Barney's New York is selling a leather and chrome version of the famous Rubik's Cube puzzle. The specialty Rubik's Cube can be purchased here from Barney's for $195.
A collector discovered a rare German stamp that shows Audrey Hepburn smoking. He has set a bid of nearly $42,000 for the stamp. It is only the fifth of the Audrey Hepburn stamps that have been found. All of the stamps except for some proof copies sent to Deutsche Post for approval were destroyed when Hepburn's son objected to the stamp.
In 2001, the government printed 14 million Audrey Hepburn stamps as part of a series featuring movie stars including Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo. The print run was destroyed after Hepburn's son, Sean Ferrer, objected to the cigarette holder dangling from the actress' mouth and refused to grant copyright.
But the Finance Ministry had already delivered advance copies of the Hepburn stamps to Deutsche Post for approval. Thirty of these proof copies escaped destruction when an unknown employee pocketed them and used them to send letters postmarked from Berlin
The rare stamp will be auctioned Tuesday at Berlin's Kempinski Hotel Bristol.
We've already mentioned several of the many new Star Trek toys and merchandise launching, including the Tribbles, Captain's chair, Star Trek toys, Star Trek Barbie dolls and fragrances. TV Guide discusses several more Star Trek products in this clip, including cool new Star Trek shirts and costumes based on the Star Trek outfits from the new movie. Amazon carries some of these new shirts and costumes. The Command Gold Uniform shirt, pictured on the right, can be found here on Amazon.com.
TV Guide also discusses phasers, communicators and a Star Trek lava lamp from Rabbit Tanaka. Take a look:
The one-piece red Lycra swimsuit worn by Pamela's character CJ Parker in Baywatch is going up for auction. The swumsuit in the auction is signed "love Pamela Lee, X O." The Mirrorsays the swimsuit is expected to fetch about $3,000.
The swimsuit is part of the Forry Ackerman Estate auction of Hollywood memorabilia that starts April 30th. The auction also includes a blaster used by Harrison Ford in Blade Runner and guns used by Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider. More details about the auction can be found on Profiles in History.
This block of eight 90-cent U.S. postage stamps from 1869 were accidentally printed with President Abraham Lincoln's picture upside-down. The stamps sold for $149,600 at an auction held by Spink Shreves Galleries. The stamps were part of a larger collectoin called the The Ainsworth Collection. The Ainsworth Collection contains over 10,000 Abraham Lincoln stamps and was sold for nearly $2 million on Friday, reports the Houston Chronicle. You can see photos of the Lincoln stamps here on Spink Shreves Galleries' website.
The Simpsons postage stamps are now on sale at U.S. Post Office locations and online. You can see more details here.
"We are excited to celebrate The Simpsons on postage stamps," said U.S. Postal Service Executive Director of Stamp Services David Failor. "Eyebrow-raising to say the least, this witty, well-written pop icon continues to irreverently satire its parody of a middle-class family as it lampoons American culture. The Simpsons stamps, which includes known philatelists Bart Simpson, will serve as a great opportunity to interest youngsters into stamp collecting."
"This is the biggest and most adhesive honor The Simpsons has ever received," said Matt Groening, creator and executive producer of The Simpsons.
Reuters reports that the Simpsons will be immortalized on postage stamps on April 9th. The stamps will cots 44-cents, which is the new price for First-Class Mail that goes into effect on May 11, 2009.
The 44-cent first-class mail stamps, designed by Simpsons creator and executive producer Matt Groening, will feature Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson, the nuclear family at the center of the animated Fox series.
The stamps, a sneak peek of which will be unveiled April 9, also will help celebrate the longest-running primetime comedy's 20th anniversary this year.
Of the 50,000 stamp suggestions the Postal Service receives each year, only about 20 ideas make the cut.
The Simpsons tv show is also celebrating 20 years of being on the air this year.
Art Daily reports that this rare tortoiseshell octagonal box and cover inlaid with mother-of-pearl is going up for auction at Sotheby's. Art Daily says it could fetch as much as $5 million U.S.
Mr. Nicolas Chow, Sotheby's International Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, commented "This magnificent box represents one of the most precious and certainly rarest Tang dynasty artefacts that have ever come on the market. There is no other institution in the world that holds Tang dynasty heirloom pieces apart from the Shosoin in Nara and the present box deserves a place in one of the world’s greatest museums or private collections."
The tortoiseshell box is an object of the utmost luxury, of outstanding craftsmanship and elegance which embodies the mature style of the 'High Tang' period of the mid-8th century. It is a testimony to the exquisite taste and a reflection of the pleasures of imperial life at one of the most glorious moments in Chinese history, when the Tang (AD 618-907) was at the height of their power and in the centre of the international spotlight.
Bloomberg also has an article about the 8th-century tortoiseshell vanity box. (via Luxist)
Some of the many items that will part of Julien's Auctions five day auction of Michael Jackson's Collection this April have been released. The extensive collection collection includes antiques, art and collectibles as well as items that are unusual and bizarre.
Pictured above is a robotic Michael Jackson head from his 1988 Moonwalker movie. Below is a collection of five of Michael Jackson's signature gloves adorned with Swarovski crystals. You can see more of the items that will be up for auction here, here and here.
Forrest J. Ackerman's science fiction memorabilia collection is going up for auction in April by auctioneer Profiles in History reports CBC News. The collection includes props and costumes from horror and sci-fi movies as well as autographed first-editions of books.
Joe Maddalena, president of auctioneer Profiles in History, has tentatively scheduled the sale of Ackerman's vast collection for late April.
The auction will likely comprise thousands of lots, including Bela Lugosi's vampire cape and other props and costumes from classic Hollywood horror films, as well as autographed, first-edition copies of books like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula.
"I'm holding that stuff in my hand and I'm just like, 'Wow, these are his most iconic treasures,' " Maddalena said, describing his reaction after being invited by Ackerman's estate to auction the collection.
He added that, under Ackerman's will, the estate's share of the profits will be divided among his friends.
Profiles in History's website is located here. Currently, there's just a teaser for the Forry Estate auction.
Photo: First-edition copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Dracula ring worn by Bela Lugosi in 1931 Dracula film from profilesinhistory.com
The Australian post office, The Australia Post, is honoring Aussie stars with special stamps pictured above. Stamps were created for a quartet of Australian Academy Award wining actors: Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush. You can see more pictures of the stamps here on The Daily Telegraph. (via Newser)
The official Inaugural Collectibles store is likely to be extremely busy this weekend and next week. Articles here and here reveal some of the items sold in the store, which is located a few blocks from the National Mall. The online counterpart of the store at inauguralcollectibles.com contains dvds, clothing, jewelry, collectibles and gifts for kids. It also contains the Runway for Change collection featuring shirts and totes from fashion designers including Tory Burch, Donna Karan, Zac Posen, Derek Lam and Diane Von Furstenberg. There are also shirts and pens with artwork from Shepard Fairey, the artist who created the popular Hope painting, which is now on display in the Smithsonian.
The crystal bowls above are the first gifts that President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden will receive. The eight-pound bowls were hand-crafted by Lenox and are valued at $2,500 each. Lenox, Inc. was commissioned by Congress to create the bowls. Salon reports that the bowls were designed by glass cutter Timothy Carder.
It is a tradition that the Congress present the President and Vice President with gifts on behalf of the American People during the Inaugural Luncheon on January 20th. The President and Vice President will also each be presented with a framed official photograph taken of their swearing-in ceremony, as well as flags flown over the U.S. Capitol during the inaugural ceremonies.
There are several different commemorative coins being sold because of Obama's upcoming inauguration. Most people hopefully realize that coins like the coin pictured above from a company called the New England Mint are not real but the U.S. Mint still issued a warning to consumers that these are not real United States Mint products.
It has come to the attention of the United States Mint that several private commercial businesses are advertising so-called "Barack Obama Presidential $1 Coins," as well as commemorative half-dollar coins, American Eagle Silver Coins and multi-coin sets bearing images of the President-Elect. These advertisements feature genuine United States coins that the private commercial businesses have altered by affixing a colorized image to the coin. Additionally, some businesses have treated the coins by gold-plating them.
MSNBC's ConsumerMan Herb Weisbaum has investigated the coins and was told by coin experts that the coins are "overpriced trinkets" and not investment coins. Weisbaum says, "If you do decide to buy, realize what you'll get: an unofficial coin that has no intrinsic or investment value. It's purely sentimental."
A collector 
We've already mentioned several of the many new Star Trek toys and merchandise launching, including the 
Reuters 
