The buyer of an original Mr Blobby costume – who was set to pay £62,000 for the item – has reportedly backed out of the sale.
An eBay auction for the piece of TV memorabilia, which is more than 25 years old, attracted huge interest last week.
The costume sold for £62,101 but it has now emerged the buyer pulled out of the sale within an hour of placing the large bid.
The anonymous seller told the BBC: “I thought it would get to a level of £100 perhaps – and so I was shocked really that it reached the level it did.
“I think it was one of those things that was driven by social media.
“Ironically, it was being sold not to make money but to make space.”
The Mr Blobby suit was made by the BBC’s costume supplier and was due to be used for Noel’s House Party but the TV show was cancelled before it could be delivered.
Running from 1991 to 1999, Noel’s House Party was a BAFTA-winning light entertainment show.
Earlier, the seller said the costume was in need of a new home after they claimed that neither the broadcaster nor the BBC’s production team wanted it.
The costume needed some attention due to its age, with one of the plastic eyes cracked.
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While eBay’s terms and conditions rule that winning an auction means the user has committed to buy the item, it cannot enforce this by law.
According to the BBC, the seller has decided to keep hold of the Mr Blobby costume for now.
