Crazy Eddie Is Back and His eBay Auction is Insaaaane!

[mandy]

Crazy Eddie Trademark & Internet Domain Name For Sale. Buy it now for $800,000. 

“Crazy Eddie,” the East Coast retail wizard popular for his unique on-air advertising style that created a cult following during the 1970s and 1980s, is on the auction block on eBay.com. On June 22, 2006, a 10-day long auction will kick off for the “Crazy Eddie” trademark and the crazyeddie.com Internet domain. Houston-based Trident Growth Fund, LP, is auctioning off the trademark and related business goodwill after obtaining it from the “Crazy Eddie” Antar family in 2004.

“Crazy Eddie” broke new ground in consumer electronics merchandizing in the early 1970s with his innovative marketing tactics. In the 1980s, “Crazy Eddie” produced more than 7,500 creative and outrageous television and radio commercials that saturated the airwaves and helped “Crazy Eddie” gain name recognition second only to New York City’s Mayor Ed Koch. Nobody in the history of retail merchandizing could sell electronics, appliances, records, CDs and jewelry like “Crazy Eddie.” His highly discounted prices made his 43 stores in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut popular with customers.

“The eBay auction of the Crazy Eddie trademark, domain name and business goodwill is a rare opportunity to purchase an asset with such a strong history in both pop culture and in the U.S. retail industry,” said Larry St. Martin, a partner at Trident Growth Fund. “While it’s a novelty people associate with a lot of fun and high energy, Crazy Eddie is also known as a defining brand representing value in consumer electronics purchases. We anticipate the auction will draw bids from retailers, both “brick and mortar” and Internet merchandisers, and from Internet search engine companies that specialize in leading consumers to the lowest price product offerings.”

“Crazy Eddie,” the man and the electronics empire, made numerous comebacks during a forty-year business career, thanks in part to the second and third generations of the “Crazy Eddie” Antar family. “Crazy Eddie” became a permanent fixture in pop culture both in the U.S. and abroad, particularly following Dan Akroyd’s impersonation of the retail icon with his “Bassomatic” commercials on Saturday Night Live. The 1984 Ron Howard comedy film Splash – now a cult classic – showed a mermaid, played by Daryl Hannah, learning about life on dry land by watching “Crazy Eddie” television commercials. The cultural phenomenon continued with Fox Network’s popular animated series, Futurama created by Matt Groening, who also created The Simpsons. Futurama, which aired from 1999 through 2003, included yet another parody of “Crazy Eddie” with the character “Malfunctioning Eddie,” an over-excited robot who sells cars and sometimes explodes with excitement.

To view several of the most memorable “Crazy Eddie” television commercials, visit http://www.crazyeddie.com. The Web site also contains a direct link to the “Crazy Eddie” auction on eBay.

The successful bidder is purchasing the Crazy Eddie trademark, the Crazy Eddie Internet Domain Name (www.crazyeddie.com) and all related business goodwill.

Rhe auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190000837720

[mandy]

Update:

BIDDERS WERE NOT crazy enough for Crazy Eddie.

An eBay auction failed to fetch a bid high enough for the finance company selling the trademark and Internet domain for the storied Brooklyn electronics chain.

The Trident Growth Fund, owners of the Crazy Eddie Inc. "insaaaaane" trademark, had set an undisclosed reserve price for the piece of pop culture.

When the 10-day auction came to a close yesterday, the highest bid was $30,100...

full article: http://www.nydailynews.com/business/stor...4076c.html

[bargainbloodhound]

His highly discounted prices made his 43 stores in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut popular with customers.

I think I only bought ONE thing at Crazy Eddie.  I shopped elsewhere and found better deals. 

[regic]

I used Crazy Eddie's forehead for Nerf ball target practice whenever his commercials came on.