The Chicago area was at the center of some recent auction news, as one of the city's greatest legends attempted to sell off his former pad and a local man held an online auction of classic comic books that raised more than $500,000 to help him fight a chronic autoimmune disease.
Jordan's mansion fails to sell
Former Chicago Bull Michael Jordan's 56,000-square-foot mansion in Highland Park, a northern suburb of the Windy City, failed to meet the reserve bid at a Dec. 16 auction. The property will go back up for sale in 2014.
"We are disappointed that the high bid in today's auction of Michael Jordan's residence in Highland Park did not meet the reserve price. … the market conditions were just not right to drive a fair value," Estee Portnoy, spokeswoman for Michael Jordan, said in a statement. "We will be evaluating options for the property in the new year."
The luxurious mansion, known as "Legend Point," first went up for sale in March 2012 at a price of $29 million. That made it the most expensive home in the Chicago area at the time, and the tax bill for 2012 alone was nearly $180,000.
Jordan's former home comes equipped with all of the amenities one might expect from the man many consider to be the greatest basketball player of all time. Sitting on more than seven acres, the estate features nine bedrooms, an NBA regulation-size basketball court, a pool pavilion, a tennis court and a putting green among its many attributes.
Comic book auction
Known as the Silver Age of comic books, the early 1960s saw the introduction of some of the most beloved characters and series in the history of the genre. Many of those came from Marvel Comics, which gave birth to such classics as The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Spiderman during that time.
Recently, Steve Landsman, a dentist who is closing his Lake Zurich, Ill., practice to concentrate full-time on battling a rare autoimmune disease, auctioned off his collection of classic comics, many of which came from the Silver Age, to help pay for his treatment.
"This collection is the finest Silver Age collection I've ever seen in my nearly 40 years selling comics," Gary Colabuono, who helped arrange the auction, told the Daily Herald in an email.
The auction, which included most of Landsman's 15,000 comic book collection, including Fantastic Four No. 1, raised $570,000.
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