Among the fascinating memorabilia on offer in our upcoming Sports Legends Auction are a number of lots which feature a “teaming up” of athletes and non-sport related celebrities – a dynamic colliding of worlds!

Sylvester Stallone and Pele come together from the Hollywood boxing ring and the football pitch in the form of a gold-tone Tuf-Wear brand boxing glove signed by both legends. Pele is the only three-time World Cup champion in football history to score 1,279 goals – a Guinness world record – while Stallone of course will always be remembered as the loveable boxer from the Rocky film franchise. Click here to bid!

The Champ is paired with the King of Rock n’ Roll in a photograph featuring Muhammad Ali and Elvis Presley, taken in 1973 at the International Hotel, and later hand-signed by Ali. Ali was in town for a boxing match against Joe Bugner when he stopped by to meet the music legend …and apparently to try on some of his clothes! Click here to bid!

A vintage pair of signatures from Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe are found together on the same sheet of paper. DiMaggio still holds the all-time major league baseball record for 56 consecutive hits in a row, while Monroe is still considered the most famous Hollywood actress of all time. The two were actually married for nine months before going their separate ways. Click here to bid!

This isn’t the first time Julien’s Auctions has captured the celebrity crossover between sports and the performing arts. Stock car racing legend Richard Petty and iconic actor Burt Reynolds were seen grinning together in a vintage photograph, looking like they were getting to drive a truck load of beer across state lines. The photograph was personally inscribed by Petty to Reynolds, and sold for over two-thousand dollars back in 2014. Click here for a closer look!

In the endlessly replayed 1985 music video “Take On Me” by A-Ha, a woman experiences the thrill of a lifetime when her favorite comic book character enters the real world. Collectors often experience a similar rush when they get the opportunity own an iconic item that actually appeared on screen in one of their favorite music videos.

Our recent “Music Icons” auction brought many treasures out of the screen and into the hands of real world collectors, including sunglasses worn by Freddie Mercury in Queen’s 1989 video “The Invisible Man,” the costume worn by Janet Jackson in her rageful 1995 collaboration with her brother Michael, “Scream,” and a dress worn by Amy Winehouse in the video for “F*ck Me Pumps,” from her first solo album, Frank (Island Records, 2003).

Other unique items included a decorative wooden sun from the front doorway of the actual “Love Shack” where The B-52’s shot their 1989 video (who knew that the Love Shack was actually somebody’s house!) and a leopard print baby grand piano used by Josh Homme in the Queens of the Stone Age video “The Vampyre of Time and Memory.”

Over the years, Julien’s has sold many of the most important and highly valued music video collectables, including the 1969 Fender Mustang guitar played by Kurt Cobain in the influential music video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the red jacket worn by Michael Jackson as a zombie dancer in “Thriller,” one of the most famous garments of the 20th century, and the ensemble worn by Madonna in “Material Girl,” which was made for a 1976 TV movie about Marilyn Monroe, but would become forever associated with the queen of pop.

So stay tuned to our upcoming auctions — your favorite video may be next!

An interesting story about one of Princess Diana’s gowns – a red silk chiffon beauty designed by Bruce Oldfield – which created a shock after selling for $34,500 in 1997.

Drag Queen Zondra Foxx, a New York City performer who was at the auction and had intended to bid on that dress said, “I went to the entire auction, I saw prices going through the roof, by the time it got to that dress I was no longer surprised. I never even raised my hand. It started …it zoomed.”

The 1997 sale brought in a total of 5.6 million dollars, all of which was donated to various charities for cancer research and AIDS support. Diana’s humanitarianism resonated with many in the LGBTQ community, particularly because of her efforts to destigmatize AIDS. Foxx also said, “The LGBTQ community loved women who were out there, who are demonstrative, who are themselves, who advocate for a better life.” Something Diana did naturally and with style.

Many of the Diana’s dresses from the 1997 sale have been reoffered over the years, including a Versace gown which sold at Julien’s Auctions for $200,000 in 2015. Three more dresses (one by Bruce Oldfield, and two by Catherine Walker) are going up for auction this September at Julien’s and are expected to fetch $500,000 or more collectively. Click here for more info...

Princess Diana created a timeless legacy through her charitable work – and the distinct fashions she left behind are now an extension of who she was, and allow her admirers to have a tangible interaction with the late princess, and to celebrate the love she embodied and shared with the world.

In a 2005 Washington Post editorial titled “The Frocks That Became A Princess,” Megan Rosenfeld described the dresses as “sacred relics.”

We won’t even pretend we don’t make sound effects every time a lightsaber prop from the Star Wars saga comes into Julien’s Auctions.

In recent years, Julien’s has had an affinity for all things Star Wars, especially dueling lightsabers – those particular sabers that were used on set to act out character battle scenes. These were not your typical static props, and in many cases they had to be much more durable as they suffered greater damage.

The dueling lightsaber’s construction is generally of cast resin with an internal metal armature, and/or a threaded metal rod designed to connect the lightsaber blade. The handles are hand-painted to match each character’s unique lightsaber design. The blades are hollow and are constructed out of aluminum for maneuverability. To aid in special effects, many of the blades were painted bright red or green to help them stand out when filming, and during the post production CGI process where they would receive their fluorescent glow.

An original Darth Maul dueling double-bladed lightsaber from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (Lucasfilm Ltd., 1999) brought an impressive $51,200 in our Icons and Idols: Hollywood 2022, an original Ewan McGregor “Obi-Wan Kenobi” dueling lightsaber from Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (Lucasfilm Ltd., 2002) sold for $38,400 in our Julien’s Auctions and TCM Presents Hollywood Legends 2022, and a Liam Neeson “Qui-Gon Jinn” dueling lightsaber from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (Lucasfilm Ltd., 1999) sold for $38,400 in Icons and Idols: Hollywood 2021.

In December 2022, Julien’s Auctions sold a rare Ewan McGregor “Obi-Wan Kenobi” training lightsaber that read “Nick Gillard ‘Stunts’,” from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (Lucasfilm Ltd., 1999) for $10,240. Nick Gillard served as the Stunt Coordinator for many of the lightsaber dueling scenes in the Star Wars prequel films. He would be responsible for coordinating the iconic battles of Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Christopher Lee, Liam Neeson, and more.

More exciting Star Wars props will be available in our upcoming auction this September!