MELBOURNE, Australia — A father of five who listed a rare Woolworths collectible on eBay for what he hoped might fetch a few hundred dollars found himself at the center of an absurd bidding war that briefly touched $100 million, only to watch the entire sale evaporate once the winning bid was exposed as a joke.

Melbourne dad Mark Hunter, 51, listed his family's Flocked Bullseye Ooshie, one of just 125 in circulation across Australia, on eBay after his children discovered the tiny figurine, modeled on Woody's loyal horse from "Toy Story," was among the rarest items in Woolworths' latest Disney Ooshies promotion. Hunter told Yahoo Lifestyle that the family's original plan was modest: sell the toy for a couple hundred dollars and put the money toward a new puppy.

A Bidding War That Spiraled Out of Control

What followed instead was a chaotic escalation. The auction-style listing opened at a modest $100, and by the time Yahoo Lifestyle first reported on the frenzy, 93 bidders had already driven the price to $16,111. Hunter said he initially found the early surge exciting, thinking it might represent a genuine payday for his family, but his optimism curdled as the numbers kept climbing.

"At the point when it reached over $10,000 I was like, 'This is something's wrong with this,'" Hunter said. By the time the listing crossed $15,000, he said, he knew the bidding had tipped into farce. When the auction closed, the final price had rocketed past $100 million, with more than 25 people having participated in driving the listing to its absurd........

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