A copy of the book that every bettor would dream to own sold for $8,320.
Grays Sports Almanac from "Back to the Future II," a book that provided a small betting plot to the sequel of the classic film, was purchased in a Thursday auction.
The almanac was one of many used in the making of the film. A representative for the auction house, Profiles in History, said it has sold several of the almanacs, which in this case was just the cover, in the past.
The price paid for the almanac cover is similar to what someone paid in 2015 in an auction in England ($7,200). Bob Moseley, who has refurbished old DeLoreans and turned them into exact replica time machines for fans of the film, also has a copy.
In the movie, Michael J. Fox’s character Marty McFly, in 2015, buys a copy of the Almanac, which has the results of games from 1950-2000, after he sees a news broadcast that reveals the Chicago Cubs as the winner of the 2015 World Series. He wants to use the DeLorean Time Machine to go back into the future and make money by betting on the events he knows are going to happen.
Dr. Emmett Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd, discourages Marty and throws the Almanac in the garbage can. The character of Old Biff Tannen overhears the conversation, steals the time machine, and brings the book back to November 1955 so he can make money betting on sporting events to which he knows the outcome.
“You see this book?” Old Biff tells his younger self. This books tells the future. It tells the result of every major sports event till the end of the century.”
Young Biff is never shown utilizing the book, nor are the results ever revealed.
The Gray’s Sports Almanac was much talked about in 2016, when the Chicago Cubs actually did win the World Series. The team that hadn’t won for 108 years finally won — and Back to the Future II, which came out in 1989 — was only a year off.
Several other notable movie collectables sold in the auction on Thursday.
A Darth Vader mask from The Empire Strikes Back sold for $300,000. Sylvester Stallone’s boots from his first fight as Rocky against Mr. T (Clubber Lang) in Rocky III sold for $42,000 and Val Kilmer’s Batman costume from Batman Forever sold for $38,400. All prices include buyer's premium.
