A 63-year-old New Jersey construction company owner named Henry V. Vaccaro has sold the Jackson collectibles for more than $1.4 million. Mr. Vaccaro had kept the items in an Asbury Park storage for eighteen months until recently. Mr. Vaccarro seized the collection after a legal battle between himself and the Jackson family.
Some of the items sold that belonged to the first black royal family of music were gold-trimmed costumes, metal-studded shin guards, sketch of a boy, celebrity letters, music awards, and other memorabilia from the family. Some of the collectibles that belonged to Michael Jackson contained several stage costumes, which compromised of gold-trimmed jackets with military-style epaulets. Another item was one of Jackson's earliest costumes when he sang lead with the Jackson 5.
Vaccaro, who feared that the massive collection would be stolen, installed a modern alarm system in the warehouse, which sits across a vacant lot. He spent seven months cataloguing and photographing the collection, while putting word out for potential buyers. He said he entertained possible buyers as far as Germany and Japan.
Vaccaro helped workers box up the entire collection while entertaining interviewers about the collection that took three days to box up. Some of the possessions that he packed were a wicker basket of peach-colored bath towels with "LaToya Jackson" sewn into them. There was a dusty table that held a Jermaine Jackson Grammy nomination letter from the 1984 duet, "Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming", with his brother Michael, and some metal-studded shin guards, one of Tito Jackson's belts, long sued boots with a tag reading "Randy Jackson" sewn inside, and a sequined leather outfit belonging to LaToya. A NAACP Image Award that was given to the Jackson in 1984 was sitting on a bookshelf.
Mr. Vaccaro last week went public about the collection's existence after he sold it to a buyer that will display the collection in Europe and Japan. He wouldn't say specifically how much the massive collection was sold for, but said it exceeded the $1.4 million mark or divulge who the buyer was.
What is Mr. Vacarro's connection to the Jackson family, and how did he get his hands on their memorabilia? He used to head the Kramer Guitar Company, where guitars were made for entertainers such as Eddie Van Halen. The Neptune-based company filed for bankruptcy in 1992. A company owned by the Jackson family named Jackson Communications Inc. agreed to purchase Vaccaro's bankrupt company. Vaccaro sat on the advisory board of the Jackson company, but the company soon defaulted on payments for the guitar company.
Vaccaro, who was already in personal bankruptcy, sued the family and was awarded a $1.4 million judgment, which the family said it couldn't pay. Vaccaro said, "They sold off my company and I got nothing." Three of the Jackson siblings: Michael, Janet and LaToya weren't named in the suit because they had not used money from Jackson Communications.
Vaccaro hired a private investigator, which found the collection at an Oxford, California-based warehouse after nine years of bickering with the family over the settlement. He received the merchandise, after he paid $65,000 to cover the family's outstanding storage bills, by a bankruptcy trustee.
He said he overheard Jackson family members talking about accumulating their possessions because they were thinking of starting a restaurant chain in the early 1990s. He said he was shocked when the collection arrived to him in 2002. "Couldn't believe it," he said, shaking his heard. "I knew it was worth more than the amount of the $1.4 million judgment."
The collection was authenticated by Darren Julien's evaluation of the collection in 2002. Mr. Julien works as an associate for the Internet arm of the famous auction house Sotheby's. Mr. Julien said that this was the largest Jackson family accumulation of collectibles on the planet, in part because Michael Jackson has been known to give away collectibles to friends.
Though Mr. Vaccaro just sold the collection for a massive amount, he still tends to cash in on his good fortune. He has set up a Web site where people can view photographs of the collection for a fee.
Mr. Vaccaro said of the Jacksons, "I like their music, but I'm a Johnny Cash fan."
Calls to representatives for Michael Jackson and for the Jackson family were not returned.
[MJJForum]
