I love how people have e-mailed me and commented that I’m a “bitter douche” because I didn’t win anything at the LOST auction. On the contrary, I am very happy to have not committed a huge sum of money to an item I don’t really need to own. Does that make me a bad fan? I don’t think so. It just makes me a poor fan. I’m not bitter, I’ve had the time of my life bidding and watching the bid totals skyrocket during the past two days.
The start of today was a bit more subdued than yesterday. There weren’t as many visitors mulling around the display cases filled with LOST memorabilia when we arrived. The auction’s MC was giving away a lot more prizes today, and the lack of people running up to claim prizes made it clear that there weren’t as many people in attendance for Sunday’s session.
When the auction started, Nicci, Sebastian and I decided to wager a nickel on each item and we played “The Price Is Right,” seeing who could come closest to guessing the winning bid without going over. When he needed to leave, we calculated that Sebastian had won. I owed him a nickel and Nicci owed him twenty cents. It was a fierce competition.
As for the auction itself, day two was best described by my new friend Jason when he said, “It was like a series of waves, at first everyone was amped and overbidding for things because, ‘Woo hoo, it’s LOST!” and then things actually slowed down — there were some deals — and then it just got ridiculous because people started realizing that this might be their last chance to own something from LOST.”
Some of the season three costumes went for a lot of money. Kate’s outfits from “The Economist” (it’s not even a Kate-centric episode!) sold to a live bidder for $5,000. His wife/girlfriend was really happy. Desmond’s costume from “The Constant” sold for half that, $2,500. The Backgammon set used by Locke and Sawyer sold for $4,000. Locke’s knife with sheath sold for $3,500. I bid on Jeremy Bentham’s death certificate ($500) but it sold for $2,750. So close! One of the early surprises was a cache of items used by Ben to fake his identity (including the famed Dean Moriary passport), which sold for $5,000. Juliet’s DHARMA rum sold for $3,250 Faraday’s rat maze sold for $2,000. Michael’s suitcase bomb sold for $3,250. Faraday’s notes and briefcase from “The Constant” sold for $3,250. Richard Alperts items used to test a young John Locke (included a baseball mitt, “Book Of Laws,” a knife and a comic book) sold for $3,750. I predicted a huge some for the it’d-look-amazing-framed Tunisian newspaper whose cover depicts the found (faked) Oceanic 815, and it sold for $4,250 (I was off by 250).
That was just the start. Hurley’s Camaro came up for auction near the end of the Season 4 section of the auction. A live bidder won the car for $20,000 — shattering the record mark set by the Swan computer yesterday — and the guy didn’t even seem to care when he offered up his bid. It was only when he was declared the winner that he showed any emotion. I was surprised he wanted the Camaro over the Volkswagen van. I was also surprised that he didn’t bother to bid on the Camaro’s license plates, which was the very next lot after the car. A few minutes later, the “frozen donkey wheel” closed out Season 4 with a new record, an online bid of $25,000. Very impressive. Of course, later in the afternoon the auction was actually halted while Profiles In History attempted to learn whether or not the winning bid was a legitimate one. The guy running the live Internet auction even posted his personal phone number on the auction feed in the hopes of getting everyone who bid on the wheel to call in and confirm their bids. Crazy stuff…
We stayed through season five because I wanted to win a damned DHARMA jumpsuit. I don’t care which one I bid on, I wanted to just win one of them. There was no sense in bidding on any of the main characters’ suits, because they all went for $2,000-$5,000. I thought I could sneak in a bet on Radzinsky’s suit and then wear it to pub trivia night because Eric Lange (he played Radzinsky in the show) is also there every week competing against me. I bid up to $750 but it sold for $1,700. Maybe if you people donated more money I could buy overpriced, really nice television memorabilia. I started to get desperate, bidding up to $750 for DHARMA jumpsuits belonging to Melvin the gardener, Wayne from the drill team, Abraham from construction, Rex the pharmacist, Victor the chemist, Bud workman, Emanuel from engineering…I even bid on Cesar’s black swan jumpsuit, the sub captain’s green jumpsuit, and the unnamed “Sub Ops” guy’s jumpsuit. The most depraved bid of mine was for the DHARMA blacksmith costume, which I actually almost won. I put in a bid of $700 for it and it sold for $850. If I won I promised Nicci I would wear it every day. When she asked what pants I would wear it with, I said, “No pants. Just my bare legs peeking out from underneath.” Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t win.
We left just before three of the biggest items from season five came up for auction: John Locke’s compass ($8,000) John Locke’s suicide note to Jack ($8,500) and Daniel Faraday’s notebook, which set a new record for the auction with a winning bid of $27,500. Once again, the auction had to be delayed after that lot was completed in order to verify the winning bid.
I’m going to post this well before the auction ends, but the DHARMA van is still out there waiting to be purchased, as well as a few other incredible items. You’ll have to search out other websites if you want the results from those lots. Now for some silly pictures from yesterday and today!
Buy a ticket, take the ride. I'm talking about the heroin, not the Oceanic 815 boarding pass belonging to Charlie Pace. You can also see Claire's boarding pass here. They were not combined as one lot even though they were displayed together. You gotta maximize profits, after all!
In the episode "Some Like It Hoth," we learn that Hurley was trying to re-write Empire Strikes Back with a few changes, presumably because he thought he could make it better. Maybe he should have focused his efforts on the first or third movies, because those two are a lot worse. What the hell was with that defense shield in Return Of The Jedi? Really? You couldn't shoot it from the sky? Lucas hates Empire more than any other film in the series, and that includes the "new" episodes. What a moron that guy is.
What an awesome display piece. Locke's hunting knives. There's no knowing whether or not they're real, but they still look impressive. The case is filled with all kinds of little trinkets, but they were not interesting enough to photograph. At least, that's how I felt.
Look at how excited Nate is to meet Mr. Cluck. You'd think he was shaking hands with Obama or something. For the next series of photographs, I chose the best one (or two) from all the ones we took as a group to include. You don't need to see eighty pictures of my friends and I geeking out. Ten or twelve should suffice.
Why so serious, Tom? You'll get off the island someday. In Castaway Tom Hanks had to fashion a coconut into a friend. You've got a life-sized manequin wearing Sawyer's costume from season one of Lost to talk to. You're so much better off than that other guy was. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll both see rescue soon. If not, at least you've got each other. You can practice your make-out skills on your lifeless friend.
Could you imagine being seated next to three less enthused travelers? It's like, I thought we were all praying for our plane to crash on some crazy deserted island, but these three red-shirts are totally not intrigued by such a cool fate. If you've never flown anywhere with me, you won't see the humor in this photo. I'm constantly toying with my overhead air vent. I'm so OCD it's embarrassing.
I really hope these losers get killed first when the mythical forces on the island get angry. How spoiled can three air travelers be? Look, not every flight is going to have mini-TVs built into the seat-backs. You should have packed some books, guys. The flight from Sydney to LA is pretty long.
Oceanic Airlines offers much more leg-room than every other competing airline. Also, the bottled water is packed with DRUGS! Sedatives for everyone! Woo-hoo!
What a bunch of pussies. You hit a patch of turbulence and all of a sudden everyone on the plane starts freaking out. Odd, I thought I cropped out the exit sign on the wall behind the airplane set. Maybe I'm not as Photoshop proficient as I thought.
Um...you just have to hit the "execute" button, Tom. You don't have to type an entire dissertation. Plus, you've still got 108 minutes to push the button, at least according to the timer on the wall. Why so rushed?
Here's Nate and Tom with Sterling Beaumon. I didn't get to pose with him, even though I'm Facebook friends with the kid. He's in a new musical called "Thirteen" he sang a song for the crowd on Saturday. Tom seems uneasy around him....
Um...Roger, could you please explain to me what you're doing with Montand's arm? Oh, and pass me another one of those DHARMA beers, please. I know a whole bunch of them sold for $5,000 at auction, but maybe you could find me one that is still unclaimed and I can pound it in memory of our friend Montand.
I don't remember the Hatch smoking at any point on the show, but Nate doesn't seem concerned about the fact that Desmond could be down there burning alive. He's still busy trying to get the damned thing open. If he's got a spare $16,000 laying around I could show him where the hatch door is! (That's a joke, because the door sold for an obscene amount of money yesterday).
I just like this photo because I tinkered with it to make it look like we were exploring the Hatch late at night, and then Tom stuck his entire head inside the thing.
I couldn't find the spot on Jughead where they sealed the leak. No worries, I'm pretty sure it wasn't leaking when we took this photo. As for Tom's hand signs, I don't know what it means but I'm pretty sure he's pledging allegience to The Others. Gang warfare to commence in 3...2...1...
Uh...am I really supposed to bid on these bottles of Oceanic 815 water? I mean, I could walk twenty paces to my left and buy a carton of them for $39.00 -- why should I buy them for $1,400? That doesn't make any sense. What do you think, lady sitting next to me?
Oh, fine. I'll bid. What's $1,400 if you can't buy some bottles of water, amiright? Oh, wait -- shit. I should I should have just bought the carton for $39. I think I made a bad investment.
