I do have to confess that the cynical part of my brain (which has been watching too much Daily Show and is as fed up as Jon Stewart is at all the spin flying around) is thinking - well, of course they'll never admit to it if James *did* throw it away. It's only smart PR to deny that the award was in the trash. But most of my brain is inclined to believe this. And that's really unfortunate. I wonder if they'll email ebay about it, or know that they can...

teenes | August 14, 06:01 CET

I admit that when I first heard this my initial reaction was that it had been thrown away. They're not pretty awards by any stretch of the imagination and quite heavy apparently. But for his manager to publicly accuse this person of theft is pretty serious.

The person selling this on Ebay could be charged with petty theft based on this claim and possibly banned from Ebay where they sell other items they have found in the trash on the Angel set. While I'm sure that agents are not above making claims to protect the reputation of their client, rather than stick their own neck out with a claim of theft a simple "oh it got lost" would have protected James' reputation without making a false criminal charge so I'm inclined to think that it may have been stolen.

Elizard | August 14, 07:00 CET

teenes: Yeah, that got me, too (and Daily Show fan, here!).

Anyway the most I'd think is that he left it behind on accident and feels like a dork, because given the length of time between him recieving the award and the seller's claim that they found it in the trash after the set was shut down, it seems ridiculous that the trash bin wasn't emptied between then. And I still think it's ridiculous he'd throw it away on the set if he wanted to throw it away at all, so I, too, am inclined to believe this.

NirvanaPunk | August 14, 07:11 CET

This evening, I wrote to the seller, and he replied:

Q: According to the official James Marsters website, www.jamesmarsters.com, this Spacey Award was stolen from James' trailer. James is very proud of this award, and neither he or any of his people would ever throw it away. Given this fact, are you willing to return this Spacey Award to James Marsters?

A: First of all I would never steal Anything! I did find this in the trash. I realize that there are allot of people who are very upset that this item is for sale on Ebay. I never meant to upset anyone. I have no affiliation with James or his management company. I would absolutely consider returning this Item to James; however I have not been contacted by him or his management company to request its return. I will take steps to stop this auction; however I don't feel it’s my responsibility to track down James or his representatives. Nor do I feel that I am responsible to pay the high cost of shipping this very heavy item. Again, I am sorry; I did not mean to upset anyone.

I subsequently advised the seller to contact James' website, as I'm sure the Admin of that site will be able to help in returning the Spacey Award to James.

It should also be mentioned that I contacted eBay regarding the fact that this item was stolen.

I just hope that James eventually gets his award back. :-)

barbara | August 14, 07:34 CET

Thank you, barbara.

The seller isn't elaborating beyond "I found it in the trash!", but is pretty concerned that people don't like him, I see. Maybe if he had gotten in contact with him/them in the first place then "responsibility to get in contact" now wouldn't be an issue. He doesn't feel he should contact them so there's a point on the insincere board.

Anyway, I doubt it was taken directly from his "personal trailor" but I doubt even more it was taken from the trash. Somebody'll ask him at the next con.

NirvanaPunk | August 14, 08:00 CET

Well I'm sure there are actors who throw their rewards out (unless it's an Emmy or an Oscar) but I am inclined to believe that that is not the case here just because of how James appears to be.

I've seen few actors more aware and thankful of viewers' appreciation and I just really doubt he'd just toss it. He's also a self-confessed geek of sorts so I really think he just finds it cool to get these things.

Well you never know for sure of course, and there is the 'what else are they gonna say' factor, but then the same applies to the ebay seller. What else is he gonna say? "Oh yeah you got me, I stole it"? Not likely. And of course him saying it's trash 'clears' him, since trash becomes public property, so again, what is he gonna say?

Putting it up for sale is also just a bit stupid. You're saying he tossed an award. Everyone will hear about it. People will be pissed, James'll say he didn't toss it, you'll be accused of stealing, and who wants to buy an award like that? Either stolen or tossed??

Well, no way of knowing for us, but my educated guess sides with James on this.

Oh and the Daily Show does indeed rule;-)

EdDantes | August 14, 08:26 CET

Well, then, did Marsters report it stolen originally?

PMMJ | August 14, 09:27 CET

PMMJ, nobody could answer that. I mean, he didn't come on the internet going "somebody stole my Spacy!" or anything, but it's hardly expected.

NirvanaPunk | August 14, 09:47 CET

The person has ended the auction so I think he is afraid of getting into trouble. I don't believe James would throw this away either (even though it looks like a wig stand!!). It just doesn't seem to fit into his personality. The award actually looks like something he would think was neat and would proudly display. He's been nothing but proud of his time on Buffy and Angel so I doubt he'd just toss away something that was praising his work on both shows.

And do I think someone could've taken it from his trailer - yeah I do. We live in a world where people see an opportunity to make themselves some money and don't care who they hurt. I'm not saying this guy stole it from him. It could be possible someone did steal it and then didn't know what to do with it and did toss it in the trash so I'm definitely not going to accuse the seller of being a thief. What I do think is strange his refusal to want to contact the site that Barbara provided for him. All it would take is a little e-mail explaining how he came about having it and how he's willing to return it but they'll have to pay for shipping. No big deal. I'm sure they could work something out quite easily.

And we don't know if he did report it stolen. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't but no one knows what happened. I just don't think he'd toss it. His fans are too important to him and he knows how valuable having fans like us are and how easily this would've gotten out if he had truly thrown it away. It doesn't make sense from a professional standpoint for him to do this.

Firefly Flanatic | August 14, 10:22 CET

Well said Blwessels. Pretty much what I meant, but, well far better said and explained;-) James is one of the few actors I could see get giddy over this award and mean it, you know?

Yeah you know cuz that's mainly what you said....I'm not contributing much here. Must be late, off to bed, hehe.

EdDantes | August 14, 11:48 CET

No that's fine Rogue Slayer. I'm glad his management has responded. I've amended the other thread with the appropriate details.

Simon | August 14, 11:48 CET

I can only imagine the chaos on set as AtS was wrapping up. I'm forever leaving things behind when moving, packing etc. My company relocated a year ago, and I still have most of my old cubicle in boxes....my point, simply, is that it would be so easy for something like this to get left behind in the madness. To have a box in one hand and the award in another, and to stop and chat and set things down and forget to pick them all up again. Then the studio sends in a bunch of random cleaners to prepare the set for new occupants, and they sweep everything off into bins pell mell.

I'm sure James' management will pay for the shipping charges; I hope we hear a happy resolution to this soon.

wren | August 14, 18:31 CET

I told you all that James would have never thrown away an award. I hope he catches the bastard who stole it then bites him and drains the blood from his body. But that's just my opinion.

SpikeBad | August 14, 20:17 CET

SpikeBad: Please watch the content of your posts. This is the second warning in as many days. It is possible to get your thoughts and opinions across without the agressive posturing.

herb | August 14, 22:12 CET

I'll just shutup from know on.

SpikeBad | August 14, 22:21 CET

Jesus! I spelled now wrong. I really need to shutup.

SpikeBad | August 14, 22:24 CET

SpikeBad? Feel free to edit.

Lioness | August 15, 05:46 CET

I've worked in the music business, and there are award plaques and somesuch out the ying-yang. The thing is that the performer doesn't cart around the award, it is usually shipped to their production offices or whatever, and there isn't constant tracking of these things. Likely, it was shipped to the production office, sat somewhere for a while and was nicked.

It's not like the award givers got an urgent call from Marsters' management, "hey, we didn't get that award you said you sent, and he was going to give it to his bloody mum to dissuade her from her wanton folly".

braingarage | August 16, 00:29 CET

Celebrities get all sorts of crap like this and besides, it's an ugly meaningless award from a Canadian TV station. Why on earth would he want to keep such a thing? I totally believe it was trashed, and I don't blame anyone for doing it, either.

petranef | August 17, 04:59 CET