Humpty Dumpty, Bambi and big, bad wolf can be yours. Never Never Land figures up for auction
Is your home missing something special? Say, an 8-foot, 200-pound Humpty Dumpty statue?
Well, you’re in luck.
Metro Parks Tacoma is auctioning statues from its former Never Never Land attraction at Point Defiance Park, which closed in the early 2000s.
There are 35 items for auction, ranging from Bambi, with a starting bid of $200, to the wolf from “Little Red Riding Hood,” at a starting bid of $225.
The most expensive item is the iconic 8-foot Humpty Dumpty statue, which sat above the entrance of the park. Its starting bid is $5,000.
If you want the whole collection, you’re looking at a $10,000 price tag, at least.
Anyone can bid on the figures, which are listed on govdeals.com through the Washington state Department of Enterprise Services.
The auction runs from Sept. 8-22, with all proceeds supporting Metro Parks Tacoma’s public art and historic assets.
While it closed two decades ago, Never Never Land still holds sentimental value for many people who used to visit. The park opened on July 4, 1964, by Canadian Alfred “Al” Pettersen, and attracted more than 90,000 visitors in its first year.
In the 1980s, the attraction was sold to Metro Parks after visitors dwindled. At the time, the 10-acre park featured nearly 30 scenes with 78 figurines based on nursery rhymes and fairy tales.
As vandalism of the park increased, Metro Parks closed the park in the early 2000s and began storing the items. In 2011, an arson fire damaged the pagoda where the statues were stored, destroying about half of them. The remaining statues remained in storage.
To this day, you can still find remnants of Never Never Land structures at Point Defiance Park, if you look closely.
Over the years, some have led efforts to bring the park back to life, including the father-son duo Dave and Brandon Mitzel. Reached by The News Tribune via email on Tuesday, Dave said he wasn’t aware Metro Parks had moved to auction the items.
Dave said he’s not interested in purchasing the items but hopes to stay in touch with the people that do.
On Tuesday, the Never Never Land Facebook page run by the Mitzels posted that they were “pulling the plug” on the project.
“We are still open to ideas but I just don’t think our project is going to come to life anymore,” the post said.
Claire Keller-Scholz, the arts, culture and heritage administrator for Metro Parks, said that the prices for the items were determined through two appraisals earlier this year.
Keller-Scholz said she’s heard from some people who are interested in individual pieces, like the big Humpty Dumpty, as well as the whole collection, but can’t be sure what will happen until the bids open Wednesday.
If any piece doesn’t sell by close date, Keller-Scholz said, they’ll regroup and potentially re-auction the items with a lower starting price.
The figure Little Boy Blue is being donated to the Tacoma Historical Society.
Metro Parks staff say they want the figures to go to a good home.
“We understand the community’s nostalgic feelings for Never Never Land,” said Metro Parks spokesperson Nancy Johnson. “I and many Metro Parks staff visited Never Never Land or brought our kids when it was operating, so we can relate to the fond memories that many Tacomans share from the early years when the private concession was in its heyday.
“We also recognize that it’s difficult for some who were a part of that era to understand how societal changes over the past half-century impact the ability to sustain something like Never Never Land today.”
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 10:56 AM.
