The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted several large and small industries around the globe, from amusement parks to cinema halls to museums. Many museums have been auctioning off their collections — artefacts, paintings, and sculptures — to sustain themselves. The largest one to shut its doors and put all items on sale was the 1978-built Guinness World Records Museum in Niagara Falls in Canada. A spree of auctions over the past couple of pandemic years has witnessed some seriously incredible stuff put up for bids. Here are some of those record-setting items that only a few would have ever dreamt of owning:
A Legendary Hockey Kit
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Up for grabs was an official Wayne Gretzky Hespeler hockey stick, an Edmonton Oilers hockey puck, and a Dan Marino Miami Dolphins jersey, all originally signed by Gretzky in the early 2000s. Priced at est. $1,250-$2,000, the sports fanatics could also buy the Los Angeles Kings home jersey with two signed photos that Gretzky wore during the record-breaking match in 1994.
The Smallest Bicycle in the World
The Ripley’s Remarkable Rarities at Ontario featured the world’s tiniest (and ridable) bicycle at its Guinness World Records Museum. Charly Charles rode the bicycle in his Las Vegas act at the Circus Circus hotels, which made it to the records and recently to the museum auction for $500-$1000.
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The Largest Pinball Game
The Atari Hercules pinball machine, which retains the record for the world's biggest pinball game, was estimated at $1,500-$2,500 at the auction. The game was adorned with a comic design and some wall plaques.
The World’s Oldest Man
Making a surprising entry into the auction for $1,000-$2,000 was a 49-inch fiberglass character of Shigechiyo Izumi, who was born in 1865 and lived for a little more than a century (1986 to be precise). The glass structure of the world’s oldest man was displayed at the museum with backlit panels informing about the historic facts from his life.
Original Pokemon Cards
Launched in 1999 by the game publisher, Wizards of the Coast, the Pokemon first-edition cards made a world record after they were sold for $408,000 at the ‘Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction’ in Dallas. The collection included 396 original cards split into 36 booster packs consisting of 11 cards each. It also received recognition for being the 'gem mint' condition pokemon card set (highest level of classification among cards).
A 1965 Batmobile
The dream came true for Batman fans when the famous Batmobile car was displayed at the auction in the London Motor Museum, Hillingdon. Celebrated for its silver screen appearances, the Batmobile was introduced in different variants corresponding to every release of the Dark Knight series. Soon to be sold between an estimated cost of 20,000-30,000 Euros, the Batmobile built on a 1965 Ford Mustang base has its registration number and a number plate, which makes it legal and street-ready to drive.
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Spy Umbrellas and Lipsticks
Julius Urbaitis, a historian and a consultant to the HBO series Chernobyl, collected nearly 400 objects over 30 years during the Soviet war. From all the unique items put on the KGB Espionage Museums in New York, the famous one is a spy umbrella with a poison syringe hidden in it. When a button is triggered near the handle, a spring-loaded syringe enclosed inside the shaft shoots the needle tip from the end of the umbrella. It is a reproduction of the one believed to have been used in London in 1978 to kill the Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov, a pellet containing ricin was shot into his leg in that incident.
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Cars From Every Generation
Recognised as one of the best collections of General Motors cars in the world, the Muscle Car City Museum in Florida had to close down after 14 years as the pandemic hit the tourism industry. Owner Rick Treworgy housed around 200 GM cars ranging from 80 Chevrolet Corvettes to tail-finned Chevys to 1960s muscle cars. The collection was put up for auction that included a 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air bubble top, and a 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Z51 as one of its highlights.
