Halo 3 at the Child’s Play Charity Dinner Auction

Child’s Play Annual Charity Dinner Auction, a formal fundraising gala that benefits sick kids in children’s hospitals all around the world, raised just over $225,000 Tuesday evening. Just like the year before, Bungie had a strong showing with their generous donations that were auctioned off both during the silent auction and also during the live auction. Much to the chagrin of my bank account, the Halo 3 items were the highlight of my evening of course.

An entire wall of the silent auction floor was lined with stunning gaming art, most of which were autographed by the people behind the respective games. Amongst the beautiful artwork were three pieces of signed Halo Wars framed concept art. My favorite one featured a giant scarab with flames erupting around it and soldiers running into battle. The colors were dark and smoky with spots of brilliant reds and oranges.

Within the silent auction tables, a telltale sign of a high profile item was the large crowd that constantly surrounded it. An item listed as “Be a Bungie Employee” was one of those high traffic areas. Up for grabs to the highest bidder was honorary Bungie employee status, described as :

Honorary Halo 3 Bungie Employee Status

This chic status symbol has never been granted to anyone outside the hallowed halls of Bungie Studios. The winner of this auction will have their gamertag magically empowered with the ability to activate the coveted “Flaming Head” on their Halo 3 multiplayer Spartan avatar. You can equip a special chest piece at any time which will result in your current helmet being engulfed in flames.

In addition, you will have a “Bungie” logo displayed by your name in the game lobby and you’ll get access to the “Recon” armor permutation that so far has only been granted to a handful of people outside of Bungie.

I observed the bidding throughout the evening and watched several enthusiastic Halo fans put their money on the line for their shot at the flaming helmet. Within just a few bids it jumped up to $300. The last time I saw it, it was at $550 and I heard from a friend that it eventually sold for a whopping $750. While that is an amazing number, I have no doubt it would have climbed even higher if it would have been included in the live auction instead of the silent one.

The item I opted to bid on was a Halo 3 Zune signed by J Allard. I had debated asking for one of these for my birthday when they first came out last year but instead decided to purchase a custom painted pink Spartan faceplate by Pavel Dolgov. Since I passed on my first opportunity of buying one, I decided Tuesday night was the night. I intermittently checked on the Zune and rebid any time someone outbid me. For the last 20 minutes of the auction I stayed near the item, giving the evil eye to anybody who looked at it. I had the highest bid when bidding officially ended. I wish I had the good news that I now have a J Allard signed Halo 3 Zune in my hand but unfortunately I don’t. Right as the Child’s Play gentleman picked up that particular auction’s clipboard, someone went running up and begged to bid on it. The gentlemen in charge relented and let the bid go through. I was within earshot and watched and heard everything and was very disappointed to say the least. I shook it off, remembering it was all for a greater cause (I actually wanted a throw down right then and there but I was also hungry) so I headed into the dining room for the formal dinner and live auction.

The silent auction is always just the appetizer to the big boys that come out during the live auction. I knew I would be tempted by several things throughout dinner so I had decided before it started to cap my bidding at a grand regardless of how badly I wanted something. And let me tell you, I really wanted some of these things. Like sell my first born child wanted these things.

Bungie’s live auction items included a multiplayer pizza party at their studios on the next batch of new maps before they come out (there were still several people bidding on it when I dropped out at the $1,000 mark; I’m guessing their pizza is pretty good, or topped with diamonds), an appearance in a Halo novel (the winner of this auction gets their name featured in an upcoming Halo book), and my favorite, Bungie’s Big Ole Bag of Swag. Let’s just say that name does even begin to describe the awesomness that was held in an extremely rare gigantic UNSC branded duffel bag.

Included in Bungie’s Big Ole Bag of Swag was a Halo limited edition Xbox 360 game console, a Halo 3 Legendary Edition Spartan helmet signed by the Bungie Team, Halo 3 Limited Edition game, Master Chief Spartan-117 dogtags, 3200 Microsoft Points, 2 limited edition Todd McFarlane Halo 3 Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers with bonus collectible figurines, an official Halo 3 media kit, Halo 3 limited edition Xbox 360 wireless headset, Halo 3 KUBRICK collectible figurines, Halo Action Clix 4-figure game pack, Official Halo 3 Strategy Guide, Halo Novel “Contact Harvest” signed by author Joseph Staten, the Halo 2 Official Soundtrack signed by Bungie Composer and Audio Director Marty O’Donnell, an exclusive limited edition Mt. Dew Gamer Fuel bottle, a copy of Halo: Contact Harvest, a Halo Graphic Novel, Bungie sweat bands, and authentic military issued MRE (meals ready to eat) in Meatlof and Vegetable Manicotti. Told ya it was awesome.

Bidding went down to two of us as it hit the $1,000 mark. I went a bit higher because at that point in time I stood a chance at winning it. At that very second Frankie announced that they were also going to throw in the Recon armor. My shot at winning left just as quickly as it had arrived. Bidding escalated quickly and the bundle ended up going for well over $5,000.

I may have walked out empty handed at the end of the evening but the Halo experience was amazing. I’ll just save that $1,000 I was going to spend this year and tack it onto next year’s bidding budget. I’ll also kick anybody’s ass that tries to underhandedly take my crap at the last minute. Now that will be a good time.