SAN DIEGO — To celebrate 100 years of existence, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! editors, researchers, and historians have put together their 100 best Bions (Believe It Or Not stories). Many of the stories and exhibits that are featured in the book are on display at the Odditorium.
Cory Dacy, General Manager of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! brought in some fun and some downright weird objects from the museum.
- Vampire Killing Kit - These kits were sold to gullible tourists to vanquish a vampire: garlic, a bible, cross, wooden stake, holy water, and more.
- Shrunken Head – The process of taking human heads and shrinking them down to about the size of a fist dates back to the Ancient Incans about 1,000 years ago.
- Lily Slippers – Chinese slippers that were worn by women who would undergo the ritual of foot binding.
- Pranks of Nature – Robert Ripley was intrigued with animal oddities, poor creatures dealt strange fates by Mother Nature.
- Superman outfit – Worn by Dean Cain on "Lois and Clark" – who used to host the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! show in the early 2000s. And Ripley's is excited to announce that they are coming back to TV on the Travel Channel, with an all-new show hosted by Bruce Campbell.
- Pop-Culture – C-3PO head used in "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back." In the first Stars Wars film, the head was made from fiberglass and actor Anthony Daniels complained it was too heavy. This one is injection-molded plastic, but during shipping, it got too hot and shrunk, making it too small for Daniels to wear! Though not-wearable, the head was not discarded and was used for close-ups and special effects shots throughout the film, and is now considered one of the best preserved of several C-3PO heads used in the films.
- Marilyn’s Makeup Kit - second most expensive Marilyn collectible in our collection
Interested in the book? Purchase it here.