Ebay Madness: Are California Raisins Worth a Fortune?
If you were alive during the late eighties, it was impossible to escape the craze for the California Raisins. These claymation dudes were the cat’s ass. It was one of the very few times where a public service announcement was not only successful it spawned a minor pulp culture phenomena that included two TV specials, a video game, a short lived cartoon series, and tons of other merchandise. Not only was I suckered into the raisin phenomena, but I too had to have as many of the plastic figures, which weren’t really toys but they count, a Raisin bookmark, and a California Raisin t-shirt. I had become a raisin zombie. Or a raisinombie, if you will.
While surfing eBay, a particular California Raisin auction caught my eye. There was a set of California Raisins figurines going for the incredible price of 400 bucks. Now, this just about blew my mind. I grew up right in the midst of Raisin mania and I had some of these figurines, but I never thought they’d be worth anything. I immediately asked the seller if this auction was for real or not, to make sure it wasn’t some sort of crazy scam. He verified that the auction was indeed legit. A day later the auction closed with the ending bid of around 600 bucks. It turned out the winner didn’t pay, but the second place “winner” did.
Before you go rushing to your basement or closet looking for stray raisin figures let me warn you, the only reason the auction went to such a lofty amount was because of a few very rare figures:
Two of the figures that I can identify in this photo are vegetables named Cecil Thyme & Leonard Lima who, according to my fiancee who knows way too much about the California Raisins, are in the Meet the Raisins TV movie. These guys are extremely rare. So rare that the few insane raisin completists must have them all. I for one never knew that there were people who actually collected these things to the point where they were willing to pay four hundred bucks just for the two of them, which I saw in another auction. I’m not here to judge, but Jesus 600 bucks for California Raisins figurines? Are you out of your fuggen skull?
On a side note: Damn it, “I Heard it Through the Grape Vine” is now stuck in my head. Well, at least it isn’t the My Buddy jingle.
Bonus Video: The California Raisins and Claymation Ray Charles
toy, toy collecting, ebay, California Raisins, youtube
May 17th, 2007 at 8:05 am
Oh, I definitely remember these fellas! I had some, too, and they were EVERYWHERE! Such a weird thing to catch on…
May 17th, 2007 at 9:51 am
If you think that’s bad… Search QuincyRepresents on ebay and see what I just forked out on a DinoRiders T Rex, Sealed. …But I’ve still got no remorse. yet…
May 17th, 2007 at 10:35 am
quincy, I’m sure that every penny was spent wisely. A Dinosaur toy is always worth it. As I said before: dinosaurs rule. Have you seen the dinoriders commercial I put up awhile back?
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Emma, thanks for stopping by! And yes, it is extremely weird in retrospect.
May 17th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
No, I haven’t seen it yet but I’ll be looking through your site and check it out.
I just got the Rex today through UPS. …Get this: It was packaged in the original KayBee bag it was carried out of the store in. In the bag: a receipt for the toy. $59.95, Nov. 17th, 1989. Pretty cool.
I’m thinking Bone Age might be a good line to collect too.
May 17th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Well, I hope you like what you find Quincy.
By the way that is totally “off the hook” as the kid’s say. I feel like I’ve been kicked in the nuts with awesome.
May 18th, 2007 at 11:54 am
Don’t misquote your sources! I have never heard of Leonard Lima, but you did fail to mention that two other figures were featured in Meet the Raisins: Rudy Begaman, the California Raisins’ manager, and Lick Broccoli, a Mick Jagger-esque hard rock singer that the Raisins opened up for in their early days. And yes, I do know way too much about this subject.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Hi im Jason the guy that sold these raisins. Just wanted to say the winning bidder did pay for the auction the runner up offered to pay if he did not but i got the winning amount. The total with shipping was $616.00 for my raisins. If you want to view the auction my user id is comin_round and check my feedback to view the auction through the link. peace
April 8th, 2008 at 5:54 am
[...] common misconception of California is that it is a “blue� state from border to border. The significant size and economy of the [...]
January 11th, 2009 at 12:54 am
I have 23 different raisins if anyone is interested in these? Contact me at seahunt1735@yahoo.com if you’re interested in these California Raisins or would like to see a photo of what I have.
July 11th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I am one of those crazy PVC CALRAB figure collectors. That auction is indeed a beauty. The four rarest raisins are included in that auction. I only have one of them (the carrot aka Cecil Thyme).
The Rare 4 in no particular order because the same amount of each was produced are:
A.C.(red shoes, next to Cecil in the photo), Cecil Thyme (the carrot), Leonard Limabean(the green one), and Lulu Arborman (has the apron on).
In the movie, A.C. is the main singer of the band. His mom is Lulu. Cecil Thyme tells the Raisins story in a “True Hollywood Story” fashion. As a kid, I never saw the second movie, which had Leonard in it, so I don’t know what he was. I think he was a greedy manager or something antagonistic.
The Lick Brocoli, Rudy Bagaman, and Red the Piano Player are about 5 times more common than the Rare 4. In days before eBay, they were hard to find in parts of the USA. The 3 figures with the brown sand so called “Raisin’ Some Fun in the Sun” are also rare compared to the rest of the figures in that auction.
In 1998, the Rare 4 were valued at $110-125 each. Lick and Rudy were about $20, and Red about $25. I am not surprised at the auction final price, I wish I would have seen it, since I need A.C., Lulu, and Leonard.
I am currently tracking an auction that has A.C. and Lulu in it. It is at 92$ with 2 days left to bid. I am prepared to pay several hundred.
I also obtained my Cecil through eBay. I paid $153.50 for Cecil Thyme, Lick Brocoli, Rudy Bagaman, and a normal orange sunglasses Ben Indasun Raisin. It was my 1st Cecil, and 3rd Rudy and Lick.
I conclude that this is not madness. I was born in 1987 and the is the year the Raisins were “born” as well. In 1991 I remember receiving Raisins in Happy Meal toys. Then, when I was about 8, I was with my parents at an antique store and saw 1 Raisin. I begged them to buy it for me and then I became an avid collector. I didn’t have internet/eBay until I was about 18, so all the Raisins before then were appreciated a little more. The Raisins remind me of my youth, so I don’t think it should be called madness or “fuggin” anything. I am a 2nd year pharmacy student, so I guess even professionals like to collect “silly” things.
Thanks and I still wish I had seen that auction!!!
July 11th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Holy shit.