Platinum Lego piece sold for $15,000 (w/video)

The Hau was one of five pure gold Bionicle masks released to the public, and Hurley paid $3,000 for it years ago.

"As soon as I bought (the platinum mask), I pulled out the Gold Hau, and for the first time ever the two of them were together; it was pretty cool," Hurley said.

"I'm ecstatic. It's perfect," he said. "I view it as an investment, but I also view it as my childhood dream come true."

The Platinum Avohkii Mask of Light was the grand prize in the Cartoon Network's Toonami Sweepstakes in October 2003. An 11-year-old Santa Rosa boy, Chase Koches, won the mask, along with a number of other prizes, including Bionicle toys and Lego sets, a DVD player, Nike Bionicle athletic shoes and a 36-inch flat-screen television.

In 2003, the mask had an estimated value of $7,000. It stayed with Koches until 2012, when he decided to sell it for needed cash. In the fall of that year, he sold it to Raff, who then put it up for auction on eBay.

Raff got offers of more than $15,000, some of them coming from overseas.

Raff and Hurley started negotiating a sale last fall. During that time, Raff said he made a connection with Hurley and held off from selling to others so that Hurley could come up with the money.

The $15,000 price surpasses the current sale price of the most expensive Lego brick ever sold: a 14-karat gold 2x4 Lego brick currently listed for $14,449.99 at Brickenvy.com. The gold brick was purchased by Brickenvy.com for $12,500.

According to reports, the brick was awarded to certain longtime Lego workers in Germany from 1979 to 1981.

Raff's piece weighs 3 troy ounces, or just over 93 grams.

A Lego spokeswoman said last week that the company could not confirm if the Platinum Avohkii sale price of $15,000 was the most expensive Lego piece ever sold.

"We are not involved in the aftermarket sale of Lego sets or individual pieces, so we are unable to provide the information you have requested," said Amanda Santoro, a Lego marketing representative.

Back in December 2012, Raff tried to contact Lego to determine the value of the platinum mask. A Lego consumer services representative said Lego does not "assign value to the collectability factor."

Lego wrote: "As a collectable item, it is basically worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it — there really isn't a way to assign a worth to it."

Hurley said he has been selling parts of his Bionicle collection for the past six months to raise the money needed to purchase the platinum mask. He depleted his collection by about 20 percent, raising $12,500.

"Some of the items were pretty rare, but for the most part they were mass-produced," he said.

Hurley said he was just a young boy when he saw the platinum mask on TV as part of the 2003 Toonami contest. He said he turned to his friends, who were also Bionicle collectors, and said, "There's something we'll probably never see in our lifetime."

Battle Mountain is seven hours from Santa Rosa and seven hours from where Hurley lives in Utah.

Hurley brought several of his Bionicle and parkour friends, while Raff brought his daughter. Both parties shot some video to document the transaction.

Raff said some acquaintances said he was "crazy" for driving to the "middle of nowhere" to sell the mask. But Raff said that in the past few months he had many conversation with Hurley and he knew he could trust the youth. Also, Raff said he didn't want to risk shipping it to someone he didn't know.

Raff, a former salesman for a local plumbing supply company, said his Lego business on Mendocino Avenue has exceeded his expectations since he moved out of his tiny shop on Fourth Street last spring.

He said he does not regret letting the platinum mask go. It's served its purpose, he said, bringing valuable attention to his business and his reputation in the aftermarket Lego business.

When Raff arrived home Sunday night — the trip to Nevada and back took 16 hours — he said it felt good "having all this money."

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com