Jurassic Park Crofton style will have to wait.
Crofton resident Scott Ferron made the trek to Langley last Thursday in the hope of landing an animatronic dinosaur or two from an on-line auction conducted by Able Auctions. But the bidding went through the roof.
“The prices were probably three times what they were expecting,” said Ferron.
The dinosaurs available at the auction were remnants from a Richmond company that went bankrupt in 2016 and prompted the sell-off.
The big Tyrannosaurus Rex that attracted plenty of worldwide attention in advance of the auction went for $39,000.
Ferron still didn’t hesitate to throw his hat in the ring along the way for a chance at a dinosaur.
“I was on the phone with a lot of people and we were throwing numbers out there,” he said. “Within a second, I was outbid.”
But needless to say, “it was a lot of fun,” Ferron added.
More than 4,600 people took out ID numbers to make bids in the auction.
The owner of Liquor Planet in Langford that has a dinosaur in its logo managed to cash in on a few smaller ones for the store.
Ferron said the smaller dinosaurs were even fetching $2,000-$3,000.
Even though he came away empty-handed, other than a two-light tripod he bought for $25, Ferron plans to team up with the Liquor Planet owner on a possible purchase.
“We’re going to see if we can pick up a couple of new ones – one for her and one for me – in the next year or so,” he said.
The new ones, according to Ferron, have astounding features that are even more astounding and lifelike than the ones sold at the auction.
And you can buy them new for prices in the neighbourhood of $10,000-$15,000 U.S., much cheaper than the auction rates.
So all is not lost in Ferron’s quest for some dinosaur stardom for Crofton that would prove to be a tourist attraction and make Halloween just a little more interesting.
In the meantime, he has a T-Rex already under construction, utilizing his skills as a chainsaw carver. It might take a while to complete it depending on his work schedule, but he plans to keep chipping away.
All going well, he’ll have it done in 3-4 months and expects it to stand about nine or ten feet tall.