A little less than a month ago, the MIC Gadget store began selling a Steve Jobs action figure that was eerily spot on. With Jobs’ ubiquitous Levi jeans and black turtleneck in full effect, the folks behind the nerdy action figure nailed everything all the way down to the last detail, Jobs’ hairline, sneakers, facial stubble and more.
A grand total of 300 of the action figures were made and sold before Apple’s legal department sent a letter demanding that the site immediately stop selling and manufacturing the toy as it infringed on Apple’s copyrights and trademarks. Moreover, and citing California Civil Code Section 3344, Apple’s letter asserted that the toy illegally used Steve Jobs’ name and likeness without obtaining Jobs’ necessary permission.
But as with anything, trying to keep something from the public only serves to draw more attention to it, and now it seems that the aforementioned Steve Jobs action figures are going for upwards of $2500 on eBay. The action figures originally sold for $79.90 from MIC Gadget, so some of the folks lucky enough to get in on that first batch are making a killing selling them online. There have already been two auctions where an asking price of $2500 was met, and there are currently a few more live actions with high bids in play.
A note of caution however – some speculate that some resellers are manipulating bidding prices in order to drive up interest and demand in the action figures. So if you think $2500 for a tiny replica of Steve Jobs is worth it, then by all means, but don’t be misguided by what is on all accounts an undeniably excessive markup.
Mon, Dec 20, 2010
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