Whedonesque : Comments on 5472 : Another Buffy Prop.

Also check out this prop

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18839&item=4057225308&rd=1

So that's how much money he gave her! I was wondering how big that check was.

electricspacegirl | December 03, 04:43 CET

Huh. I always wondered how much money Giles gave Buffy. For some reason, $10,000 seems a little less than I was expecting.

Jet Wolf | December 03, 04:45 CET

BufSlyAngel, I found this funny from the ad you linked:

"I am not sure which episode it is from, but it is definitely Season Two."
"This is very rare and special for fans of Buffy like me!"

Hmm, if you're a fan yourself, it probably wouldn't kill you to find out what episode it's from, and also if it's 'very rare and special for fans of Buffy like me', why would you sell it? Can't be because you need $10 that bad! And also, 'buy it now' for $700!? I could pull up any screencap of Buffy holding a stake, whiddle one up to match, and say it's authentic. PLEASE, no one pay $700 on a complete stranger's word!!

Rogue Slayer | December 03, 04:55 CET

Always amazes me that Americans have their address on their cheques, sorry, checks. Just seems strange.

And ten grand isn't that much. For all those years Giles was PAID to be a watcher and Buffy never got a bean! Not a clothing alowance, expenses, nothing! And Giles could only spare a lousy ten thou?!

And that stake does look dodgy. "An investor in the show"? That would be Rupert Murdoch then....

Unless he's prepared to name the investor and his connection to the show can be proved I wouldn't give money to an Ebay'er with only two feedback. And one is for http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=201&item=4052873644 , a lock of JM's hair! Read the comments, didn't he shave his hair for charity?

[ edited by zz9 on 2004-12-03 03:00 ]

zz9 | December 03, 04:55 CET

Well, I think I can name the season 2 episode the picture of Buffy and stake are from. If I'm not mistaken, the screenshot is from "Innocence". I wouldn't trust this ebay'er either.
------

Snyder: There're some things I can just smell. It's like a sixth sense.
Giles: No, actually that would be one of the five.
--"When She Was Bad"

jewel | December 03, 05:26 CET

Read the comments, didn't he shave his hair for charity?

Yes, and he shaved it months ago! Not for his role on The Mountain. What an f'n liar!! I have no doubt this hair is fake, but someone was stupid enough to pay $560 for it!! And James isn't going to freely give the hair away when the purpose was charity. 'Major James Marsters fan' my a$$!!

And the person hangs out at the set, but lives in Louisiana???

Rogue Slayer | December 03, 06:15 CET

It never made sense to me that Buffy didn't get "paid" from the Watcher's Council for her duties. Giles early on implied she'd never have a life of her own and that she had to devout herself completely to being a Slayer so you'd think they'd support the slayer with a paycheck. Giles got paid for his duties so why not the Slayer!

Anyway, back on topic! That check would be a cool prop to have, and would be something I wouldn't mind having but I could never afford these prices.

Firefly Flanatic | December 03, 06:20 CET

Okay, had to check out what all the hair comments were about and now that I did, definitely a con artist at work here. The picture he is showing is from the Ryan Seacrest Show where his head was actually being shaved and this person is making it look like the hair he is auctioning is from that day which was many, many months ago. It amazes me that someone would pay this amount of money from someone who is an unproven seller with only two feedbacks. Hmmm, my husband needs a haircut and has similar hair to James... maybe I can make some money (I hope you all know I'm just kidding!).

Firefly Flanatic | December 03, 06:27 CET

Maybe Giles gave her an allowance. :)

Christopher | December 03, 06:47 CET

I eBay quite a lot and one of the things I find most vexing is exorbitant shipping costs...I got shirty with a seller who told me it would cost $7 to send a magazine...I got that down to around $3, which was still ludicrous.

And this seller wants to charge $15 to send a check??? After asking for $700 for it, the seller ought to be able to eat the shipping cost, one would think.

I'm not poor (as I have been on occasion), but these prop prices are insane.

Chris inVirginia | December 03, 07:53 CET

Just checked out that JM hair auction - Oy! That makes me just ill. What a &*@@#!! liar! I'm horrified someone actually spent $560 on some random guy's hair.

And I always wondered how much Giles gave her! $10,000 seems about right. It's enought to make a difference in helping pay the household bills for a while, but low enough to believe that he could spare it. And believe that it ran out after several months.

Joss' bitch | December 03, 09:23 CET

"And Giles could only spare a lousy ten thou?!"

Giles gave Buffy his life, his girlfriend's life, his pride and was tortured by the vampire she later took back as her boyfriend and 10,000 is not enough?

Caroline | December 03, 11:04 CET

Well, since Giles was being paid a full wage by the council AND a full wage by the school as librarian it seems grossly unfair that Buffy got zilch!

zz9 | December 03, 12:19 CET

I was thinking much the same thing Caroline.

Angela | December 03, 12:38 CET

I'm looking purely financial, not the blood, sweat and tears aspect. Even so, it's hardly an amount to sneeze at. But then considering that Giles was obviously sitting on enough money to be unemployed throughout S4, buy both a brand new sportscar AND a store (plus renovations and new inventory) in the early part of S5 and then get almost two years in back-pay from the Council ... I dunno, it seems to me like $10,000 might be a drop in the bucket to ol' Rupes.

Jet Wolf | December 03, 13:54 CET

VIP Auctions did list this check a few months ago, and $10,000 was the correct amount. I tried to look back to see who won, but it was outside the 90 day window. I am not totally sure but I thought that the check sold for more than the price it is listed here for. As for that stake, I truly doubt anyone could be naive enough to send someone with (2) feedback $700 through the mail. It is more than just a little a little shady, I give most people credit for more intelligence than that.

[ edited by rockchalkwatcher on 2004-12-03 13:31 ]

rockchalkwatcher | December 03, 15:23 CET

You right, Caroline. Not to mention the numerous times Giles has been knocked unconscious, once by Buffy herself. Speaking of money, I always wondered where Willow got hers. I mean, everyone else worried about money. Buffy, Xander and Anya had to work to make ends meet. Willow was always la, la, la. Must have been a rich family or a "witch" thing ;)

Madhatter | December 03, 16:24 CET

Madhatter, my interpretation has always been that Willow is a nice Jewish girl, whose parents are supporting her (financially) until she finishes college.

WWBD | December 03, 18:24 CET

Taking a look at the picture of the check itself -- and maybe this is just a quibble -- but if Giles had written the check on his return trip to Sunnydale after making what was to be a permanent move back to England, wouldn't the address on the check not be one from Sunnydale? I'd imagine Giles of all people would remember to change banks...

RambleOn623 | December 03, 18:58 CET

I give most people credit for more intelligence than that.

Well, someone paid $560 for a lock of James' hair that he apparently shaved on the set of The Mountain....I don't give people much intelligence when I read crap like that. I don't know what's worse, that someone put up that ridiculous story without researching, or that someone else paid that much for hair based on a made up story.

Rogue Slayer | December 03, 19:11 CET

I'm glad to know where Giles lived. I never knew before ;-) I tried to link to the stake (?) but it doesn't seem to be valid anymore.Don't think I can bear going to the one with "James'" hair.
I always knew that some people bought Buffy/Angel memorabilia to sell it later - interesting to see it start.

Lioness | December 03, 19:51 CET

WWBD: "Willow is a nice Jewish girl, whose parents are supporting her (financially) until she finishes college." LOL. Indeed. Although, let's be honest, Willow is about as Jewish as the Rev. Billy Graham (or the Archbishop of Canterbury, if you prefer).

SoddingNancyTribe | December 03, 20:19 CET

Just wanted to point out to people who may not be clicking on the link that it is two different sellers being discussed. The one selling the check from Giles has over 500 feedbacks and the other person selling the "stake" and the very questionable locks of JMs hair only has two feedbacks.

Now, to jump on the defending Giles bandwagon. I think $10,000 was a substantial amount of money to help Buffy with her mortgage and utilities bills and who's to say he didn't eventually give her more. And if he had tried to give her more she may have outright refused. My only beef, as mentioned above, is that it made no sense that Buffy was never given any compensation herself from the Watcher's council for her years of duty.

Firefly Flanatic | December 03, 20:34 CET

Don't think I can bear going to the one with "James'" hair.

Don't bother, it seems all this member's Buffy auctions are now unavailable. Even the other celeb hair auction and the stake are gone. And somehow they made the old James' hair one inaccessible. Hopefully this guy got turned in or got a conscience...

Oh, I just looked again, this user is no longer a registered E-bay user!! HA!!

[ edited by Rogue Slayer on 2004-12-03 18:36 ]

Rogue Slayer | December 03, 20:35 CET

my interpretation has always been that Willow is a nice Jewish girl, whose parents are supporting her (financially) until she finishes college.

Sorry, WWBD, not L-ingOL. This is a rude statement based on stereotypes. Maybe it's true that Willow's parents are supporting her financially (if in no other ways), but it's not because they're Jewish.

SNT, got to agree that Willow never seemed very Jewish. I could buy that her father would have a fit about a cross hanging in her room (to keep Angel out) but not that he would ban "A Charlie Brown Christmas"! Then again, Jews vary as much as any other group of people.

Gaudior | December 03, 20:48 CET

Rogue Slayer, that's great! Wonder who turned him in? I say with you, HA!!

Lioness | December 03, 21:40 CET

Hmm, Giles being paid and not Buffy. Where is the feminism in that?

Clearly Buffy should have taken the Watchers Council to the UK Equal Opportunities Commission. An open and shut case of sex discrimination and equal pay. It could have been a landmark case. It could have gone to the High Court. We could have had courtroom drama. We could have had judges and barristers in wigs saying ‘Milord’ a lot.

I would have loved to have seen this particular episode.

Although it may not have come to that, I once threatened my ex-employer with the commission when I was in a non-equal pay position, and you know what, they paid up in a heartbeat. Just goes to show. If anybody is in a similar situation, make damm sure you stand up for yourself.

miranda | December 03, 21:51 CET

Lioness, I would imagine it would have to be more than one person complaining to get his account terminated. I thought about writing the guy myself to tell him how dispicable he was, but I didn't fancy any 'Ebay retribution' from him! ;~) Guess now there's no point, as he got what he deserved.

Rogue Slayer | December 03, 22:04 CET

Excellent discussions from all. I think we should consider each others words.

Madhatter | December 03, 22:49 CET

As a viewer of the show I can understand why Buffy wasn't paid, it's about the calling, the duty, not a job. But from a practical point of view it just doesn't make sense. When Buffy had to get a job, and I know this was after resigning, every second she was at work to keep a roof over her head was a second she could have been patrolling. How many people got attacked while she was flipping burgers?

Giles described his 'job' as a calling, following in the footsteps of his father and his grandmother. So why does his 'calling' get paid and Buffys 'calling' not? I can understand why the council would think that way ( officers and enlisted men and all that ) but I was always annoyed that Buffy put up with it.

zz9 | December 04, 03:21 CET

I agree that it would've been nice to see Buffy stand up to the Council, though I can understand both dramatically and thematicaly why they didn't. As for the Council not paying the Slayers at all, it seemed pretty clear to me they viewed the Slayer as a disposable weapon. Don't like this one, throw her away and try the next. Stupid? Absolutely. But then that's hardly an adjective that's never been applied to the Council before.

Jet Wolf | December 04, 07:25 CET

Not only that, but most Slayers died fairly quickly, not making it into adulthood where payment would become a necessity. Pre-Buffy Slayers were teenagers still attached to their family or Watcher as parental/trainer figure.

Willowy | December 04, 07:55 CET

In many post-Chosen fanfics Buffy et al. dip into the resources the Council left behind. (Theft? Ahem.) And Buffy's and Dawn's apartment in Rome where Dawn attended private school suggests they were pretty well off.

Kristina | December 04, 17:41 CET

December 03 2004