Have you ever admired a celebrity so much that you’re willing to buy their used pants or their dog’s bowl? Many mega fans and private collectors go crazy for overpriced celebrity memorabilia, and are willing to pay insanely high prices just to score those.
How crazy, you ask?
In 2008, a used tissue from Scarlett Johansson was sold for $5,300 on eBay. During a talk show, Johansson claimed that her cold, which she caught from fellow actor Samuel Jackson, held more “value”, being passed from one celebrity to another.
In 2012, former One Direction member Niall Horan left behind a piece of Vegemite toast after appearing on an Australian morning show. His half-eaten snack was sold for an astounding £72,000 ($100,000). More recently, in 2019, Serena Williams' Wilson Blade racquet, which she smashed in her frustration over an argument with the umpire, was auctioned off for over $20,000.
As absurd as some of these prices might be, you have to ask: What makes these celebrity memorabilia worth so much?
In physical contact with celebrities
The prices fans and collectors willingly pay are representations of how much value is placed on these items. In fact, objects that have been in physical contact with celebrities – used, worn, or even just briefly touched – hold more monetary value than less personal possessions.
For instance, a pair of Nike Air Jordan 1s fetched more than $560,000 at a Sotheby’s auction last year, officially making it the most expensive pair of sneakers sold at an auction at the time. Why? They were game-worn by Michael Jordan in 1985. Plus, they bore the player’s signature. Now, the record is held by Kanye West's Nike Air Yeezy 1s, which sold for $1.8 million in April 2021.
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And who can forget Marilyn Monroe’s iconic ‘Happy Birthday, Mr. President’ dress? The tight-fitting rhinestone-covered gown earned not only the gasps and murmurs of a 1960s crowd, but also a shocking $4.8 million at a Julien's auction in 2016.
It’s clear, then, that the more time spent and more contact made with the celebrity, the higher the object’s price. As a matter of fact, people will pass up the opportunity of owning celebrity memorabilia if it’s been sterilized before being sold.
Carrying celebrities’ qualities
Building on the value of a celebrity’s physical touch on an object, it is also believed that people want to own these memorabilia in hopes of the object carrying the celebrity’s qualities. This is what anthropologists refer to as the ‘law of magical contagion’ or the belief that a person’s essence is transmitted through the objects they have touched.
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While it seems ridiculous to some, this phenomenon is more common than you think. Some people think that owning a Michael-Jackson-worn jacket will let you gain a bit of his talent, or maybe, buying a lock of Elvis Presley’s hair will make them as charming as he was.
Just look at the flagship auction of Audrey Hepburn's Personal Collection. The beloved film and fashion icon’s belongings, which were kept by her family, were offered for sale for the first time in 2017. The auctions included Hepburn’s annotated working script from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which was sold for $846,619. Her extensive personal wardrobe was also made available, including her leather ballet court shoes, a type of flats, which aren’t just comfortable but also extremely fashionable.
The auction offered three pairs, each in different color and style. They were estimated to fetch £6,000 to £9,000 ($8,000-12,000), since these were worn when she was at the height of her screen career.
Conversely, this belief also works the other way around. For objects from infamous celebrities, the lesser the contact, the better, as it contains less of that negative aura.
Rare collectibles
With most of these memorabilia being rare, they are automatically more valuable and expensive. Common examples include film props and custom-designed items.
Case in point: the fancy mini dress worn by Amy Poehler in the 2007 film Blades of Glory, which was specifically designed for her role as Fairchild Van Waldenberg. Aside from being the only one of its kind, as a variation of the famous Marilyn Monroe dress, it was sold at a higher price because its screen-worn condition was excellently maintained.
The costume fitted and flattered Fairchild greatly thanks to its asymmetrical hemline and waist-hugging silhouette. This is a type of ‘sheath dress’, one of the best fits for petite women, highlighting the shape of their body quite nicely. Even at 5’2’’, it certainly didn’t make Poehler look short at all. She even exuded elegance and sexiness with the dress on, bringing figure-skating looks to another level.
Another example is the trademark wide-brim hat from the Indiana Jones film series, known as ‘The Poet’. Because there are only 45 hats in existence (aside from the original made for Harrison Ford), it’s no surprise that they were sold at an auction for $60,000 apiece.
Indeed, the world of entertainment is interesting. From a casual point of view, these celebrities are just ordinary people, wearing ordinary clothes and owning ordinary things. But to devoted fans and dedicated collectors, they mean so much more.
Maybe it’s the connection, the rarity, or the devotion. Whatever it is, the appeal of celebrity memorabilia is surely here to stay.
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Article by Jennifer Birch
