[SUNDAY 8/21 UPDATE: As of Sunday morning, bids for some of the items written about here have increased substantially, with a week left to go in the auction. Samples: The Matt Bomer fedora currently stands at $710, the same price as the Piper Perabo shoes -- and that "cheep" Family Guy toy? It's now north of $150...]
Psst! Wanna buy an autographed, oversized Hugh Laurie tennis ball like the one he bounces on House? Want VIP seating at a show taping of the programs hosted by Jon Stewart, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon or Jay Leno?
Want to walk a mile in the (very high-heeled) shoes worn by Piper Perabo on Covert Affairs, or wear the very fedora sported by Matt Bomer as Neal in White Collar? Have the Emmy folks got a deal for you! An auction, actually...
This year's auction, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting the Television Academy Foundation's educational outreach programs, runs from Aug. 16-26, and is bid on eBay. A complete list of auction items is available on eBay HERE.
It's fun, though, to pick out some big-ticket items and unusual offerings.
If you're a fan of USA's White Collar, star Matt Bomer has signed, and put up for auction, the fedora he wears as dapper former con man Neal Caffrey. It's a stylish hat from a stylish show.
After only two days of bidding, the fedora has 21 bids, and, as I write this, stands at $580. No other auction item has attracted half as many bids, so hats off to Bomer.
And shoes off to Piper Perabo of Covert Affairs, another USA Network star who has signed and donated a fashion accessory this year. So has her castmate, Christopher Gorham, who has signed one of the folding canes used by his blind character, Auggie Anderson.
But it's Perabo's donation that is bound to drive the traffic for this particular item: a pair of Christian Louboutin high heels worn by her CIA character, Annie Walker. Perhaps because her character's last name is Walker, the red soles are well worn.
They're also autographed: "With Love, Piper Perabo," on one shoe, and "With Soul, Piper Perabo" on the other.
As I write this Thursday morning, Aug. 18, the cane-shoe combo (fitting, perhaps, for a very fashionable tap number?) has two bids, and a $500 price tag. Just for curiosity's sake, I searched eBay for a similar pair of Louboutin pumps, and found a listing for a pre-owned pair, listed HERE, for $480. And at that price, they aren't even pre-owned by a celebrity, and they don't come with a celebrity pre-owned cane.
I did find a more eye-opening listing, though: a pair of Louboutin's "Lady Peep" black shoes, where the heels aren't the only things that are spiked. (I don't know what Lady Peep's story is, but I'd be interested in learning more. Or meeting her, at least in a public place in the daylight.) That listing is HERE, in case you think I'm making it up -- or its $1700 asking price.
Back to the auction. It's fascinating how relative values have been placed on VIP seating and tickets to otherwise "free" TV tapings, even before being inflated by bidders. Jay Leno offers four seats to a Tonight Show taping, with "possible photo op" thrown in; right now, that item is up to $280. The Daily Show offers the same deal, without the photo opportunity, and is the same price; same for Conan. Jimmy Fallon offers VIP seats for $250, but only two of them, making him the priciest talk-show auction item at the moment.
The least expensive auction item? Right now, that would be a Family Guy toy set -- "The Giant Chicken vs. Peter" -- signed by series creator Seth MacFarlane. Right now, the bidding has it at $50.
For an autographed toy chicken, that's cheep.