At Paul Fraser Collectibles, we often mention how the statistic of an estimated_200_million-plus serious collectors worldwide is set to grow in future years.
And it looks like there will be plenty of potential new recruits, today, as fans flock to Julien's auction of contents for Michael Jackson's final home.
Plenty of pieces auctioning from 100 North Carolwood Drive in Los Angeles have presale estimates which could appeal to new buyers.
Highlights in the sale, on December 17, include a candle on which Jackson's son Prince carved his name. It is expected to sell for $100-200.
Other unusual memorabilia pieces set to be auctioned include a blackboard which hung in Jackson's home. On it is childish scrawled handwriting which reads: "I [heart] daddy, Smile it's for free, love, Paris," scrawled by Jackson's only daughter, Paris.
The blackboard is estimated at $400-600 (£257-385).
Julien's exhibition of the lots prior to the auction included 'reconstructing' Jackson's home, which has since attracted a small army of fans who have left their tributes at the site.
Julien's was previously set to auction the contents of Jackson's famous Neverland Ranch in April 2009 until Jackson withdrew the items from the sale.
Other massive Michael Jackson memorabilia sales by the firm include the singer's jacket for $1.8m, and his signature rhinestone glove for $350,000 auctioned in 2009.
Unlike those six figure-plus sales, Julien's 100 North Carolwood Drive sale blurs the line between Michael Jackson's professional and personal lives like never before.
The headboard of the bed in which Jackson died in 2009 was to be featured in the sale, but was later removed at the Jackson family's request.
 Since his death in 2009, Jackson is today a bona fide collectibles blue chip |
Last month, internet gambling website OnlineGamblingPal paid £7,000 ($11,000) for a clump of Jackson's hair. It was retrieved from a shower drain at New York's Carlyle Hotel by a worker during the 1980s.
The website apparently plans to use Jackson's hair in a roulette ball. The King of Pop's locks were sold by auction house Gotta Have Rock and Roll.
Collectible celebrity hair has enjoyed a resurgence in recent times, with hair of everyone from Elvis, Che Guevara and Justin Bieber selling for tens of thousands at auction. We also have an extensive stock of famous hair here at Paul Fraser Collectibles.
Among them is Michael Jackson's hair. Like the clump sold by Gotta Have It! our hair also originates to the 1980s, and was salvaged from the notorious accident when Jackson's hair caught fire while filming a Pepsi commercial.
A piece of this legendary hair can be yours for just £149.95 - a veritable bargain compared to the £7,000 brought by Jackson's Carlyle Hotel hair clump.
Watch this space for more news from Julien's auction of 100 North Carolwood Drive's contents.
