AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF THE PENDRAGON STORAGE AUCTION :: BY PHIL DALTON

BY: Phil Dalton

Here's a full report on the Pendragons auction which occured on Wednesday, January 19. Most people would say I'm crazy for flying from Cincinnati, Ohio to California for a chance at an auction, and it truly was a roll of the dice. Not only could some famous name show up and bid higher than I could, but there was still the question of whether the unit would be auctioned at all. Charlotte had until the moment the door went up to pay off her back rent, and there would have been no sale. 

So, I found a really cheap way to fly to Los Angeles, then I rented a car and drove 185 miles north to Arroyo Grande. I arrived at the storage facility 30 minutes early, and was happy to see that there were very few other people present. We all started talking and I asked them if there was any specific unit they had come to bid on (roughly 15 units were auctioned, including the two from Charlotte). I tried as best I could to inform the "dangerous" looking bidders that I had information that the cases were empty (in an effort to keep their bids low). I'm not sure everyone believed me. They said that I'd be crazy to bid on empty "steamer trunks", but I explained that I was a magician and these cases, while not valuable to everyone, were of use to me. As the 12 noon auction time approached, the crowd began to swell. News cameras arrived and interviewed random strangers, asking them if they knew about the Pendragon units (and trying very hard to get these people to say what they wanted- feeding them information like a reverse cold reader)! The final news reports indicated that there were some 150 people in attendance, but I am certain that there were at least 300, and I have pictures to prove that. I only met one other magician, and he was a local guy who had come to see the sights. 

As the auction began...  the first unit (not the Pendragons) consisted of the usual items, such as furniture, etc., and it went for more than $2000. I was hoping that they would save the Pendragons for last, thereby prompting more people to spend their money elsewhere. As it turns out, the plan had been for the Pendragons to go first but the facility had received a call from a magician who was approaching from San Diego and they promised that they'd wait a bit before auctioning the unit. I later found out that this mystery magi never showed! 

The Pendragons units were auctioned 6th and 7th. For those who have never been to one of these, the way it works is they open the door, and you get to walk past. That's it, as far as a preview goes. No entering the space, no reaching in and touching anything. In the news video there were roughly 7 big cases visible, as well as a Kevin James snow animator stool and lots of miscellaneous things in boxes. Well, in person, you could see that there were even more cases in the back- and the snow stool had been completely gutted. The bidding began and quickly reached my limit, then went on, and on, and I stood no chance. The winning bidder got the first unit for $3700 and later revealed that he was prepared to go much higher. So, on to plan B which was to talk to the guy and see if he'd sell me just the cases. But first, there was unit 2 to be auctioned. This one was nearly vacant. There were only two cases there, one of which was damaged, and parts of a third. There were also a couple of random items, but this unit showed mainly bare concrete floor. It sold for $350. I would have certainly bid much higher than that, just for the one good case, had I not had to worry about shipping these items back to Cincinnati. 

So- I approached the man and made him an offer on the cases. He pulled out his cell phone and made some calls, then politely refused my offer. He countered with more than I could spend, so after all the auctions were finished, I approached him again and asked about making a partial deal. He agreed and we went to the unit. Two other curious onlookers followed. He clearly didn't like other people being near his newly purchased storage unit. He got rid of them by reluctantly selling them the swords (Excaliber went for $50). The guy was shrewd- we haggled quite a bit over the price. The entire time he kept his hand on the door, as if he was going to close it at any moment. He kept going back and forth on his price, and I finally had to just walk away. As I got about 20 steps away, he called for me and finally came down to my price. Suffice to say, I got three HUGE cases for an absolute steal. Now, this guy got the deal of the century because he still had 7 cases left and everything else in there. But, at least I had my three cases. 

Upon discovering that I was a magician, he asked me to tell him what else he had. It was neat because at that point, I got to see everything up close. The unit consisted of about 50/50 magic related items and household items. As for the actual ATA cases, the ones we opened were in fact empty (or mostly empty, as one had a black piece of plywood with casters). There were definitely some magic things in the unit, but they were only bits and pieces. There was nothing that I could see that would have amounted to a complete illusion or routine. There was what at first appeared to be an "Instant Babe" table (I nearly fainted!) but as we uncovered it, it proved to be the table/base for some other illusion- not a true "base" for any deceptive purpose, but merely the bottom of something. There was a really cool looking blade which wasn't metal, but was a plexiglass "shard" attached to a handle. There were two wood crates in back that I didn't get to look inside of, but one had a very odd shape, almost as if custom made for one half of the "Clearly Impossible". There was a small fog machine, very worn looking, as if it had seen a million shows. The cardboard box, visible in the news video, contained three large swords, one of which was the Excaliber. I came across many items that were obviously used in the show in one way or another, such as a blue sparkly cloth (and in an attempt to loosen the guy up, I performed "matrix" for him, using that blue cloth as a close-up pad). There were many plastic bins (empty) and most were labeled. It was really cool to hold the one that said "Pendragons Sands"! 

As for unit 2, the one large case did have pieces of an illusion inside. It appeared to be what was left of an "Artists Dream" or something similar, but was definitely put in that case as an afterthought; the case was way too large to have been made for what was there. There was an actual illusion "base" in this unit, leaning against the back wall. However, it was missing it's legs and whatever went on the bottom section to hide the thickness. There was also a backdrop, black with a series of attached lights. It was like a fiber optic backdrop, but made with Christmas lights. So, between both units, I didn't uncover anything useful to a magician other than the giant cases. 

But here's the really sad thing- the winning bidder was not a magician. He was simply a guy who buys storage units and moves everything to a big warehouse, then sells everything he can. The signifigance of these items meant nothing to him. Most likely, the boxes of clothes and shoes, Charlotte's books on painting, all that stuff will end up on a shelf in a second hand store. As for the random magic items, such as that blue cloth, he'll probably sell it as a decorative piece of fabric and all that history will be gone. I did try very hard to get some of these things from him but he wasn't letting go of anything. To him, everything was all a potential sale item. Now, I'm sure he'll eventually realize that he can't do anything with the plastic bins that say Pendragon and they'll simply be tossed out. But at the time, nothing, no matter how useless to him, was leaving that space without being purchased. 

So, I got my three cases and they'll go to good use transporting my illusions. I wish I could have gotten the whole unit and thereby treated the magic stuff with the respect it deserves. But, if Jonathan or Charlotte is reading this, do know that at least three of the cases will have a good home!