Chevy Chase Is Selling Off Scraps of His ‘SNL’ Past
We’re pretty sure Chevy Chase is doing just fine for cash (if you believe those online net worth estimates, he’s good for about $50 million), but that doesn’t mean he isn’t starving. For attention, I mean. His latest attempt at making some noise is a novel one, for sure — a limited-edition (only 40!) “costume card” containing a scrap of his original Saturday Night Live Land Shark costume along with “Chevy’s authorized signature”!
And it can be yours for the low, low price of only 500 bucks.
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That’s a lot of scratch considering the original Land Shark sketches aired nearly 50 years ago. The bits were a takeoff on Jaws, a white-hot blockbuster back in 1977 but maybe not moving a lot of $500 trading cards in 2023. Funny enough, Chase isn’t even seen on-screen in the sketch, though we can hear his muffled attempts at subterfuge:
- “Plumber.”
- “Candygram.”
- “I’m just a dolphin.”
Chase’s Land Shark costume was recently in the headlines when its legendary designer, Ralph Lee, passed away. The comic shark, at least until it was scrapped for parts, was his lasting legacy. “For many people, it is my claim to fame,” Lee said in 2003. “When I was making it, I thought it would get used once and shucked.”
It took a few years, but the mask is indeed getting shucked now, with Chase cutting up at least a part of the smelly old costume for a quickie cash grab. Forty cards at $500 a pop is a cool 20 grand — not bad even if it means having to sign your authorized signature a few dozen times. And if this one sells out, the sky’s the limit. A single necktie that Chase wore as Gerald Ford could be dissected into a hundred character cards; a Weekend Update blazer could yield even more. Hey, you can’t take it with you, so might as well chop your past into tiny pieces and make a few bucks while you can.
Lorne Michaels is probably kicking himself for not thinking of it first.
