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Stolen from the ANS Yahoo! board:

Hundreds of THOUSANDS (not MILLIONS).........

Michael Jackson auction pulls in hundreds of thousands of dollars

Shore area man who once held memorabilia also bought some items
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 05/31/07
BY BOB CULLINANE
STAFF WRITER

A few weeks ago, Asbury Park contractor Henry Vaccaro vowed he would "absolutely not"' bid on any items of Michael Jackson memorabilia when those items came up for auction.

But when the auction began yesterday in Las Vegas, Vaccaro not only bid, but
purchased 10 items from the massive collection of Jackson family memorabilia he
once owned.

"I would have been crazy not to buy them,'' Vaccaro said of Jackson items he
bought at what he called bargain prices. "If you were there, you would have bought
them too."

Vaccaro was among a crowd of 75 to 100 bidders who attended the auction, run by Guernsey's Auction House, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino yesterday. The auction will conclude today with two more auction sessions.

Reports of the auction reflect mixed sales, with some items, like stage costumes
of the pop star, fetching nearly $20,000. Meanwhile, a platinum record for the
Jackson mega-hit "Billie Jean'' sold for just $100.

"There are about four or five serious bidders in the room,'' Vaccaro said this
morning, "and they're spending hundreds of thousands. Everything else is being
sold online.''

The Internet auction site eBay (www.ebay.com) is providing online bidders a
chance to join the auction through its ""live auction'' feature at http://search.ebay.com/michael-jackson_L...

Vaccaro said he purchased a "Muhammad Ali Boxing Superman'' comic book for $200 after seeing similar books sell at the auction for $1,100.

He also purchased a lithograph of a drawing of baseball stars Willie Mays, Bobby
Bonds and Barry Bonds, which is autographed by all three. Vaccaro said he paid $100 for the artwork and already has been offered $500 for it.

Vaccaro also bought some stage costumes worn by Germaine and Tito Jackson during the Jackson's 1984 “Victory Tour.”

"I'm having a lot of fun,'' Vaccaro said.

Read Friday's Asbury Park Press for full coverage of this story.