Three hitchhiking ghosts, former residents of Magic Kingdom’s Haunted Mansion, garnered the top bid from this week’s mammoth Disney auction in California.

The famed trio of animatronics went for $320,000 in the “Joel Magee Disneyland Collection” auction produced by Van Eaton Galleries.

Magee is a West Palm Beach resident who, after decades of storing Disney memorabilia in his house, opted to sell his stash. Among the nearly 1,600 items sold were authentic ride vehicles, theme-park signs, tickets, toys, souvenirs, rare posters and more from Disneyland and Walt Disney World attractions.

The hitchhiking ghosts were part of the Haunted Mansion experience when Magic Kingdom opened in 1971. Originally, each one sat on a track and would move along with Doom Buggy ride vehicles near the end of the ride. They were removed from the attraction, replaced by video images and sold at a D23 convention auction in 2010.

The figures have been mounted in a new display, and they can move their heads and arms as music from the attraction plays.
Before the auction, Van Eaton assigned an estimated selling price of between $100,000 and $200,000.

The set is one of eight lots that drew six-figure bids in the Magee auction.  Others included a Dumbo ride vehicle from Disneyland for $220,000 and a vehicle from that park’s Peter Pan’s Flight for $210,000, which was about double the Van Eaton estimate.

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Three items from Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion drew high bids, including an original Doom Buggy for $170,000 (more than triple the estimate) and two original, hand-painted “stretching portraits” that went for $120,000 and $130,000.

A set of original, restored, feathered animatronics from Magic Kingdom’s Enchanted Tiki Room sold for $120,000.  And a themed truck that Walt Disney himself drove along Disneyland’s Main Street also sold for $120,000.

Big Disney auction: Joel Magee collection features ride vehicles, rare theme-park items

Van Eaton did not release names of winning bidders, although actor John Stamos, a noted Disney collector, was seen on social media eying the tiki birds displays during an exhibition last month.

Magee, popularly known as the “Toy Scout,” has more items, which Van Eaton says will be in another auction next year.

For a full list of realized bids and an online catalog of the Magee items, go to vegalleries.com.

dbevil@orlandosentinel.com