Michael Jackson: Values for Authentic Autographs are Rising FastWhen Michael Jackson passed away on June 25th, the value of his memorabilia surged beyond what one would normally expect from a pop star who dies young. But he wasn't just a pop star. He was a pop culture icon. "Thriller" is the best selling record of all time, and all of the records that he was associated with dating back to the Jackson 5 add up to a staggering half billion.  Videos like "Beat It," "Billy Jean", "Thriller", "Black and White," and "Scream" moved music video from a promotional tool to an art form. Concerts were always guaranteed sell-outs. He had already sold $90 million dollars worth of tickets for his 50 shows at London's O2 Arena beginning in July. His pay was reported to be as much as $50 million. Michael also touched the legacies of two other pop culture icons. He was once married to Lisa Marie Presley and he owned half of the Beatles catalog. He was a tabloid star which was good until it became very bad. His star power(at least in the good part) fell rapidly in the United States, but not in the rest of the word. He remained a huge star in Europe and Japan. Tommy Mottola, former head of Sony Music who worked with Jackson during his most productive years, has said Jackson has a place in the pantheon of American music icons, alongside Elvis and Frank Sinatra. Over the last several years the allegations against Jackson had negatively impacted the value of Michael Jackson memorabilia. A signed photo at the time of his death was valued at less than half of what it was just five years earlier. Today, values for signed material is soaring. Authentic signed photos are selling in the mid-$100's. Legal documents like contracts are selling for huge sums. Those could have been purchased for as little as $200 each before his death - which should be a lesson learned for all autograph collectors who want legendary talents in their collections. Contrary to what a lot of people think, he was very autograph friendly. He enjoyed signing when in public, and there is a lot of authentic material in the marketplace. The signed photo above is from my collection. I bought it from a dealer in 1992. The retail price was $150. (It's penciled on the back). The autograph above is from a contract and can be considered authentic. Return to Collecting Celebrity Autographs
|
