Top 3 Survivor Auctions

Nobag

With this past episode of Survivor: Cagayan featuring an auction, I decided that now would be a perfect opportunity to go over some of the greatest auctions in Survivor history. The top 3 (in my opinion) Survivor auctions really put Cagayan's to shame. I'll go over each of them and mention some of the highlights. (Image credit CBS and Survivor Wikia)




#3: Survivor: Gabon
At Final 7, the Nobag Tribe (Gabon spelled backwards) held its Survivor Auction. Gabon's auction is mostly memorable for the great Cookie Feud, but there's some other great moments here as well.

Here's the video of this auction if you want to watch it first (not visible on mobile devices; just look on YouTube).

• Beer and Peanuts: Randy and Sugar have hated each other since the moment they met, and they bid back and forth for the beer, which Randy finally wins with $180. Sugar then says "I don't like beer that much...I just wanted to up the ante for him."
• Covered Item (Note): Kenny spends $340 for a note that allows him to send Bob to Exile Island and take all his money.
• Covered Item (Chocolate and Peanut Butter): Sugar eggs on Kenny to outbid Randy for the item, and once he gives up, ensures that Randy can't have it by paying $340 herself.
• Hot Bath and New Clothes: Susie pays $340 for the bath and then inexplicably, gets out and dries off pretty fast. Randy says he'll bid $100 for the chance to bathe Susie...and of course, she turns it down. Sugar tells Kenny, "You should have gone for that...I would have cuddled with you if you had new clothes on," to which Kenny responds, "Would you cuddle with a rich man?"
• Immunity Challenge Advantage: Corinne pays all $500 for the advantage, and if my memory serves me, does not end up winning the challenge but still doesn't go home...more on that later.
• Covered Item (Chocolate Chip Cookies): Randy offers the first $20 and buys chocolate chip cookies for the Tribe. He offers Sugar a cookie but she declines, telling him to give hers to Matty. Randy responds that it's not hers to give away. At the very end, he offers her his own cookie, which she takes and gives to Matty just to thwart him.

Biggest Winner: Randy (beer, peanuts, cookies (although he doesn't get one), and spaghetti)

Biggest Loser: Bob (sent to Exile)

Impact: The Cookie Feud succeeded in fueling the flames of hatred between Sugar and Randy, and when Bob won immunity later in the episode (despite Corinne's advantage), Randy acts like even more of a jerk than he is already (if that's possible) in an attempt to get everyone to vote for him instead of Corinne. This is because Bob gave him a hidden immunity idol that he planned on playing that night a Tribal.

But Sugar had the upper hand on Randy once again; she convinced Bob to give Randy his fake immunity idol, and Randy is voted out that night.

#2: Survivor: Micronesia

We're at Final 8 as the Dabu Tribe prepares for its auction. I think the most memorable moment here has to be the chocolate cake...it's finger-licking good. Although my personal favorite might be the fruit bat soup.

Here's this auction's video.

• Covered Item (Hot Dog and French Fries): Cirie buys this for $120 but forgets to give Jeff $20 (or maybe it was on purpose; who knows?). She then wins a hot dog, french fries, and "all the fixins'"
• Covered Item (Nachos): Erik purchases a covered item for $80, but when Jeff offers him a switch to another covered item, he takes it. Which is lucky, because he trades a jar of octopus for a huge tray of nachos.
• Covered Item (Fruit Bat Soup): For $240, Natalie buys fruit bat soup and refuses to touch it, but James will eat it! In front of an incredulous Probst, he starts peeling the bats, because "you gotta take the skin off first."
• Covered Item (Note): Natalie buys a note in a bottle for $240. Like Kenny, it allows her to send someone to Exile and take all of their money. She smartly asks Jeff whether the idol has been replanted, and he says yes, so she uses that as an excuse to send Jason (who nobody really wants at the auction anyway). With a completely straight face, Jeff says, "Maybe this time you'll get a real [idol]."
• Covered Item (Chocolate Cake): Natalie is on a roll here and spends $380 for an enormous chocolate cake which she must share with three others for 60 seconds. Quickly picking Alexis, Parvati, and Cirie, she warns them, "Ok, seriously. Don't hog the cake. I'm a little aggro right now." As they start devouring it, Erik offers them each $20 to lick their fingers, and Cirie takes $40 and actually allows him to do it! James comments, "Something's wrong with that boy...he really has problems, poor thing."

Biggest Winner: Erik (nachos and he gets to lick Cirie's fingers)

Biggest Loser: Jason (sent to Exile)

Impact: Jason does end up finding the hidden immunity idol at Exile Island that day, which only adds further hilarity to the fact that he's blindsided at the end of the episode in the exact same way as Ozzy. Thank you, Survivor Auction, for helping to add to the legacy of the Black Widow Brigade.

#1: Survivor: Caramoan

Enil Edam

The best Survivor Auction is the most recent one (besides Cagayan, of course). At Final 9, the Enil Edam Tribe goes to its auction. This auction is unique in that it helps in telling a mini-story: Brenda is emotional and having a difficult time in the game right now. So keep that in mind as we move along.

Here's the Caramoan auction.

• Beer and Peanuts: Jeff says "First $20 gets beer and peanuts," and before he can stop himself, Malcolm buys it. This is pretty great when juxtaposed with the confessional he gave just a moment earlier, where he planned on buying nothing but an advantage in the game. Malcolm worries that he might have shot himself in the foot, but hey; he gets 2 more beers and pretzels as well.
• Covered Item (Pizza): Reynold spends $180 for a covered item, and then Jeff offers him two other covered items as trades. Cochran counsels him to switch, saying it's the "Monty Hall Problem...you're always supposed to switch." This isn't exactly true, because Jeff didn't reveal one of the other two items. Reynold's logic is, "I don't trust you, Cochran." He sticks with his first item and gets a slice of pizza, avoiding a rotten coconut and a full pizza.
• Whole Pizza: Immediately afterwards, Sherri declares "$500 for the full pizza!" I definitely like the audacity that she has; when players come up with their own bids (like Erik wanting to lick fingers), it's more fun. And Jeff, surprised, lets her have it.
• Information in the Game: Malcolm offers up $480, and shockingly, nobody outbids him. Now, it's possible that people have already bid on other items we didn't get to see, but this is still a huge break for him...although it ends up not being as great as he thinks...it's the clue to a HII, which he gets to read for 60 seconds.
• Covered Item (Spaghetti): Brenda doesn't want to risk buying something bad, so she stops bidding and Andrea takes it for $280. But it's the classic dilemma; take the spaghetti or give it up for rice and beans for your tribe. Andrea smartly makes the sacrifice.
• Immunity Challenge Advantage: Again, Brenda stops bidding, and Cochran takes the advantage for $340. This is what Malcolm really needed.
• Covered Item (Pig Brain): Finally, Brenda goes all in with $300...and gets a pig brain. You have to feel bad for Brenda, who starts scooping up brain with a spoon before remembering that she doesn't eat pork. "It's good for you, right?" she asks Jeff, who responds with, "I have no idea."
• Letters From Home: $20 for anyone who wants one...except Malcolm, Sherri, and Dawn (who bought roasted chicken) have already spent all of their money.
• Covered Item (Peanut Butter): Eddie buys peanut butter for $200 for the entire tribe to enjoy for 60 seconds. Everyone covers themselves with peanut butter, and Cochran licks it from Sherri's hand. Jeff asks him, "How often does that happen?" and Cochran responds, "More often than you think."

Biggest Winner: Malcolm (beer, peanuts, pretzels, and he still gets an advantage)

Biggest Loser: Brenda (pig brain)

Impact: Even though Brenda's had a rough time, she still ends up with a letter from home and some peanut butter. Reading her letter, she realizes that there are more important things than food, and her mini-story is resolved.

Cagayan didn't live up to some
of these great auctions.

Cochran uses his advantage to win the immunity challenge, but Malcolm (due to Andrea's dogging) cannot locate the idol, and is voted out. This is the reason that Tasha withheld her money in the Cagayan auction...she thought that there would be two different advanatages.

I think that does it for our trip down Survivor Memory Lane; hopefully you enjoyed it. It's too bad that Cagayan didn't live up to some of these great auctions; I think the key is to offer things besides food, like the bath or letters, and vary up the advantage rules (which they did). 

Tonight there'll be an Amazing Race recap, so stay tuned!

And finally, YouTube has a compilation of many of the Survivor auctions, so you can check that out below.