Auctions

EBay Inc. said it would discontinue by year-end the section of its site that allows users to participate in live auctions hosted by other companies. The company said the move would not materially affect its business -- though millions of users patronize EBay's partner auction houses. A spokesman for San Jose-based EBay said maintaining and improving the 7-year-old Live Auctions platform fell outside the firm's current focus on boosting listings, improving buyers' experiences and making the site safer from fraud.

Can the return of Michael J. Fox, agent Jack Bauer and "Ironside" help vanquish the flesh-eating zombies that are threatening to take a bite out of television broadcasters' fortunes? ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC are unveiling their fall lineups this week with the hopes that their latest crop of crime-solving dramas and half-hour comedies will cure what ails the broadcast industry. The networks are coming off a lackluster season marked by falling ratings and a failure to produce new hits on the magnitude of cable channel AMC's zombie show "The Walking Dead.

Is there a limit to how much attention one celebutante can get? Apparently not. A Phoenix-based broker is trying to auction off a veritable "King Tut's tomb" of Paris Hilton-abilia discovered in a Los Angeles-area storage locker, including photos of Hilton in various stages of undress, as well as her personal diaries recounting sexual escapades. He's seeking $20 million.

The family of Mickey Mantle has applied a corkscrew to Grey Flannel Auctions. On May 3, the auction house announced it would be auctioning an authentic Mantle bat at the end of May. Oh, and it said there was something special about this particular bat: It was corked. The auction announcement was accompanied by a statement from John Taube, a professional bat authenticator, which said, "During our examination of the bat, we noticed a circular area .75 inches wide in the center of the top barrel.

Herbert and Nora Kaye Ross' eclectic collection--containing everything from blue chip artists' prints to ceramic cheese keepers and silver snuffboxes--will go on the auction block at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Butterfield & Butterfield's new Los Angeles facility.

After putting in a full day at his computer technician job, a 30-year-old Internet game player known as Ebaid went home, logged on to a game called "EverQuest" and started his night job. His game character donned armor, slapped on his sword and began slaying beasts so he could make some real money. Hail the rise of yet another strange creature of the Internet revolution--the professional online game hunter. Ebaid played for hours, slaying every computer-generated monster on his screen.

The corporate-takeover shark played by Michael Douglas in the movie "Wall Street" brandished a replica and bragged about it as "the rarest gun in the world." An Indonesian billionaire paid $1 million for the real thing, and it became known as "the million-dollar Luger." That was in the late 1980s, when the Douglas line "greed is good" captured the spirit of the times. On Sunday, under very different economic circumstances, the coveted .45-caliber Luger found a new owner for half that price at a public auction in Anaheim.

The auctioneer gazed out at the audience, knowing this was the moment they'd waited for. Next up, he said, was lot No. 23 -- a "wonderful, exceptional, 66-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known as Samson." He gestured to the ferocious-looking skull sitting on a stand to his left. "There she is," he said. The people who had gathered in the elegant gallery at the Venetian hotel gasped. Samson is one of the three most complete T. rex specimens ever discovered, possessing the most intact skull in existence.

A Bangladeshi immigrant paid a record $360,000 at a city auction for a New York taxi medallion, which is required by the city to own a taxicab. Most cabdrivers in the city work for taxi fleets or lease time from a medallion owner. Mohammed Shah, 44, mortgaged his house in the New York borough of Queens to help finance the purchase Monday of one of 116 new taxi medallions sold to the highest bidders. The price of an owner-driver medallion rose almost $50,000 from last year.

Fans who can't get enough of the late Bruce Lee--who died 20 years ago Tuesday--will soon be able to buy their own piece of the legendary kung fu star's life when more than 150 items from his estate are put on the auction block in August.

“The Great Gatsby's” leading man, Leonardo DiCaprio, is using his current screen sway for environmental good -- again. Together with Christie's next week, DiCaprio will co-host “the most important environmental charity ever staged,” the auction house's Brett Gorvy said in a statement. The 11th Hour charity auction, to be held in New York Monday evening, will benefit environmental and wildlife conservation efforts supported by the now 15-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

Kobe Bryant is locked in a court battle with his mother because she is trying to auction off his old Lakers and high school memorabilia. Pamela Bryant was given $450,000 up front by Goldin Auctions, a New Jersey auction house, so it could sell mementos from Kobe's days at Lower Merion High in Ardmore, Pa., and in his early seasons with the Lakers. She planned to use the advance to help purchase a home in Nevada. Goldin Auctions announced plans Tuesday for an auction in June of what its website calls "the bryant collection.

Marianne Blend learned she was in trouble about three weeks ago when she looked out the window of her Highland Park home and saw strangers placing a large sign in her frontyard. "They were two big men, so I didn't go out there until they were gone," said the 78-year-old widow. "But when I did go out and looked at it, I couldn't believe it. " The sign announced that her 92-year-old clapboard cottage was being sold in a Superior Court probate auction scheduled for Saturday. For Blend, it was stunning news.

Ever wanted to own something that previously belonged to a celebrity? Teri Hatcher's celebrity yard sale and auction on Saturday offers up that chance.  Hatcher is to preside over the sale of new and used items from stars includng Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Vanessa Williams, Al Pacino, Jason Alexander, Ray Romano, Katey Sagal and more. Proceeds are earmarked for the Juvenile Arthritis Assn. The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Americana at Brand , 889 Americana Way, Glendale.

A manuscript of Truman Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is being auctioned online by R.R. Auctions this week. The manuscript includes Capote's handwritten edits, including one of the most significant: He changes the main character's name to Holly Golightly. Indeed, who would find Connie Gustafson appealing? Holly Golightly is far more attractive. R.R. Auctions describes the manuscript as the "final working draft manuscript for its 1958 Random House publication, 8.5 x 11, consisting of its entire 84 pages, mainly on high-quality goldenrod yellow paper, and copiously annotated throughout by author Truman Capote.

Perhaps you recall the must-see-to-believe story of the Designer Dollhouse Showcase , for which top Los Angeles architects and interior decorators revealed the obsessive-compulsive gene that drives them to get every last detail just right , even if the project at hand is just 1:12 scale of reality? Now comes word that at the charity auction where bidding on each designer dollhouse was expected to start at $15,000, "most" of the 10 houses did sell. Officials declined to specify which ones sold, or for how much, treating the auction results like some matter of national security.

The 131-character dispatch arrived mournfully within two hours of sunrise May 4, at 7:58 a.m. to be exact. "When u give Give GIVE and they take Take TAKE at wat point do u draw a line in the sand?" Kobe Bryant wrote on his Twitter feed, adding the hashtags "hurt beyond measure," "gave me no warning," and finally, "love?" Bryant's career with the Lakers has often been pushed aside by internal family matters, the recent court battle over his memorabilia the latest in a string of cheerless events.

The Internal Revenue Service, selling off vintage cars seized in drug cases, netted $157,800 in an auction Thursday that drew 1,000 potential bidders and will help compensate the agency for unpaid taxes. Many of the prized automobiles were confiscated in drug seizures. Seven of the cars belonged to Rudy Henderson, a millionaire imprisoned on drug charges. One of the seven vehicles included a 1968 Chevrolet Corvette that went for $24,500, the highest of the sale.

Bryce Harper had a great opening day, homering in his first two at-bats as the Washington Nationals defeated the Miami Marlins, 2-0. To top it off, it was his first major league opening day, making it extra special for him. Many players will save a memento from their first opening day, be it a game ball, cap or jersey. Harper wanted to save his jersey. Something to show the grandkids one day. "This is the jersey I wore when I homered twice..... " Well, the Nationals had different ideas.

A Nevada pawn shop is facing criticism for selling the .38-caliber pistol of ex-LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner , who went on a shooting rampage in Southern California earlier this year. Bargain Pawn in North Las Vegas, has put the gun up for sale in an online auction , hoping to donate proceeds to victims' families. But Sgt. Brian Smith, president of the Riverside Police Officers Assn., called the sale “tasteless.” The union is raising funds to benefit the children of Officer Michael Crain, who was shot and killed by Dorner in an ambush.