8-Foot Ban Roll-On Not Included
You've got until just after 4:30 p.m. today if you're going to be picking up the ultimate Philly knick-knack: the Rocky statue.
Your very own, limited-edition version of the triumphant boxer -- the very icon that stood arms-raised on the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps before people with different sensibilities had it trucked off to the Spectrum -- is up for auction on eBay. Bidding starts at $1 million for the 10-foot-tall fighter. The beauty part: it's tax deductible.
Would look great in the living room. Impressive on the front steps. Strange in the bedroom.
If you're getting a little deja vu from this, it's not the first time Harvey Abrams has tried to move the mook. Abrams, South Philly native and director of the would-be International Institute for Sport and Olympic History in State College, PA, offered it up auction on eBay last year as well. The $3 million winning bid turned out to be bogus.
When Abrams learned that sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg had made three versions in Sylvester Stallone's likeness, Abrams bought the two molds that have been stored for the past 20-plus years. The idea is to turn the mold into bronze, like the 1,500-plus-pounder in South Philly that Stallone had made as a prop for Rocky III then donated to the city. One will go to the museum in State College. The other will be auctioned off as a benefit.
If $1 million seems a little stiff for the 10-foot fighter, the original plan was to offer it for $5 million. The winning big includes delivery, which could take between 45 and 60 days, as well as insurance. If the Philadelphia pugilist doesn't quite fit in with your landscaping, it would make a fine donation to your favorite school, municipality or blogger.
the big guy failed to bring in the one mil minimum. so we've got another nine days to save our paychecks, pool our money, and buy that fighter so we can park him in a prominent place -- your office?