A copy of Kobe Bryant's handprints, cast in cement outside Hollywood's famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre, are going up for auction in April along with other memorabilia of the basketball legend who died in January.
Julien's Auctions said on Thursday that the handprints are tests that were made by Bryant in 2011 when he became the first athlete to leave his mark alongside some of the movie industry's biggest stars in the forecourt of the theater on Hollywood Boulevard.
They have a pre-sale estimate of $4,000-$6,000.
Bryant died at age 41 in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas. His 13 year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people were also killed.
Demand for Bryant apparel and other items surged immediately after his death, with sellers on eBay and other sites asking tens of thousands of dollars for sneakers, jerseys and balls signed by the star.
Julien's said the Bryant items were being offered by a collector in Kentucky, and that the sale as part of its annual Sport Legends auction was already being prepared before the basketball player's death.
"Celebrities' auction values always increase when they pass away as they are no longer using or creating new items. It takes them to another iconic status when they pass away," Chief Executive Darren Julien said in a statement.
"Like Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson would always be remembered, Kobe was young, vibrant because he did not age," Julien said.
The top Kobe Bryant item is a full Los Angeles Lakers No. 8 uniform that Bryant wore during the 1999-2000 NBA finals. It carries a pre-sale estimate of $10,000-$20,000.
A pair of signed game-worn Adidas basketball shoes bearing Bryant's No. 8 is expected to fetch up to $4,000, along with a basketball signed by all of the 2009-2010 Lakers team members.
The April 30 auction in Beverly Hills will be preceded by a public exhibit.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LOS ANGELES - As Prince Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle inches closer, public hunger for all things royal will get its dessert as decades-old slices of cake from British royal weddings - including those of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and Prince William and Kate Middleton - go up for auction.
The five cake slices from royal weddings are expected to fetch hundreds and perhaps thousands of dollars each next month as memorabilia at the sale in Las Vegas, Julien's Auctions said.
But for those looking to play royal taster, there is a word of caution.
"They're not edible," Darren Julien, the Los Angeles-based auction house's chief executive, said ahead of the June 23 sale.
A slice from Charles and Diana's wedding, presented in a white box with "CD Buckingham Palace 29th July 1981" in silver printing and wrapped in a paper doily, is estimated to fetch $800-$1,200, the auction house said.
"These come from people who attended the wedding and kept them in the freezer the entire time," Julien said of all the cake slices, adding they have not been preserved by other means.
More than 600 guests have been invited to Harry and Meghan's May 19 wedding, which will take place at Windsor Castle's St. George's Chapel, with a further 200 being invited for the reception.
The fruit cake made for Prince William and Kate Middleton's 2011 wedding comes in a tin presented to guests with an enclosure card saluting attendees that said: "With best wishes from TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall in celebration of the wedding of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge."
It is pegged to sell for $600-$800. Julien's sold a slice of William and Kate's cake for $7,500 in 2014.
Other cake slices include Charles' 2005 wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's 1986 nuptials, which each are estimated to fetch $600-$800.
The piece of royal cake from Princess Anne's 1973 marriage to her first husband, Captain Mark Philips, is expected to sell for $300-$500.
"It's kind of hard to throw something out that has been given to you by the royals," Julien said. (Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
