{"id":64869,"date":"2020-09-03T23:11:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-03T20:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/that-time-life-sized-animatronic-dinosaurs-were-on-auction-in-langley-b-c\/"},"modified":"2020-09-03T23:11:00","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T20:11:00","slug":"that-time-life-sized-animatronic-dinosaurs-were-on-auction-in-langley-b-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/that-time-life-sized-animatronic-dinosaurs-were-on-auction-in-langley-b-c\/","title":{"rendered":"#That time life-sized, animatronic dinosaurs were on auction in Langley, B.C."},"content":{"rendered":"

“#That time life-sized, animatronic dinosaurs were on auction in Langley, B.C.<\/strong>”
\nBidders at a sale of the velociraptors, pterosaurs and T. Rexes this August fell into two categories: grazers and carnivores<\/p>\n

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\"More<\/img><\/p>\n

More than 500 dino-related items were up for grabs at Able Auctions in Langley, B.C., in what one auctioneer called a once-in-a-lifetime event (Photograph by Alana Paterson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Bargain hunters might have anticipated the roars and shrieks spilling into the street. But even with the auction house in full view, an 18-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus rex<\/i> gnashing its teeth in the parking lot was enough to stop them in their tracks.<\/p>\n

On a balmy day in August, an industrial park in a corner of Langley Township turned a tad Jurassic when about 50 life-sized, animatronic dinosaurs overtook Able Auctions.<\/p>\n

Prospective bidders from around the province trickled into a packed warehouse brought to life by the herd. Past a gruesome velociraptor clawing at the entrance, and a pterosaur perched overhead, beating its wings and screeching at passersby, the dinos left little room for visitors to snake through the aisles. One particularly hostile yangchuanosaurus\u2014imagine a T. Rex with a bony ridge on its snout\u2014parked on the sidelines kept whipping its tail into traffic.<\/p>\n

But there were more than just machines inside. Display cases and shelves throughout the space were chock full of hundreds of other exhibits also up for auction the following day: prehistoric fossils (from eggs, to full skeletons, to excrement), casts of the genuine articles, and a scale that balances a human\u2019s weight against a dinosaur\u2019s, to list just a few.<\/p>\n

Some of the items were branded \u201cDinosaurs Unearthed,\u201d one of several touring exhibits that belonged to Richmond-based EMG Experiential Media<\/a> Group. According to a KPMG report, the company, which filed for bankruptcy in May, designed and created touring exhibitions app<\/a>earing at museums, zoos and attractions around the world\u2014including Vancouver\u2019s Pacific National Exhibition. Able Auctions CEO Jeremy Dodd said his company scooped up the exhibits and arranged for more than 500 items to be auctioned off.<\/p>\n

Once word of the sale hit the web, it didn\u2019t take long for everyone from amateur dinosaur buffs to exhibition companies to recognize what auctioneer Rob* Kavanagh called a \u201conce in a lifetime\u201d opportunity. In his 20 years with the auction house, he\u2019d never seen a sale quite like it\u2014a chance for almost anyone to get their hands on a piece of prehistory.<\/p>\n

\"Animatronic<\/img><\/p>\n

Josiah, who came to the auction with his dad, takes in a T. Rex (Photograph by Alana Paterson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It was enough to entice Andrew Goertzen, a first-time auction-goer weighing in at 1\/95th of a tyrannosaurus, to drive up from Ladner, B.C., with his five-year-old son, Josiah. He had his heart set on a fossilized tooth, preferably from a T. Rex (his son\u2019s favourite). Anything more monstrous or mechanical, he said, would have been impractical for his family\u2019s condo: \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure [the condo corp.] won\u2019t be on board with having a big dinosaur on the patio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josiah himself seemed wary of the animatronics, standing before the T. Rex\u2014otherwise known as Lot 88\u2014with his hands cupped over his ears.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Why this stunning dinosaur fossil discovery has scientists stomping mad<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As the enthusiasts browsed, the more business-minded visitors stood apart, betrayed by clipboards and binders they held close while coursing through the warehouse with an air of detachment.<\/p>\n

Among them was Rob Galey, general<\/a> manager of a family-farm-cum-roadside-attraction near Victoria that features a corn maze, a ghost town and a seven-metre-tall garden gnome. Galey said online commentary around the auction convinced him \u201cthere\u2019s only one place these things belong, and that\u2019s at Galey Farms.\u201d With more than a mile of railroad track running around the property, and nearly a dozen animatronic dinosaurs already on site, he had a mind to furnish the scene with a few more. But he had his doubts as to how the free-for-all would pan out. \u201cYou never know, some multi-billionaire might like some pieces for his kids\u2014just for the backyard,\u201d Daley said. \u201cBut turn your head,\u201d he added, gesturing to Lot 88. \u201cNo one\u2019s got room for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Animatronic<\/img><\/p>\n

Animatronic dinosaurs on auction at Able Auctions in Langley, B.C. (Photograph by Alana Paterson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The bidding war that ensued less than 24 hours later begged to differ. At 11:30 a.m. the following day, the tyrant lizard\u2019s number was up. For the first 30 seconds, the floor was silent. \u201cShould be bids here,\u201d an onscreen message prodded, before someone from Vernon, B.C., kicked it off at $10,000.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A short skirmish ensued between competitors from Victoria and Gilbert Plains, Man., before a dark horse from the dinosaur capital of Canada, Drumheller, Alta., entered the fray with a $20,000 bid. That caught the attention of a Burnaby, B.C., bidder who raised the stakes to $25,500.<\/p>\n

And then it was on.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Mac the Moose\u2019s creator agrees that Norway\u2019s gleaming moose is nicer<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

For a minute and a half, the Burnaby and Drumheller bidders were neck and neck, besting each other $1,000 at a time. The challenger from B.C. tapped out about $10,000 later, when another from the same city picked up the torch. But the Drumheller bidder didn\u2019t miss a beat, and delivered the closing offer, winning the T. Rex for $38,500\u2014the price of a small SUV. The auction house didn\u2019t disclose the buyer\u2019s identity, leaving it a bit of a mystery. While Drumheller\u2019s Royal Tyrrell Museum didn\u2019t participate, a spokesperson said, the Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce copped to taking home some dinosaurs, although Lot 88 wasn\u2019t one of them.<\/p>\n

Goertzen, who was watching the bidding from home, said he was rooting for local bidders after recognizing the Alberta buyer from a few other wins. He felt some ferocious competition himself when bidding for spinosaurus and mosasaurus teeth. With a budget of $300, he had to drop out early and watch the pieces sell for $800 and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was more aggressive than I was expecting,\u201d he acknowledges, \u201cand definitely above the price range that had been agreed upon with my wife.\u201d Still, he added, the whole experience won his son a few dinosaur memories, and you can\u2019t put a price on that.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
<\/br>CORRECTION, Sept. 3, 2020:<\/strong> A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the name of the auctioneer. His name is, in fact, Rob Kavanagh.<\/p>\n

\n<\/hr>\n

This article appears in print in the October 2020 issue of<\/em> Maclean\u2019s magazine with the headline, \u201cPricing out the predators.\u201d Subscribe to the monthly print magazine here.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

If you want to read more News<\/a> articles, you can visit our General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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“#That time life-sized, animatronic dinosaurs were on auction in Langley, B.C.” Bidders at a sale of the velociraptors, pterosaurs and T. Rexes this August fell into two categories: grazers and carnivores More than 500 dino-related items were up for grabs at Able Auctions in Langley, B.C., in what one auctioneer called a once-in-a-lifetime event (Photograph…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[67876,67880,67877,17656,4854,67806,67878,67879,67875],"class_list":["post-64869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-animatronic-dinosaurs-were-on-auction-in-langley","tag-auction","tag-b-c","tag-british-columbia","tag-dinosaurs","tag-editors-picks","tag-life","tag-society","tag-that-time-life-sized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}