North Texans rush to get Michael Jackson memorabilia

Michael Jackson popularity might have seemed like it waned over the last several years. There's no doubt now about Jackson's star power.

Within minutes of Michael Jackson's death, residents across the metroplex began searching for something that they could remember the King of Pop by.

For some, it was a vinyl. But for others, it was anything with his name or image on it.

At the Half Priced Books off Northwest Highway, Michael Jackson items flew off the shelves within 30 minutes. By the next morning, staff saw another wave of Jackson fans buy everything they could get their hands on.

Plano resident David Salas was among those searching for memorabilia on Friday. He woke up at 5 a.m. Friday to try to find anything with Jackson's face on it.

At Bill's Records, he found everything he need. He walked out with three books, two pins, one T-shirt and a handful of vinyl records. Earlier in the day, he had bought a few items on eBay to add to his Jackson collection.

"You have that piece of history in your hands that something you can remember him," he said. "You can have it in your hands and always play it and show other people."

EBay and Craig's List were swamped with Jackson items. And iTunes showed just how popular Jackson really was.

At 9 p.m. Friday, six of the top 10 sold songs and the nine top selling albums were Jackson hits.

Steve Leach, the collections specialist at Half Priced Books, said he expected Jackson items to continue to sell well for the next few weeks and months.

"I think there will be a lot of documentaries and things to continue to peak people's interest," he said.