Look, we get why Spielberg's beloved alien puppet is a piece of cinema history heading to Sotheby's auction block for an eye-watering $900,000. But holy mother of Reese's Pieces, have you seen this thing?
The three-foot nightmare fuel was used in that famous scene where E.T. hides in Elliott's closet, and honestly, if we found this lurking among our stuffed animals, we'd toss it in the Goodwill bin.
Created by special effects wizard Carlo Rambaldi, it's basically an aluminum skeleton wrapped in latex, foam, and straw — looking less like a lovable space friend and more like something you'd find in a Roswell gift shop marked "Authentic Alien Artifact! Only $29.99!"
According to Sotheby's (who are trying their damnedest to class this thing up), Spielberg wanted E.T. to have eyes reminiscent of Einstein, Hemingway, and Carl Sandburg. They also threw in some inspiration from Rambaldi's pet cat, which explains why this thing looks like it would murder you in your sleep.
"This model embodies the artistry of an era before CGI," says Sotheby's vice chairman Cassandra Hatton, with what we assume was a straight face.
Listen, we're not saying this piece of movie history isn't important, we're just saying that for $900,000, you could probably pay some rogue biohacker with CRISPR tech to make you an actual alien that would look less disturbing than this Zune-toned prop.
Previously:
• America's most hated company ruins E.T. for Thanksgiving
• Fantastic hand-crocheted E.T. costume for 2-year-old
• The E.T. sequel that fortunately never happened
• E.T. the extraterrestrial could land in your living room for $1 million
• Finally, Rick Baker's alien designs for Spielberg's pre-ET film Night Skies!
