Wichita, KS — Darrel Kent of Wichita likes to tell anyone who’ll listen that he’s the biggest Elvis fan west of the Mississippi River. The 61-year-old Kansas native has been collecting Elvis memorabilia since he was a little boy when his mother introduced him to the King of Rock-n-Roll.
“My mother and I used to listen to Elvis all the time,” said Mr. Kent recalling his youth. “She had a big Elvis collection. So I guess that’s where I got the bug. But I have too much of it now, and I need to eliminate some of it.”
Elvis Presley died of heart failure in 1977 following a battle with prescription drugs. His lifeless body was seated on the toilet, after which he had fallen to the floor.
And as luck would have it, ten years ago, Mr. Kent made a whimsical eBay bid on an Elvis artifact.
“I didn’t know if it was fake or not, but I like to take risks. So I found one of Elvis’ last turds. I didn’t think it was real.”
Mr. Kent spent $29.00 on dehydrated poop. And it wasn’t until his wife recommended he get it tested for authenticity that he realized what he had.
“I didn’t know they had such things,” continued Mr. Kent, “but there’s a cottage industry for this exact kind of stuff. So when we got the results back, I crapped my pants. Pardon the pun.”
It’s the Real Thing
Darrel sent his specimen to Validation Associates of Beverly Hills, which specializes in authenticating celebrity memorabilia. The service cost Mr. Kent $300.00.
“I’d like to say that this was the first time we’ve received such an artifact, but it’s not,” said Validation Associates analyst Bethany Millbright who handled the Elvis case. “We were able to compare the sample with other Elvis DNA and verify it. We also gave it a retail value of $327,420.00, the largest we’ve ever assessed a celebrity turd.”
Late last year, Mr. Kent became ill and ran up a hospital bill.
“I had some health issues and no health insurance,” recalled Mr. Kent. “The ambulance ride alone was over $10,000. Fortunately, I have this turd. So I contacted Christie’s in New York, saying they were interested in auctioning it.”
According to a spokesperson for Christie’s, the auction will be held next month with a starting bid of $80,000.
