Fame...?
 

I'm really confused by popularity these days in the epic scope of the times. I don't quite understand trying to sell John Lennon's toilet seat for thousands, and it's always perplexed me how bands like Metalica, Beatles, and such get to epic popularity to a downright ludicrous degree...

More accurately, this, even though it's for charity, makes me blink.

It's art. Art from a cartoonist...what's the big deal? Why do people want a slice of "that popular guy" pie?

Is this a thread for fame and sudden/monumental popularity in general or just wondering why a good piece of art being sold PURELY FOR CHARITY is garnering massive bids from one guy (this holywaste character)? If it is the latter I suspect that if it was just the artwork being sold the piece would only have gotten as far as 1k, maybe 1.5, but when people have a chance to donate to something they believe is worthwhile AND get a piece of whatever from their favorite artist they tend to put more money up, and to me that doesn't seem like such a bad thing.

I think what he's asking is why people these days want stuff that either popular people owned or made (i.e. signed baseballs). I think it's mostly because people want to be able to say "hey, that guy on tv sat on this toilet seat" so they can have a deeper connection with their stars. Or, it could be that they want more popularity amongst their friends by showcasing it to them all.

Or, in this case, it could be for charity. But, I suspect PA bumped up the price to begin with to make more charitable funds.

I hardly think Penny Arcade bumped up the price at all, even Fuitad has made a bid. It's for a good cause, and these things are pretty rare to come across. For a collector or fan, it could just be another peice to add to the collection.

(I'd surely bid if an item used by Masamune Shirow went on sale.)

Personally, I'd be motivated by nostalgia and just the feeling of acquiring something so valuable/collectible.

But not like a toilet seat. no.

Personally, I'd go for any of the KITT models they built for Knight Rider.

But most of the stigma of it being collectible is purported by the people selling such things. It's a manufactured, non-existent "economy" that everyone just accepts--it's value is literally in the mind.

And even though this is true and people do make decisions based off of this, my point is that when something is considered rare, suddenly everyone wants it. Why? There's no logical reason to want to own something rare, if it is just to "collect" it. It's a paradox: you own it to feel like you have a piece of something important; that in this niche or this part of the world, at least you have something that makes you unique; you have something that others envy you. Why do they envy you? Because they want to have something for which they will be envied. It's a neverending cycle, and the only way to get rid of it is to just smash it all away in your head--I stopped "collecting" things awhile ago.

The difference between...accumulating, and collecting, I suppose, is the stock you put into it. I think the important thing isn't to get attached. Be realistic, that is--I used to be so overprotective of my music collection, and I still am, in a way: it took a long time to download all that stuff. But in a way, now, I don't care. If my hard drive crashes and burns tomorrow, only the directly pragmatic things for day to day activities will be lost--even my music. Oh well, it's gone--it was good while it lasted, and I can rebuild it. Once one becomes attached, they'll go to extreme lengths--often losing sight of the reason they started in the first place.

Exactly why diamond rings are completely worthless pieces of property for people to own. The rareity of natural diamonds makes them harder to gather from the earth, so in turn these elements cost more, but they really mean nothing at all. Their value is entirely imposed, a human creation. The only realistic value is the industrial cutting strength of diamonds.

Actually, Diamonds are not rare at all. They've just been monopolized so that only a few are made available to the public, thus keeping the prices up.

Even that is open to debate. The store I work at sells diamond rings for insane prices, but for some reason, we're still able to stock more. And there are 500 stores nationwide. Therefore no real shortage. It's just seen that diamonds should be worth more than your average cubic zircona or substitute. (Strange that, considering oftentimes the cubic zircona actually looks better than the diamond. I know they're manufactured, but they're so darn pretty in the light!)

That's the point I was making. There is no shortage. The diamond cartels have more than enough, but they, being "smart" businessmen, let out only enough to keep the public satisfied while still being able to sell at rediculous prices as if there actually was a shortage.

I'm starting to believe the same might be true for gasoline. Here's why. How many dinosaurs, animals, and plants do you think would have to have died in the Middle East, practically on top of one another in almost the same place, to produce the amount of oil the region has been producing for about 100 years?

Think about that for a while.