Some fans are content with a signed photo, a prop from their favorite TV show, or, at most, a lock of their favorite celebrity’s hair, others want something a little more personal –and often a lot creepier. Here are some of the weirdest pieces of celebrity memorabilia ever sold.
Michael Jackson’s Burnt Hair
Remember back in the 80s, when Michael Jackson, still the reigning King of Pop, had his hair catch fire while filming a Pepsi ad? Well, little did you know that the ad’s executive producer, Ralph Cohen, held on to a handful of those singed locks only to sell them to a collector for $1845 just after Jackson’s 2009 death.
A Lamp That Almost Burned Down Ozzy Osbourne’s House
In 2006, there was a small fire in the home of Ozzy Osbourne. The cause of the blaze was believed to be a bronze lamp that looks like a nude woman. In 2007, that very lamp went up for auction and sold for $2,500.
Suge Knight’s Underwear
The famous Death Row Records filed for bankruptcy in 2009, the company liquidated its assets, which, for some reason, included a pair of executive Suge Knight’s boxer-briefs. The auction neglected to say whether or not they were washed since he last wore them, but it’s unlikely that would have affected the purchase price, seeing as how they were listed at $5 and only sold for $1.
Illustrative image by Dancingwombatsrule [Wikipedia]
Justin Timberlake’s French Toast
Justin Timberlake may have brought sexy back, but I somehow doubt it rubbed off onto his half-eaten French toast, but apparently one fan disagrees, given that she was more than happy to spend $1,024 on his leftovers.
Illustrative image by Helga's Lobster Stew [Flickr]
The Queen’s Underwear
Buying Cher’s bra or Marilyn Monroe’s panties are one thing, but buying the panties of Queen Elizabeth is an entirely different matter. The queen apparently left them on a private airplane she took to visit Chile in 1968 and eventually, they ended up in the possession of Hungarian aristocrat Joseph "Sepy" Dobronyi. When Dobronyi passed away in 2010, his family put the panties up on the auction block where they went for a staggering $18,101.
Marilyn Monroe’s X-Rays
Speaking of Marilyn, it seems that just about anything tied to the actress is worth a fortune. Case in point, two different sets of her X-rays have gone up for sale and both pulled in tens of thousands of dollars. A 2010 auction in Las Vegas featured a set of three X-rays of her chest from 1954. The lot went for $45,000.
Three years later, a whole slew of Marilyn’s medical records dating from 1950-1962 went up for sale, including details of her ectopic pregnancy, X-rays, and proof of her undergoing two plastic surgeries. That lot went for a relatively more modest $25,600, which was $4,400 less than the seller was expecting. Ultimately, you shouldn’t be surprised that when it comes to Marilyn Monroe, anything related to her chest carries a higher value.
William Shatner’s Kidney Stone
Plenty of people get kidney stones, but William Shatner’s is by far the most valuable (at least among those already sold). In 2006, the Shat made all kinds of news when he sold a passed kidney stone to GoldenPalace.com for $25,000. While there were a lot of jokes about how badly he must have needed the money, the proceeds actually went to Habitat for Humanity.
Britney Spears’ Pregnancy Test
If anything will ever make you feel happy you aren’t famous, it might just be that at some level of fame anything you touch can end up sold online. In Britney Spears’ case, that even meant her used pregnancy test. The test was pulled from a hotel trash can where she and Kevin Federline stayed in 2005. The person who took the test immediately sold it to a radio station. The test was then put up for auction, where GoldenPalace.com paid $5001 for it.
Illustrative image by TipsTimesAdmin [Flickr]
Britney Spears’ Used Gum
Britney chewed a lot of gum back in 2004, to the point where many pieces of her already chewed treats ended up selling on eBay for between $5-10. But one seller that year managed to artificially pad his own bids to the point where the winning bidder forked over $14,000 for a piece of chewed up gum with no proof of authenticity beyond a ticket stub from where the gum had supposedly been chewed up and spit out.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s Breath
Even if celebrities try to avoid throwing anything away that could be stolen and sold, they still aren’t guaranteed to stop people from making money with weird memorabilia. Even a literal stolen breath can bring in the cash, like when someone auctioned off the breath of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt that was somehow supposedly “caught” as the couple walked down a red carpet together.
The closing bid on eBay? $530.
Scarlet Johansson’s Used Tissue
At least sometimes the celebrity is in on the act, like when Scarlet Johansson give Jay Leno a used tissue after appearing on his show with a cold. Leno auctioned off the tissue in a signed, sealed bag for $5,300, which was donated to a hunger charity known as USA Harvest.
So gang, which of these would you be most likely to bid on or do you have another piece of odd memorabilia that keeps you up at night? I sure wouldn’t mind getting my hands on one of David Tennant’s kilts.