Back in 2007, an original Bob Barker microphone was put up for sale on eBay, just before he retired from hosting the game show. The winner took not only an original corded microphone, which appeared on-screen, but also a hand-written letter by Barker confirming its authenticity.
The auction closed with a final sale price of $19,919.08, with bidder Dave Ryan — a morning show host for KDWB-FM 101.3 in the Twin Cities — placing the winning bid.
“I love celebrity memorabilia like that, and I think that it’s a classic one,” Ryan told TwinCities Pioneer Press at the time. Still, not everyone was so impressed with his $20k spend. According to Ryan, hearing the news set his wife “screaming with shock and dismay.”
Proceeds from the auction went to United Activists for Animal Rights, one of the charities that Barker supported during his lifetime. Outspoken about animal cruelty, Barker donated to multiple charities and even has a Sea Shepherd Conservation Society boat named after him.
