The Wardrobe of James Gandolfini's character Tony Soprano hits the auction
block at Christie's New York, with some lots selling four to ten times their
asking price.


NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT) REUTERS -
In a rare appearance, actor James Gandolfini arrived at Christie's
auction house in New York to oversee the sale of the clothing he wore on the
hit HBO show "The Sopranos."
    Tony Soprano's mafia garb fetched a record 187,750 U.S. dollars (USD)
Wednesday (June 25) which was more than four times their estimated price. 
    Some individual items went for ten times their asking price.
    Simeon Lipman, the head of the Pop Culture division at Christie's, said
he was excited the Soprano's star showed up for the sale which raised money
for the Warrior Project -- a charity that helps wounded U.S. troops.
    "It just shows he cares about the "Wounded Warrior"
project. He cares that his wardrobe was up for auction and it did well. He
certainly looked out to the audience, he looked like Tony Soprano. What a nice
guy and we thank him for coming and it certainly helped the bid," Lipman
said.
    The most profitable items were fake blood spattered clothes, in which
Gandolfini's character Tony was shot by his Uncle Junior.  They sold for
43,750 USD after commissions.
    "We were very excited about that piece and the signature shirt he
wore at the beginning of every show ended up selling for 11,000 USD and we
were very happy about that price as well," said Lipman.
    Curiously, Tony Soprano's underwear, a pair of blue boxer shorts and a
solid white vest went for ten times their estimated price, selling for 5,000
USD.
    Another robe -- forecast to go for 1,500 USD -- fetched 13,750 USD.
    The award-winning HBO series broke new ground for television:
portraying a conflicted man who tries to balance family life with his Mafia
career.