Michael Jackson’s glove, Marilyn Monroe’s blue jeans and albums from The Beatles, Queen and David Bowie, all signed by the artists themselves.
These are just some of the rare collectors’ items now available to buy online thanks to former Kingston resident Tim Fredman.
For more than 50 years, Mr Fredman has been collecting pop and film memorabilia, ever since he was a boy growing up in Kingston Hill.
Now 115 items from his vast collection are going under the hammer through online auctioneer Auction My Stuff.
Items include the glove worn by Michael Jackson on his 1997 Australian Tour, framed with his signature, which is expected to fetch between $5,000 and $10,000.
A black taffeta and silk outfit worn by Lady Gaga, valued between $3,000 to $5,000, and blue jeans worn by Marylin Monroe (estimate $800 – $1,200) are also up for sale.
Mr Fredman, who now lives in Melbourne, Australia, has agreed to sell some of his precious artefacts in order to raise money for the Hush Music Foundation, which produces music to reduce stress for children and families and in hospitals around Australia.
He said: “My motivation is to research what is out there, and try to find something unusual to do with the persons that I admire.
“I am selling only a part of my collection, in order to finance the next CD for the Hush Music Foundation, which is close to my heart.”
Asked what his favourite item in the lot was, he said: “Lady Gaga’s outfit, and of course her signed LP, both of which are impossible to find.” Mr Fredman, an Oxbridge-educated barrister, said his fascination with memorabilia began in his youth, as an avid autograph hunter.
He was helped in his quest by his family’s celebrity ties – his grandmother knew legendary comedian and actress variety artist Sophie Tucker, widely known as The Last of the Red Hot Mamas.
His father also helped finance the 1956 film Reach for the Sky, based on Douglas Bader’s biography.
Auction My Stuff curator Patrick van der Vorst said: “We are excited to be able to offer such an impressive variety of items and with its variety of value offerings; this sale affords an excellent opportunity for a new collector as well as the seasoned connoisseur.”
Online bidding is open from now until September 21 at auctionmystuff.com
SOURCE: Guardian
