Pop culture items fetch high prices

A Pepper`s poster signed by the 4 Beatles sold for $52,500 at a auction.

New York, June 24: A Sgt Pepper`s souvenir poster signed by the four Beatles sold for $52,500 at a Christie`s auction of pop culture memorabilia on Tuesday, along with an array of rock, punk and grunge-era items that fetched strong prices.

The sale of some 300 items, from handwritten Bob Dylan lyrics to actor Bob Crane`s leather jacket from the 1960s television comedy "Hogan`s Heroes" took in a total of $650,863, including the auction house`s commission. Some 70 percent of the offerings found buyers, Christie`s said. Items from grunge and early punk rock days did especially well, said Simeon Lipman, Christie`s head of pop culture. Kurt Cobain`s Sears bass guitar sold for $43,750, while a classic black leather motorcycle jacket signed by members of Nirvana and Soundgarden fetched $12,500, more than half again its high pre-sale estimate. A pair of AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott`s handwritten lyric notebooks from the late 1970s was bid up to $35,000. "With memorabilia, nostalgia really drives the prices. Even in an unstable economy you`ll see peaks for certain pieces," said Lipman, who cited Crane`s jacket, which sold for $40,000 or twice its high estimate, as an example. Offbeat items also fetched high prices, like a five-pair set of handcuffs and keys owned by escape artist Harry Houdini which sold for $25,000. The prop scissorhands used by actor Johnny Depp in the film "Edward Scissorhands" went for $16,250, while Marlon Brando`s signed "Godfather" script fetched $10,625. Handwritten lyrics by Bob Dylan from "With God on Our Side" sold for $25,000. Despite the five-figure prices, there were bargains as well. A full outfit consisting of leather blazer, shirt, trousers, belt, shoes and glasses worn by actor Peter Dinklage in the 2007 film "Death at a Funeral" sold for just $25. Bureau Report