A few days ago, Brad Oldham sent over a Traveling Man cuff bracelet -- based, of course, upon the sculpture series he and Brandon Oldenburg created for the Deep Ellum Green Line stops -- which he's selling through his StackNWear site. I called to thank him and see if, well, maybe we couldn't find something to auction off to raise a few bucks for North Texas Food Bank, which, as you probably know, finds itself in desperate need of money at the moment. We did this last year as well, when Ian Dingman was gracious enough to donate his original sketch for the Criterion Bottle Rocket DVD.
What Oldham offered up, as you can see above, is pretty extraordinary.
That's a three-inch-tall version of the Traveling Man bird, stamped on the bottom with both Oldham and Oldenburg's signatures, as well as the year. And there are only a handful in existence: The two men made them to give to family and only a few friends as Christmas gifts; Brad had an extra one manufactured exclusively for Unfair Park. The winner of the auction will also receive the cuff he sent over initially, as well as a signed photo of Traveling Man.
But that's not all we're auctioning off. Because, yes, given the shape of the economy at present, I felt like we needed to juice up the offerings in order to make a substantial amount for North Texas Food Bank. And, perhaps, you and several of your friends can go in together and split the winnings. Or maybe you can just take care of all your Christmas shopping needs in one fell swoop.
Another local artist has also been generous to donate to the cause. His name is Kristian Donaldson, who, most recently, did the cover for Pete's cover story about Club Dada. Kristian's also a busy and beloved comic-book professional. Fanboys will recognize his handiwork from DC Comics' DMZ and Fallen Angel and IDW's Supermarket, among others.
Jump to see the three pieces of original art -- yes, three -- he's donated to the cause. And, you need to go on the other side to see how this will work.
As you can see, we're not screwing around this year. Go big, or go home, right? Right. So tell all your fanboy friends. Do it now.
We'll do this just as we did in 2008: The auction will run till December 23 at noon. Bidding is for all the items, which are being offered as a complete package, and must be done in the comments. (Comments unrelated to bidding will be deleted -- I just want to see numbers and dollar signs.) You need not post your real name, but you must include your real e-mail address.
I will post a handful of reminders between now and then. And you will bid. And keep bidding till we make North Texas Food Bank a few dollars.
