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The auction for the sword inspired by Snow Crash ends in three days. I’m surprised that the current bid for the sword ($55,000) [1] exceeds the current bid of f

• krisoft 4y ago
  > I’m surprised that the current bid for the sword ($55,000) [1] exceeds the current bid of for the original manuscript ($35,000) [2]. Why are you surprised? I think about it like this: imagine you bought both and you are having a party. Folks come over, they have a good time, on one shelf they see a bunch of crumpled paper with pen scribles. They will most likely ignore that shelf because it looks like junk. On the other shelf they see a badass sword, clearly a piece of art. Much more likely that they compliment you on it. Much more likely that they will remember it, much more likely that they ask you for the story of it. I love the book, but I’m absolutely not surprised that a cool looking unique object fetches more money than one which looks like junk.
  • zamnos 4y ago
    I mean, after spending $35k, you don't just throw it on a shelf (or maybe you do - I don't have that kind of money), you'd set it on a pedestal in a darkened room so the spotlights make it pop.
    • krisoft 4y ago
      > or maybe you do - I don't have that kind of money I can assure you I'm talking about hypotheticals here. > you'd set it on a pedestal in a darkened room so the spotlights make it pop I assumed the same. You do the same with both. But which pops more? The intricate sword (which comes with its own illuminated display system) or the crumpled papers?
      • JohnFen 4y ago
        Depends on the audience. I have friends who would totally lose their minds over the manuscript and ignore the sword, and I have other friends who would be the other way around.
  • nl 4y ago
    No way! The only thing interesting about this sword is who made it. And the person who made it is known as an author. Plenty of actually interesting swords cost less than $55k and some have real stories and history.
    • deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    • krisoft 4y ago
      > No way! Pardon me, but what exactly are you disagreeing with? > The only thing interesting about this sword is who made it. Yes. It was made by Wētā Workshop. They are a very well known prop and special effects company. That alone increases the value of the item. Further reducing the surprise that their work is valued higher than the loose manuscript is that they have already sold art pieces for hundreds of thousands of dollar. “We are only aware of two other items created by Weta Workshop to have come to auction: Aragorn's sword Andúril from Lord of the Rings: The Return Of The King for $437,000, and Saruman's wizard staff from The Lord Of The Rings trilogy for $125,000, both at Bonhams in 2014.” > And the person who made it is known as an author. Don’t know who made it at Wētā. Perhaps they are indeed authors on their own. But the sword in question was not made by Neal Stephenson. > Plenty of actually interesting swords cost less than $55k and some have real stories and history. Ok? So what? I’m not arguing that $55k is a good price. What I am arguing that it is not surprising that an item carefully crafted by masters of their craft to look good and be desirable sells for more than loose scribled over pages.
• celestialcheese 4y ago
  Was this made for the shelved HBO series?