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Posted By: Julie Vognar

The first leland auction I bid in, I went for an extreme close=up of Joe Jackson's face. If he hadn't been looking over the photographer's shoulder, he would have looked crosseyed. Never saw it before; never seen it since (except in my collection). Leland can be, er, really dumb. Said in the catalogue the "C" on Jackson's cap meant he was with the White Sox, and called it a "Brace photo" because george Brace's stamp, Chicago, 2-number zip, was on the back (George Brace is only now in his eighties). Leland's can be really nice. Before I bid $1650 on it, I said, "I'm going to need 3 extra weeks to pay for this if I bid any higher." ":No problemm," said the man. That was without the 15%.

Two weeks later, at 10:30 P.M. a UPS man threw the box at my door, without even ringing the bell or knocking. Fortunately, i was close enough to hear, and the photo was well-packed.

It's my favorite collectible.