Two days after the Olympic flame went out and almost 72 hours after 'N Sync's appearance before swooning teens at the Medals Plaza, a pair of tickets for Saturday's bash were auctioning on eBay.
The asking price: $275.
Don't laugh.
The 2002 Winter Olympics are over, but the melee for memorabilia is in full fury on the Internet. Where the street scalpers left off, Games collectors and capitalists took over, using online auctions to buy and sell pins, torches, Roots berets and, yes, even worthless ticket stubs.
How much is out there? A recent search for "2002 Olympic" on eBay.com turned up 6,572 related items for sale. Widen the search to simply "Olympic," and the number hits 18,612.
Some of the wares are breathlessly described as "RARE" and "LIMITED EDITION!!"
There's a $115 American Indian pin still in its plastic wrap; a "VERY RARE!" Olympics package for $1,625 that includes the actual lip balm found in the closing ceremonies spectator packet; and a $1,000 torch, complete with carbon residue from the Olympic flame, which the owner promises "will only add to its value."
For every seller asking $4,000 for a yellow police uniform, there are a hundred more hawking less glamorous items, such as the Feb. 8 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune. The paper — which the seller noted was "unread" — was last seen going for 10 cents.
Some eBay collectibles have no connection to the Olympics, other than a tenuous link to Utah or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"Here is a gorgeous portrait of a well-dressed man and four women," a seller from Seattle writes about his 1880s photo, which he calls "Mormon and Four Wives."
Then there are items that put a dollar figure on volunteer work. Since the going rate for Olympic uniforms — the main perk for volunteers — is the monetary barometer, how much were those 12-hour days spent in nose-running cold really worth?
Depends on how many signatures you got on your jacket.
The auction on a volunteer uniform signed by 27 athletes — most notably short-track gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno — started with a $2,000 bid. By contrast, most unautographed uniforms fetch anywhere from $500 to $1,000.
The best-kept secrets might be the 2002 participation medals, given to athletes and some SLOC workers and volunteers. Made by O.C. Tanner, the rectangular medals are drawing bids of up to $325.
If that doesn't satisfy your souvenir cravings, you can always put a piece of the Olympics right in your living room with this curious collectible: a coffee table built around a Salt Lake manhole cover, one embossed with the Games logo like the ones downtown.
Current bid: $787.
The seller — who's quick to mention that the manhole cover was obtained legally through a city-sponsored contest — sums up the table's social appeal in one sentence.
"Generates great conversation."
E-MAIL: slewis@desnews.com