Luke Judge

Elvis Presley’s signed contract to purchase Graceland in 1957 sold for $28,250, making it the top lot in a huge, three-day auction hosted by Philip Weiss Auctions on April 23-25, 2010.

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. – Several property documents signed by Elvis Presley—to include the original contract to purchase Graceland in 1957—plus Star Wars collectibles combined to lead the charge at a huge, three-day multi-estate sale held Apr. 23-25 by Philip Weiss Auctions.

Internet bidding was facilitated by Proxibid.com. All prices quoted include a 13 percent buyer’s premium.

The Elvis documents sold for an aggregate of $52,410. Chief among them (and the top lot of the sale) was the Graceland contract, which brought $28,250. It was the purchase and sale agreement (and settlement sheet) for the legendary home in Memphis that Elvis purchased from Ruth Brown Moore in 1957. The iconic document was signed by Elvis and both of his parents.

Also sold was the contract to acquire the home Elvis bought in Memphis, at 1034 Audubon Road, before acquiring Graceland ($8,775). That document was also signed by all three Presleys. It detailed the purchase price paid and terms. When Elvis purchased Graceland, he turned the Audubon Road property over to Ruth Brown Moore as part of the sale agreement.

A third contract, which sold for $5,085, was the document for Elvis’s purchase of the Circle G Ranch (then known as Twinkletown Farms), located south of Memphis, in Mississippi. It is there that Elvis and Priscilla honeymooned in 1968. All of the Elvis material was consigned by a gentleman who worked for a law firm in Memphis that helped negotiate all of the deals.

This lot of five Star Wars action figures on cards gaveled for $5,367.50.

The Star Wars collectibles were the surprise hit of the auction. Highlights included a Bobba Fett auction figure on card ($847.50), a lot of five Star Wars action figures on cards ($5,367.50), a lot of two Star Wars utility belts in the original boxes ($1,808) and a Star Wars Ice Planet Hoth adventure set ($2,486). “The Force was with us,” Philip Weiss deadpanned.

“Overall, it was a fairly busy three-day sale,” Weiss added. “As always, the good material brought great prices.”

The first day of the auction featured vintage trains, with names like American Flyer, Lionel and other makers. Also offered were toys, wind-ups, cast-iron and pressed steel trucks. The top lot of the session was a J. & E. Stevens panorama bank ($9,040).

Day two featured Part 1 of the Edward Ryan Collection of paper and toy soldiers, as well as French military items. “I would say this session was solid and steady, with strong Internet bidding to go along with a small but determined in-house contingent,” Weiss said. “There weren’t any real highlights to speak of, but overall we saw solid prices paid throughout the day.”

Rock legend Eric Clapton’s “Blackie” Fender guitar, signed, brought $2,825.

The last day of the sale featured the Elvis documents, plus other rock ‘n’ roll and pop culture items, including material pertaining to the Beatles, Buddy Holly & the Crickets and others. A highlight was a signed Eric Clapton “Blackie” Fender guitar ($2,825). Among the vintage rock ‘n’ roll concert posters, a top lot was a 1970 Janis Joplin Syracuse poster ($2,599).

For more information about this auction, call 516.594.0731, e-mail to or visit the Philip Weiss Auctions Web site.

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Tags: American Flyer, Elvis Presley memorabilia, Elvis Presley original contract to purchase Graceland, Elvis Presley signature, Eric Clapton autograph “Blackie” Fender guitar, Graceland collectibles, Lionel, Philip Weiss Auctions, Star Wars collectibles

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 at 4:37 pm and is filed under News, Worth Points. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Rich Van Wyk/Eyewitness News

Muncie – A huge, valuable gun collection is missing from a Muncie home. Someone stole the weapons, some of which date back to the 1800s.

Police are trying to recover the stolen guns before they show up in the hands of criminals.

The list of stolen guns fills three pages: antique and rare and collectables as well as common high powered handguns and rifles. More than 120 guns along with a closet full of ammunition were stolen from a modest Muncie home. The collection is worth around $200,000.

Police fear “they will be used in future crimes. That’s why we are trying to jump on this and close this out before many of the guns are sold,” said Capt. Mark Vollmar, Muncie Police Department.

The guns were stolen Wednesday. Matthew Johnson found the front door broken open and his father’s entire gun collection gone.

“They knew they had the mother lode,” said Johnson.

The thieves might have been here before. Johnson said his father’s home was broken into on April 30th. The thieves broke through the back door but ran off before taking anything.

Police are all but certain this was no random break-in. They are looking for two women who conveniently befriended the home owner a few weeks ago, just before the elderly man moved to a nursing home.

“I thought they was here to help my dad. I don’t know now,” he said.

In hindsight, Johnson says they asked a lot of questions.

“Almost a little too nosy,” he said.

Detectives want to know who else the women were talking to.

“Did you just happen to say, you won’t believe how many guns this man has or hey, we can make a score here,” said Vollmar.

Police say it will be difficult to sell so many guns, especially the collector pieces, without arousing suspicion. They are hoping a legitimate buyer gets suspicious and gives them a call.

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