Under an hour after placing the winning bid of £62,000 for an authentic Mr Blobby suit, the buyer has backed out, BBC reports. The item was originally listed for just £39, with the price absolutely soaring as bids came in.
The anonymous seller, a former BBC employee, has said they were not surprised at the buyer pulling out, but remains "shocked" the costume has garnered so much fanfare, with a massive 178 bids received. The owner came to possess the costume of the clumsy pink character when an abroad episode of Noel's House Party was cancelled and no other members of the production team wanted it.
The seller has owned the costume since the 1990s, and requires some repair with both arms needing to be reattached. The item went up for sale as the seller is making a house move.
They said: "I thought it would get to a level of £100 perhaps - and so I was shocked really that it reached the level it did. I think it was one of those things that was driven by social media."
While the winner bid 10 times for the item, within an hour of placing the colossal bid the buyer pulled out of the sale.
The seller reflected on their substantial £62,000 loss: "Ironically, it was being sold not to make money but to make space. I don't think you can lose something you've never had."
Fans of Mr Blobby will unfortunately no longer be able to discover the costume back on eBay in the near future, as the owner has opted to keep the item around for now. Other users of the online trading website have attempted to capitalise on Mr Blobby's temporary popularity spike, with other costumes listed for prices as high as £15,000, which admittedly is yet to receive any bids.
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