Famous ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz become most valuable memorabilia ever sold as jaw-dropping price revealed
Topics: Film and TV
Emma Rosemurgey
Featured Image Credit: JUSTIN TALLIS/Getty/MGM
Topics: Film and TV
As the Wicked hype reaches new heights, The Wizard of Oz proves to be as popular as ever after Dorothy's famous ruby slippers have sold for a record-breaking fee.
The original slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 classic film have now become the most valuable movie memorabilia ever sold after raking in 10 times the predicted price.
Auctioneers at Heritage Auctions predicted the iconic shoes would sell for around the $3 million mark, 10 times less than the staggering winning bid.
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Dubbed the 'Holy Grail of Hollywood memorabilia,' the sparkly accessories are believed to be one of only four surviving pairs of the slippers, with Garland donning multiple pairs throughout the filming of the iconic flick.
In total, the shoes fetched an eye-watering $28 million.
The red slippers play an integral role in the plot of The Wizard of Oz as all Dorothy needed to do was click the heels three times, while repeating 'there's no place like home' and she'd be transported back to Kansas.
One of the other surviving pairs of shoes are currently on exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, but the pair which have just sold have gone on quite the journey.
In 2005, the shoes were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, after collector Michael Shaw loaned them out.
A thief called Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the glass and steal the beloved memorabilia in the belief they were covered in actual gemstones.
However, he realized his efforts had gone to waste after taking the slippers to a middleman who revealed they were actually just glass and they were given away.
The whereabouts of the slippers for the next 13 years is somewhat a mystery, until they were found in a 2018 sting operation by the FBI.
In 2023, Martin, who was now wheelchair bound and in his 70s, pleaded guilty to stealing the shoes and was sentenced to time served.
Speaking to CBS last year, John Kelsch, curator of the Judy Garland Museum, said: "There's some closure, and we do know definitely that Terry Jon Martin did break into our museum, but I'd like to know what happened to them after he let them go.
"Just to do it because he thought they were real rubies and to turn them over to a jewelry fence. I mean, the value is not rubies. The value is an American treasure, a national treasure. To steal them without knowing that seems ludicrous."