LOS ANGELES - Mounds of Michael Jackson memorabilia were to go on auction Wednesday in the biggest-ever sale of goods belonging to the the moon-walking "King of Pop."
The roughly 1,100 lots of goods linked to Jackson are expected to fetch millions of dollars when the two-day sale opens at a hotel-casino in Las Vegas, also to be broadcast on the Internet, the Guernsey's auction house said.
It will be "by far" the biggest sale of goods linked to Jackson and his musical family, Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey's, told AFP.
"There have not been many authentic Michael Jackson and (the singer's sister) Janet Jackson items that have come to auction. Very few indeed, compared to this collection," he said.
"There are literally thousands of items" included in the lots, he added. "We'll probably never again see an auction like this."
The objects include Michael Jackson's first gold disc award, for his 1982 album "Thriller," and an identity card used by the singer as a five-year-old child.
There is also a sheet-music score of the charity song "We are the World," signed by most of the artists that joined Jackson in recording the track in 1985 to raise money for the starving in Africa.
"There are many things that could qualify as the star item," Ettinger said. "There are 200 stage outfits, some of them are memorable to the fans," including Michael Jacket's brocaded jackets and Janet Jackson's dresses.
Jackson himself initially opposed the sale of the goods, which belonged to one of the singer's associates but were seized by creditors when the person went bankrupt, Ettinger said.
"The collection left the Jackson family's hands a long time ago. There was a brief interruption in the process, but it was amicably resolved."
Jackson started out in the 1960s with four of his older brothers in the Jackson Five pop group, which produced a series of platinum records for Motown, selling millions.
Some of the items in Wednesday and Thursday's sale date back to this period, while others are from his hugely successful solo years in the 1980s, when he produced albums such as "Thriller" and "Bad".
"Some items will go for a lot of money, some others will be more affordable," Ettinger added.
Expensive items are expected to include a copy of the contract for Jackson's purchase in 1987 of the California ranch that became the fairytale retreat he nicknamed "Neverland."
The 48-year-old singer quit Neverland and spent most of the past two years in the Gulf state of Bahrain after a California court acquitted him in 2005 of charges of molesting children. He is currently in Las Vegas.
Also in the sale is a telegram sent to him in 1984 by the actor Marlon Brando.
Jackson's spokeswoman Raymone Bain has announced the singer was planning a new album and this year mentioned possible concerts in Las Vegas.
05/30/2007 00:21 GMT