Yes, you read correctly. PhantomL0rd is selling his headset on eBay. I have no problems with live streamer memorabilia. What I do have a problem with: it’s made it up to $80,000 in bids already.
How does this even happen? Who has a Nissan GTR’s worth of cash to drop on a headset from a person who has only been “famous” for a very short period of time?
Let’s put this into perspective.
I found an authentic Marylin Monroe signed picture for just under $3,000, $77,000 LESS than the current high bid on the headset.
Crazy right?! Then I thought, ‘well this signature is replaceable, there are many signatures out there, but there is only one PhantomL0rd headset. So maybe that’s where the price is coming from.’
So, for science, I compared PhantomL0rd’s headset to another piece of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia:
Quite possibly the most famous dress of all time, so unsurprisingly, it’s worth a higher amount than Phantom’s headset. $5.59 million more to be exact.
You may think this destroys my whole point that the headset is being wildly overvalued, so hey, let’s do some math.
The famous dress in question comes from the movie The Seven Year Itch (1955). The movie is now 59 years old. I am guesstimating here, but I believe Phantom began streaming sometime in 2012, so just to be safe, let’s say he’s been streaming for two years.
If we were to assume that Phantom’s headset would increase in price each year and we pretend that he had his famous headset back in 1955, his headset would be worth $2.4 million today.
Thinking that $80,000 isn’t looking like such a bad investment? Hold on a second.
Let’s Play:
What else could you buy for $80,000?
- A house. More importantly, a house you could put a bit of money and work into to then turn for a profit.
- A Nissan GTR, then having 20 grand left over for a fancy date to the most expensive restaurant you can find, a super computer, and a vacation to wherever you want.
- Not a fan of the GTR? How about a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S, Mercedes-Benz SL550, the new Jaguar F-Type S, then there is even older Ferraris, Lambos and other extreme, exotic cars.
- How about 100 Metallica signed guitars?
- What about suiting yourself and 99 of your friends in full-scale suits of space marine cosplay armor?
- … Maybe start a business?
Alright, alright, I’ve got to stop. I’m starting to get frustrated that I don’t have 80 grand to drop. If you had 80K, what would you spend it on? Do you think live streamer memorabilia will pay off in the long run, or would you buy something else with it?
Editors Note:
As of posting, the eBay price was $80,100. After I published and double checked my links, I found that his price had dropped to $70,900. This is an indication to me that some of the bids are fake and being recalled. I will update this post with the final price when it comes time. It may end up deserving an entire post.
Update 2/14/2014: With 15 hours left the auction has reached $95,500 with 107 bids. I’ll check back closer to the end and see how the prices changes. I’m expecting a drop in the price, assuming these bids are fake.
