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Jap/Eng/Nat The world's biggest and most valuable collection of denim has gone under the hammer at an auction in Tokyo on Saturday. The demand for American hand-me-downs like worn-out Levi's and crumpled running shoes is sky-high in Japan, and the pricey collectibles are making a tidy profit for trans- Pacific businessmen. 500 items were sold for 300-thousand U-S dollars. It looks like another old, beat-up denim jacket, the kind you'd find going stale in the back of a closet. But Japanese bidders dished out hundreds of thousands of dollars on Saturday for rare items such as this in an auction of denim. Also included in the collection were rare second-hand sneakers. These Nikes have to be from the early 1970s, the mid-1980s at the latest. An indigo-blue tuxedo, supposedly especially made for Bing Crosby, went for 34- hundred dollars. SOUNDBITE:(English) \"This is the most valuable collection of vintage denim items ever under one roof. There are more fantastic vintage advertising items, jackets and shoes that has ever been collected before.\" SUPER CAPTION: Max Shapiro, auction organiser Shapiro's 3 (m) million dollar-a-year business consists of buying more than 20-thousand pairs of used jeans a month from Americans, then selling them to the many Japanese stores that specialise in old jeans. SOUNDBITE:(English) \"I am interested the items that have a little bit of damage. I like to repair them and sell them for more. I am from Los Angels. I came all the way to see things.\" SUPER CAPTION: Zip Stevenson, denim dealer About 200 people gathered to bid for nearly 500 items. Many of those pushing up the prices were buyers for Japanese stores, who also raid flea markets and used clothing stores in the United States looking for bargains. One dealer who bought an old pair of Levi's 501 jeans for 34-hundred dollars said he hoped to sell them for about double the price. Jeans with an adjustable belt in the back, called buckle backs, are the jackpot of vintage - like this unworn pair from 1927 that sold for 21-thousand dollars. Kei Shimizu was the sole bidder. He took 30-thousand dollars in cash to the auction to secure the vintage Levis. SOUNDBITE:(Japanese) \"I am so happy, it was cheap. It was much cheaper than the estimation. It was just great.\" SUPER CAPTION: Kei Shimizu, successful bidder Organisers made over 300-thousand U-S dollars. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/c37cba75a81d15f26d3ef4d1bb1344aa Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork