Photostrips are interesting for many reasons; one important reason is their one-of-a-kind nature. No negative means no duplicates can be made without scanning and re-printing, making a photostrip a unique item. If they are indeed authentic, then the nine photos of B‑grade celebrities being offered on eBay mark a mildly interesting find. The names read like a ‘who’s who’ of afternoon TV reruns: Barbara Eden, immortalized in a cut-off shirt and parachute pants in “I Dream of Jeannie”; Erik Estrada, “the brown-haired one” from “CHiPs”; Tina Louise, Ginger from “Gilligan’s Island”; and six others. The seller reports that the photos were taken in a photobooth at a “private studio in Los Angeles” in 2002.
The seller somehow manages to spell nearly every name wrong, but the point is there. The other six whose photos are up for auction are Drew Carey (not “Cary”), Dylan (not “Dillon”) McDermott, Shannen Doherty (not “Shannon Dougherty”), Jean-Claude van Damme (“Dame”?), Howie (not “Harvey”) Mandel, and John Mahoney (well done, though he was on “Frasier,” not “Fraiser.” Damn). These “CELEBERTIY” photos have an opening bid of $25 — let’s see how high they go.