A New York art gallery has temporarily removed an Andy Warhol portrait of Michael Jackson from the auction block. The Vered Gallery in East Hampton says enormous interest prompted the decision. The auction was to close Sunday.

The 30-by-26-inch painting shows a smiling Jackson in a red jacket from his Thriller days. Pre-sale estimates ranged anywhere from $1 million to $10 million.

There's renewed interest in all things Jackson since his death. His albums are back at the top of the charts.

Gallery co-owner Janet Lehr says in a statement she wants to offer the 1984 work to "the greatest number of prospective purchasers." She did not immediately return inquiries for comment Monday. The portrait is reportedly owned by a New York collector.
 

You can find thousands of items for sale on eBay, from golf clubs to cameras, to cars; even weird stuff like holy toast.

But if you type in listing 150349995516, you'll find Sherry Campbell's photo and resume.
 
"What do you do. You market yourself. You have to be able to sell yourself to be able to sell something for somebody else, so I listed myself on eBay" says Sherry Campbell, who works in Pasco County, Fla.

Campbell is a car salesperson in a tough predicament. Instead of a steady paycheck, she's now struggling on commission only. The breadwinner of her family, with four kids and a disabled husband, she says car sales along U.S. 19 in Port Richey aren't what they used to be.

"I was working six-days a week for the most part and a lot of times, I'd go in at nine in the morning and stay until 11:00 at night," Campbell said. "Now I'm making $7.21-an hour and if i don't sell any cars this week, I have to pay them back."
 

Birney Vanderboegh wanted to show his appreciation to Southwest Michigan's farmers for growing "the best-tasting fruit in the country." So the St. Joseph man bid a record $15,300 for the season's ceremonial first crate of local strawberries at the Benton Harbor Fruit Market's annual charity auction.

"I just appreciate the good fortune I've had to live in this area and enjoy so much of this great-tasting fruit," said Vanderboegh, who owns Best Energy, a wholesale propane distributor. Vanderboegh said the money he bid will be donated to Grace Christian School and Napier Parkview Baptist Church.

In past years the auction's winning bid has often been a combined effort among several buyers. Vanderboegh was part of a group of 32 people who collectively bid $15,200 for the season's first strawberries at last year's auction.
 

As a kid, Ralph Chicorel was careful with the comic books he faithfully bought for 10 cents at the drugstore in his Detroit neighborhood.

"I loved the artwork so much that I took real good care of them. I turned the pages very carefully," the 78-year-old said. "I relished, treasured them."

Chicorel's diligence will likely pay off when 110 or so of the comics he started collecting as an 8-year-old go up for auction soon at Heritage Auction Galleries, an offering that's expected to bring in about $500,000. The sale will begin Thursday with the most important comics, followed by the rest over the weekend.

"These comic books are all very hard to find and if you do find them you're not going to find them in this kind of condition," said Maggie Thompson, senior editor of Iola, Wis.-based Comic Buyer's Guide.

"Some of these are key comics in the field," she said."

The collection boasts the likes of Batman No. 1 and Marvel Comics No. 1. The most expensive comic — expected to clear $100,000 — is the scarce Marvel Mystery Comics No. 9, noted for its cover battle between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner — the first time two superheroes appeared in the same story, said Heritage's director of comics operations, Barry Sandoval.

UPDATED: 5.27.09 The collection sold for about $623,000 with Marvel Mystery Comics No. 9 going for $108,000.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Jackson's glove is not going once, going twice - or going anywhere.

A scheduled auction of the pop singer's possessions was called off Tuesday after Jackson and Julien's Auction House reached a settlement to their dispute over whether 2,000 items from Neverland Ranch were ever intended for sale.

Specific terms were not disclosed. But in short, Jackson keeps his things, while Julien's keeps its exhibition, which was open to the public and originally meant to promote next week's sale.

"There was so much interest from so many of Jackson's fans that instead of putting the items in the hands of private collectors, Dr. Tohme and Julien's Auction House have made arrangements that will allow the collection to be shared with and enjoyed by Jackson's fans for many years to come," read a joint statement from Jackson spokesman Dr. Tohme R. Tohme and auction organizer Darren Julien.

Jackson's production company, MJJ Productions, sued Julien in early March, seeking to halt the sale by arguing that Jackson hadn't authorized it. Julien maintained that the auction house was contracted by Jackson's production company to take all of the items from Neverland with the intention of selling them all beginning April 22.

A judge blocked one effort by MJJ Productions to cancel it earlier this month, and another was scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday for an injunction.

"I believe both sides are pleased with the resolution," Julien said Tuesday by telephone.

Julien has said he spent $2 million organizing the sale, which another auctioneer estimated could have fetched $12 million. The exhibition in Beverly Hills costs $20 to attend, and auction catalogues - a $50 single volume and $200, five-volume boxed set - were still selling, Julien said.

The statement also said MJJ Productions and Julien's Auction House would be making a "substantial" donation to MusiCares to benefit artists in need.
 

Wax statues are a lot like a Barry Manilow concert.

There’s the cool aspect ... like seeing one of the all-time great singer-songwriters crooning through hits like “I Write the Songs,” “Mandy” and “Weekend in New England” with an energy that belies his 65 years and one or two cosmetic procedures. At the same time, there’s something also very icky about watching soccer moms catfight ladies in moo-moos while “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling.”  

And while Manilow fans will have to remain content waiting to see him on Oprah or at the Las Vegas Hilton, wax fans have the chance to take a little weirdness home with them.

The Hollywood Wax Museum is letting go of nearly 200 representations including Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch, Marilyn Monroe, cast of M.A.S.H., Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice and Batman, President Bill Clinton and even St. Louis Cardinals slugger/juicer Mark McGwire. The first auction in the museum’s 44-year history is set for May 1, 2009. A portion of the profits will support efforts to preserve Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

And while some of the statues are showing their age, what guy is going to let a little chipping on Catwoman’s gloves keep him from wanting to take a body suit wearing Michelle Pfeiffer home?


 

Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon, unveiled a mural of clouds in the sky that will be auctioned in 67 puzzle pieces to raise funds and to mark the second annual World Autism Awareness Day.

The 76-year-old Japanese artist and musician created the seven-foot tall "Promise" mural from acrylic materials. Each of the 67 pieces of art will be auctioned with starting bids of $1,000 at charitybuzz.com/yoko.

"When I was first approached to create an artwork for autism awareness I was shocked by the worldwide prevalence of this serious situation, especially among our children," Ono said at the auction launch at the United Nations. "My work, 'Promises,' symbolizes that we all hold a piece of this puzzle and we must work to raise awareness, funds for research and advocate for families who experience autism."

The 67 pieces represent the 67 million people who have autism around the world.

Out of toilet paper? Need to pick up a few things for dinner? Take a number and start bidding.

Bargain hunters in a handful of states these days are trading supermarket aisles for the auction circuit in search of deep discounts on everything from cereal to spare ribs. Past the sell-by date? Bidders are happy to ignore that detail if they're getting a good deal.

As consumers seek relief from the recession and spiraling food prices, grocery auctions are gaining in popularity as an easy way to cut costs. The sales operate like regular auctions, but with bidders vying for dry goods and frozen foods instead of antiques and collectibles. Some auctioneers even accept food stamps.

When Kirk Williams staged his first grocery auction in rural Pennsylvania last month, nearly 300 people showed up. Astonished by the turnout, he's scheduling auctions at locations throughout northeastern Pennsylvania.
 

It's a good thing Michael Jackson didn't go with the "over my dead body" ultimatum.

Despite the comebacking King of Pop's legal objections, a Beverly Hills auction house is going ahead with a planned sell-off of nearly 2,000 pieces of furniture, clothing and other Jackson memorabilia that the company was asked to cart off from Neverland Ranch last year.

Some of the items on the block, such as a few of the Thriller artist's jewel-encrusted gloves (including the glove), a black fedora and a couple of MTV Video Music Awards, will be on display starting Wednesday at the Hard Rock Cafe in NYC's Times Square.

"It will be the last time you can see these items publicly unless they're purchased by a major museum," Julien's Auctions proprietor Darren Julien told the New York Daily News.

But while Julien is championing the goodies for sale, he is still required to go through the motions in court.

To read more, click here.
 

Like Rodney Dangerfield the Dryosaurus gets no respect.  Not now or millions of years ago.

If there was a playground back in the Late Jurassic period, the Dryosaurus was the kid with two left feet, bad asthma and glasses so thick bullies used them to burn ants. While it was built like a super model with long neck and long slender legs, it didn’t have the sex appeal of the Raptor, Brontosaurus, Triceratops or T-Rex. Old Dryo was basically just food and fodder for others.

Last weekend a 9-foot-long Dryosaurus skeleton that was expected to bring up to $500,000 was a no-sale at the I.M. Chait Gallery in Manhattan. The skeleton was unearthed at a private quarry in Wyoming in 1993. 

An 18,000-year-old woolly mammoth skeleton found in Siberia stole the show for $60,000 while an ammonite fossil went for close to $50,000.