We’ve all been there: You’re in the final seconds of an eBay auction, and suddenly some sniper out to make your life miserable ratchets the price beyond what you know is reasonable. Your guts are boiling with fury. You’re not thinking straight. You declare, No! Not this time. You need this novelty bust of Danny DeVito nursing an infant (or whatever it is you personally collect), and you’ll have it no matter the cost. You pull the trigger and win in that final instant, but it’s a hollow victory, because you know it’ll never be worth more than it was at that exact moment.
That’s what I imagine happened to the walking wallet who purchased the ax used by Jack Nicholson in The Shining for $209,000 (170,000 in Brit bucks) at a London auction. The prop sold for more than four times its expected price. Damn!
For someone for whom the thought of owning a house seems like little more than a fancy pipe dream, I can’t imagine dropping that much dough on what could very well be the most famous ax on Earth. Does that make it worth $200,000? No. Of course not. The microwave from Urban Legend might be the most famous microwave mankind has ever seen, but I’m not spending more than $65 bucks on it. And it had better work.
But for some I suppose having that perfect conversation piece mounted above the mantel is priceless.
Jack Nicholson’s ax from The Shining sells at auction for over $200,000 [EW]
