Apple Forces eBay to Pull Steve Jobs Figurine

After the manufacturer was served a cease and desist order, Apple forced eBay to pull auctions for the Steve Jobs action figure.

Last month we reported that China-based manufacturer M.I.C. Gadget was selling an incredibly-detailed Steve Jobs action figure for $79.90. The desktop-sized Apple CEO featured an oversized head, his trademark black shirt/blue jeans outfit, and held up the new iPhone 4 like a magical world-saving talisman in his left hand. It came with an Apple logo stand and cartoon balloons for writing custom messages.

After our report, lawyers representing Apple contacted M.I.C. Gadget and ordered the company to cease the manufacturing and sale of the Steve Jobs action figure. A warning letter from Apple stated that the figurine violated a California statute prohibiting the use of a person's likeness in a product without prior authorization.

Shortly after production stopped, the figurines began to gather on eBay.

According to a report by iPhone Savior, sellers began listing the rare Steve Jobs figurine earlier this month, jacking up the original $79.90 price to nearly $2,500 apiece. Apple's lawyers eventually raided the online marketplace, zeroing in on one Canadian eBay seller who had already sold the figurine for $1,125. eBay then began to remove other listings, telling sellers that the object for sale "violates a celebrity's right of publicity."

"Your item was removed because of a request we received from Apple, Inc., a member of our Verified Rights Owner Program (VeRO), asking us to remove the item," the eBay letter stated.

Of course, that hasn't stopped eBay sellers from trying to make a quick grand or two before eBay's quick sweep of the Ban-hammer. One listing that popped up on the site two days ago (which has since been removed) said: "APPLE HAD ALL STEVE JOBS ACTION FIGURE AUCTIONS REMOVED! BUY IT NOW SO YOU CAN GET ONE! HURRY! NO GUARANTEE THAT THIS AUCTION WILL RUN A FULL DAY!"

As of this writing, there doesn't appear to be additional listings, however Steve Jobs fans can certainly purchase magazines, the made-for-TV movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley" starring Noah Wyle (Steve Jobs), Joey Slotnick (Steve Wozniak) and Anthony Michael Hall (Bill Gates), a Steve Jobs "Hope" T-Shirt, and more Jobs-related items.