5. Dr. Naismith's personal handwritten account of the first basketball game ever played in 1891 sold at Heritage Auction Galleries for $71,700. James Naismith invented the game, wrote the rules and worked with the players.

4. Al Capone's rustic table and chairs caused excitement at a Leslie Hindman auction. Final price: table, $7,200; chairs, $3,360 and $10,200. Auctioned as "root furniture" with a famous owner, it was quite a surprise for the new owners to discover they were made of carved wood, not tree roots. Did Capone want rustic roots and get scammed? Was someone brave enough to fool a gangster like Capone?

3. Fifty-one Royal pudding boxes that picture Howdy Doody and gang were offered by Smith House Toy and Auction Company. From a collection that belonged Alan (Mr. Mint) Rosen who claimed to have the world's largest Howdy Doody collection. The boxes sold in lots of four, some at $93.50 a lot; some didn't even get minimum. Highest priced Howdy Doody item was the Howdy Doody Band, a toy by Unique Art. With the box, it sold for $1450.

2. The record price for a banana sticker (that's what we collect) was $25,300 at Heirtage Auction Galleries. The Del Monte sticker stuck to a $20 bill during the currency's printing, and the bill's number and the U.S. Treasury Seal were printed over the sticker.

and the wierdest thing to sell in 2006 ...

1. World's largest rubber-band ball-5 feet in diameter, weighing 3,300 pounds-didn't sell because the $7,000 bid was too low.