An estate sale gives you a chance to look inside a person’s life. Did they own nice silverware? Were they a hoarder of worthless little tchotchkes? Did they have a creepy doll collection? A normal and not that creepy doll collection? At the higher end, this can offer a window into a public figure’s private life. Maybe you realize an athlete needs money. Maybe you learn some movie star was actually a big dork and heavily into comics. Or maybe you find out that Larry King had a corporate-desk ornament hologram of Larry King.
King, the longtime infomercial pitchman and cable news presence, died in 2021. His heirs are finally getting rid of all his crap. The Larry King Collection is now at Julien’s Auctions, and there’s a lot there. Before he flogged loans on TV, King hosted a live talk show on CNN for 25 years on a set that looked suspiciously like the one he’d later use to sell fish oil pills. Larry King Live landed big interviews on non-Omega 3 topics with celebrities, politicians, and other newsmakers. The Larry King Cardiac Foundation’s website now directs to the spam URL clockwork-game.com, but he also did some charity work. He had public speaking engagements. He went to thousands of Dodgers games. People gave him lots of stuff. There really is a ton of crap to get rid of.
And seemingly everything must go! There are nine pairs of suspenders over for sale, including two Donald J. Trump brand suspenders gifted to him by Donald Trump. “King’s signature look on his CNN cable television talk show always included a pair of suspenders,” the auction notes, “though King didn’t wear either of these which Trump gifted to him after one of his many appearances on Larry King Live.”
I perused all 433 lots of The Larry King Collection, and here’s what I learned about Larry King—and life.
Lot No. 36, 1990s-2000s Still-Sealed Media
For Sale: A collection of DVDs and videotapes, still sealed in their packaging. Julien’s lays it all out:
A small collection including: a box set titled “Jerry Lewis as The Nutty Professor 50th Anniversary 4-Disc Set” (Blu-Ray and DVDs); a box set titled “Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks: The Complete 2000 Year Old Man” (4 cassette tapes); a box set titled “Old Time Radio Shows Detectives” (20 CDs); a box set titled “Old Time Radio Shows with Famous Guest Stars” (20 CDs); a box set titled “The Brooklyn Dodgers: The Original America’s Team” (5 VHS Videocassette Tapes); a single VHS videocassette tape titled “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts”; and 5 identical copies of “The Greatest Interviews: Larry King Live” (DVDs).
Per the cover, one of the famous guest stars in the Old Time Radio Shows with Famous Guest Stars 20-CD box set is Ronald Reagan. Another is Clark Gable. And you better believe they got Abbott and Costello. Wow!
Estimate: $25-$50
Current High Bid: It’s up to $150!
Should You Bid: Depends. You got a VCR? Big Brooklyn Dodgers fan?
What I Learned: If you gave Larry King some nostalgia garbage for old people, he was not interested—even if it was the greatest hits of his own television show. He kept that stuff to be nice, but he was not going to pretend like he’d watched any of it.
Lot No. 223: 2000s Dodgers Baseball Cards
For Sale: Six of those baseball cards mounted on wood with the player’s name on a plate, like you might buy at a kiosk at the mall. Win this auction and you get Chad Billingsley, Andre Ethier, Jeff Kent, another Jeff Kent, Takashi Saito, and Duke Snider.
Expected Price: $200–$300
Current High Bid: None
Should You Bid: Pretty sure you can go to your local sports memorabilia store and get all of this for less than $200, though you’ll probably have to bring your own Takashi Saito card.
What I Learned: He liked Jeff Kent twice as much as Duke Snider, which is also something like ten times as much as anyone else has ever liked Jeff Kent. Also, you can tell he was a big fan of this genre because he also has Babe Ruth and Chris Paul mall art for sale.
Lot No. 185: 2004 Peter Max Signed Print Related to the First President George G.W. Bush
For Sale: A Peter Max-style American flag that wishes George H.W. Bush a happy birthday. On the flag it says “To Larry King — Max, 2004.”
Expected Price: $50-$100
Current High Bid: $300
Should You Bid: No. Absolutely not.
What I Learned: Larry King received presents for George H.W. Bush’s birthday.
Lot No. 313: 2004 Novelty “Fans of the Game” Baseball Cards
For Sale: An entire set of custom Larry King baseball cards, where every card shown contains an identical design featuring the same headshot of Larry King. Also, there are two sets (one sealed) of cards featuring Jewish big leaguers.
Expected Price: $50-$75
Current High Bid: $75
Should You Bid: Yes. You could corner the market on Larry King baseball cards.
What I Learned: Nothing I didn’t already know.
Lot No. 326: 2000s “Mark Sanchez” Collectible New York Jets Jersey
For Sale: A Mark Sanchez Jets jersey
Expected Price: $50-$75
Current High Bid: $25
Should You Bid: Eh, topping the current high bid will send you to the top of the market. Five Sanchez Jets jerseys have sold on eBay this month, ranging from $4.87 to $69.99.
What I Learned: Five Mark Sanchez Jets jerseys have sold on eBay this month.
Lot No. 368, 1996 ‘O.J. Simpson Trial’ Nesting Dolls
For Sale: A set of O.J. Simpson trial nesting dolls, featuring Lance Ito, O.J. Simpson, Marcia Clark, Johnny Cochran, Robert Shapiro, Kato Kaelin, and Mark Fuhrman. “Please note all have considerable paint loss and paint flaking due to age and type of paint used,” Julien’s notes.
Expected Price: $50-$75
Current High Bid: $500
Should You Bid: I’d stick to a collectible that really holds its value: O.J. Simpson pogs.
What I Learned: The auction house taught me the fun (?) fact here. King “interviewed Simpson a number of times on his CNN cable television talk show Larry King Live before The Juice murdered his ex-wife and her friend, Ron Goldman.”
Lot No. 424, 2000s Outerwear
For Sale: A youth football team Rawlings windbreaker with “Larry King” stitched on it; an Ed Hardy hoodie Larry King wore to the 2007 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.
Expected Price: $100-$200
Current High Bid: $75
Should You Bid: Yes. Absolutely yes. What can capture 2007 more than Larry King’s Ed Hardy hoodie.
What I Learned: Larry King wore an Ed Hardy hoodie at least once.
Lot No. 122, 2000s ID Cards
For Sale: Three VIP room cards to the now-defunct Hollywood Park racetrack, King’s California Horse Racing Board license and his Baseball Hall of Fame membership card.
Expected Price: $100-$200
Current High Bid: $100
Should You Bid: Absolutely. Even more so than with the Ed Hardy hoodie. You can own Larry King’s Baseball Hall of Fame membership card. I am working on getting Defector to let me expense it.
What I Learned: He liked Hollywood Park three times as much as he liked the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Lot No. 125, 2004 Items Related To Shrek 2
For Sale: Larry King’s script for Shrek 2, and a few other Shrek tchotchkes.
Expected Price: $50-$100
Current High Bid: $100
Should You Bid: With all the (ironic?) Shrek love that gets tossed around online, I do not think you can afford Larry King’s script to Shrek 2.
What I Learned: Larry King voiced a character in the Shrek series!
Lot No. 84, 1990s Enormous Wacky Portrait Made Out of Jelly Beans
For Sale: A portrait of Larry King made out of thousands of jelly beans.
Expected Price: $1,000-$2,000
Current High Bid: None
Should You Bid: No. You’ve probably already got one of these.
What I Learned: Thousands of jellybeans weigh about 75 pounds.
Lot No. 85, 2018 Funny Wheaties Cereal Box
For Sale: A Wheaties box with Larry King on one side and the character of Uncle Drew on the other.
Expected Price: $25-$50
Current High Bid: $50
Should You Bid: Sure! It’s not as good as, say, Larry King on a box of Crispix, but it’ll do.
What I Learned: I thought I had learned that Larry King was in Uncle Drew, but I looked it up and he’s not. I have begun investigating the full backstory of this prop. Check back in a year or so. I am still learning whatever I will learn from this.
Lot No. 90, 2000s Funny Signed Print
For Sale: A “funny” signed print titled Low Ratings. It’s an alteration of the Pulitzer-winning 1968 photo Saigon Execution, which shows South Vietnamese police chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan shooting Viet Cong captain Nguyễn Văn Lém. The dead guy in this one is Howdy Doody, presumably because of low ratings.
Expected Price: $100-$200
Current High Bid: $50
Should You Bid: You might get put on a list if you do.
What I Learned: Larry King and Julien’s Auctions have a different concept of “funny” than I do.
Lot No. 328, 2000s Pac-10 Conference Baseball
For Sale: A baseball from the Pac-10 conference in the 2000s.
Expected Price: $50-$100
Current High Bid: $25
Should You Bid: No. That high bid is me. Really. Do not outbid me. I need this Pac-10 baseball Larry King once owned.
What I Learned: Pac-10 baseballs in the 2000s also carried the words “Extra Innings Technology.”
That’s it! That’s all I learned about Larry King (and jellybeans) from this auction. Feel free to peruse the listings yourself and see what you can figure out who this “Louisiana Star” is.