Yahoo Finance T.Hanks! Wilson volleyball sells for $422,000 at auction
Can you put a price on true companionship?
That was the question UK-based Prop Store asked when it put the famously non-verbal volleyball ‘Wilson’ up for auction earlier this month.
The prop volleyball used in the 2000 Tom Hanks film Cast Away sold at auction for £230,000 (AU$422,000).
The film sees the main character Chuck Noland, played by Hanks, stuck on an island for four years after his plane crashes, with his only company in the form of a volleyball he names Wilson.
Over the four years, Noland speaks to Wilson and is devastated when the ball ultimately floats gently away into the ocean.
The auction house described the volleyball as “heavily distressed”.
“There is a dark brown-and-red ‘face’ on the front, representing Chuck’s bloody handprint. It features a faded pair of eyes, nose, and mouth,” the listing read.
And we're LIVE for Day 2! Join the livestream and get your bidding paddles at the ready now to watch lots 410 – 755 under the hammer: https://t.co/jfhkLakWCQ #PropStoreLiveAuction pic.twitter.com/doGOXCFsQP
— Prop Store (@propstore_com) November 10, 2021
“The top is torn open, and an array of tobacco stalks are inserted to replicate the appearance of hair.”
Hanks went on to win an Academy Award for his performance in the film.
Wilson missed out on an Oscar nod.
However, Wilson was awarded the 2001 Critics’ Choice Award Winner for Best Inanimate Object.
Oh, to be as valuable as a prop volleyball.
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