The reality show Survivor creates drama by using a simple but intriguing formula: sequester people on a deserted island for a little over a month and have them compete for the right to remain on the island and win a $1 million prize. The TV series has been a huge ratings success, and the show became a franchise spanning 24 seasons. The latest incarnation, entitled Survivor: One World, recently wrapped up the season.
In this version, there were two twists: the first involved starting the two tribes in the same campsite, instead of their being separated, creating a high level of tension from the start.
The second twist concerned the hidden immunity idols, which were made to be tribe-specific. This meant that if someone found an idol designated for their tribe, they could keep it and use it, but if they found an idol specified for the other tribe, they had to give it to someone from the other tribe before the next Tribal Council.
At series end a new “Sole Survivor” was crowned. We don’t want to write any spoilers about who won, but if you are interested you can find out here.
We found some very cool items from the Survivor: One World series, including the famed Survivor One World IMMUNITY IDOL used throughout the season:
An immunity idol holds special meaning in the Survivor world, and is highly sought-after during the competition. The listing describes the idol:
“What every tribe is fighting for throughout this game – immunity from Tribal Council! This season begins as a battle between the sexes with one female tribe and one male tribe. Initially the men dominate the game but the women come from behind and gain control in the second half of the season. This Immunity Idol is made of solid carved wood, painted red. The immunity Idol has been signed by host Jeff Probst for the winning bidder.”
The object is reported to have “small chip off the Idol’s back leg.” It seems nothing went unscathed this season, as two of the contestants had to be evacuated from the island due to injuries.
Here are some cool factoids from the show: the cameras shoot 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the duration of the season. And for every 300 hours of shooting, only one hour makes it on to the show you see! The prize remains $1 million, although if you calculated the relative worth of that million, today’s contestant would need to win about $1.31 million to purchase the same amount of goods and services as a contestant could have purchased with the prize money back when the original show aired in 2000.
There are numerous other cool Survivor items for sale from the same seller, auctioncause, such as the Survivor: One World Immunity Necklace, and a chance to attend the Survivor Season 25 finale and live reunion show in Los Angeles, some time in December. The best thing about all these Survivor auctions is that the 100% of the proceeds benefit Stand up to Cancer or the The Alliance for Children’s rights.
And there’s more! For more rare and vintage Survivor items too numerous to list here, check out this page.
One last thought: While the show’s tagline “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast” is memorable, the term coined by Survivor is “voted off the island.” Searching for this term shows over 1.3 million uses of that exact phrase.
My only hope? That this post doesn’t get me voted off the island.
