Ripley's Believe It or Not! National Tour to Discover Strange, Weird and Unbelievable Items Comes to New York City

Ripley's Looks to Buy Items from the Public at its "Bizarre Buying Bazaar" in Times Square on June 6 and 7. End Quote

Orlando, FL (1888PressRelease) May 17, 2014 - Not sure what to do with that shrunken head that's been taking up space in the closet? Ripley's Believe It or Not! has the solution.

New York City is the seventh stop on a road trip through the U.S. and Canada to find and acquire items worthy of being part of the world famous Ripley's Believe It or Not! collection. Ripley's Bizarre Buying Bazaar is coming to the Times Square attraction on Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 from 9:00am to 6:00pm.

Edward Meyer, Ripley's vice president of exhibits and archives, will review all items that come in and will make on-the-spot offers for items to add to Ripley's Believe It or Not! collection. For more than 35 years, Meyer has traveled the world collecting unusual stories and unbelievable items for the company. He has acquired more than 20,000 different museum artifacts, as well as countless stories for its cartoon and books.

Meyer hopes New Yorkers can top what he acquired at the last Bizarre Buying Bazaar - a sculpture of a thumb made from fingernail clippings. The Florida artist who created it saved his own fingernail clippings for 44 years, and then encased them in clear resin to create his one-of-a-kind masterpiece. It got the thumbs up from Meyer and it will be on display for the first time ever at the Bizarre Buying Bazaar in New York City.

"It's exactly the kind of mind-boggling item that we're after," said Meyer. "We're hoping to find oddities, artifacts, relics, strange things from science and nature, unusual artwork - the weirder the better. I am excited to see what turns up in Times Square."

Meyer has purchased more than 100 items from the public at Bizarre Buying Bazaar events - everything from a rare New Guinea widow's finger chopper and a motorcycle created from cow, alligator and other animal bones, to a lamp made from a taxidermy chicken. Items offered but not purchased included a $400,000 Lamborghini and what may be a Stradivarius violin worth an estimated $2.5 million.

Even if Ripley's doesn't acquire an item, its owner may still get an oddpraisal that means Meyer won't necessarily tell people what an item is worth, but will give them an idea of how unusual it is.

Oddity owners planning to attend the Bizarre Buying Bazaar are encouraged to RSVP to Angela Johnson at Johnson ( @ ) ripleys dot com with details on the item to allow the Ripley's research team the opportunity to find out more about the particular item(s) of interest in advance dot

The Bizarre Buying Bazaar will be held on Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 at Ripley's Believe It or Not! Times Square, located on West 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenue. The event will run from 9:00am to 6:00pm both days.

The Bizarre Buying Bazaar at Ripley's Believe It or Not! Times Square is free to attend. Entrance into to the Ripley's Times Square museum is $29.95 for adults and $22.95 for children ages 4-12 years old.

Media Contacts

Edward Meyer
VP, Exhibits & Archives
Ripley Entertainment Inc.
407-345-8010 - office
407-492-8256 - cell
meyer ( @ ) ripleys dot com

Gina Sisco / Shannon Overholser
Redpoint Marketing PR, Inc.
212-229-0119
sisco ( @ ) redpointpr dot com / overholser ( @ ) redpointpr dot com

About Ripley's Believe It or Not! Times Square
Located in Times Square in the heart of New York City, Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium brings people of all ages face-to-face with the world's most unbelievable curiosities. With 18,000 square feet of astonishing artifacts, exclusive oddities, exciting interactive exhibits and heart-stopping sideshow performers, this one-of-a-kind attraction welcomes visitors to experience the unusual and unexpected, where the entire family will rediscover wonder around every corner. Ripley's Believe It or Not! Times Square is open from 9:00am - 1:00am. For further information, visit www.ripleysnewyork.com.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RipleysNY; tell us your most unusual stories and like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RipleysNY.
About Ripley Entertainment
Ripley's Believe It or Not! is part of the Ripley Entertainment Inc. (www.ripleys.com) family of worldwide attractions, the global leader in location-based entertainment. More than 12 million people visit its 90-plus attractions in 9 countries each year. In addition to its 31 Believe It or Not! Odditoriums, the Orlando, Florida-based company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions that oversee projects including the syndicated Believe It or Not! television show, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, that still runs daily in 42 countries. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the third-largest privately held company in Canada.

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