The costume was much sought-after given Mr Blobby’s fame from 1990s television shows such as Noel’s House Party
(Picture: PA Archive/PA Images)After an intense online auction, a winner bagged a coveted Mr Blobby costume for an eye-watering £62,000.
But the anonymous buyer opted out of the purchase an hour later. The costume, which has a cracked eye and detached arm, had attracted 178 bids before the auction closed.
The costume was much sought-after given Mr Blobby’s fame from 1990s television shows such as Noel’s House Party on BBC One.
The outfit had been intended for an overseas version of the show but it did not go ahead. Nobody from the production team wanted it, said the anonymous owner, explaining how it came into their possession.
How did the eBay auction of the Mr Bobby costume unfold?
During a house move, the owner of the costume listed it on the online auction site eBay with a starting listing of £39.
Despite the costume having only one arm and no signature bow tie “secured”, the costume proved a massive hit. Bids rose by more than 158,800 per cent above the original listing price.
“I thought it would get to a level of £100 perhaps — and so I was as shocked really that it reached the level it did,” said the seller.
Despite the winner of the auction bidding 10 times, they pulled out of the sale within an hour of placing the huge bid.
“Ironically, it was being sold not to make money but to make space,” said the seller.
They have decided not to re-auction the costume yet despite the surprising interest it attracted.
“I don’t think you can lose something you’ve never had,” the seller added of the failed sale.
Who is Mr Blobby?
Mr Blobby originally featured on the BBC One Saturday night variety show Noel’s House Party, which was presented by Noel Edmonds.
Created by Charlie Adams, a writer for the show, Mr Blobby is a bulbous pink figure covered in yellow spots, with a permanent toothy grin and green jiggling eyes.
Mr Blobby communicates by saying only the word “blobby” in an electronically altered voice. He topped the UK singles chart with the 1993 Christmas release Mr Blobby.
Throughout the 90s, the character made regular appearances on Saturday morning show Live & Kicking and The Generation Game.
He also made cameo appearances on shows such as Dead Ringers, Harry Hill’s TV Burp, Dick and Dom in da Bungalow and Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. Mr Blobby also featured in the music video for Peter Kay’s 2005 charity single (Is This The Way To) Amarillo.
He was liked and hated in equal measure by the British public.
Elizabeth Kolbert of the New York Times once wrote: “Mr Blobby’s rise to stardom has provoked anguished commentaries about just what he stands for... Some commentators have called him a metaphor for a nation gone soft in the head. Others have seen him as proof of Britain’s deep-seated attraction to trash.”
Cole Moreton of the Independent included Mr Blobby in his “10 most irritating television characters”.
“Did the nation really once fall about laughing at the clumsy antics of a bloke in a big pink rubber costume with yellow blobs all over it?” he said.
