nose.

All in all, the mask doesn't make an attractive artwork ... though that probably won't bother the person who buys it this week.

The plaster cast, made around 350 years ago, has been put up for sale at auction by a private collector. It has an estimated value of £1,000, even though experts can't be sure exactly when it was made.

Roy Butler, of Wallis and Wallis auctioneers in Lewes, East Sussex, who is selling the mask, said: 'It is clearly a very old cast.

'I think six were made after Cromwell's death and this is either one of those originals or a copy made shortly afterwards.'

To read the rest of this article, click here.
 

LOS ANGELES (AP/Sandy Cohen) — Michael Jackson's glittery glove is going on the auction block.

The glove, which inspired countless copycats, quips and Halloween costumes after it was unveiled in the 1983 video for Jackson's hit Billie Jean, will be part of a five-day auction next year, Julien's Auctions announced Wednesday.

Jackson is also unloading the grandiose gates that once led to his Neverland Ranch, along with more than 2,000 other personal items.

The King of Pop's possessions will be on display before the auction begins on April 21, 2009. Bids will be accepted in person and online. The sale is to be broadcast live on Auction Network.

Jackson plans to donate a portion of the proceeds to MusiCares, a charitable organization founded by the Recording Academy to help musicians in need.

The singer has been plagued by financial woes since he was acquitted of child-molestation charges in 2003. He went into default on his sprawling Neverland property earlier this year, before an investment company bought the loan. Last month, Jackson's lawyers reached a settlement in a $7 million breach-of-contract case brought by a Bahraini sheik.

As Jackson marked his milestone 50th birthday in August, the reclusive star hinted that he would be back to work eventually.

"(I'm) looking forward to doing a lot of great things," he told ABC News. "I think the best is yet to come in my true humble opinion."